Devotion: Martha and the Machine

I have staff devotion duties tomorrow, here it is for your viewing pleasure.


-Luke 10: 38-42

Yesterday I was able to spend a lot of time getting ready for my wedding. It’s almost exactly 9 months away. There is a lot to worry about! For good reason! It will be the single biggest day of my life thus far. It is a big deal. But I believe the same thing that happened to Martha can happen to me with my wedding and it can happen to EUMC and it can happen to the church as a whole.

But before we look at the big picture, lets stick with what I started with- weddings. Frankly, as special and wonderful an occasion it will certainly be, it can also just get plain ridiculous. Have you ever picked up a bridal magazine? You need two hands. This will probably be a gender bias question, but have you ever stepped foot in a David’s Bridal? It’s like a matrimonial wal-mart. Here’s something a little more “male oriented”: over/under 23,000 for the average cost of a wedding? Over. According to a May 2005 article on CNN.com the average wedding costs $26,327. That means in 2005 over $125 billion was spent on weddings. That’s about the size of Ireland’s Gross Domestic Product.

A little out of control isn’t it? Let’s not even get into the cultural impact of shows like “Bridezilla” and movies like “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. What has been a right of passage throughout human history- two people joining their hearts for life- has morphed into a cultural and economic juggernaut. Somewhere along the line what should be “the main thing” about weddings (the bride and groom’s commitment before God and loved ones) becomes almost a footnote to the endless list of things to be bought, arranged, registered, and coordinated. It is so easy to get caught up in the pressure to have the huge cake, the flawless flowers, the magnificent string quartet, the most elaborate meals, and the most extensive guest list. But all of that is crap in comparison to the whole point of the wedding. The hype and preparations for the wedding can turn it from something simple and beautiful into a machine that monopolizes all your energy and runs on money.

So lets go back to the context of Jesus. Scripture tells us that he’s traveling, and that Martha opens her home to him and his followers. Obviously this is a big deal. There are preparations to be made! Her sister is listening to Jesus teach, giving him her attention instead of helping Martha with all that needed to be done in light of the occasion. This gives Martha reason to be a little miffed. Her sister is hanging out with the guests and leaving all the work to Martha! Martha was “distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” She protests Jesus “Tell her to help me!”. When my sister and I were young, that two syllable name of mine was like a rallying cry: Aaa-duuuuuuum! This is probably a stretch, but I can just hear Martha: Je-suuuuus! Tell her to help me!

But Jesus flips the script and tells Mary to relax, that “only one thing is needed”. To sit at the feet of Jesus. After all, what good is making all the preparations and missing out on what all the preparations are for in the first place? Mary chose what would last, which trumps even Martha’s best intentions.

I believe it’s the same with my wedding, and it’s the same with the church. Even with good intentions, we can become so focused on all the preparations that we miss the point. I can focus energy on my ego and on how I want to be perceived at my wedding instead of focusing on my love for Sarah and the celebration of our commitment to each other. Martha focused on getting the house ready or whatever she was doing instead of spending time with Jesus.

As a church we are to be building the Kingdom of God. I believe even with best intentions, we can instead be running a machine. Now the tough part becomes sorting and discerning the kingdom from the machine. So let us not forget in our effort to serve God that we must always chose to sit at Jesus feet, may we have the wisdom to focus on things that will last and gently lead others out from the machine and into the kingdom.

Book Review: Justice in the Burbs

On Adam Caldwell's suggestion, I ordered this last week and finished it up a couple days ago. The book is written in a particular flow- the author(s) Will & Lisa Samson present a fictional scenario of a suburban family who starts a relationship with the leader of a downtown mission and the courses of their life change. Following that there is a commentary by both authors (usually Will I take it) discussing real life application/theology about the things depicted in the story of Matt and Christie. After that there is a short meditation from other authors. (the meditations I didn't care so much for, part of me felt like it was just a way to get Brian McLaren or Doug Paggit's name on the cover, but that's very cynical of me, so we'll give the Samson's the benefit of the doubt.)

Frankly, I didn't think I was going to like the format but they did a really good job! I was concerned about the fictional family- a high "cheese factor" possibility, but it was very well done. Also Will and Lisa discuss "emergent" theology/ideas very plainly, with no pretentious attitudes, which was again, very well done.

In terms of depth, it was ok. There wasn't a lot here I hadn't thought/experienced myself, but I think that is kind of a good thing. It's sort of like having a discussion with a friend you really agree about something with, it's just not as exciting as a good ol' point-counterpoint. But that is a little shallow of me to critique.

All in all, I would recommend this book, especially for folks who might have a small inkling that there's more to life than their kids schedules and ralph lauren clothes and want to look into making some life style changes.

Justice in the Burbs- an excellent book to spring board lifestyle change and kingdom theology. Creative yet accessible format. Pretty cool.

(by the way, i'm blogging from a very...let's say..."non-traditional" location right now!)

Rich getting richer, poor getting poorer.

This article came across CNN today. Check it out. Here's a pertinent point for me and my community:

The list of the 10 poorest cities was filled with mostly old, northeastern and mid-western industrial locales. Cleveland had the lowest median income of any city in the nation with more than 250,000 residents; households there earned just $26,535. Miami was the next poorest at $27,088, followed by Buffalo ($27,850), Detroit ($28,364), St. Louis ($30,936) and Cincinnati ($31,103).

I live approximately 20 minutes from the 5th poorest city (or 5th poorest major city) in our country. Let me tell you, sometimes it is hard to justify spending millions on a new church building while people down the road don't have basic needs met. On a haunting side note- I recently found out from a friend in the congregation that my current home was the address of their adopt-a-family from two Christmases ago. So the need isn't just downtown.

So let's take a look at some demographics (incomes taken from here), visually this is just head shaking stuff:


View Larger Map

Ok, so part of that was me wanting to show off my noodleing around with Google maps... for another portrayal of have and have not in St. Louis county, click here. If you click on the map, you should be able to see the average household incomes. But to save you some time, lets recap:

Average household incomes of communities that primarily make up my congregation:
Ballwin $66,458
Chesterfield $99,912
Clarkson Valley $153,933
Ellisville $65,016
Manchester $64,381
Wildwood $94,006

Once again, City of St. Louis $30,936


So in the coming months I'm going to be conspiring with members of my congregation and community to heed God's call to serve the poor. A lot of times we pastor-y types get a call to help feed God's sheep, and when they're in your own back yard it doesn't seem as fun or glamerous. Yes there are AIDS pandemics, yes Darfur and much of the non-industrialized world is hurting, yes we need to build houses in Mexico, yes we need to give aid to American cities and international communities as well. But I can't stand the thought of remaining so insulated anymore. If you want to see what has messed me up so bad, read Shane Claiborne's The Irresistable Revolution, oh yea, and The Bible.

"Vision of You"

Shane & Shane's new album "Pages" came out yesterday. It's crazy. If you're a guitar player, you know what this feeling is like. You listen to Eddie Van Halen play and you think to yourself "Whats the point? Why do I even try?" Shane and Shane are like the Eddie Van Halen of Christian music. They sing notes barely within the range of human hearing. Anyways, some of their old stuff is a little odd for me but this new album really is great. I remember hearing their first song on the album at a concert in which I experienced an extended period of tingly-ness. Check out these lyrics from the chorus of "Vision of You":

Awaken whats inside of me
Tune my heart to all you are in me
Even though you're here God come
May the vision of you be the death of me
Even though you've given everything
Jesus come

Worst Band. Ever.

Sometimes it's nice to take a break from all things theological. Here is one of those posts.

I think Nickelback is the worst band of all time. Here is a list of bands/music I would rather listen to than Nickelback just so you can see how bad I think they are:

Jefferson Starship, Steve Perry's solo stuff, Hanson, that band who sang the song "This is the story of a girl", Coolio, *insert 1343 80's bands here*, Ace of Base, Five for Fighting, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, The Monkees, Ringo Starr's solo stuff/all the songs he wrote that made it on the Beatles albums, the weird guy from The Eagles- Joe something, Enya, Amy Grant, old Backstreet Boys, Rammstein, Hinder, Akon, Lil' John, AND WORST OF ALL...........MICHAEL W. SMITH. Man, that is a terrible list. But I would gladly buy any of their albums before Nickelback's.

Here's a list of things I would rather do/have happen to me than go to a Nickelback concert:
-go to the Dentist
-go to a safe sanctuary training
-have my car break down
-bounce a check
-mow a lawn
-wait in line at the DMV
-go to a family reunion (extended family of course, not cousins/aunt/uncle/grandma)
-take extensive notes on a United Methodist board of pension meeting
-watch the most recent Star Wars movies
-participate in a live action drama inspired by a lifetime movie
or worst of all...A MICHAEL W. SMITH CONCERT.

So to Nickelback, please stop making music. Your newest song about wanting to be a rock star isn't really cute or funny or creative. Rock stars singing about wanting to be rock stars isn't cool in some ironic way, it's just lame. Also, the song "figured you out" was gross. At least be consistent and make tough guy music or cheesy poprock music so we can know what to expect from you.

Case in point, a lyrical sample from Nicklback's latest single:
Sign a couple autographs
So I can eat my meals for free (and in the background "I'LL HAVE A QUESODILLA")

I defy any readers out there to come up with a WORSE band than Nickelback. You know what, here at Internationally Known on the Microphone, we haven't had a challenge like this before. So I'm throwin down the gauntlet, tell your friends to check this out.

WHOEVER CAN CONVICE ME THAT THERE IS A BAND IN EXISTENCE IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE THAT IS WORSE THAN NICKELBACK WILL WIN A $15 iTunes GIFTCARD! Let the debate begin! (please respond so I don't look desperate!)

-

By the Power of Greyskull

*warning* fairly cheesy illustration alert!

So this morning Ameren UE came to reset a thing or two on our house's power. Thus, all the clocks got reset and for about 20 minutes we didn't have power. Luckily it doesn't make much of a difference in my appearance if I have light or not, but I felt bad for my sister!

But it got me thinking (as every power outage does) about how much we depend on electricity. If I didn't have a clock on my cell phone, I would have had no idea what time it was. It is only when we lose all the things we depend on so much that we realize how much we use them.

Now it might have been because I was still groggy, but in the shower I was really thinking about this (the lights had come back by this time, don't worry). Being a pastor-y type, I look for the life lessons in these situations. How funny that we depend so much on something that (although not often) can really just vanish at any time! I didn't need an ol' reliable clock because we had electronic clocks in practically every room! But when the electricity goes, so does my knowing what time it is.

I think our world is like that. We build our lives around so much that doesn't last- and not even material stuff all the time. Whether its "success", having a boyfriend/girlfriend, being cool, or whatever; when stuff goes down it can be like waking up and having no idea what time it is.

I think this is my favorite passage in The Bible. I hear Pastors say sometimes that the verse for that Sunday is their favorite. Well, I'm pretty sure this is mine. I've just decided.

Matthew 7: 23-25:

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

Christ's words, his way, his life is to be our foundation. It's like having a clock that doesn't run out no matter what.

Survival of the Beardest

My friend from church Matt told me the other day he had been missing my facial hair salutes, I was flattered he would even remember, so here is a Dandy.

This one is for you Charles Darwin. I'm not sure what would take longer- for intelligent life to emerge from a primordial soup, or me coming even remotely close to competing with that big, beautiful, naturally selected beard of yours.

That beard is simply a beut. I only hope that as the sands of time press on that we humans grow more and more adapted to growing giant beards like Mr. Darwin's.

Takin' It to the Streets (thats for you Dad...)

I have some good news for all who will listen. This week a new community college is opening in our...community (allow myself to introduce...myself...). A group from my church decided to be there and welcome students. So we were (and will be) there for opening classes to hand out stuff- water, mini-highlighters, snacks, and the Red Bull girls were there to hand out energy drinks!

It was interesting to watch the students reactions. Of course, everyone also thinks there's some kind of catch, especially since we're a church. We did have a sign, but welcome students and free stuff were in huuuuge font, and our church name and location was in small font.

I guess it makes me sad that we live in an age where you can't even be nice to someone without a suspicion of some alternate agenda. The difference between yesterday and today was really cool, since they were a lot of the same students they knew we weren't there to hassle them, just to welcome them.

Just thought I'd give a report of our little part of the Kingdom today. We had a successful outreach- without giving away bibles, christian mints, or getting in people's faces. It felt good to get out of the church, out of the office, nose out of a book, and just be out there with the people, where we belong.

Our mission was not to convert, but to love.

Yay AT&T, Boo the Number 23

Greetings, I'm writing to you from my new home where both the DSL and wireless network are now installed. The absence of a home computer has provided me a good excuse for not blogging too much in the past couple weeks, but it is an excuse no longer!

Also, my sister and I (having moved in to our new place for a little over two weeks now) have chosen not to get cable. Which means...more time to blog! I know the excitement is in the air. Kudos to AT&T for a prompt service appointment today, even being a little early!

Just some advice from me to you: Do not rent/buy/view in any way Jim Carey's "The Number 23". Just don't.

Religion and Politics-Thoughts

With the election hype building, there's lots of articles on Religion and Politics. Recently, one was essentially talking about Mitt Romney's Mormon faith and how that could effect voters opinions. Some interesting polls are cited towards the end of the article:

"An earlier poll by the Pew Research Center said 30 percent of respondents said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate that was Mormon. The negative sentiment rose to 46 percent for Muslim candidates and to 63 percent for a candidate who "doesn't believe in God."

There are many avenues of discussion you could take from this article. From this one poll, you could infer that Americans "dis trust" or are otherwise discouraged from voting for: Mormons, Muslims, and atheists gradiently in that order. You could get into a discussion about the role of the state and the role of religion. Eventually, all roads would lead to the constitution, and subsequently the intentions of the framers/founding fathers. But alas, I am aware that people will skip blog entries if they are too long, so I'll try to cut to the chase.

From this one poll, it appears as if Americans are not discouraged to vote for a person with faith. They're discouraged to vote for someone who's faith they do not share, especially if they don't have any! (a statement that could also be dissected)

My impression from debates and articles like the one above is that many people consider "one’s relationship with God is a private matter", one such person is Rudolph Juliani does because that quote is from him.

I guess to me the issue is not separation from church and state, but separation of religion and life.

I don't think that a religion confined to the "private" corner of life is very much of a religion at all. How couldn't your "religions" beliefs, which are really your beliefs about life be at the very center of what drives your decisions as an individual and even more so as a politician?

Finally Payin Off!

I received an email from Brian McLaren's folks about his upcoming tour in support of his book "Everything Must Change" which comes out this October.

Towards the end of the email it said that the first 50 bloggers to email in their "snail mail" address and blog site would receive an advanced copy, for free.

I was one of those 50!

So now to fulfill my obligation to Mr. McLaren I will be going through the book and giving a brief synopsis as well as reactions. I guess I'll have to do my best to entice everyone into buying it, luring you further and further into a web of desire to purchase this most excellent book when it comes out in October.

I guess being a tool is the price you pay for street cred!

All Time Lows

Check this out.

Don't want the hassle of going to a gym? Have it brought to you! Curbside fitness is a giant luxury truck filled with workout equipment that will pull up to your house for an hourly rate.

A couple friends spotted the bus in a luxurious area of St. Louis yesterday and alerted me to the existence of such a service. Wow.

How ridiculous a society where you don't even have to have a gym at home to get a gym at home. Why would you ever want to leave the house anyways?

What to do what to do

So it's 12:40am, and I'm still reflecting on something that happened at church tonight. Every Tuesday at church we have ultimate frisbee from 9-11pm. We use these frisbees with two different colors of glow bands. We have music, lights, drinks, and pizza. Usually about 80 kids show up, if you want to see some pics check out lwyouth.org

The cool thing about "Ultimate Tuesdays" is that probably 80% of the kids that come don't attend our church.

I don't say all that just to "brag" but rather so that you better understand what took place. So at 11pm we shut it down and kids parents are picking them up or kids are driving themselves home. We have a substantial amount of equipment to carry in, not to mention emptying trash and picking up spare Gatorade bottles and what not, so there's plenty to do. If there were only 2 or 3 of us cleaning up it would take more than an hour. Luckily we've got great volunteers who stay to help clean up even though they'd rather go home and sleep!

But tonight something abnormal happened. There were about 20 kids or so who stayed after. So we were like, "Sweet! More help!" It's always a little awkward when you ask people to help clean up, so like the cheesy youth dork that I am, I say something like: "Hey guys, I know a fun game we can play...help us clean up this junk! Who wants to play!?!?!" The crowd of kids just stands there looking at me. So I stick out the speaker wire I was holding and say to one of them- "Here man, you can play, it's easy!" He just looks at me and says, "Nah, thats ok." He was on his cell phone.

So here you have a group of kids literally standing there having just enjoyed the fruits of our labor- listened to music, ate pizza, drank Gatorade, played frisbee; and now they're actually in the way of people cleaning up, but not really taking the suttle invitation to help pitch in.

Like I said, I don't really know who any of these kids are- I can't assume they go to any church, I have know idea who their parents are, I don't know them at all. But frankly, I found it very rude.

Now as I sit here and type this out, I failing to accurately describe the audacity of the kids (is audacity the right word? i'll get to that in a sec). My question is this:

What should I have done?

Should I politely ask them to leave if they're not going to help, since the event was over at 11?

Should I yell at them and tell them how rude and inconsiderate they were being?

Should I just pretend it's not big deal?

As I'm pouring out the extra ice from our massive cooler, there's a couple bottled waters left, so I offer it to them and they accept- then just keep chatting and pretending there isn't work to do. I ask them if they had fun and cheerfully say I look forward to seeing them next week.

Was that the right thing to do? In my mind, I can't hold these kids to a standard that they might not hold themselves to- as a Christian, I believe we are to offer ourselves in service to one another, especially when whoever it is needs help has just spent time providing me with a good time!

But from their perspective, did they even notice? Were they conscious of the fact they were being in considerate? Or have they just been in such a position to be served their whole life? Remember these are suburban St. Louis kids who drive nicer cars than my Dad.

What is the Christian response? Frankly, I'm convinced that part of being a Christian IS being taken advantage of. But am I providing these kids with a dis-service by not pointing out the err in their ways? Or was it right to still treat them kindly. Was it right for me to fake kindness when inside I really wanted to yell at them?


What should I have done?

(If this seems like a melodramatic post, I'm sorry. If you would have been there the situation would have had more magnitude than reading it on the blog! I also apologize for the many spelling and grammatical errors in this post, it's late.)

Post #200!

It's a bicentennial of sorts for IKOTM! I first titled the blog from a rap line P. Diddy does on Usher's 2002 hit "I need a girl". Since the blog started I've gotten engaged, moved to St. Louis, and am not about to settle into a rental house!

So to commemorate this occasion, I've swapped the colors and template, added a "Current Reading" section, changed the description, and basically copied whatever else Andy did. So, here's to many more posts and even more comments!

The New Crib (probably)

So I think I've found a house to rent for the next couple of years. Not buying yet. The owners are really nice folks and are putting a ton of work into the place. So here it is for your viewing pleasure. It's not quite done yet, but this will give you an idea. 3 bedroom 1 bath, giant backyard,cozy little place.

Unrelated Thought.

Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know" is still a great song.

When In Rome

So this article was on Yahoo today.

Basically, The Pope is endorsing Latin masses again. Apparently in up until the 1960's it was the norm. From the article-

"Before the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), Catholic mass was an elaborate ritual led in Latin by a priest with his back to the congregation. Vatican II reduced the formality and had the priest face the faithful to pray in their local language.
Traditionalists rejected the new style's sing-along hymns and guitar music. Many missed the Latin rite's sense of mystery and awe and the centuries-old Gregorian chant that went with it."

Now, to me this seems like a no-brainer. A service in Latin? Yikes. No body can understand it! If that's what "mystery and awe" means then to each his own, but I'd at least like to hear about God in English so I can then ponder the mystery and be in awe- because I don't understand God... NOT WHAT LANGUAGE THE SERVICE IS IN.

Obviously my protestant bias and gross lack of Church history is showing here. But this got me thinking...

Does protestant Christianity do the same thing? Think about it- don't we have a language all our own? Fellowship...Narthex...Sacristy...Transubstantiation...Epistle...Abrahamic Covenant...Sanctification...I could go on.

I think a lot of times theres a "lingo" that unless you've just been around a long time you won't understand because no one stops to explain things. So although our services are given in English, consider the following being mentioned in the service:

"Today's scripture lesson is from Paul's second Epistle to the church in Corinth." Now, what all does this phrase assume?
1. That you know what an epistle is
2. That you know who Paul is
3. That you understand the inherent connection between Paul and the epistles
4. Basically that you have enough Biblical and Ecclesial knowledge to translate into: 2nd Corinthians

I would guess that many folks sitting in the congregation wouldn't be able to articulate those 4 things, and why should they unless they've been taught or given the proper tools to discover it for themselves? If you haven't taken bible classes in church or in college or you haven't been raised in Sunday school where do you get to know all the fancy phrases?

My pastor calls it "church-eese" or "christian-eese" and we need to be mindful that we articulate such specialized language. The church can't be so presumptuous to just assume people either know this stuff or will have the where-with-all to go figure it out themselves.

If we don't give consideration to issues like this, we might as well give the services in Latin.

4th of July

The 4th was always one of my favorite holidays. I remember going to the gas station as a child, and getting a bottle of JOLT cola to shoot bottle rockets out of. Here in St. Louis county you can't shoot off fireworks, but at the county line on I-44 into Jefferson county it's like the Las Vegas Strip of Fireworks stands, hillarious.

So, for all who care to read, here's some 4th of July favorites:

Music-
Jimi Hendrix, Star Spangled Banner
Ray Charles, America the Beautiful
Bruce Springsteen, Born in the USA

Movies-
The Sandlot
Independance Day

Fireworks-
Smoke Bombs
The Lil' Green Tanks (my personal favorite, see above)

Food-
Brats
Homemade Ice Cream

Not-So-Favorite Things About 4th of July:

Barking Dogs
Burning your hand
The cheap wicks fireplace stands give you

So here's to a happy 4th of July to everyone, especially folks overseas who can't be with their families.

John Mayer Concert

I didn't really do this justice on the blog yet. Almost two weeks ago some friends and I saw John Mayer at Verizon Amphitheater/UMB Bank Pavilion/Riverport. It was nuts. Brett Dennen and Ben Folds opened up, who were also very good.

It's time to revisit my John Mayer theory.

I don't know how much longer he can hold up. I think Continuum is one of the best albums ever. The dude can sing, play, and write all EXTREMELY well. He could be a great solo artist just on his guitar playing alone. He's dated Jennifer Love Hewitt and the magazine covers have tagged him with Jessica Simpson.

I believe there's no way a relationship between John Mayer and any celebrity will ever last. Why? It's too much. No single man can be THAT awesome. What do you think fuels a lot of his songs? Problems with love. You can't come out with a blues album if you're dating Jessica Simpson. No one will believe you could ever be blue. The only thing that allows him to keep his street cred is the fact that he's unhappy in the love dept. So he's doomed to either keep being awesome musically or give up his material in exchange for love.

That being said, a highlight of the show was impersonating John Mayer's guitar face. You can see Jimmy Fallon's impersonation here about halfway through.

So here are me and my friends best impersonations:

The Secret

Secrets don't make friends.
Secret is a woman's deodorant.
James Taylor says "The secret of life is enjoying the passing of time".
"Gnosis" is secret knowledge.
"The Secret" makes a funny book.

From the introduction: "As you travel through its pages and you learn The Secret, you will come to know how you can have, be, or do anything you want. You will come to know who you really are. You will come to know the true magnificence that awaits you."

Well, I guess I'll just read this book, imagine myself kickin back on an island somewhere and hang out until it happens! Why didn't anyone tell me about this before!?!?!?

Oh man, this ought to be good. Lately I've been enjoying finding out "what else is out there". Right now I'm got the God Delusion and The Secret going, and earlier this year read "The End of Faith".

I'll let you guys know how "The Secret" suits me. It's going to be fun.