More talk on Public Schools

Wendi Thomas wrote a great article in yesterday's Commercial Appeal. Many Central Gardens residents are encouraging their neighbors to support Idlewild Elementary School. Here's the article.

What is the Purpose of Prayer?

Yesterday I was going through one of my journals and discovered a post from 2 ½ years ago that was at the time quite a revelation from God. The unfortunate thing is that this time it was just as much of a revelation (which means that I didn't do much about it the first time). Here's the revelation: for most of my life I have had a warped understanding of prayer. There, I said it.

I've looked at prayer primarily as a "Trust and Obey" issue. I've never really had trouble believing that God will not only take care of me, but that He knows what is best for me. I've always felt that God knows all of my needs and will continue to provide for those needs. I've believed that He will close and open doors as He sees fit, and therefore my job is just to walk. When He opens a door, I should go through it. When He closes a door, I should yield. If that is my attitude, then what is the purpose of prayer? Or better yet, why should I bother with prayer? God knows what I'm going to say, doesn't He? He's going to take care of my needs regardless, right? Efficiency is the key word here.

My revelation then, and my revelation yesterday, was that God is not very concerned with my efficiency. Prayer is not about getting things done. Prayer is about relationship. At the time I first realized this I did not have a son. I now understand this better. My relationship with Adam has nothing to do with accomplishing something. I spend time with Adam because I love him. I desire for our relationship to continue to grow and develop. Intimacy comes as the relationship deepens. The relationship between father (Robert) and son (Adam) is a picture of the relationship between Father (God) and son (Robert).

God is not too busy getting things accomplished that He can't spend time with me. Neither should I be too busy that I can't spend time with Him. It does go back to my understanding, though, because understanding and belief determines behavior. I'm happy to say that my understanding is changing, and I trust that my behavior will also begin to change.

Everyday Salvation

This morning I've been reading Grace-Based Parenting, by Tim Kimmel. Mandy stumbled onto this book about a month ago, and is about half-way through, so I decided to start it this morning. It's spurred a lot of thoughts in me, and I decided that one of them might be worth blogging about. One of the chapters is on secure love. The premise of the chapter is that we need to love our children as God loves His children.

The author tells the story of being at a hotel for breakfast one morning when he spotted a mom with an infant and a four-year old boy. The boy was excited because there was an "all you can eat" buffet. When the waitress came to take their order, the mom said that she and her husband, who was on the way down from his room, would take the buffet, but the little boy was going to have cornflakes. You can imagine that the little boy was less than thrilled by this declaration. When the dad came down, and saw his son crying, he convinced the mom that since they were on vacation, they should let him have the buffet. She reluctantly agreed.

The little boy took a little of everything, including things that he normally wouldn't have tried...but this was vacation, and this was a buffet! When he sat back down, his mother scolded him for getting so much food, or more importantly, so much unhealthy food. The author points out that at this moment the little boy's countenance fell and his joy left him.

So what does this story have to do with the title of this post, "Everyday Salvation?" As I was reading this story, I thought back to the passage that Jason taught from a couple of weeks ago. Matthew 13 is the parable of the sower. You can read it here if you'd like.

We've all been like this mom, whether it was with a child, a spouse, or a friend. We've allowed, as Jesus puts it, "the worries of this life" to choke out the word. I don't believe that Jesus was referring just to the first time we hear the gospel, or even the first time we accept the gospel and put our trust in Christ. I believe that salvation comes everyday. In other words, the seeding of the gospel into our lives takes place everyday. The question is, "What is our soil like?"

On days when I am impatient, unloving, bitter, frustrated, unpleasant (the list can go on and on) - is it because my heart (my soil) has not been in a place to receive from God?

If so, then how do I prevent that from happening tomorrow?

First, I need to be aware that God longs to have a daily, intimate relationship with me. He didn't create me, save me, and then put things on auto-pilot. His desire is to commune with me daily. His desire is to plant the seeds of the gospel into me on a daily basis. Let's remind ourselves of that truth.

Second, I need to confess my sins. I need to be in a place where I can receive everything that God has for me.

Third, I need to have faith that God can change me, that He can change my heart. I need to believe that the gospel can make me into a different person - a more loving person, a more patient person, a person with self-control (for the rest of this list, read this passage).

Here’s the good news in all of this. When the gospel finds good soil, it produces a crop, up to 100 times what was sown.

A Year of Eating Locally

I just read this article from Salon. It's an interview with Barbara Kingsolver, author of The Poisonwood Bible. She and her family spent a year living on a farm in Virginia. More specifically, they spent a year living off of the farm. Her newest book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life is one of the results of that experience.

Here's a great quote: "If we can't, as artists, improve on real life, we should put down our pencils and go bake bread."

Here's another one:
When told that the book was funny, she replied, "Hooray, that's my goal: to write pages a reader will want to keep turning. I'm a storyteller, not a minister."

Whoa. Settle down Barbara.

One final quote. This one's really good, and it's the primary reason I wanted to post this...

Food is the one consumer choice we have to make every day. We can use that buying power in a transaction that burns excessive fossil fuels, erodes topsoil, supports multinationals that pay their workers just a few bucks a day -- or the same money could strengthen neighborhood food economies, keep green spaces alive around our towns, and compensate farmers for applying humane values. Every purchase weighs in on one side or the other. It just isn't possible to opt out. Otherwise, if you're going to eat food, you belong to some kind of food chain. The goal of this book is to reveal that truth.


Read the entire article here.

The Patience of Faith

One of my favorite books is My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers. This is yesterday's reading. If you're looking for a daily devotional, and have never read this, I encourage you to check it out. You can find it online here.

Patience is more than endurance. A saint's life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says - "I cannot stand any more." God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God's hands. For what have you need of patience just now? Maintain your relationship to Jesus Christ by the patience of faith. "Though He slay me, yet will I wait for Him."

Faith is not a pathetic sentiment, but robust vigorous confidence built on the fact that God is holy love. You cannot see Him just now, you cannot understand what He is doing, but you know Him. Shipwreck occurs where there is not that mental poise which comes from being established on the eternal truth that God is holy love. Faith is the heroic effort of your life, you fling yourself in reckless confidence on God.

God has ventured all in Jesus Christ to save us, now He wants us to venture our all in abandoned confidence in Him. There are spots where that faith has not worked in us as yet, places untouched by the life of God. There were none of those spots in Jesus Christ's life, and there are to be none in ours. "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee." The real meaning of eternal life is a life that can face anything it has to face without wavering. If we take this view, life becomes one great romance, a glorious opportunity for seeing marvellous things all the time. God is disciplining us to get us into this central place of power.

As I was reading this I thought about a comment I heard from Tim Keller. He said that many times we feel that God has no right to stretch us like this. He believes this is due to a warped view of grace. If we feel that in some small we are accepted by God (that we are saved) by our good works, then there is a limit on how much God can ask of us, how much God can stretch us. However, if our acceptance comes totally and completely through God's grace, then there is no limit on what He asks of us.

This is no doubt a little scary, but it can also be freeing, especially when we begin to understand that God's working in our lives, even when it is so difficult, is the best thing for us.

Substantially United

By Julian of Norwich

God showed me something small, no bigger than a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed to me, and it was as round as a ball. I looked at it with the eye of my understanding and thought: What can this be? I was amazed that it could last, for I thought that because of its littleness it would suddenly have fallen into nothing. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts and always will, because God loves it: and thus everything has being through the love of God.

In this little thing I saw three properties. The first is that God made it, the second is that God loves it, the third is that God preserves it. But what did I see in it? It is that God is the Creator and the protector and the lover. For until I am substantially united to God, I can never have perfect rest or true happiness, until, that is, I am so attached to God that there can be no created thing between my God and me.

Source: Revelations of Divine Love

Photos from Q

I forgot to bring our camera to Q last week. Turns out that was ok. My pictures wouldn't have turned out near as well as these.

How do you best connect with God

Here is the link to the Spiritual Pathways Assessment.

The Relationship Between Music and Worship

Worship is much more than singing. So often we associate music with worship, and, therefore, if we don't sing, or if we don't connect with God through music like some people do, we feel a little inferior. Are we missing something? My hope for this Sunday evening is that we leave understanding a little more about what worship truly is.

Saying all that...today I read this post about singing. I agree with the author that there is something about a community gathering to sing praises and adoration to God, our Creator and Father, and to Jesus, our Savior and King. It's a good read.

One Thing God Never Promised

As I have followed the news about the happenings to the people of Virginia Tech I have had a few thoughts, though minuscule, surface. Within 12 hours of the evil and dastardly acts of the student gunman several university campuses across the country held candlelight vigils. A basketball arena at Virginia Tech was at max capacity as Dr. Giovanni, a former English Professor there who had previously confronted the depraved and unsafe behavior of the murderer, brought the mourners to their feet with her stirring statements--speaking truth poetically into the situation.

During the year prior to and following the attacks on September 11th, 2001, I worked for a hotel situated on the water just north of San Francisco and Sausalito. September is the perfect time of year to visit and sightsee there. Our hotel was packed. I was off that day but went there because we didn't have a television at the time. As I entered our office the staff huddled together in talk. I went out to watch television in the lobby and the lobby was packed, virtually by everyone in the hotel, who, by the way, had fully functioning televisions in their rooms. Families ate breakfast together and talked with their new neighbors from all over the US. One client looked at me in bewilderment after the first tower fell and said, "My apartment is five blocks from there." He was a frequent face at the front desk throughout his stay--just talking. Our lobby was rarely full--people come, eat, and go. Today they lingered. We extended our breakfast hours and our attention to the holistic needs of the people.

There is something movingly profound about being present with others during tragedy. We don't want to be alone. We gain strength from being with another and another truly being with us. If someone dies we don't stay home. We congregate at the funeral home. If someone is hurt we don't stay home. We meet them at the hospital. When a child gets injured the child doesn't go the backyard to be alone. The child runs to find the parents for consolation.

God never said that life would be fair. I have often argued with God, even have sworn at him because of the hardness of grief and the mystery of his choices. He has answered in part and over time. But one thing I am learning is that He said that when life was unfair, terrifying and dangerous we would not have to be alone; he would be with us. Jesus' name, remember, is "Emmanuel," which means "God with Us."

Psalm 23 speaks to this: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow I'll fear no evil."

Why will I not fear? There is so much in life that strikes terror. Evil is frightening and makes me question the goodness, sovereignty and smartness of God. Why would I not fear?

"Because you are with me."

How fantastic is that?! That is the promise--not the void of grievous circumstances but the presence of God when times are dark.

God does not promise us that hardships will not befall us. He didn't spare his own son suffering but offered him up as an atoning sacrifice. He promises to walk right there with us deep in the valley where little sunlight gets in. He enters the arena of suffering and sets things in perspective, beautifully speaking wisdom into our situation.

Church & Culture Pt. 5

"How is Christianity to be distinctive in a culture where everyone assumes themselves to be Christian?"

This is a very important question for us. I wasn't faced with this question near as much in the bay area as I have been here. I'm discovering that even in our neighborhood, this question has to be asked.

The following are excerpts from a post I read this morning that deals with this question.

This was the context in which I grew up. To put it charitably, most folks in my home town thought of themselves as Christians. Some evidently were by their profession and their lives. Some, no doubt, were not. But, most people didn't condemn themselves or think so poorly of themselves to self-identify as "practical atheist" or "unbeliever." Even the poolhall hustlers and the alcoholics claimed they knew God, "always said their prayers," and the "God knows their heart."

Many assumed the label "Christian" because they were certainly not practitioners of any other religion. They were not, for example, muslims. In fact, until I returned home during my sophomore year in college as a professing muslim, very few people had ever seen a muslim. No, everyone at least believed in some way, and that made most everyone "Christian" since that was either a family or community legacy bequeathed to all. Nominalism.

The more I think about the situation, the clearer it is to me that in trying to reflect genuine Christian distinctiveness in a nominal Christian culture definitions are critical. The root problem might be described as a failure to define "Christian" and Christianity in terms that bring into sharper contrast regenerate and unregenerate life, in terms that stress spiritual conversion, faith, grace, love and hope over and against moralism, patriotism, and spiritual relativism.

Insights on Worship

Greg Laurie writes on worship in today's Harvest Devotional:

A number of words in the Bible are translated "worship." The one used the most often means "to bow down and do homage." Another biblical word for worship means "to kiss toward." Put the two words together, and you will have a good idea of what real worship is. We worship God because He is worthy. In doing so, we bow down and pay homage to Him. That speaks of reverence and respect for God. But we also "kiss toward" Him, which speaks of tenderness and intimacy.

Worship

I have been studying on the topic of worship for this Sunday evening. This morning Mandy came into my office and told me that I needed to see what Adam was doing. As I walked into the kitchen I heard our Hillsong United CD playing. Adam, dressed in only a diaper, was walking around his room waving a Memphis Grizzlies Flag. It reminded me of the story of David dancing before the Lord (2 Samuel 6). What a great picture of worship!

Things Break

By Tobin Marsh

This side of the resurrection
In the brokenness, defeat and sorrow
Is where lie all the deep lessons of my life.

Nothing wants to be broken,
And yet everything must be broken.
To never break is to lie stagnant and eventually die.

Things break.

I break now and again.
Picking up the pieces can be an act
Of profound faith.

Source: Servant Stories

Church & Culture Pt. 4

I'm learning more and more about the church's role in shaping culture. Mark Batterson, a pastor in Washington, DC, has a good post on this subject. He gives four ways that the church engages culture.

1. Ignore it
   The more we ignore culture the more irrelevant we’ll become. And if the church ignores the culture, the culture will ignore the church.
2. Imitate it
   We can imitate culture, but imitation is a form of suicide. Originality is sacrificed on the altar of cultural conformity. If we don’t shape the culture, the culture will shape us.
3. Condemn it
   We’ve got to stop pointing the finger and start offering better alternatives. If the church condemns the culture, the culture will condemn the church.
4. Create it
   We can compete for culture by creating culture. In the immortal words of the Italian artist and poet, Michelangelo: criticize by creating. At the end of the day, the culture will treat the church the way the church treats the culture.

We've all seen these first three ways of engagement, and have come away wanting something more, something different. You can read his entire post here.

Jim Collins on the Best Advice He Ever Received

I read this article last week, and have been thinking about it ever since. Jim Collins, author of Built to Last and Good to Great, shares about a conversation he had with Peter Drucker shortly after Built to Last came out. Here are a couple of excerpts from the article:

“The huge thing he said to me was, ‘Do you want to build ideas to last, or do you want to build an organization to last?’

“I said I wanted to build ideas to last.

“He said, ‘Then you must not build an organization.’

“His point was, the moment you have an organization, you have a beast to feed–this army of people. If you ever start developing ideas to feed the beast rather than having ideas that the beast feeds, your influence will go down, even if your commercial success goes up. Because there’s a huge difference between teaching an idea and selling an idea. In the end, what are you in a battle for? You’re battling to influence the thinking of powerful, discerning people. If you ever abuse that trust, you can lose them. So the moment that arrow changes direction, you’re dead.

“He said something else important: ‘The real discipline comes in saying no to the wrong opportunities.’ Growth is easy. Saying no is hard.

Prayers for Virginia Tech

What can one say? Thirty-three people lost their lives for a reason unknown.

I saw the headlines yesterday but just couldn't summon the courage to enter into that pain. I wanted to do it justice and have it be more than just information. I think we suffer from info-glut. This situation calls for empathy and compassion and not just more facts, at least where I sit. God help them.

To hear the first hand accounts of students, twenty-year-olds, jumping out of windows because the gunmen had just entered their classroom, it is too much. The professor of the German class who stayed as his students jumped out of the windows in order to give them more time to escape. The unknowing dormitory dwellers who never woke up. The parents who still do not know if their child is alive or dead. The parents who do know. God help them.

A professor in college, Dr. Bain, repeatedly told us, "Sin fragments. Grace and forgiveness brings us back together. Knowing God's profound love and allowing him to love us brings us wholeness." It is evident this is sin for it has torn families apart. It dis-integrates. This is not God's creation intentions. This is not his plans for us. This is not the kingdom to come.

Help us see, God, that Christ on the cross is the hope of the world and that we, your sinful, broken-but-forgiven people, are the ones who deliver it. Please help us enter into the dark, messy gruesomeness of our own souls so that we might find the courage of forgiveness and the power of redemption as you meet us there. Please pour out grace, mercy, and healing tears as these families offer you their lamentations. We pray that their tears would be healing, their grief not disappointed, and their friendships unbroken. Amen.

Thanks for letting me be in this church

So, I must say that being a dad borders the joy of that first Christmas, not the very first one, the first and best one you can remember. And I must also add that we are surrounded by such great, generous people in Cooper Young. On Sunday afternoon the door bell rang and on the front porch was standing a person we had met once holding within her hand the goodness that is Southern comfort. No, not whiskey, though our church did have a talk about alcohol (see post below). I mean chicken. But the point is that this person has probably spent less than 2 hours with me. We met them at the Easter Egg Hunt just the weekend prior. Life is amazing sometimes.

Last night friends brought over fish tacos from Cafe Ole. This coming Wednesday night friends are coming over and are bringing their grill and are going to cook turkey burgers, aka turkburgs. We are overwhelmed with kindness and generosity. Not to mention the baby showers at Robert and Mandy's, my Mom's, and the virtual baby shower that our friends participated in through the work of Mandy.

I grew up in a church that often sang a hymn entitled "Count Your Blessings." Count your many blessings and see what God has done. He has done immeasurably more than I could hope or dream. Thanks to all, especially this great church I get to be a part of!

Alcohol & the Bible

Last night our church had a great discussion on what the Bible has to say about alcohol. For those of you who want to read more, I'm posting links to some of the papers and articles I've read over the past few weeks.

Alcohol, Abstention & Redemption

Alcohol, Acts 29, & the SBC

Beer and the Bible

Christianity & Alcohol (wikipedia)

Christians & Alcohol - Four Myths (pdf link)

Good Wine and Glad Hearts

Link to Southern Seminary's audio on this (along with some commentary)

SBC Resolution on Alcohol

The Bible and Intoxicating Beverages

Wine in the Bible

What Does the Bible Say about Alcohol - A Systematic Study

New friends

This weekend we got to spend a little time with Lindsay's church planting friends from Vancouver, Kyle and Anna Martin. Here's a link to the new church they've started.

Easter Egg Hunt

Our first annual Easter Egg Hunt turned out to be a success, despite having to move it to our house because of the cold weather. We had around 30 people, including some new neighbors who we had not met yet. We had the actual hunt outside, but everything else was inside. We had games, food, lots of eggs, and even a surprise visit from the Easter Bunny!

Not a Chance Event

By John Howard Yoder

The cross of Christ was not an inexplicable or chance event, which happened to strike him, like illness or accident. To accept the cross as his destiny, to move toward it and even to provoke it, when he could well have done otherwise, was Jesus' constantly reiterated free choice; and he warns his disciples lest their embarking on the same path be less conscious of its costs.

Source: The Politics of Jesus

More on Global Warming

Here are some recent links on the issue of the church's role in global warming...

Jerry Falwell's sermon, "The Myth of Global Warming"

James Dobson calls for Richard Cizik to resign as vice-president of the National Association of Evangelicals


I read this and shudder. There's a part of me that just wants to ignore these guys and hope they go away. On the other hand, though, I do believe that this is an issue that the church needs to be informed on.

If you're interested, you can read an earlier post on Cizik from a Fast Company article.

The role of prayer in our church

This past Sunday night Jason taught from 2 Corinthians 3 & 4. It seemed to me that the crux of the passage, and the evening, came with verse 4 of chapter 4: “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” I think that God wanted us to camp out on that verse for a little while. Do we believe this verse? If so, what do we do?

First and foremost, it heightens our awareness that we are totally and completely dependent on God for salvation. Verse 14 of chapter 3 says that only Christ can remove the veil. There was a sudden realization within our group that we don't really pray, or at least we don't pray as we should. How desperate are we to see the veil lifted so that our friends can see "the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ?" The good news is that God wants this desire to grow in us. I thank God for reminding us of this.

The second thing I came away with was that though darkness is all around us, God has created us to be light in the darkness: "For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ". A room can be completely dark, but one small light can penetrate this darkness. This again is God's grace. We may not be much, but we are light. We may not be many, but we are light.

In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus said, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."


If you want to read more on this passage, here is a great sermon by John Piper called "What Makes the Good News Good?"

Marks of a Missional Church

This guy is a prof at Fuller Seminary. This appeared in his blog over a year ago, but I just now stumbled upon it this morning (at about 4:30 - I couldn't sleep!)

1. What are the marks of churches (people) who live missionally?
They no longer see the church service as the primary connecting point with those outside the community. Connecting with those outside happens within the culture, by insiders to that culture who express the gospel through how they live.

If that question and response got you thinking, check out the rest of the post.

Omni-Gracious

The Bible says that God is omni-present, that is to say, that God is everywhere at once. This to me is astounding in and of itself, but when I think about the graciousness of God it makes it even more so. For if God is gracious and God is omni-present then that means that God is with us not matter the circumstances. God is with us when we worship, when we work, when we need consoling, when we need encouragement or even when we do wrong. God is there, waiting, patiently waiting.

That is not to say that God is not disturbed by our wrong doing. The Bible clearly states that our wrong doing, our sin interrupts our relationship with him. Just as I can't be with my wife in the closest sense relationally and at the same time be rude, arrogant or condescending to her, so it is with our relationship with God. But God doesn't walk away. He doesn't hide. We do that. We do that just like Adam and Eve did. We are afraid of someone knowing us completely, sin/warts and all. We hide out of fear, shame and/or guilt. Yet God habitually comes to Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening, even after he knows they have sinned, to converse with them.

Could it be that we could actually take such a risk and be known, utterly known by someone, even God, and still not be weighed down by guilt? But we put on the veil and mask ourselves. We maintain the veil that separates us from God like the Old Testament picture of the Temple, that gigantic curtain separating us from the holiest of places? Interesting that at the substitutionary, atoning, reconciling death of Jesus, Scripture states that the curtain was ripped from top to bottom to signify that God himself was stepping out from the veil to be with us. Hebrews says that we have an anchor behind the veil/curtain and that it is Jesus. No hands are big enough to remove that curtain except the benevolent hands of God. God wants to be known. He is in his nature one who reveals. The Apostle Paul calls Jesus the "mustarion," the "open secret." And God wants to know us.

That's so profound. Some people want to be free. Some want to be known. I think that all want to be both to some degree--to be known and free. That to me is the beauty of it: it can be, it should be, it is.

The Guts and the Gutters

By Edwina Gateley

We cannot know the God of the guts and the gutters unless we have traveled deep enough within ourselves to touch and experience our own guts - where God lives, and unless we have reached out far enough beyond ourselves to smell and sit in the gutters - where God squats.

Source: I Hear a Seed Growing

The Ballad of Big Mike

This week a few of us have been talking about the state of public schools here in Memphis. Yesterday I started reading (listening to, actually) a book by Michael Lewis called The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. It's about a kid from Memphis who goes from living in Hurt Village (what is now a part of Uptown) to attending Briarcrest Christian School and playing football. He's now a sophomore at Mississippi State University, and will no doubt be a top pick in two years.

I think this book is going to shed some light on the whole private school/public school debate, at least for me. The NY Times published an excerpt of the book. Click on the title of this post for the link.

Where's Amazing Grace?

Recently, a church minister was found to be human. Consequently, he was fired. Well, that's not entirely true. He quit before they could hang his dirty laundry out to dry in the town square. The head pastor gave some hope to the situation by saying that the church would pay the minister through May. This would give him some time to find another job. Last wednesday, the church voted to stop paying him.

You see, the church ran out of grace. They were taken aback a few months ago when they found out the financial secretary had stole about a quarter of a million dollars from the church. The church, after months of investigation, decided to let the secretary pay back the amount over the same period of time she had been stealing it. They showed her grace by never going to court with this crime.

So where's the amazing grace? It was used up over the last few months.

You ask why I mention this? Because I'm the daughter of the minister I just told about. These are the things I think of when I hear the word "church"--Scandal, lack of grace, witch hunts, gossip and a standard that I could never meet even though I sold my life to it.

My story is just one of the many you'll find in Cooper-Young. Most people are recovering from church. Some have given up completely.

Growing up, I committed myself to meeting the standard that religion puts on us. I felt pressure to uphold the image of a leader--stronger than most and godly, good, christian. It wasn't until about two years ago that I gave up trying to uphold some type of image. The truth is I'm human. I'm just like you. Some days I win battles. Some days I lose them all in shame. My songs speak of wanting to be free. I'm not beyond the law that God gave us to follow, but I am somehow forgiven by grace.

So before we all go any further, I just want to say that I'm a mess. Get up in my business if you have to. Don't let me pretend to be more than I am. That's what community is to me. That's what church maybe should be.

I might go back to harlotry with that scar deep inside of me.
I've got something that's in me and I want to be free.
There's not a place where you can escape.
There's not a person who will fill the space.
Running, Screaming, Crying out in emptiness,
Don't leave me.
Don't leave me.
Don't leave me
All alone.
Run with him into the sea.
The water's deep but so is he.
Look to him for all you need.
Breathe in deep.
You'll never find until you seek.
He waits for you patiently.
Run to him recklessly.
I want to be free!

A Gospel that Produces Holiness

By Theodore Jennings, Jr.

If the gospel is about transformation, how is it that two thousand years of proclamation have had so little effect? How is it that the gospel of Jesus Christ, so far from producing radical change, has instead become a cloak for avarice and arrogance, for a willful deafness to the cry of the poor and of the earth itself? … It is only possible to speak of the gospel as a source for a remedy of the planetary crisis that we face if we are talking about a gospel that makes possible, indeed requires and in fact produces, a radical and visible transformation in all dimensions of life. Only a gospel that produces holiness, scriptural holiness, can transform the economy of death - or rather, abolish it and give in its place something that can really be “good news to the poor.”

Source: Good News to the Poor

A great example of the outward journey

The cover story of today's Commercial Appeal is on Brinkley Heights Baptist Church, a church that is reaching their community by starting with children. After a three-year old girl named Jessica was killed in 2002, Pastor Tim Cox decided that he had to give his life to fighting for these children. In 2004 the Brinkley Heights Urban Academy was opened. They now have 55 students, ages three through the second grade. My mother has been teaching music at the academy for the last two years.

Here's the entire article.

Memphis Mentoring Programs

Carmen mentioned the following links the other day.

The Amachi Mentoring Program

Big Brothers/Big Sisters

Converted Everyday

By Anonymous

Be converted to love every day.
Change all your energies,
all your potential,
into selfless gifts for the other person.
Then you yourself will be changed from within
and through you
God’s kingdom will break into the world.

Source: Rule for a New Brother

Some tips on having a quiet time

I ran across this blog this morning. In four previous posts, the author talks about the what and the why of a quiet time, and in this post discusses the how. This is a great help for anyone who has struggled with setting aside a portion of each day to spend time with God. Here are some excerpts, as well as the link.

The essential elements of the quiet time are prayer to God and meditation on Scripture and this can take a number of different forms. After talking about what it is and why it is important I thought I would give some practical advice for those who want to start or reboot their quiet time.

While there are some exceptions to the rule, I am convinced that it works best for most people to set aside a particular time each day for private worship. So pick a time: in the morning before work, at work on your lunch break, or before you go to bed in the evening. These quiet times of worship before the face of God are an essential element to your spiritual health. Consider that time sacred. Guard it. Look forward to it for what it is - you are meeting with God!

People sometimes set good, if big, goals for themselves when beginning or restarting this discipline. Unfortunately, instead of building up to those goals they attempt to immediately master it all. My advice is, if you have been disengaged in this discipline for a while, start small. Pick an epistle, commit yourself to reading one paragraph a day, write down any thoughts you have on that passage. Pray for God’s blessing, provision, guidance, etc (more on prayer in a minute). This may wind up only being 10 to 15 minutes in length, but that’s fine. The important thing is to get this discipline going in your life. I have found that once you start it, it is easy to cultivate it and see it grow.

Rich-poor gap keeps widening

This article was in the Commercial Appeal on Monday. Here's an excerpt:

A McClatchy Newspapers analysis of 2005 census figures, the latest available, found that nearly 16 million Americans are living in deep or severe poverty. A family of four with two children and an annual income of less than $9,903 -- half the federal poverty line -- was considered severely poor in 2005. So were individuals who made less than $5,080 a year.

The McClatchy analysis found that the number of severely poor Americans grew by 26 percent from 2000 to 2005. That's 56 percent faster than the overall poverty population grew in the same period. McClatchy's review also found statistically significant increases in the percentage of the population in severe poverty in 65 of 215 large U.S. counties, and similar increases in 28 states. The review also suggested that the rise in severely poor residents isn't confined to large urban counties but extends to suburban and rural areas.

About one in three severely poor people are under age 17, and nearly two out of three are female. Female-headed families with children account for a large share of the severely poor.

According to census data, nearly two of three people in severe poverty are white (10.3 million) and 6.9 million are non-Hispanic whites. Severely poor blacks (4.3 million) are more than three times as likely as non-Hispanic whites to be in deep poverty, while extremely poor Hispanics of any race (3.7 million) are more than twice as likely.

An Evite with a Purpose

I'd like to invite you to consider this: 200 years ago this month slavery was abolished in Great Britain through the work and prayers of many, not the least, William Wilberforce. Sadly, it was too many years before abolition occurred in our beloved country. And believe it or not, it was relatively recent, that suffrage was given to African Americans, people loved, gifted, and created by God: people for whom Jesus died.

Yet, even today there are 27 million slaves in the world. I heard a statistic recently that says that around 10,000 people are brought into the United States as sex-workers. Women and young girls forced to sell themselves or be faced with severe bodily harm.

What I'd like to ask you to do is check this out( place your cursor over the link and CTRL + Click, if it doesn't automatically). Pray for and consider supporting this effort. The movie, Amazing Grace, which is about the tenacious efforts of William Wilberforce to cultivate a conscience within his people to such heinous treatment of others. We were invited to an early screening of the movie and I am still profoundly moved at its staggering truth and even more staggering implications for today. May God grant us such leaders for today.

Persecution

Open Doors has compiled a list of 2007’s 50 worst countries for Christian persecution. Those considered to have severe limitations or worse are:

1. North Korea :: severe persecution
2. Saudi Arabia :: oppression
3. Iran :: oppression
4. Somalia :: oppression
5. Maldives :: oppression
6. Yemen :: oppression
7. Bhutan :: oppression
8. Vietnam :: oppression
9. Laos :: severe limitations
10. Afghanistan :: severe limitations
11. Uzbekistan :: severe limitations
12. China :: severe limitations
13. Eritrea :: severe limitations
14. Turkmenistan :: severe limitations
15. Comoros :: severe limitations
16. Chechnya :: severe limitations
17. Pakistan :: severe limitations
18. Egypt :: severe limitations
19. Myanmar (Burma) :: severe limitations
20. Sudan (North) :: severe limitations
21. Iraq :: severe limitations
22. Azerbaijan :: severe limitations
23. Brunei :: severe limitations
24. Cuba :: severe limitations

Ash Wednesday

Llast week I was looking through the Book of Common Prayer, which is jam-packed with truth, and I read the Ash Wednesday liturgy. Please indulge me as I write this extensive quote, which I think is a reminder and a call for all Christians. Let's see . . .

"After the sermon, all stand, and the Celebrant or Minister appointed invites teh people to the observance of a holy Lent, saying, 'Dear people of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

"I invite you, therefore, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer."

The minister then places ash in the form of a cross on the foreheads of those present reminding the people that we are mortals who will die, but that God is enduring and through Jesus Christ we can have life eternal.

I think the author and pastor, Randy Alcorn, had it correct when he wrote about the need for truth and grace. One without the other leads to a mess. Truth without grace leads to legalism. Grace without truth leads to license. We need both. I need both. I need to exhibit and freely give and receive both. It worries me sometimes the impressions people get of Christians and it worries me more the impressions that Christians give. I simply believe that when we get a grasp upon how broken we are and how devastatingly in need we are of Grace, then we are able to be useful truth givers. I think then we really begin to understand the need for and the significance of Jesus on the Cross, Jesus in the ground, Jesus resurrected.

Articles worth reading

Over the last few weeks I've come across a couple of really good articles that I thought were worth linking to.

Living a Transformed Life Adequate to Our Calling, by Dallas Willard.
I was first exposed to Dallas Willard's writing about eight years ago. He's never been easy for me to understand (he teaches philosophy at USC). Still, I've attempted to read his books, and in doing so have been shaped by them. This is a 24-page article that seems to be his attempt at summarizing his previous works. If you've ever wanted to know more about the Kingdom of God, discipleship, or spiritual formation, this may be worth spending some time on.

We Aren't About Weekends, The Christian Vision Project's interview with Bob Roberts
Bob Roberts is the pastor at Northwood Church in Keller, TX. This church seems to truly understand why they exist. Roberts give a great explanation not only on the role of the church and its members, but also on the tasks of transformation and shaping culture.

The Will of God

Of the many theological topics that interest me, high on the list is Discerning the Will of God. This started several years ago and has continued to grow. I love it because periodically I am able to sit down with friends and discuss it--not in theory but in practice. I have been with friends who were in this grueling process of trying to ascertain the will of God. It is challenging, enlightening, and absolutely invigorating to see how the Spirit of God is active in someone's life, even if they themselves do not see it. They don't see it because it is similar to the fog of war--you are so involved in the process that you no longer see objectively. I could go on and on.

This week I read an excellent treatment of a particular type of prayer, The Prayer of Relinquishment. I am reading through Richard Foster's book, Prayer, and it has truly taken me to some depths that I have not experienced in years. Truly, my readings, my conversations and other studies have been triangulated it seems, and The Prayer of Relinquishment spoke to me greatly. This topic is very complete, but let me try to explain just a piece of it.

The Prayer of Relinquishment is when we completely lay down our human will and say to God, "Not my will be done, but your will be done." However, if you are like me, there are about a 1,000 miles and 4,000 steps in the process of getting to that point of relinquishment. There are simply times in our lives where we sense that our will and the will of God are not in alignment. He is up to something. We sense it. We feel it in our soul. Sometimes this might be because of sin and then the answer is clear. However, there are times where we come to a cross roads and have to make a decision that not only impacts one little area of our life, but may in fact affect the entirety of the rest of our life. During this time we begin to seek God. We begin to ask questions, pray, and beg him to show us what to do. And, if you are like me, at times those prayers are selfish and manipulative and it seems like God simply doesn't answer as clearly as we would like. We don't necessarily despise the process because at least we are engaged with God in a dialogue, which is much better than feeling isolated and abandoned.

Have you ever gotten the impression that some people just know the will of God? They don't struggle and they seem to hear from God like he has their cell phone number and simply sends them a text message? Well, Abraham, Moses, David, Mary, Paul and, not the least, Jesus all struggled in prayer over the will of God for their life. Abraham struggled to give back to God his son, who was actually an answered prayer! Moses struggled over how God would choose to use him as a leader. David struggled as his infant son was dying. Mary, the Lord's mother, struggled to comprehend what the news meant as the angel gave her the news of who was inside her womb. Paul struggled with the thorn in the flesh. And then there is Jesus, who in the Garden of Gethsemane, was growing weary with the will of his Father: is this the only way? can't this be accomplish through another means?

[Short disclaimer: this is not to say that God always asks us to do things that we hate, late or don't want to do. I have many friends who absolutely wanted to live and work in a certain place and God obliged. ]

Jesus put into words what we each feel when life's decisions are difficult--let this cup pass. Surely this can't be the way you have chosen! You've got to be kidding! God would never ask that of me, would he? The blood-like sweat dropped to the ground, showing us that he was working hard to understand, to comprehend the mysterious ways of God. He wrestled, much like Jacob. Jacob had his hip torn; Jesus had his life taken.

It is okay to struggle. Relinquishment is not resignation--it is proactive, not passive. It is not simply letting go and saying, "God is sovereign; he'll work it out. He'll do it all." That is fatalistic. Relinquishment is letting go with hope. And it is not the obliteration of the will either. It is crucifying it with Jesus so that you may live a life of obedience to God just like Jesus did.

But there comes a time when we must Relinquish. This was true with Jesus and is no different with us, "Not my will but yours be done" (Luke 22:39-46). For your benefit and mine, I will give an extended quote from Foster. He writes, " We do well to meditate often on this unparalleled expression of relinquishment. . .here we have the incarnate Son praying through his tears and not receiving what he asks. Jesus knew the burden of unanswered prayer. He really did want the cup to pass, and he asked that it would pass. 'If you are willing' was his questioning, his wondering. The Father's will was not yet absolutely clear to him. 'Is there any other way?' 'Can people be redeemed by some different means?' The answer--no! Andrew Murray writes, 'For our sins, He suffered beneath the burden of that unanswered prayer.'"

I am extremely challenged by this message and the example of Jesus. I have seen this truth in my life. For many years the will of God was presented by some in a way that disheartened me, thinking that everyone should "hear from God" so clearly and easily as they. But that is not my experience and perhaps it is not yours either. But how many times have I cried out to God and said, "I don't like your will! Why must you chose that hard way? This is much easier! This is what I think is right and good!" And yet he graciously waits patiently for me, for all of us, to come to the Garden and sit alongside Jesus and pray as he did, "Not my will but your will."

Scientists issue new statement on global warming

Some excerpts...

"The observed widespread warming of the atmosphere and ocean, together with ice-mass loss, support the conclusion that it is extremely unlikely that global climate change of the past 50 years can be explained without external forcing, and very likely that is not due to known natural causes alone," said the 20-page report.

The phrase "very likely" translates to a more than 90 percent certainty that global warming is caused by man.


Here's the entire article.

is any one out there... an intro from lindsay

hey peeps. this is lindsay... the newest postee for mustard seed. i don't really have anything to say about myself as far as intros go, but... i thought that i would tell a recent story.

i was talking to this guy at the coffee shop (i'm a barista) the other day, and we started to get into the subject of me and christianity. he has been helping me scope out and plan out a way for me to get into the music scene here in memphis. a couple of weeks ago he recorded me at a live show. he spent several hours listening to the music and mastering it (making it sound cd quality and worthy of selling). after two failed attempts he finally decided that he had figure out what my songs were talking about. "You're not disturbed," he said, "You're convicted!" quite proud of his mystery being solved he set out to talk to some of his connections that might get me into the scene in the christian world. Last night he came back with a list of places and people that he had researched who were a part of the christian music scene in memphis.

i gratefully wrote down every word and thanked him for the information. however, all these names were of places and people that i know of and have tried to stay away from. he was confused as to why i would stay away from trying to make it big in the christian world. he told me that i would have to change the topics of my songs if i were to try to invade the "secular" world. yes, that was his word--"secular". i told him that it doesn't make sense to stop writing songs about god in my life and the journey of faith and conviction that i've been walking so that my music would seem secular. why separate myself--"us" and "them"? i am a secular person. there is nothing sacred about me and the songs that i write are songs that come from my life and my experiences.

somehow, the sacred god of us all has shown this secular creation, me, kindness, love, mercy and peace. the songs i sing are a story of this relationship between the sacred and the secular. until i become sacred, i'm going to stick to singing about my life as it is... broken, messy, imperfect, secular... but hopeful of the sacred.

Retreat this weekend

Tomorrow Jason, Barb, Mandy and I are heading to the Tennessee River for our first of hopefully many annual retreats. First of all, thanks to Charles and Pat Ennis for the use of their new "river" house. Our first of five interest meetings starts January 21, so this will be a great time for us to get ready for that. It's also going to give us an opportunity to reflect on this year, and to give thanks to God for all He's done.

John Piper at Passion

Here's the transcript from one of John Piper's talks at Passion last week. The message was titled "How to Deal with the Guilt of Sexual Failure for the Glory of Christ and His Global Cause."

Taking the Wheel

Several weeks ago Barb and Mandy decided that they would spend this past weekend at a spiritual retreat in west Arkansas, which turned out to be a great experience for them both. Since I don't want to be home alone I decided that I would drive down Highway 61, which I would catch here in Memphis and take to Natchez or Vicksburg, hitting some major Delta Blues territory. I was planning on spending some time with strangers or in a very cheap motel, thinking about the next 12 months, setting goals, and praying. However, a few weeks ago I caught up with a friend via email and decided to head east.

I found myself just north of Chattanooga, spending time with 2 friends I haven't seen in about 5 years. These friends are the type where you always leave better than you did before, although that might mean you are challenged at some very deep level, though unknown to them. These are friends who have sold their house, gotten out of consumer debt, have given an enormous amount of stuff away and are seeking to move to Asia to share the love of God with people who haven't even heard the word, "Bible, Jesus, or Crispy Cream." Well, I just made up that last bit about Crispy Cream, but to them, seriously, "Jesus," makes just about as much sense. He is not even on the radar.

Several years ago I did summer missions in Vancouver, BC, an experience that really formed, in part, who I am. As I was working under one of the best pastors in Western Canada I just listened to him talk about his friends all over the world who were serving Jesus in thoughtful, genuine, and gracious ways. Deep inside I wanted that. I wanted to have friends all over the world who were serving God faithfully and sacrificially for multiple reasons, most of which are selfish. I wanted to have a global perspective with my faith. I wanted my experience and knowledge to include other nationalities. And later on, which was also rekindled this past weekend, I wanted a heart for the unreached people groups around the world. Believe it or not, there are people groups who do not have a Bible in their own language, who do not have access to the gospel, and who do not know even the word, "Jesus." Think about it: they have neither heard nor said that two syllable utterance Je-sus. And what's really troubling--even if they wanted to know about Jesus they have no way to know. Jackie Pullinger, who worked with drug addicts in Hong Kong, said it best, "They are not going to come here (the church) to hear. We must go to them."

So, I am troubled today. Here I sit in a safe house, living a safe life, in a relatively safe city with all of this going on in my heart, hoping to start a church. Is is possible for God to grow a church here that would have a heart and soul for the nations? Who would seek out God's glory in sacrificial ways? There must be. There has to be hope.

On Sunday I worshiped with my friends and we read this quote by David Brainerd, missionary to the New England Indians 250 years ago. [He subsequently died through his service to the Indians. Many forget that while some were formulating how to take more land, some were crossing cultures to serve and love]. He prayed once, "Lord, let me make a difference for you that is utterly disproportionate to who I am."

So my plan was to go it alone--to ride and enjoy music and downloaded speeches, to see the scenery and think of me and my goals. And then God took the wheel and steered me in a completely different direction. I pray that in the future I will willingly give him the wheel in all spheres of my life.