Like a fire

Theology vs. Listening - Church

Talking to people about this idea that theology is people who don’t hear God, I have heard many people say that the church wouldn’t be necessary. I wonder at that. I think the church would be just as necessary as it is today, maybe even more.

Hearing comes from the word
Church would look a lot different if this were true. Instead of being universities that taught theology, the church would be a place that listened together to what God is saying and what he is doing in each of our lives. Worship would be more of a time of hearing what God is doing and being blessed and encouraged by each other’s stories. Ancient practices like Lectio Divina would become more regular.

My own personal Jesus
Our relationship with God would become more personal as we wouldn’t wrap our heads around these facts about God, but instead would spend more time with him. The church would learn to rely on each other more and help each other.

Patience is a virtue
People would have to wait until God told them something before acting, rather than having to press on and make decisions like our society teaches. In the church, we would have to wait more and do less. It would be anti-culture rather than relevant seeking culture (meaning, trying to catch up to where culture is leading).

Church would be much different, but it would still be necessary and beneficial. The mission of the church would move from telling everyone what they think to asking people to listen. God could speak for himself. It would also allow for a more incarnational way of life. Evangelism would move from memorized phrases and vague references to the death benefit to a personal good news that is in this life and the next.

Now, if I can just figure out how to get there.

Advent - Confrontation and Waiting

I had two really awesome things happen yesterday. The first was that I got some private time with my best friend Johnny and we had a very productive and confrontational talk. I say this in the universal sense of the word of confrontation. Most people feel like confrontation is always bad, but with someone you feel safe with, it doesn’t have to be. In fact, I love the times I connect that deeply with someone. We talked for a long time and really made some great connections with each other.

The other thing that happened revolved around advent. John, my pastor, was preaching yesterday on Advent as the season of waiting. Johnny and I co-lead the discussion last night around that theme. Johnny’s thought is that the people of God should be accustomed to waiting and that they ought to have some sense of what they are waiting for. It was great to work together to help the youth see and understand this idea and even better to see them get into it.

I love being able to make these kinds of connections myself, but I love it even more when I see others get it too.

Adventures in Christian Hedonism 1.1

I have been thinking about this past week at the Youth Specialties convention and especially about what Mark Yaconelli said about caring for our souls. I think I am going to start a charter of the Slow Club here. What a great reminder of taking care of our souls! I was reading this morning from Lewis’ and here is where I ended:

“We are half-hearted creatures,” says Lewis in The Weight of Glory, “fooling about with drink and sex and ambition [and religious effort] when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

I thinkI have read this several timesand never applied it to my soul. I think we settle for so much less than what God wants for us and especially for our souls. I, at least, am far too easily pleased when it comes to my own soul. I would cherish certain moments and coast until I am dead and dry in my soul and then chase after another.  Rather than appreciating one moment and continuing to slow down and listen for the moment that is near, I would lower my expectations and wait. But I wouldn’t wait expectantly, I would just wait and soon be distracted by whatever came along. Well, I’m going to try something new. I’ll post the results.

NYWC - Check In

It’s over and I am safely back home after an early morning drive. I am really glad I went. It was in some ways exactly what I thought and exactly what kept me from going in the past. Yet, I was really blessed to be there and would probably go again, given the chance. Here are the highlights:

Times I went to the exhibits: 13 (I don’t know why, they didn’t change)
Mark Yaconelli is the Man!
New friends made that I will keep in touch with: 3
Times I felt utterly broken and OK: 5
Times I levitated: 2
Times I shared the Gospel with a stranger who couldn’t understand why you would try to jump to the moon: 7
Times I wept: 5 (two from laughter at the Skit Guys)
Times I wished Cathy was there: 7
Times I wished I was with my girls: infinity

The best thing I experienced though, was Mark Yaconelli’s general session. I never thought a slightly baldy, bearded, forty-something man dancing could be that beautiful. Now I know. Shane and Shane were great for my soul as well.

Anticipation - YS Day 3

Today was a weird day for me. Most of my friends went to church instead of sessions this morning so I was on my own. My soul was still tender from yesterday and just walking into the main session room was pretty emotional.

They started the session with an illusionist who escaped from a glass tank. I tried to hold my breath as long as she did - twice. It was what I would normally think of as pretty cheesy, but, for some reason, when she finally burst out of the top of the tank, I was near tears.

After her, they brought out Shane and Shane for some worship. By the second song, I was a mess. I barely noticed a guy come in and ask if the seat next to me was taken. He looked into my face and just sat down. It’s as if there was a buffer around me of silence as he sat next to me and obviously didn’t want to disturb whatever I was experiencing.

The speaker was a guy from Soul Survivor that I didn’t stay for. I was as deep into grief and joy as I could be at the time and I just didn’t have it in me to listen to anyone but God.

The grief was for the hurts I had felt in youth ministry, which for some reason were resurfacing. I DID see a lot of old faces and had a lot of memories of my early ministry years. The Joy was from the blessings I see that have been there for a while.

I left there wanting nothing more than to go home and sing with Cathy. Even as I write, I am fighting the urge to just pack up and head home.

Tribes - Characteristics needed in the Church

In looking at some of the characteristics in the church that lend themselves to tribes, I have seen some qualities that the church would benefit from but are, for the most part, lacking.

Empower Members….
Glenn Kaiser said it best, the problem with most churches is that they want to pay someone to do something they are unwilling to do. This is a problem promoted by the church that doesn’t allow members to make decisions and lead the church in the same way that the staff do.

Lead with Passion
Most church leaders are just not very passionate or they don’t show their passion. I’m not sure why. Maybe it has to do with being vulnerable, but I just don’t see it often.

Be Authentic
Phoney is as phoney does. This is tied to the previous quality. For some reason, people think spiritual leaders are supposed to be perfect, which means they can’t be honest in their struggles. Pastors loose their positions all the time for being too honest about their struggles, but even more loose their positions from hiding their struggles to the point of lying and increasing the problem of their struggles.

Introduce Tribe Members to Each Other
Listen, Learn & Introduce people to each other. Make connecting people a priority. One of the biggest fears in life is rejection. If you can help eliminate that fear you are helping somebody. The church needs to help people feel connected to God and each other. It might be the biggest affect the church can have on individual.

Celebrate Accomplishment
For some reason corporate worship has been emasculated into a couple of people (usually the same ones each week) sharing something from the Bible. The church could do a lot better at celebrating what God is doing through more testimonies and blessings.

Share Stories
This is tied to the previous, but we need to hear each others stories and we need to share our stories. Community is crippled without this.

Create exclusivity
This is a funny thing to add to the list of what the church can use to solidify its tribal nature, but I think it is so underplayed. Historically, the church created exclusivity be excommunication or by promoting the idea that Christians are better (usually morally). Instead, I think the church could win a lot of street cred if it created the real exclusivity it already has. That we are forgiven and that we are a people of grace. What other group claims all of that?

Listen Carefully
This could go on any list of what we could do better for any organization. The church has a history of arrogance that is being healed in many ways in the past couple of centuries. If we can listen more and overcome that heritage, we will benefit from functioning the way we were intended to - as a body.

These are just a couple of thoughts I had while reading Seth Godin’s book Tribes. Hopefully I will have more to write as I try some of these ideas. Any lurkers out there are free to post any signs of their attempts or to speak into these ideas.

My New Axe!

I am today the happy ebay winner of the Variax 500 Sunburst guitar!

Pictured left, this guitar is really cool and I am really pumped about using it. If you know your guitars, the first thing you might notice is that it doesn’t have pick-ups. Instead this guitar has an on-board computer that models a bunch of guitars. So I can get a pretty cool 50’s Start sound and go straight to an old Martin acoustic and then to a Les Paul. The sounds I heard on the site are pretty amazing.

This is the first time I have ever bought something like this on an online auction. I normally have to play a guitar first before making the leap, so I hope this one plays out for me. I’ll post some work after I have it and do some recording.

All of this, btw, is to the credit of my wife and fellow artist Cathy, who all but said get whatever I want. This is really strange, and I am not a gift getter a la five love languages, but I really love being married to someone who understands me enough to know what is important to me, and someone who loves me enough to encourage me and say, “Go for it!” Thanks Babe!

Listening to

I don’t often post anything about what I listen to. As a musician, (yes, I am one, though I forget sometimes) I listen to a wide variety of music from experimental stuff like Bjork and Mute Math to more mainstream stuff to jazz, etc. So today I share with you something that I can’t get enough of lately.

Jon Foreman

I have been wearing out his Winter EP. It is just the right blend of raw acoustic sound tide to experimental instrumentation and honest lyrics. White as Snow is often the preface for my morning time with God. It’s just pretty straight ahead scripture and  good reminder to me of my relationship with him.

If you haven’t heard this guy, give him a listen.

Lectio with Youth

We had our first run with the Lectio Divina this last Sunday night. I meant to get pictures before hand but it just didn’t work out. We took out all the lights and added about 50 candles. The only light we had was from candles and the projector. Yes, I know that is not what they used in ancient practices, but I went with it anyway because it kept us from fumbling with books or papers. I set up the media so that it ran itself. Once it was started, no one had to direct it any more than anyone else. That way, the staff was able to be just as involved in it as the teens.

I thought it was a really great night for us. Every student said they really loved it and I got the highest praise from one of our ADD junior high boys. He said that we should do it for longer the next time. So there you have it, God’s presence trumps ADD.

Best Workout

Those of you who know me face to face know that I am not fond of working out. Frankly, the idea of moving weights back and forth with no real outcome is absurd to me. I know some people get a thrill out of it and that’s fine. I just don’t.

Today, I got one of my favorite workouts. That’s right, raking leaves. Now, some people who pay big money to go to a place and have someone push you to get physically fit, will scoff at my idea that raking leaves is a workout. That’s fine too. But at the end of the day, I feel good, and I have a clean yard.

Rally, there is something that developed as a habit for me when I was still living with my parents (and doing chores). I was given the maintenance of our pool area. I took pride in it. But the real habit was one of recognizing the pattern God left on His creation and praying through my reflection of it. I love that. I REALLY love it.

So today was really great. I have been battling the flu or something with similar symptoms, and I think the best thing for it so far has been raking leaves.