In the Beginning...

The Genesis study with the young adults of the Edge is off to a fantabulous start. We were able to come to the text with a lot of questions, which I think is good. Some of the stuff we tossed around was:

*Can we trust the Bible?

*Can we trust God as Creator/Intelligent Designer?

*Who is the 'us' in "Let us make man in our image?"

*What does it mean to hear God's word?

*Is Satan present in the garden? *The most challenging thing we encounter when seeking to do God's will is the same words that Eve faced in the garden..."Did God really say...?"

I am really excited about this study...it seems that we are all coming into this with a variety of experiences, beliefs and questions. Some of these questions we could try to answer while others are a little more difficult. Anyways, come to The Edge this Saturday at 6 p.m. if you want to join in with the 2nd installment (Genesis 4-11)! Have a great week!

I pledge...

Ok, many of you are going to be bothered (angered?) by this post. But it's my blog and so you get to hear my soap box. I have been wrestling with something...I'll pose it as a question.

When are the times in our country that we are encouraged to stand and take off head coverings and sing to honor something/someone? I can think of two: Church and the National Anthem. So in a sense my posture (non-verbal actions) are identical when I "stand to honor America" and "stand in God's presence"? Woah.

I had a class at Mount Union College called "Intercultural Communications". By design, the majority of students in the course were not American (at the time, I believe it was the only course in the U.S. purposefully designed this way.) The first class session, the international students were asked what annoyed them about Americans. Among the most avid responses? "Why do Americans ask how I'm doing and then keep walking without giving me a chance to answer?" (I could write another blog on this one!) and "What is the deal with your flag?" Many of the students said they would probably even have trouble drawing their flag from memory. But Americans not only recognize the flag, they fly it at their homes, they put it in their school rooms, and in their churches?! (often in the sanctuary.) Beyond that, there are all sorts of rules of how to properly treat the American flag.

Ok, before you go telling me that if I don't like this country, I should leave, just hear me out. Is it possible that we've been duped into idolatry? I mean think about it...throughout history, God-followers have fallen into idolatry...and I don't think they woke up one day and said "Gee golly, I need to mix things up in my life by breaking the idolatry commandment." Idols usually begin in our hearts unbeknownst to us. Many Christ followers have made the church and patriotism (or democracy...or the American Dream...etc) bedpartners. Churches who are more passionate about supporting the elephant or the donkey than they are about the hungry and the poor have become adulterers to the Most High God.

Its time we end our obsession with politics and be part of the Church in the WORLD that is bringing peace. Stop waiting for your government to fix health care, poverty and all the other issues. Be the miracle! Take a stand, pledge allegiance to God and God alone in the freedom that we know ONLY in Jesus Christ! Hallelujah. I feel better now.

artwork...sort of.

During the progressive dinner, we played telephone pictionary, in which I wrote a phrase that I wanted the next person to draw and then they drew it, passed it on to the next person who then had to try to guess what that person had drawn, etc. Here were three of the drawings that came out of my original phrase "A constipated giraffe playing the accordion". Some of us need to go to the zoo and recall what a giraffe looks like! It was definitely a humorous piece to the dinner.

Progressive Dinner

This past Saturday, the Edge had a progressive dinner. It was a blast. (Has anyone said 'blast' since 1997?) I got to meet some of the young men and women who are off at school and most of them aren't too weird, so I am really excited. The picture is everyone who participated. It reminds me of Prom pictures or something. Haha. Stay tuned for my next post which will highlight some of the spectacular artistic ability exhibited by this group.

I think there are some great things in store for this ministry and I hope that this was a successful kickoff to whats next!

Another quarter in the books

I finished my fifth quarter at seminary last Friday. It was probably one of the busiest quarters I have had. I pulled a couple near all nighters to survive the last week. I enjoy the classes alot but I would be lying if I said this two week spring break was a lousy idea. I am getting some things accomplished (I made a couch delivery to the church to finish off the Edge room) but I am also taking some time to rest and enjoy this time of year (I slept until 8:30 today...it was incredible! I also have some guys coming over tonight to do our annual March Madness auction.

Anyways, I doubt any who read this are too concerned with how I spend my break, so here's the point. Do you take time for rest? I don't mean, do you get 8 hours of sleep each night? Instead, do you just get away? The majority of Christians say they have trouble hearing God's voice. I am in that boat the majority of the time, but I don't blame God for not providing clarity...I admit my schedule is usually too full to find rest and hear that 'still small voice'. This of all weeks (Holy/Passion week) should be a time to simply break away from the routine and spend time with the Lord. Simply delight in God.

So that is my encouragement to you (and me) that this week would break the mold of all other weeks and that we might ask God to meet with us. The question to ask (which some can answer easier than others): What can I cut out of my week this week to be with my Father? TV shows? 60 hour work weeks? Shopping? Checking Email? Reading the extraordinary insights from the Mustard Revolution blog?

Do you smell what he's cookin'?

I heard a sermon today that has made me think. It was on Lazarus (John 11). He was dead for four days and the people commented on the odor that would be present if they rolled the stone away for Jesus to see his fallen friend.

I was thinking about that a little bit. Jesus wanted to meet Lazarus in the midst of his stench. He didn't say, "alright bring the guy out, cover him in fragrant perfume, and then I'll raise him from the dead." He met him in the midst of his death, filth and odor.

What a lesson for us. Where do you stink? What areas of darkness, filth and death exist in your life? Often times we think we have to get it all worked out and then we can go to God...but maybe this text is saying God wants us to come...regardless of the 'stanky' baggage. I don't need to get my act together before I step foot in the church...instead, it is when I get to God's presence that my act begins to come together.

The other aspect is how do we as mustard revolutionaries do with meeting people in the midst of their stink? I am not great at this. But this is precisely what the teacher demands of his followers. Meet them where they are. We can only be people of the resurrection if we begin to live amidst the dead, dying and smelly. What does this mean to you?

Wingin' it!

This Tuesday (March 11) will be our make up date for all you can eat wings. If you're a young adult at WUMC, let me know if you're coming! Eat the most wings and get your meal paid for!

bunnies, eggs and Wal-Mart

What is the coolest thing you could possibly do on a Saturday afternoon? Well, clearly in the top five answers to this question is stand outside WalMart's entrances in 10 degree windchill with Easter Bunny ears on! That's right! Me, my sister-in-law Alicia and four off the hizzy youth from the church passed out between 300 and 400 Easter eggs to people of all ages inviting them to come to our church Easter Egg Hunt, as well as our Easter services. It was interesting to see the responses of people. Here were some of the characters classified:

The Anti-Everyone-Unsocialite- a very angry type, did not want a free egg with candy...did not want to say hi...either thought we were of the devil or were selling something.

The Childlike Senior- It was hilarious to see some of the older people when we asked them if they'd like an egg. While some were in the above classification that hated our guts for existing, others went from a stone hardened face to sincere joy when they took the egg. Reminds me there is hope in Easter.

The pre-headache parent- Usually with 2 or 3 kids, they had not even entered the store and butt whoopings were already a real possibility. They were relieved to have something occupy the kids attention, but the reality still was in their faces...the next hour was going to suck.

The Not-Yet-Contaminated- Kids are freakin' sweet. This dad brought up a little girl that barely had a vocabulary, between 2 and 3. He said she had a question for me that she'd been asking since they got in the parking lot. "Why you wearin' bunny ears?" She said with a giggle. Good Stuff...The hopeful side of me says "Praise the Lord that innocence still exists in the world." The cynic says, "just wait until she reaches junior high."

Theres alot of people out there. Why not offer them some mustard?

Prophetic Wisdom

This day's blog is a tribute to a prophet's brilliant words. No its not Isaiah, Amos or Jeremiah. His name is Wyclef. Hear these words: "Cos' I'ma tell you like Wu told meCash rules everything around meSingin' dollar dollar bill y'all (dollar, dollar bill y'all)Singin' dollar dollar bill y'all (dollar, dollar bill y'all)"

Now I realize the song incorporates a pimp and his prostitute and don't read into it as if I'm supporting or advocating such lifestyles. The premise of the song though is that cash rules everything. "Some live for the bill, they kill for the bill."

How true! I'll be honest, I am very skeptical about the notion of the American Dream that most Americans are pursuing. We have become a consuming giant. We have enormous amounts of waste every day. We get a hole in our shirt, we pitch it and buy a new one. We get a little bit chubbier because of all the food we consume and then we buy a new wardrobe because all our clothes don't fit.

That mustard guy I've mentioned in the past said that we can not serve two masters. He specifically was speaking about money and God. Think about it. The minute I took a college loan, I took on debt that I am spending years paying off. I have to work a lot to pay off the debts. Add a car payment, a house payment, hospital payments, new toy payments, etc... How can I focus my energies on building the Mustard Kingdom if I am 'serving' the debts I've accrued?

The answer I'm wrestling with is that I'm not sure I can.

Am I saying don't buy a house or a car or a big screen tv? Maybe, maybe not. At least, don't buy a house with 10 bedrooms and let 8 of them collect dust. Don't buy a ferrari because it drives nice on the highways. If you are spending big sums of money that do not have any Mustard Impact, you may need to re-evaluate what you're doing.

In the words of Wyclef, "money, money, money...It drives the world crazy."

What's driving you?