Reframing remembrance: a thought on September 11

Saw this posted by some of the families who lost loved ones on September 11 and couldn't agree more wholeheartedly.


­­“The members of September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows are grateful for the expressions of remembrance and concern being offered on the 10th anniversary of the events which took the lives of our loved ones. On this day we ask those who feel compassion for our loss to expand their compassion to include others who continue to experience loss ten years later: innocent families in Afghanistan and Iraq experiencing the loss of their loved ones and displacement from their communities as the result of war and political strife; Muslim-Americans subjected to bias and violence at home; those denied the protections of our Constitution and law, whether in Guantanamo or in our own country; those suffering from job loss and economic dislocation related to the cost of war and rising military budgets; and those who have seen their civil iberties and freedoms exchanged for the false promise of security.

The lesson of 9/11 is that we live in a connected world. We rise or fall together. As Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” On this 10th anniversary, let us honor those we lost by recognizing our kinship with people all over the world, and affirming the values and principles that will guarantee peaceful tomorrows for everyone."

Back in the Saddle

I'm back into the swing of things at church this week. There is an abundance of 'tasks' to accomplish over the next few weeks, but there's no sense stressing out right?

Been thinking a lot on GRACE over the last few weeks. Heard an interesting concept in seminary that has resurfaced in my thinking. In Greek mythology, there were three beings known as the Three Graces. They are always portrayed artistically as three women who continually have hands joined. The concept is actually pretty helpful in understanding what the New Testament might mean when it uses the word grace.

The first of the three graces is the gift from the benefactor to the recipient. It is unmerited and undeserved. The second grace is the recipient's reception of that grace. (You can lavish grace on someone all day, but if they don't receive it, it's moot.) Third, the recipient then lives in honor with, to and for the benefactor. It is not enough to simply take the gift and run. Instead, gratitude and honor are to be conveyed back to the benefactor both in the benefactor's presence and when the benefactor is not around.

Pretty powerful concept. I think if we get any of these three graces wrong in the Christian faith, it short circuits the abundant life that God wants us to live in.

If you don't believe that the Great Benefactor bestows grace into your life in abundant fashion, you will either live in guilt or continually try to work and earn your way into God's favor.

If you don't receive God's grace, you stand condemned, self-righteous, and all in all, in trouble.

If you don't respond to God's grace by Honoring his name, both in prayer/worship and in your day to day life with others, you may well think that you are more than you really are. Narcissism is Idolatry of the worst kind.

So, where are you short circuiting grace in your life?

All aboard the steward ship!

I've lived and breathed ministry for long enough to know that the Steward Ship is cruising off the coast of all of our churches.

We tell people to be good stewards of their money...their time...their resources...their talents.

This is good stuff.

Where we need to be wise is in how we define the word.

I remember a church in Alliance that had portable music equipment. Amps, Monitors, speakers, the whole nine yards. It was 10 grand easy to get all of that. The heart was to use it for a new worship venue and allow new people to connect with their church in a different environment. One of the unpaid servants of the church offered up the materials for our college ministry to use at a retreat. As he was helping us load it up, he said that a while back some of the leadership in the church advised that policies should be in place on how the music equipment could be used and there was actually opposition to letting us use it. The opposition said that under the guise of 'good stewardship' of what they had purchased, it would not be a wise thing to let us use it because it could get damaged.

The leader quipped in a remark that has really changed my view of stewardship..."Stewardship isn't about protecting what's been given to us...its about using and wearing out what's been given to us for the Kingdom."

His whole thing was that the church had made an investment in something to reach people for Christ and now it was their duty and responsibility to wear that equipment out for the kingdom.

Yes, you can wear your resources, money and gifts out in wise or unwise ways. But stewarding anything that God has entrusted to you means using the bejeepers out of it in ways that leverage the grace of God to the world.

So if you're hopping on board the Steward Ship and you find that it is staying too close to the shore for safety and protection...you might find its time to repent and push out to deep waters. Chances are, God will meet you in the depths.

So, what have you been given that needs to be leveraged more for God?

Monday Meanderings on Church and Leadership XIII

My young adult group at church has just kicked off a study for the summer on David Platt's book, "Radical".

There is certainly a tension between Jesus' version of discipleship and our American version of discipleship. This book is about that.

The phrase that is sticking with me from this first chapter is 'the cost of non-discipleship'.

Time and time again in the Gospels, Jesus refers to the cost of discipleship.

It's high. Read Luke 14:25-33. It causes you to

hate your family.
hate your own life.
carry a cross.
count the cost.

For many in our churches, the cost of discipleship is that it makes you spend an hour or two on your precious Sunday morning at a building, paying God His dues. For some, the cost of discipleship is when the church is behind financially, we put in a few extra bucks.

The cost of discipleship is more than that. It demands my very life. My affections, my relationships, my time, my money, my ambitions, dreams, hopes, everything.

But if Jesus is who he says he is and rejecting Him does what He says it does, then the Cost of Non-discipleship is even higher.

If you don't lose your life in small consistent ways now. You will lose your life in drastic, irreversible ways later.

He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30.


What has to die in you today?

The Buckeye Fiasco

As parenting gets closer and closer for Shaina and I, I've thought about a phrase that my parents and I think all parents have to combat at some point..."But, Mom and Dad, Everybody's doing it."

The words are silly...but sometimes they win the day...You don't want to be the only uncool parent making your kid simultaneously uncool by not giving them a cell phone when they are in first grade right?

But the rebuttal I always heard growing up, was "If everyone else jumped off a bridge would you?"

The reality is that everyone is not doing it, whatever it is. And so using such a phrase doesn't hold water and giving in to things for such a reasoning as this is wrong.

So, OSU Football fans, the argument that every other program in the nation is doing it, and that Jim Tressel is more victim than perpetrator doesn't work.

What is frustrating is that a guy who has worn his faith on his sweater vest has apparently consistently acted in defiance of everything that Jesus calls us to.

This isn't an indictment on Tressel or OSU Fans. It's a call for Christians to do away with duplicitous living and authentically live to honor Christ.

David got caught in sin and attempted cover ups and it made him a better man because of God's conviction and grace. May it be with each of us as well.

The James Challenge Chapter Three

James 3 is the classic text about speaking life rather death, breathing heaven rather than hell by what we say and how we say it. When something is 'set on fire by hell', we should probably slow down and tread gently.

Your words matter. If they aren't life-giving, they are hellish.

So when you rip apart your boss or your pastor. When you jab at your spouse. When you tear down your kid. When sarcasm belittles those who converse with. When your words are the level of quality, intelligence and couth of The Hangover 2 (a.k.a. a bunch of perverted filth and trash that could have been written by me when I was a childish 7th grader), when you gossip about the latest drama in your school or workplace...(Have I covered us all yet?!)...It is hell, not heaven we are bringing.

And God is not ok with that.

It is interesting that the remedy to the taming of the tongue comes at the end of chapter three...it begins with wisdom. And I remember a guy preaching on the topic of fear one time...and the verse "The Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" was used.

So Fearing God leads to wisdom. Wisdom leads to gentleness. Gentleness and purity and mercy and peace and impartiality and non-hypocritical living...they all are rooted in wisdom. And wisdom is rooted in fearing God.

So...if I am wreckless or hellish in my speaking, it is predominantly a God-fearing problem. So...how are you fearing God these days?

Life Lesson

Heard this at Catalyst last October, but just thought about it last night.

Find someone that is 2 or 3 steps ahead of where you are at currently and connect with them to find out how they are thinking (not what they are doing).

I heard this in the context of church/organizational growth. But I'm convinced it is true for your personal life too. You are not a spiritual guru. So find someone that is a couple steps ahead of you in spiritual disciplines like prayer, Bible Reading or leadership and find out what makes them tick.

The key of the above statement though is to pick their brain not mimic their schedule. If role model dude 1 prays for an hour every morning, chances are, I'm not going to be able to simply flip a switch and go from 10 minutes of prayer a day to an hour just because dude does it. But if I learn dude's heart for God, what he thinks and why he values communion with God, then suddenly I have a direction to begin to participate in.

Personal and Organizational fear and autonomy will drive you to the grave. Others have been where you are at. Embrace it and let them teach you how to grow.

Delight the Audience

"When you focus on delighting an audience you care about, you strip the masses of their power."

This line of Seth Godin's post on popularity today crushed me.

It is so easy to concern ourselves with the opinion of the many. It is so tempting to adjust our sails to avoid the choppy water of negativity or the stinging rain of criticism. And the many delight in being appeased.

Godin is talking about popularity, business, culture...but what struck me is that my audience can, should and must be ONLY ONE. And when I focus on delighting the One...the opinions, criticisms, jabs, negativity and persecution don't just matter less, they become irrelevant.

Church leaders who compromise the ONE for the many are a dime a dozen. And their churches, though the privileged insiders feel like they are getting what they want,will die of attrition and die of a lack of God's Breath in their midst.

Preacher, speak truth even when that family threatens to leave. Speak hope, when the masses claim despair. Lead into uncharted waters, even when the masses are fearful and without maps. You are responsible not primarily for the flock, but for being the best undershepherd you can be...listening, obeying, following the ONLY ONE who matters.

It's a bit of a hokey sounding song, but the heart of it is right on.

Prayer for the day

May our excessive comfort leave us uncomfortable.
May our conscience haunt us with the poor.
May injustice leave us sleepless.
May we be what you are for.

May we forgive when hate is easy
May we redeem what others deem lost.
May we consider it a blessing
When following you actually costs.

May our lives be void of ordinary.
May our treasures be in love.
May our hope be built on nothingless
Than the God who's more than enough.

Amen.

What are you called to?

Workin' through this in my quiet time this week. Found Peter saying 'to this you have been called' a lot in his first epistle. So here is some study on the five uses of calling in 1 Peter.

TO WHAT ARE WE ‘CALLED’?
1. YOU ARE CALLED TO BE HOLY
Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct (1:15)

-God has called us to be set apart. So we need to live as those set apart. Distinctness matters. Uniqueness is necessary. Set apart means that the status quo is not our status quo.

2. YOU ARE CALLED TO BE UNIQUE
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (2:9)

-God’s people are called from a former way of life to a new way of life. This starts with new birth. If anyone should get this, its Peter. Peter talks about new birth (1:3, 2:2) as one who has experienced it himself. Darkness is the previous
way. Light is the new way. And the light proclaims the new way.

3. YOU ARE CALLED TO BE HUMBLE
If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. (2:20-21)

-Peter is speaking to slaves here, but there is a universality to his message as well. Self-motivated, self-actualized justice or retribution is not your concern. Honor is. It is much like MLK’s philosophy in the Civil Rights Movement. Let them hit you, beat you, strike you, but do not respond in kind. Instead let their revelation come from your peculiar retaliation. Humility. Grace. Love. Jesus modeled it. Now ‘Go and do likewise.’

4. YOU ARE CALLED TO BE A BLESSING TO THOSE YOU DON’T LIKE

Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called—that you might inherit a blessing. (3:9)

-Retributive Blessing. Dude cuts you off in the express 10 items or less grocery check out line with 40 items to your 3? Get over yourself and buy his groceries. Again, self-demanded, self-realized justice is not your concern. Being Christ is. Church hurt your feelings or wound you? Boss slight you or belittle you? Normal response? Wound back! Quit! Jab and belittle them behind their back! Christ response? Bless the hell out of ‘em. I don’t mean fake good when they are around. I mean do something irrationally sacrificial for them. Even if it leads to you suffering and not getting justice for yourself…bless the hell out of ‘em.

5. YOU ARE CALLED TO GOD’S GLORY

And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. (5:10)

-There is a lot in 1 Peter about suffering being the Christ-follower’s path. And likewise, that suffering being linked irrefutably to the glory of God. You are called to His glory. And when you live a life that is called to holiness, called to humility, called to blessing others and called to God’s glory, listen to what Jesus promises to do: Restore you. Support you. Strengthen you. Establish you.
He did it in the life of Peter and he wants to do it in you too. Friend, It is time to answer the call.

The Older Brother In Me

Easter brings out something weird in me.

I love Easter. It is the single most important day in human history. I love to sing the classics like 'Up From the Grave' and also sing newer songs like Phil Wickham's 'True Love'.

But something creeps up in me when I see the place packed with people. Something in me sees the droves of people who weren't there the week before...weren't there to go to the depths of darkness on Good Friday...and that won't likely be there next Sunday...or any other until December.

Its OBS...Older Brother Syndrome. If you read the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15, it is easy to see how OBS comes about. I go to church every week. I sit in multiple services every week. I tithe every week. I serve in the church every week. And Easter comes, the crescendo of the faith, the climax of Christianity, the moment of all moments, and I have to share it with them? The ones who I presume are not really following Jesus? The ones who don't give of their gifts or their time or their wallets to enhance the Kingdom of God? Seriously what kind of deal is that? I labor all year and when I finally get to the moment I've been waiting for, I have to share it with the notorious C & E'ers? They squander the inheritance that God has given them and yet they are welcomed to the party?

OBS is not of God...and the words I need whispered in my ear in this self-righteous, self-absorbed moment, are "Everything I have is yours."

When I see that God is not holding out on me, my eyes change and I see pews of people, just like me, desperate (knowingly or unknowingly) for God to lavish more of his grace and love in our lives.

We are all works in progress...it's just that those with OBS have a lot further to go than they might think.

Christ is Risen. And that changes everything.

CHRIST THE VICTOR

"Resurrection tells us that the worst thing, is never the last thing." -Fredrick Buechner.

Happy Easter. May the reality of the resurrection bring conflicts to your self-interests, discomfort where comfort reigns supreme, and stress where superfical peace rules the day.

And may you celebrate the truth that God is not dead, He is surely alive!



And that this truth changes everything.

Holy Week or Wholly Weak?

It is interesting to me that the week that is known as Holy Week can often be such a frantic, hectic week for church leadership that it becomes anything but holy.

Gotta get the messages for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easer Services all lined up.

Gotta hit a home run for Easter (at least that's the pressure we often put on ourselves or get from leaders in the church.)

Gotta do the slides for the messages, gotta have the bulletin ready to go.

The week that is meant to be Holy often finds us wholly weak, manufacturing something of deep connectedness to Jesus, when in reality connection with the Holy One of God has been on the backburners at best.

And this chicken with its head cut off, frantic, uncentered way takes its toll. Just found myself trying to instigate a spat with Shaina. Over nothing.

This way of life is ugly and my hope and prayer for us this week is that this ugliness will invite us to the foot of the cross, where His grace is sufficient, His healing is complete, and his love is like an avalanche.

The neat thing about this journey to the last moments of Jesus' life is that it reminds us that we are indeed Wholly Weak and invites us to cry out to God, "Lord Help Me!" And the God of the Nations, The God of Power, in this Holy Week reminds us "I already have."



Let this be your week to draw near to Christ

If you are looking for a place to draw close to God through Holy Weak, check out Wadsworth United Methodist Church
195 Broad Street
Wadsworth OH

Seder Meal on Maundy Thursday

Good Friday Services 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. (I'm preachin' it at 9!)

Easter Sunday 8:15, 9:30, 11:00.

Bump Him

I was talking with someone who shared a story about a pastor of a large church who had a time each week for the staff members to play basketball. It was sort've an unrequired required ritual.

Any time a new staff person would come in, this pastor would instruct other staff members to 'bump him'. In other words, foul him, agitate him, foul him again. The point was that the pastor wanted to see what spilled out when he got bumped. Was it Grace? Retalliation? Quit? The idea was that what was on the inside, would only come out noticably under pressure.

From time to time, this pastor would take it upon himself that if he knew a staff member was stressed or struggling or out of balance, he would bump him, himself to see what poured out.

It's no coincidence that Jesus tends to have a Bump Him strategy as well. Jesus indicted pharisees about cleaning the outside of their cup while the inside festered with mold and filth from neglect.

It's not about polishing your image. It's about redeeming your heart.

So maybe God's been bumping you lately so that what is on the inside will become known on the outside, so that the cross of Christ can do its magnificent work.

The terrifying thing is that the further down inside we bury the secrets, the shame, the despised things, the wicked things...the harder the bumps will be.

And the One that is doing the bumping is the one who is showing me that the Foul is on (and in) me.

Lesson on Leadership

Chances are, you're not Moses. Forgive me for stating the seemingly obvious, but it needs to be said. No, you're not likely to lead the people out of captivity to the cusp of a New Beginning, but you're also not likely the local leader of a local people (a local Moses). Very few are called to this ministry and it can be at times fulfilling and at times exasperating.

No. You're probably not Moses...but many of you are called to be Aarons and Hurs.

8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men for us and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until the sun set. 13 And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the sword.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a reminder in a book and recite it in the hearing of Joshua: I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an altar and called it, The Lord is my banner.

To be a good Aaron or Hur is to intercede constantly for your leader...To cheer him on when he is going for it and stepping out in faith (while also keeping him grounded that if there is success it's probably in spite of his efforts)...But it is also to step in when the battle is raging fiercest and provide support and encouragement and strength when the leader begins to falter.

If you're called to be an Aaron or a Hur and you don't have a Moses you are advocating for (a.k.a. if you grumble more about going back to Egypt than you trust God and trust/pray for the leadership above you), then you might want to check yourself before you wreck yourself.

And if you're a Moses without an Aaron or a Hur, you will struggle all the more to finish the race well.

I have no clue what I'm doing

I was thinking about this yesterday. I can feel the baby kicking in Shaina now...That and the biweekly pilgrimage to Babies R Us this week have made it clear that I have absolutely no idea what i'm doing. No manual is going to prepare me for this. No 5 steps to parenting book is going to unleash my fathering skills. We looked at cloth diapers which is what we plan to use primarily. We're gonna use the 'G Diapers', which are pretty cool, environmentally friendly and more cost effect. However, I've never changed a diaper. i envision something like this taking place.



Then I think about Jesus and the call he has on my life and yours. And we have no idea what we're doing there either. It's the funniest thing...we have huge conferences where we parade speakers who have no idea what they're doing in front of the masses and they tell you the 3 keys to duplicating their movement in your church. They have no idea how they got there. God just happened to bless their ministry and now they're 'experts'. The reality is in ministry and in life, we have no idea what we're doing! And the quicker that drives us to humility and dependence on God and on others, the better it will go for us.

Your competence and skillset are not nearly as high as you think they are. And that is the best news ever.

Imagination Redeemed

I think that for many Jesus followers, the most difficult part of life to be redeemed is the imagination. To dream in a world that thrives on nay-saying, practicality, and cynicism can be a pretty lonely place.

But when the people of God start to color outside the lines and trust a big G God for big G God things, it is an amazing thing to watch.

And yes, sometimes the dreams are scrapped. Sometimes they don't pan out quite how we thought. But I'd rather fail big for the kingdom of God than play it safe and waste my one chance to proclaim Jesus.

God, would you redeem our imaginations and let us dream and envision what you are calling us to next. Let us listen to the seemingly unattainable 'what if's'. And let us risk it all for your fame. Amen.

Monday Meanderings on Church and Leadership VIIII

The Bible says that God's Word is a lamp unto our feet, not a floodlight beaming to our destination.-Steven Furtick, 'Sun Stand Still'

Why do we think God is going to concern himself with our lives 3, 5, 10 or 20 years from now if we won't seek to be faithful and obedient with where He wants us to go in the next 3, 5, 10 or 20 days?

Yes God takes us to the Promised Land, but He also spends 400 years with his people enslaved and 40 years with his people in fear, in order to shape them to be ready for the day they cross the Jordan.

Your journey is more important than your destination...and God help us if we're in the wildnerness.

What's the thing you need to be faithful with now to be entrusted with a next step later? Forgiving someone? Stopping the lazy, self-indulgent life? Going back to church regularly? Tithing? Reading your Bible regularly? Caring for the single mom on your street? Answer God's nudge to a specific ministry?

The Thing About Honor

Honor. Its a word that doesn't seem to have a lot of traction or get a lot of pub these days. But its at work (or noticeably absent) in every relational context.

It's pretty clear that some people are not particularly 'honorable'. They don't seem to warrant veneration or high levels of respect.

Then, there are those who we deem honorable, that we want to respect and lift in high esteem...and sometimes they don't reciprocate it.

But here's the thing...because Jesus is honorable and he sought to lift up and honor those who don't warrant or deserve it, we are called to do the same.

And when you honor someone who doesn't warrant being honored...sometimes, they become more honorable.

Craig Groeschel talks of a woman who did not respect her husband. She was talking to Groeschel's wife and this woman said "If my husband were half the man your husband is, I would honor him." To which, Craig's wife said, "My husband is the honorable man he is today because I've made it a point to honor him since the beginning of our relationship."

We get this backwards. We think that we should look down upon those who are less than honorable...thinking that dishonoring them will bring them to an honorable life. But more often they will just live more and more dishonorable lives when we force them to.

And the thing about honor? There's no guarantee that it will ever be reciprocated...but if you make it a way of life, you'll find that it does get reciprocated more often than not.

Who do you need to stop dishonoring?

24 Hours

We are in week three of "24 Hours That Changed the World", a churchwide study we are doing through Lent. It has been really insightful so far.

It is causing us to slow down and actually enter into one of the most known stories of Christ followers. To enter in to the story and put ourselves in the shoes of Judas or Peter or the Sanhedrin, and reflect on how this story is very much our story has been a refreshing experience.

I was reading this morning on the topic of being condemned by the righteous and I was really struck by how 71 of the "spiritually elite" known as the Sanhedrin could conspire to humiliate, condemn and crush the exact one they had been waiting for.

But Jesus doesn't help his cause (intentionally). When they ask if He's the messiah...His response is I AM. (Claims to be their God). Then he says that he will destroy the temple and raise it again in three days (Claims power over the house of God). Two things you just don't do in 1st century Jerusalem.

The Romans don't want an insurrectionist leading a movement in their territory. The Jewish leaders don't want their authority, their God or their temple called into question. You can sense the tension of why this leads to a cross.

And Jesus is still a threat to the way we live our lives 2000 years ago. Following him has cost. What's it costing us?