Gone, Part 2.

I’ll be gone for the next week with our middle school students; we’re going to Morning Star Ranch in Florence Kansas for a mission trip.

We’ll be working and having all sorts of fun. You can follow the trip over at our ministry’s parent page, here.

Check it out!

"Significant Cost Savings", and "cap and trade"

So last month I was going through our monthly finances and I noticed that Discover has recently revised their payment due date. It is now EXACTLY 25 days after the closing date. What does that mean?

Well, they moved the payment due date BACK 5 days. What was due on the 4th of the month is not due on the 3oth (or whenever) of the previous month. Now, the cynic in me immediately defaults to:

We know that no one reads their statements (this notification came in my April statement), so we’re going to change the date. Why? Let’s say that you received a balance transfer promotion at 0%. Make a late pay and the interest increases to a ridiculous 18.24%, if not higher. And that 18.24% is not on the current balance, but on the TRANSFERRED balance, you know, the one you transferred 5 years ago, and you almost have it paid off. Let the financial slavery continue. And this from companies who our grandchildren’s children are going bailing out.

(A few years ago when we bought out home, we needed appliances. So, we did what every good red, white and blue American would do. We took advantage of Best Buy’s 36 month no interest/no payment plan. Now we paid everything off in time, but if we had not, we would have, paid this off, we would have owed $1800 in interest on a purchase of…$2400. Yeah, you read that right.)

So today, I called Discover and asked them what was up. The response? Moving the date back 5 days provides “significant cost savings” to Discover.

Translation: You owe us more money, sucker.

Cap and Trade

Soooo, I called Representative Dave Loebsack’s office today to learn of his position on cap and trade, the energy bill that is going to increase the taxes of every single American who consumes any and all energy sources. The person in the Cedar Rapids office told me that she was “not the energy person” and asked for my contact information. I gave her my name and then she asked for…my address. When I stated that the vote was today, she said, “I know”. She then told me that everyone in her office was on the phone talking to people. so, I called the Iowa City office and asked the same question. The person I spoke to there also, “did not know”. She too knew that the vote was today, but was unsure of what was going to happen. I was referred to the DC office number, which is…202-225-6576. Of course, that number is busy. So, I called the 866 number, and was again told (after the lady laughed when I told her why I was calling) that she too, did not know of his position as “she did not handle energy issues”.

Great news! I got through tto the DC office, and asked what his position was. Answer? “He’s unsure”.

Yeah. Sure he is.

Ahhh America. I hardly knew ye.

Eunuchs, Homosexuality and Brian McLaren

Stunned. Just when you thought Brian McLaren has said it all, he takes it to a whole ‘nover level. Over at B-Mac‘s place, Brian blogs about homosexuality and brings the Ethiopian eunch from Acts 8 into the mix. Here is the paragraph that shocked me:

“It’s a story about an African man who because of his race can never fit into the Jewish nation, and because of his sexual identity can never fit into the traditional family. As a eunuch, he can never be “healed” to become heterosexual. So now, through no choice of his own, he finds himself an adult who can never be categorized in traditional sexual roles. He has come to Jerusalem to worship God, but has, no doubt, been turned away – first because of his race and second because of his sexual identity: the Hebrew Scriptures explicitly excluded both Gentiles and people in his nontraditional, not-part-of-the-created-order sexual category.”

Did you catch it? According to Brian, the eunuch had, “no doubt, been turned away – first because of his race and second because of his sexual identity…” Concerned that I had missed something, I went ahead and looked at Acts 8, and even the Matthew Henry commentary on Acts. Guess what. What Brian details is not there, not even hinted at. But wait, there’s more:

“Philip explains that this passage can be read to describe Jesus, and he shares the good news of Jesus and the kingdom of God.”

Wait. “can be read”? Acts 8:35 says NOTHING of the sort. “Then Philip began with that very passage of scripture and told him the good news about Jesus”? Philip plainly explains to the man what Isaiah was writing about. How do we know this? Because it’s what Acts SAYS Philip said.

And then, Brian, in an example of pure genius, turned the object of the pronoun, “himself” from Isaiah and states that the eunuch wanted to know whether the prophet was talking about “himself” (the eunuch) or someone else…

“The man invites Philip into the chariot and asks if the writer was writing about himself or someone else – a question that suggests this man feels the prophet is talking about him in his sexual otherness: he too will have no descendants; he too has been rejected, misunderstood, despised, shamed … he too has been brought like a sheep or lamb before people with cutting instruments.”

Brian is…amazing. I know, he’d claim that he’s no “bible scholar” (I’ve heard him use this), he’s an English teacher, which is even more incredible that he gets away with this.

Here’s Brian’s logic…homosexuals are the “new” eunuchs. They have no control over anything. Brian tries to make this a lesson on sexual wholeness, and misses the point.

Brian claims to be uncomfortable with the “conventional approach to homosexuality”-you know…the ones that the “isolated verses in Leviticus, Romans, and 1 Corinthians” discuss. Why? Because neither Moses nor Paul had “contemporary understandings of sexual orientation”. Which is funny, because here Brian is, using a story contemporary to Paul to TEACH a lesson on “contemporary understandings of sexual orientation”. So…Luke “got it” but Paul did not?

Really?

This, folks, is “Exhibit A” to the what happens when you deny the authority of scripture, when scripture is reduced to a book written 2000 years ago by men, and there was no inspiration by God. You can twist it and have it say whatever you want.

The Weekly Update, and, Starbucks and the Church

Last week, I was at North East Iowa Christian Service Camp with 90 middle school students. I had fun speaking a few nights, ate some great food, hung out with students and got to know Daren Mitchell, a youth minister from Marshaltown, Iowa over his french press and the Starbucks coffee he brought. It was time very well spent. It rained most of the week, but the kids had a great time. I ran a few times while there, 3 miles on Monday and just 2 on Wednesday. I also ran Saturday, Sunday. According to some mathematical formula, one can determine their maximum heart rate by subtracting their age from 220. Well, 220-38=182. On Sunday’s run, my heart rate max was 187…so, I think I should have collapsed in a heap of dead skin and exploded heart. This morning when I ran, it was terribly hot and humid, I thought I was going to die. The good news is that I’m running consistently faster than I was pre-surgery. The bad news is..my time sucks. I wish I knew what the average time per mile was for a 38 year old male.

Unfortunately, the issues with my back seem to be returning. Today, I’m in a ton of pain, and am going to the physical therapist (trainer??-lol) on Friday.

On the summer reading list:
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
Brave New World Revisited by Aldous Huxley

Brian McLaren points us over to an article at Sojourners in which Jon Stewart is interviewed by “Rev” Jim Wallis. Apparently, Jon and Jim “get it right”, whatever the crap that means. In this amazing interview, Jon Stewart proclaims a works-based salvation, and Jim Wallis affirms is by saying nothing to counter him.

“Jim Wallis: When it comes to aspects of faith, you’ve said you’re not particularly observant—you said you had a bacon cheese croissantwich during Passover this year. What are the best and worst ways you’ve seen religion impact current events?

Jon Stewart: Religion makes sense to me. I have trouble with dogma more than I have trouble with religion. I think the best thing religion does is give people a sense of place, purpose, and compassion. My quibble with it is when it’s described as the only way to have those things instilled. You can be moral and not be religious, you can be compassionate, you can be empathetic—you can have all those wonderful qualities. When it begins to be judged as purely based on religion, then you’re suggesting a world where Star Jones goes to heaven but Gandhi doesn’t.”

Dude, God says that man’s idea of good works are like filthy rags. In fact, the Hebrew used in that verse ACTUALLY says that good works are like used menstrual cloths. So as far as Gandhi goes…absent a relationship with Christ, his works mean squat.

Jim Wallis: So religion has no monopoly on religion.

Jon Stewart: That’s right. Like anything else that’s that powerful—that is touching that deep into the epicenter of the human psyche and our fears, it can be misused. I’m probably much more responsive in a bad way to dogma and to extremism than to religion. When people say things like, “I found God and that helped me stop drinking,” I say, “Great! More power to you. Just know that some people stop drinking without it.” It’s when it gets into the realm of “This is the only way to salvation”—that’s when I think, “Okay, now we’re getting into a problem.”

While “religion has no monopoly on religion” (whatever THAT means), Jesus has a monopoly on who and how one gets in. When Jesus said “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me”, I don’t think He was kidding.

Here’s part 6 of my review of the “What if Starbucks Marketed Like The Church?” video (at right).

From “Inconsistent Artwork“:

“Here’s a test. How many different versions of the logo did you see in the video? I’ll give you a hint… It’s more than five. Do you ever wonder why most churches have logos and design styles that vary in everything they do? In most cases I would suggest that it mirrors a lack of commitment to who they are as a church…I beg you, as a church, it is time to figure out who God has called you both to be and to reach.”

To be clear: I love Eastview Christian Church; as an employer, they care for me and my family and they are a great place to work, as an involved member, I feel the desire to be a committed participant in what we do, and not just “because” I’m paid staff. I love the people that are here, adults and students alike. God has, is and will do great things here.

But.

I’m not so sure that as a collective, as a “church”, we know who or what God has called us to be. And as for reaching people, I’m not so sure about that one either.

GONE!!

Hey, I’ll be out of town at North East Iowa Christian Service Camp in the bustling metropolis of Bristow, Iowa next week with about 100 screaming middle school students…

It’s going to be an AWESOME week!

Doing versus Practicing

I love Pandora. Basically, it’s internet radio that you can program. Simply program in the band you want to listen to, and you’ll hear that band, as well as bands from the similar genre. Lately, I’ve been listening to the “Smashing Pumpkins” station. I’ve heard lot’s of music from Foo Fighters, The Killers, Stone Temple Pilots, etc. Last week while mowing, I was using the iPhone to listen, and…I heard Him. Loud and clear.

“You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now here he come

He doesn’t look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentleman
Like you imagined when you were young”

-When You Were Young, The Killers

“Take time with a wounded hand
‘Cause it likes to heal
Take time with a wounded hand
Guess I like to steal
Take time with a wounded hand
‘Cause it likes to heal, I like to steal
I’m half the man I used to be
This I feel as the dawn
It fades to gray“

-Creep, Stone Temple Pilots

“Has someone taken your faith?
Its real, the pain you feel
The life, the love
You die to heal
The hope that starts
The broken hearts
You trust, you must
Confess

Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?

I’ve got another confession my friend
I’m no fool
I’m getting tired of starting again
Somewhere new”

-The Best of You-Foo Fighters

This morning at men’s breakfast, we read from 1 John, 2:28-3:3. Here’s verse 29 from the NIV:

“If you know that he (Jesus) is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him (Jesus, again).”

Not that is plain and simple. Why? because I do what is right. When I keep to a legalistic righteousness, I keep the law. But then, Rob read from the New American Standard Bible.

“If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.”

Ouch. That…sucks. Why? Because I simply do not “practice” righteousness. I practice all sorts of things. I play HALO 3 on X-Box live by myself, so I can get better. I run, several times a week, training my body to go longer distances. I try different things when I cook, practicing.

But, righteousness? No. I am not a practicer of righteousness.

I sit here in my sin, waiting for something to come along and save me from my old ways. I play with forgiveness and grace. What “saves” me looks nothing like Jesus, but it treats me well enough I suppose.

I take time with my sin, because I like the feel. I’m half the man I used to be.

The pain I feel is real. I must trust, I must confess. No one is getting the best, the best, the best of me. Here’s another confession, I’m tired of starting over again. I need something new.

Him. You. Savior. Jesus. LORD.

"So Afraid"

Sometimes, I wonder where God is. In the midst of hurt, suffering, loneliness, frustrations with life and ministry. I wonder if He sees, if He cares.

I was reading from Mark 4 today, verses 26-41. Toward the end of the chapter, Jesus and the gang hop into boats to cross the lake. As they’re crossing, a storm shows up, wind howling, waves crashing over the bow. And…where is Jesus? Sleeping. The disciples, seeing this, wake him up and ask, “Don’t you care if we drown?” Jesus gets up, rebukes the wind and tells the waves to be still. The wind dies down, and a calm takes place.

And then….Jesus turns, looks at his disciples, and asks two questions that will shake them.

“Why are you so afraid?”

“Do you still have no faith?”

These guys are scared out of their minds. They had heard the stories from the ancient texts, Moses splitting the Red Sea, Joshua commanding the sun to stand still. But, both of those were at the command of God.

This Guy, this Jesus, stands up, doesn’t pray, doesn’t ask God what He should do, He Himself stands up and rebukes the wind and tells the sea to be still. And the disciples don’t know what to do. So they simply ask one another the most important question one could ever ask, the only question that matters.

“Who is this?”

Going back to the beginning…when I wonder where He is…when I ask if He’s around, when I ask if He cares…at the heart I’m asking “Who are you?”. Because I’ve seen his power, his affect on others, and on myself. And there are days I don’t buy it. Days I believe He CAN’T be who He claimed to be.

Starbucks and the Church, part 5

Video at right.

From “The Culture Crime“.

“This culture is a proactive one. It’s proactively outward focused. It’s ahead of the game and it’s driven by a clear purpose. It exists consistently in about 5% of churches. The other 95% of churches are reactionary: struggling with the lack of resources, the missing team members, and the last-minute changes. In the reactionary world, it’s very unlikely that every one is thinking outside themselves and about others—specifically visitors. No church will ever be proactive all the time. Some weeks, things will happen and the reactive impulses will reign. But, the end result of weeks and weeks of reactivity is that after a while, we stop forgetting about the outside world all together.“

How proactive are we being? I am indeed guilty of this. Our first week of camp is 10 days away, and there is much to be done. Our summer schedule has been posted for several months. Each year I tell myself, “I need to advertise/promote events early”, and each year I feel behind.

“After a while, we are no longer building our efforts around the visitor experience and we lose the correlation between our actions and growth. If we go too far, we can even create a counter-culture, so fixated on ourselves that we’ve lost track of what non-“regulars” are going through or needing.“

This is so crucial in any ministry, but especially youth ministry. We forget what it was like to be a 14 year old. Or, a non-believer. Because our current experiences are so far from theirs, we cannot even fathom a life other than our own.

“The culture crime of this video is not just the missed greeter opportunity—it’s the disconnection that kept every other “regular attendee” and worker in the video from thinking first and foremost of others—remembering the inside jokes and the punch lines, but forgetting the true treasure in their midst.“

Inside jokes and punch lines. How about the lingo we use? About a month ago in a Sunday service, we sang the song, “Awesome God” by Rich Mullins. A common song, to be sure. Common to us, that is. The interesting part? There were no words on the screen. There was an assumption that everyone “knew” the words, so we just belted it out. And all I could think about was…what if there were people who did not know that song. We just totally excluded them.

What if we proactively planned our services, messages, songs, communion meditations with “them” in mind? If we were dropped onto a desert island…we’d have to explain EVERYTHING. We’d learn the language, get to know them, and teach.

Here’s the problem, despite our cries to the opposite, in our hearts we still think we live in a “Christian” country. We assume that everyone knows the lingo. And, we proceed accordingly. What we must realize, and soon, is that we live in a post-christian society. We are more like the Athens of Paul’s time than we realize.

It’s time for us to start acting like it.

On Jesus, His Name, bobbleheads and a weekend update

The Weekend That Was:

Friday afternoon and evening was spent in Iowa City with John and Nate at Scheels. Nathan has been saving money for a new gun over the past few months. He bought a semi-auto .22 Ruger. He’s going with Anne to her folks’ house in 2 weeks, and accordning to her dad, he “has some rabbits that need a personal introduction to the gun”. Nate will be happy to oblige. We got home and then had a family movie night; we watched the 80’s classic “The Manhattan Project”.

Saturday morning was spent at Eastview, talking about our upcoming Kansas Mission Trip to Morning Star Ranch with our middle school students. Saturday afternoon was a chill day, and that evening, we did a bunch of yard work around the house. I tried my hand at making a walkway out of some pavers, and it came out pretty good. That evening, Anne’s worlds collided as I went with her to a work outing, we went to Naso’s in Marion and we had a nice time.

Sunday went pretty good. In the morning, we interviewed our graduating seniors as to where they were at in their faith why they were there and how they got there. I now hold the record for sermon time length…65 minutes. I’m up again on June 21st, and it will be shorter than that. We had a graduation party for 2 of them at church after the service, and the rest of the afternoon was chilling at home, I got a small nap in. Last night in d-group we talked about God’s name and the commandments surrounding treatment of it. the conversation was rough. We spent time talking about how it could be and was misused. Some of the time was spent poorly by chasing down rabbit trails that I created. I also believe that there was some conviction going on and there were attempts to rationalize our sin. Last week, I stumbled across an article dealing with the “selling” of Jesus. The link is here. The author of the blog asks 3 questions that I believe are worth pondering the next time I’m in the market for some Jesus junk; they are:

1. What is the purpose of this item?
2. Who Designed this item? Why?
3. At What Cost?

Ultimately, it comes down to scripture. Exodus 20 is an interesting read. Here are verses 1-17:

¹ And God spoke all these words:

² “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

³ “You shall have no other gods before me.

⁴ “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷ “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. ¹¹ For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

¹² “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

¹³ “You shall not murder.

¹⁴ “You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵ “You shall not steal.

¹⁶ “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

¹⁷ “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

When I’ve read these verses, I have in my mind the following attitude from God (beginning at the top):

“I am YHWH, the one who deliverd you from Egypt. You didn’t do it, Moses didn’t do it…I did. and Because of that, because I delivered you, you are to have no gods before me. Don’t create any images of me…because whatever you create, I’m nothing like. Don’t bow to anything but me, if you do, I’ll punish you, but it won’t stop there. The punishment will go to your children, and their children, and theirs…to the fourth generation of those who hate ME. Yes Moses, I just said that when people create and worship idols, they are guilty of hating me. Oh, and about my name…keep it holy. Because there is only one of ME, don’t treat it like it’s a common thing. it’s not a swear word and my last name is not dammit. When Jesus comes along…His middle name will not begin with and “H”. Don’t attribute things to me that I haven’t done, and don’t call things that are not me mine. If you do misuse my name, you will not be held guiltless by me. Take a day off and give it to me. You need to rest because I did. Your father and mother are deserving of your honor and respect. If you honor them, you’ll live long and prosper. Don’t kill anyone, or commit adultery, or steal…no false testimony-that’s gossip and slander, and don’t covet what your neighbor has. “

Notice anything in the above paraphrase? The first three commandments deal with the IDENTITY of God. And, in case you missed it…He’s a tad protective of Who He Is. In fact, if you look closely, commandments 2 and 3 are the only ones with a warning and punishment for violating them. I’m thinking…if God cares about His Name, than perhaps we should consider how we use it.

And I’m not sure how a bobblehead (a graven image??) of our Lord and Savior…the One Whom The Universe was Created By…the Judge of Nations…is giving Him glory.

And speaking of d-group, yesterday, as I interviewed our seniors, each of them spoke highly of that time as integral to their growth over the past 3 years. As we look forward to 2009-2010, our ministry is on the verge of change, and this is one program that will likely be going away. I have to be the stupidest person ever to take a fruit-bearing program and eliminate it.