it's all about perspective

this past weekend, i led a retreat with the youth group and decided to become intentional about taking a simplified approach. i designed a series of mini sessions with the flexibility of adding to or deleting from any given session at any given time. the retreat was dubbed the Q Retreat. the Q stood for Quest - whereas looking at life's big questions involves a 'quest' of sorts, a journey leading deep into one's very soul.

perhaps the deepest question was this "What does your soul look like?"

Some inspiration for the retreat derived from Rainn Wilson's Soul Pancake website and book. Other ideas came from the power of music (U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For; Katie Herzig - Make a Noise; Mumford & Sons - Awake My Soul etc), images (workisnotajob.com - the artwork gallery), creativity (howies® - life is complicated), film (nameless moment from erwin mcmanus) and scripture (among others: james 4:7-10; john 21:1-14)

discussions ranged from 'How to deal with the unbalance of life' to 'Things we search for' and to 'Things that make life complicated'. At one point the students made a list of 'Life's Biggest Questions.' This, no doubt, was most meaningful and impacting.

After a lengthy discussion on the tough questions of life (why do bad things happen to good people?, how do i know God's calling on my life?, what is my purpose? etc.) i showed this video: (a video made In Association with: the Melbourne Skydive Centre)

Experience Human Flight from Betty Wants In on Vimeo. [info]

after it completed i said "The next time you get consumed with life's big questions, remember... someone in Australia is skydiving."

in other words: it's all about perspective. for the person experiencing human flight the view is simple yet magnificent... the challenge overwhelming yet exhilarating. basically, God is in control. He enables mankind to do great and mighty things. and some things can make our problems look small... from His perspective, there is a plan and that path leads to full life.

Later, after a discussion on life's big dreams and a challenge for students to 'dream big' i showed this video:

Experience Zero Gravity from Betty Wants In on Vimeo. [info]

after viewing it, i said "the next time you think and feel your dreams are too big to accomplish remember... someone is base jumping in Switzerland."

lastly, at the end of the retreat after a final discussion about how life can become overwhelming and tempt us to go back rather than go forward (see John 21) i showed this video:



I concluded by saying "the next time you let life overwhelm you remember... someone is surfing off the coast of California."

it's all about perspective. form God's POV he's got the everything under control. he's got a plan for one and all and his creation speaks of his power and might and order.

life is complicated - but when we utilize our senses to see, hear, taste, touch and smell all that God has for us our perspective suddenly simplifies our life. even if for a moment... it's a moment given to us by God himself.

it's all about perspective. sometimes a change of scenery is all we need...


God is good... All the time...

calling

[rundown from a youth worship service i designed - october second]

What is your calling in life?
MOVE. EAT. LEARN.
below are three great videos from Rick Mereki - an Australian film maker. these short 1 minute films were used for an Australian travel agency. but they are brilliant and creative. i used them as part of a youth worship service on 'Understanding Your Calling' (becoming the person God called you to be).


http://vimeo.com/27246366
how can we know our calling if we stand still?


http://vimeo.com/27243869
embracing + consuming the life God gives you is part of your calling.


http://vimeo.com/27244727
willingness to learn new things will help you connect with God's purpose for your life.

i also tied in the Bethany Hamilton story from I Am Second.
you don't have to be perfect in order for God to use you - in order to fulfill your calling, etc.

scripture references: 1 Peter 2:4-10 (the message); the story of Josiah; Revelation 2:17

also used insight for designing this service from Grace - a fresh faith fellowship in London (titled The Becoming, Sept 2011) [i adapted it for youth]
and from Jonny Baker (you've arrived / you've not arrived)


~Tim

i still haven't found...

there are some things in life that a human being needs to be reminded of over and over. these messages can be found at the heart of all life.

they are:
man was not meant to be alone.
+
life is about the journey, not the destination.

when we lose sight of those two things - we lose sight purpose, meaning, restoration and hope.




it's not coincidental that those two themes are prevalent throughout the pages of the Holy Scriptures - from Genesis to Revelation.

while reading Maggi Dawn's book The Writing on the Wall this afternoon i was reminded of these themes. there is uncertainty in life. we'd like for things to be tidied up, wrapped in a box with a bow placed on top - but that is not our reality. life is messy and we all need restoration. we all need companionship. without the possibility for reconciliation and community man can not help but lose hope... and when you take away a man's hope - you take away his life.

but our hope is found in salvation. our hope is found in the journey.

i like how Maggi Dawn puts it:

"The Bible does not really give a picture of salvation as a simplistic answer to everything, but as a moment in an unfolding quest."

we are on an unfolding quest. together. but like the U2 song says "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." we may not know everything about the journey or where it may be leading us - but we still search. we must! our road is lined with simple messages - opportunities for us to connect with others, to connect with the earth and to connect with a loving God. and the journey is essential to our life.

remember what brought down Adam & Eve in the garden? Pride.

if we think we've arrived then we've reached a dangerous place. if we think we know a better way than God then we are bound for destruction.

if we think we can go it alone along the path then we're bound to wander - like the one sheep out of the 99. (but remember how the shepherd goes after that lost one?) you can't make it on your own. nobody can.

God has a plan. God has a purpose for us all. but we must seek. we must not remain stagnant. we must cry out. we must keep hope alive. and despite the fact that we don't know everything... and despite the fact that we at times feel alone and even despite of ourselves - God shows us a light. and the light is life. remain in the light... it brightens our path... it highlights our unity.

may we journey down the winding road together.

the literal journeys from here to there and places in between [2] westbound and down

the road west is long, straight and a bit wasted.

the first thing that comes to mind when i think of the road west is abandonment. have you ever been west of the Mississippi? have you ever been through Texas? New Mexico? Arizona? wide open empty spaces liter the landscape. and then, in what seems like a mirage, a building appears in the distance - only this structure is almost camouflaged by the weeds and debris that surround it.

the old west is a cataclysmic terrain of emptiness with pockets of civilization once booming, now looming. and yet so many are drawn to its lure. perhaps its because we all know what lies beyond, just a few more miles down the old road... the pacific. the land of opportunity. the land of celebrity. California. and California, for so many, represents hope.

my views of this road west, is slim. so forgive me for calling it like i have seen it - but driving along the mother road - Interstate 40 and off to the most historic of roads - Route 66 - all that is seen are memories of what once was. it's the past that has yet to catch up with the present, eons away from the future. because many moons ago, Americans were curious, and traveled across the country - living the dream, like Jack Kerouac's On the Road. Route 66 was the road of choice and boom towns sprung up along that sacred path - and they flourished. Then, in the 60's, Eisenhower's interstate system was implemented and old 66 was bypassed for the four lane super highway, connecting the east to the west, north to the south.

depression was left in its wake.

now that i've wasted three or four paragraphs painting my interpretation of history - what is the point? because i have, on a few occasions, traveled that road - both roads. and those experiences are monumental.

on one encounter - with the family, we traveled to Phoenix, to drop my sister off at an Indian Reservation school, where she served as teacher. the memories of that family trip, when i was about 20 - proved to be an experience right out of the script from the movie Vacation. It's as if my dad was Chevy Chase - bound and determined to make the trip exciting and fresh. but alas, everything went wrong, the least of which was the motel room in Tulsa. the Roadside Inn (not a 5 star hotel in the least), had a bed that was slanted (broken box springs) and a sound-scape of gunfire outside our motel door.

on another encounter - i was heading towards hope - and hope was discovered just past painted deserts and canyons so grand; through the intense, dry heat of Vegas followed by 300 miles of nothing... and then, with all its beauty shined the lights of the big city: the hopes and dreams of Los Angeles were right in front of me.

the journey was riddled with mistakes and bad food and the unmistakable stench that was Amarillo, Texas - but the backdrop of sun, rolled-down windows and U2 on repeat was redeeming enough.

there were 5 and dime's along the road - in small towns not fit for a truck stop. in one of these we stopped for a drink. i think they sold the Coke in the old glass pop bottles still. Time moved on, except here. our journey brought us to a stop. one couldn't help but reflect. the radio was stuck in 1958. the grass was faded, burnt by the sun. The pick up trucks were rusted, the old feed mills, closed. even the stop light didn't work. this was a town drunk from nostalgia in a shot glass - and i drank it up, too. i remember its vintage hues, its passing winds. the flat terrain allowed for the eye to gaze upon the Rocky Mountains due west and a bit north. i remember wondering if the inhabitants of such a town knew what was beyond that horizon? did they dream of opportunity like i did? did they long to escape? had they held on to any innocence? had they longed for a return of simple things? like jobs and passer-bys... and hope?

but my stay was not long. after a quick meal at some unknown shack where the hostess was the waitress and the waitress was the cook, we were on our way again. it was getting dark and a storm would soon be upon us. as Kerouac once said: "one fast move or I'm gone." the storm came quickly (as they tend to come out there). i was gone.

hope was ahead of me. despair was in my rear view mirror.

yet i have never forgotten that scene. that place. those places along the road, the road west.

what happened next was an adventure of a lifetime. Los Angeles. Hollywood. 3rd Street Promenade. The Pacific Ocean. Film School.

it was this journey that - in part - shaped who i am today. my values. my vision. my dreams. all fleshed out in the warm California sun. 6 months later i was back home again. i don't remember anything about the journey home. i remember that i made it back (that's about it.)

i returned with few regrets, clinging to hope - a hope that survived the journey west and the desolation of abandoned towns and crappy motels; a hope that survived the tragedies and dramas of life in the hills behind the Hollywood sign. for me, the destination was the journey.

the literal journeys from here to there and places in between [1]

when i was a kid, my parents tended a garden out at a farm on the edge of town. my father was a pastor and a farmer in the church gave him some land to till each spring and summer. this sounded like a great idea. fresh fruit and vegetables. hands in the dirt. digging. tending. pruning. growing. the task was not as easy or as fruitful as one would hope.
none the less, we spent many evenings out in that garden.

i don't remember much about watering or any other type of care-giving that our family, together, gave to that plot of land. i was 6. maybe 7 after all. i do remember that there were beehives near by. i remember running from those bees and hiding in the rows of corn - as if bees wouldn't see me or find me there. but that's about it.

frankly, what i remember most about the garden - that overgrown piece of unfruitful land that us 'town-folk' had little success tending - was the trip to and from. we did not drive in the family station wagon. no, we rode our bikes. family exercise. family bonding. it was a bond alright. us kids were forced to do things against our will. we were fastened together and the rope was a general disdain for taking care of our plot of earth.

the trips out were fun. the trips back home, not so much. after an evening of 'bonding' while pulling weeds - you might imagine tense, exhausted nerves courtesy of my three older sisters. tired legs didn't help either. i don't know how many miles it was to the farm and my little legs never had to care. i sat in the child seat behind my dad. i never had to pedal. maybe that's what made the journey memorable for me. i soaked it up as i rested in back. no worries. care-free. i took it all in.

the sights, sounds and smells of that journey still ring true. i loved the part where we pedaled over the rail road tracks. on a good day an east bound freight train would whistle by. the fresh smell of roses as we rode past Mrs. Durfey's house was an added bonus as well. then there'd be that random chicken you'd find wandering in the middle of that old county road that led to the farm. "what would happen when it got to the other side", i'd wonder aloud. one time a pick up truck rushed by - said chicken didn't make it across. you know that expression 'running around with a chicken with its head cut off'? as a 6 or 7 year old, i understood that first hand.

the summer sun would be fading into the distance. cool breezes would flow across the terrain. waves of green and gold from one side of the road to the other were part of the larger canvas with a line of trees in-full-bloom, towering above and beyond. it was generally quiet. this was rural central Ohio. there was nothing much but farm land with houses and small communities sprinkled about.

each evening we had a destination. to take care of the garden. to make things grow. each evening we completed a journey, to and fro.

but there was something special about the journeys. special enough that i remember them vividly. Maxwell's farm with dairy cattle on the hill side. The Whetstone creek trickling by. Kids hunting for crawdads along its banks. the simplicity of that small town and large countryside. not much happening - except for the ritual of the journey.

the ritual of the journey is so much a part of who we are as humans. we are constantly in motion. from one place to another. what meaning do we find in the journey? what purpose does the journey hold? how vivid are the journey's of life? if even the simplest of journeys are forgotten - then what else might we be missing?

stop. think back. remember your journeys. what value do you find there?

that daily trip to the country - where i was a mere passenger on the back my dad's bicycle - allowed me to soak it up - to see it all; smell it all; feel it all. i was a part of the journey and i dared not miss a thing.

i still remember those summer sunsets on that old country road...

i don't know anything.

i don't know anything. i think i do but i don't. at times my lack of knowledge can be frustrating. but deep in the heart i know that nobody else knows anything either.

maybe it's not always about knowing, but about trusting.

perhaps our 'knowledge' leads us down the path to heresy. but we're all heretics, really.

as Peter Rollins writes in The Orthodox Heretic "the question is not that we judge between orthodoxy and heresy, but rather how we judge between good heresy and bad heresy."

will i proudly say that i know all that there is about faith? or will i humbly admit that i am in the dark about some things - but i aim to live like the way Jesus exemplified (hopefully without picking and choosing which which examples to follow and which to not follow.)

thoughts while sipping coffee at starbucks

(sort of a continuation from my ramblings earlier in the week while waiting for an oil change)

PT. 2: sitting in a starbucks @ Washington square, sipping on a mocha and thinking about life and cool breezes and oversized comfy chairs. friday morning, 1.23.09

We are all put here n this green earth of ours for a reason. Finding that reason is a major part of our life’s quest. Our questions are tied to that reason. Our reason is tied to the questions. We don’t always know what to ask or where to search. we don’t always realize what the end result will be. But we know that there is a purpose.. a direction… a plan designed just for us. In the days of GPS navigation systems, you’d think it’d be a whole heck of a lot easier to find our way. Yet we still wander aimlessly.

Your hand in mine. As I type ‘your hand in mine’, an instrumental track by the band Explosions in the Sky is playing.

I find it to apply to my thoughts at the moment. We are none of us alone. You’ll never walk alone. We were never meant to be alone. But we’ve all felt alone. Much of my adolescence I felt alone, I think. At least I seem to recall feeling that way… maybe my memories are skewed… but even today there are many times when I think that no one understands me or the thoughts or ideas in my head.

Last on Greys Anatomy (my wife makes me watch it) Meredith said to Derek something like ‘ I know you don’t understand me… I don’t understnd me!’

I felt that way. Many people do, too, I believe. But WE ARE NOT ALONE… nor were we meant to be or feel alone. But feelings can deceive us so much of the time.

Thinking about Adam and Eve and the action steps they took after they disobeyed God. What did they do? they hid. They pulled themselves away and brought on the feeling and reality of aloneness (is that a word?). They retreated. They pulled back. They hid. And God took away, because of their disobedient hearts, the very thing that they desired most. The comfortable resting place for their mind, body and spirit.

I wonder if there is a connection to ‘feeling alone’ and ‘not knowing the path God has laid out for us?’

I wonder if aloneness, or the feelings of alone-ness are connected to the quest?

Certainly, part of the quest is ‘doing it alone’… or so it seems or feels. But maybe that is not the intended way. I don’t know. In movies and in books you always have this character who ‘has to make it on my own.’… who has to prove to the world and to themselves that they can do it.

But how tragic that can end up. I am thinking of Christopher McCandless, the true story of a man, featured in the book and movie Into the Wild, who ran off on his own on a quest to find himself. He wound up in Alaska… alone… lost… abandoned… trapped… and eventually he died there.

One of his final written words was this: “happiness only real when shared with others.”

How true. How true.

Thoughts of the prodigal son… or the lost sheep come to mind. The lost sheep was not meant to be abandoned. The shepherd goes after him… leaving 99. That lost one was just as important.

The prodigal son… he chose to leave… chose to go it alone. And it took some trials and tragedy before he came to his senses and returned home, like a bad dog with his head between his knees… but the Father was there with open arms.

The Quest brought him full circle. The Father was there with loving arms… was that or is that the fulfillment of the quest? Of our quest in life?

To return home?

Ironically, the song that no plays is ‘The Only Moment We Were Alone’ by Explosions in the Sky. Beautiful.

WE and ALONE in the same sentence, those words are kind of opposites.

We and Alone. Maybe it could be a metaphor… and I am taking creative license here… but maybe it is symbolic of the homecoming… of which the FATHER greets us with the kind of embrace that fills the heart with love and grace and peace and comfort and protection and purpose and willingness and desire.

Together WE – the Father in Heaven and ME… and I… whatever. Together we are alone. That is the plan? Is it not? Is that the culmination of salvation and love that God promises? Is that the rejoiced moment we await?

when i was 12

this past summer while on vacation, the television remained off and in my moments of quiet, i read a book. and then another book. and then i began another... that third book was the Stephen King novella Different Seasons. the third of four short stories (titled 'The Body') in that novella was the longest of the stories.

vacation came and went before i finished it and i didn't pick it back up until the last month of the year. i finished 'The Body' before Christmas and couldn't wait to watch the film variation of the story, titled Stand By Me, to see how it compared.

Now in my younger years I had seen Stand By Me repeatedly... although it was the tv version in which all of the swear words and whatnot were replaced or removed. So i knew the story. Frankly, that is what made 'The Body' all the more enjoyable. As i read it, i was hearing the narration of Richard Dreyfuss and i was picturing the boys from the movie in my mind's eye. (The same was true when i read 'Rita Heyworth and the Shawshank Redemption'... i was hearing the narration of Morgan Freeman and picturing Tim Robbins... and when i recently finished the Autobiography of Johnny Cash, i was sad to put it down, because i knew the voice of Johnny Cash would disappear with it).

Without saying too much, Stand By Me or The Body is a really a story about 4 11 or 12 year old boys as they venture out to find the missing dead body of a peer who had tragically been hit by a train. it's less about the body and more the quest... even more about the life and times and important things of a 12 year old's childhood... many conversations about which super hero is best, ragging on one's mom and a plethora of one-up-man ship.

it's raw and real... the book more than the movie... but it's about the hopes and fears and weights placed upon the shoulders of young men who aren't really men at all. not yet anyway.

i connect with that story, as do many grown men like me. why? we connect with it because we were all once 12 years old. and we are sad that we can not go back... never go back to that age of innocence and discovery.

there was a quote from the story... i can hear Dreyfuss narrating it now: "I never had friends later on in life like i did when i was 12. God, does anyone?"

i remember my friends back then. i go back often... in my mind, that is. i am taken back to that small town in mid-Ohio, were i grew up. i think of the many adventures i once shared with them: Billy and Donnie, David and Mikey, Patrick and Bobby... and the assortment of other characters with whom my path once crossed. We'd ride bikes, walk the tracks, play war, camp out, build forts and club houses (we must have had 3 or 4 different ones over the years), head up to the Rainbow 7 for some ice cream and a game of Donkey Kong, climb trees and talk about girls or music or what was happening on the latest episode of The A-Team... we had full lives.

One of us is now gone. He drowned in the Whetstone Creek a few years after I moved away. I've lost contact with pretty much all of those guys now.

I've been back to that small town a hand full of times over the last 20+ years. In fact, i took my new bride there soon after we were married... wanted to show here where i grew up and tell her all about the things we did. We pulled into town and everything looked different.

you can never go back. i learned that one then and there. but my mind has not forgotten. so much happened and it seemed so important then.

maybe it still is.

to be 12 again... who wouldn't want to go back?

long road ahead

it always seems like it's a long road ahead...

start of something new

this weekend i assisted my wife on a wedding photo shoot. she armed me with a second camera and when i wasn't helping her - i snapped some random shots. statues, stained glass, icons as well as the typical celebratory pictures of a wedding and the feast that follows.

during the hour long ceremony (it was a catholic wedding) my mind began to think about the beauty of what was taking place.

After the wedding, we went to a park to shoot some outdoor photos of the wedding party. some had had a bit to drink - so the celebration was in full swing before the reception had even started. but they were celebrating. there was joy in their eyes. i could see it. lots of big smiles and playful spirits.



















i thought about Jesus and the wedding at Cana. the festivities had probably been going on for quite some time. if i remember correctly, weddings, in those days, lasted for up to a week. can you imagine what kind of celebration it must have been? and when the wine was gone - it would have been a big deal. you can understand why Mary, the mother of Jesus, goes to Him - asking him to do something about it. Jesus performs his first miracle, changes water into wine and the rest is history. the master of the banquet responded by saying "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."

You have saved the best till now.



















it was the start of something new... for the bride and groom at Cana - for Jesus, whose public ministry had just begun. something new and exciting was starting.

there is a real, raw beauty in that. Newness. spring time ought to remind us of the beauty of all things new. start fresh. set goals. look to the future. eyes forward. sun shining. best laid plans ahead of us; world is an oyster; take risks and live life.

what new things has Jesus placed before you? maybe it's time to celebrate. clear eyes. full hearts. with joy in your heart. rejoice! the best has been saved for us - claim it and believe it.

when two become one - trust has to be at the core - or the marriage is bound for trouble. you can see the example of trust in Jesus - as he trusted and knew that the wedding at Cana (and the miracle that came with it) would ultimately lead to a unifying of the the bride of Christ (the church, followers & believers) with Christ himself - through his impending sacrifice on the cross.

there is something great and mighty and new in front of us all. i want to wrap my arms around that and discover with joy what it is that God has placed in front of me. may grace guide us and lead us to that mission, whatever it may be, and may Christ be glorified and others bear witness.

for he has saved the best until now.

Life is What Happens...

We are standing on a road,
on a road to nowhere
There's a place for all of this
They don't care
We don't care
You can't break us down*

they say that life is what happens when your making other plans. i say life is what happens when other plans make you. In this past two weeks we've seen 22,000 die in Mayanmar after a deadly cyclone, 12,000 are now dead after a massive earthquake rocked China and 30+ died after a series of twisters hit areas throughout the midwest. Add to that the chaos of life that ensued after I learned that my very own mom would need an entire hysterectomy to remove a mass the size of a baseball that had been discovered in or around her ovaries. My grandmother, whom died 5 years before I was born, passed away from Ovarian cancer, on May 8th, 1969. My mom was scheduled for surgery on May 8th, 2008.

After surgery, Doctor Hopkins met with me and one of my sisters and some pastor friends of the family. He disclosed that they had removed the tumor - but that it was throughout her fallopian tubes. It was a very rare form of cancer... some 3.6 out of 1 million woman have been diagnosed with fallopian tubal cancer. It is believed that this kind of cancer is genetically linked to those who had a parent with ovarian cancer. Thankfully, there was no cancer in the surrounding tissue, which is good, but she will need to undergo chemotherapy. My mom's cancer is stage one.

This all came as quite a shock. I was prepared for the surgery and the things that come with that - but i had not begun to think about the possibility of cancer. And so other plans have now made us... much like the many others throughout the world today who have been stuck with disaster... big and small.

And yet i can't stop thinking about what good friend and pastor Carl Kandel said to me as he left the waiting room last Thursday... "God's going to reveal himself in a big way. You watch and see."

that is hard to think about when we realize how much our 'plans' for this summer may change as a result of my mom's treatments. The selfish person inside of me can't help but think how my life will be changed... what about my mothers? our realm of perspective is narrow when disaster strikes. I am having trouble seeing the big picture. I see the thread - but he shows the tapestry... "God's going to reveal himself in a big way. You watch and see." I see the dirt, but he sees the field of flowers... "God's going to reveal himself in a big way. You watch and see." I hear the word - but he speaks the sonnet. "God's going to reveal himself in a big way. You watch and see." I see the tree - but God shows me the forest and the life that dwells within it. "God's going to reveal himself in a big way. You watch and see." I see the ray of light - but he gives me the beautiful sun setting in the distance.

I am learning to trust again... trusting that his canvas is larger than mine... his brush is showing me what Monet never dreamed of. I have to trust that God will provide and will not take away that which has been given to expand the kingdom. In his time.



*The Appleseed Cast - Here We Are (Family in the Hallways)

what sort of legacy will you leave?

i've been thinking a lot about legacy lately. maybe it has to do with thoughts of my father who passed away one year ago last week. i can think of the legacy that he left for me. i can think of the impact he made on others. i can think of the number of persons he mentored - men and women who would eventually follow the Lord's leading as they entered into ministry. but this post isn't really about my father. i honor him and we paid respects to him when we visited the grave this week - but this post is about us... me... you... whoever you are.

what sort of legacy will i leave? what sort of legacy will you leave?













while visiting the cemetery where my dad was laid to rest i couldn't help but look around at all of the other grave sites. some have been there for over two centuries. men who fought and died in the Great American Revolution and in the Civil War; babies who died months after birth, mothers, brothers, sisters, husbands wives; some lived long, some not. with each stone placed in the ground a legacy goes with it.... a story... some untold, forgotten or too far in the past for anyone to know. but there was a legacy left there in the burrows of the green grass.

what were there stories? did they live productive lives? did they struggle with the same struggles as you and i? was life simpler for them? what did they stress about... rejoice about? did they know Christ and follow his teachings? did they have faith and if so, was it visible, plain and seen by one and all?

were they heroic or drunkards? housewives or heretics? what was their vice... their tragic flaw?

What was their legacy? did they even think about what kind of example they were leaving behind and how it might impact the world?

we know of the legacies of so many. Martin Luther King left us a legacy of peace and equality. johnny Cash left us a legacy of music and raw emotion that will sustain us for many years to come. Mother Teresa left us a legacy of service. Bill Gates a legacy of technology. I could go on. So could you. but again - it's not about them. it's now about us.

what legacy will we leave?

in the movie Meet the Fockers (yeah - i'm referencing that movie in a post about legacy...) Greg's future father in law (Jack - played by Robert DeNiro) asks what's truly important in life. Greg replies "love... friendship." Jack reminds him that leaving a legacy behind is of the utmost importance. Jack doesn't want a 'chink in the chain' of his families lineage.

Love... friendship. kind of sounds a lot like what Jesus said was most important...

1. Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them." Matthew 22:36-40

Love God. Love People. it's that simple. that should be the foundation of our legacy.

Peter gives further instruction on leaving a legacy.

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For,
"Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from deceitful speech.
He must turn from evil and do good;
he must seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?

1 Peter 3:8-13

another fine reminder. what legacy will we leave? what example will we set? what stories will people tell about us and how might those stories further the kingdom of God?


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Now playing: Portishead - Glory Box
via FoxyTunes

exiles in the city

i attended a men's Bible study last nite - a friend of mine - his dad, a pastor, was leading it.
the scripture reference was Jeremiah 29. of course vs. 11 is commonly known by many... it is probably frequently underlined and highlighted...

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

we looked at more than that commonly quoted verse... we looked at the context... my dad used to say 'a text taken out of context is a preftext.' (or something like that...) so with that - i discovered so much more than that oft recited verse.

if you look at Jeremiah 29:4-14 you will see the bigger picture.

God's people - they had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon... on foreign soil... amongst foreign people. what does God ask them to do?
Build houses.
Plant gardens.
Marry.
Have sons & daughters.
Increase in number.

that stuff there - that is the easy stuff. but then in verse 7 - God commands something more...
Seek peace.
Seek prosperity for the city.
Pray for the city to prosper - for if it prospers, you too will prosper.

keep in mind that the people of God had been defeated by Babylon... so they were captives. and yet God asks that they pray for their captors... and pray for them to prosper.

one might conclude they were instructed to 'infiltrate' the enemy and win 'em over to Jesus!' I don't see it quite that way... there is no infiltrating... just living... among people. side by side. not us vs. them. just us.

how does this relate to my city or your city... or our state or nation or even the world?

i think God is saying to all Christians - GET OUT OF THE BUBBLE. we're so good at holing ourselves up in our own subculture 'protected' from the evils of the world. but the bubble doesn't protect us - it prevents us.

Rich Mullins - the late singer/songwriter and ragamuffin theologian once said this:
"Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children and your beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups near you. Christianity is about learning to love as Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor... and Jesus loved the broken." [July 19, 1997]

how is it that the church seclude itself from the rest of society? we are called... better yet - instructed to be a part of the culture. when the culture prospers - our mission prospers. that makes sense if you think about it.

so the challenge then - that was laid before us last nite was to pray for our cities... our communities. to be out in the community... living.

so back to the key verse that we all know and love.
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

how 'bout that. we have a hope and a future... but our 'prosperity' comes when we pray for the city. and our prosperity isn't driving Lexus' and having memberships at the country club... i'm not talking 'bout the prosperity gospel here. that's bogus... he will make us strong and we will flourish - because we will be fulfilling his will.

vs. 12 and beyond serve as a nice closer:
"When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. "When you come looking for me, you'll find me. "Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed." [from the Message]

we call on Him. He listens. we look. we find. and we won't be disappointed!
nice.

i have to be honest - this whole passage - about being out there amongst the non-believers and the poor and those who oppress... that kind of living has been giving me a kick in the butt lately. i am striving to be more missional in the way that i live and in the way that i lead the youth group. i pray that we would not be so self-centered... even if out of ignorance.

Power Outage

with 50 mile per hour winds comes the occasional falling tree.
with the occasional falling tree comes a downed power line.

that was the case last evening, two doors down.
the tree fell and was laying on the wires. it then began to catch fire.
about ten minutes and two loud 'pop's and a flashing white light the fire extinguished itself - but electricity for the three blocks of which our house is centrally located was out.

most people probably slept through it all or at least - returned to sleep in the usual dark.
not me. i couldn't sleep. maybe it was the howling wind. maybe it was my four year old sons constant elbows and knees poking me after he had crawled in bed with us. or maybe it was the flashing, whirling lights atop the fire truck parked outside our house.
regardless, i got little rest.

so in the dark, with the flicker of a candle providing some comfort and light i spent a lot of time praying. what else was there to do? what better time than that which was present.

i began to compare my oft spiritual power outages to the situation outside the creaking walls of our house. i began to think about the teens whom i shepherd and how many of them are wandering around in the dark - with little or no desire for spiritual electricity or fire. and those other teens who have been stirring up that fire - with hopes that it would spread to their peers.

i thought about how much we rely on power... on electricity... on light. and yet for so many - when it comes to their faith - they don't seem to think it necessary to 'flip the switch on'. to them, simply having the switch is enough. but what good is that?

so many are resisting the light - like cockroaches scurrying about in the night... when the light comes on - they seek darkness as their shelter. and yet we know that the darkness is deceiving many.

oh how i want the power to come on. for the light bulb light up. for Christ to shine so that more people would be drawn to Him. and now my struggle ahead of me appears to be finding a new, relevant way to present the light to those God has given me to lead. but i also know i don't have to reinvent the wheel. i have to trust the Spirit. this journey that we are on - it is ever changing. the people we encounter along the path... they... they seem to resist - because society dictates what our priorities should be. or maybe because mainline christianity has become a breeder for complacency and comfort. or maybe because of a number of 'something elses'. at this point - i don't know anything anymore. i feel like Solomon... 'Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.'

i wait patiently for God to guide me to do what he wants me to do in order to reach those wayward sheep in darkness. maybe that is the answer... rescue the lost - one by one.

5 Minute Walk

back in my college days - it wasn't uncommon for me to go to various alternative Christian concerts... some of the concerts featured bands from a small label called 5 Minute Walk Recordings. At one show I got a free t-shirt that Said 5 Minute Walk on the front and Take Time to Listen on the back. it was a favorite tee until i lost it.

Ironically, the name of this blog is borrowed from the album title of a 5 Minute Walk sub-label band, Dimestore Prophets.



Something I was reading from Wise Traveller: Relationships triggered memories of 5 Minute Walk this morning...

I turned to Wikipedia to find out more info on 5 Minute Walk. Frank Tate - founder of the label, explained the name this way:

If you spend five minutes a day talking to Jesus like you would a friend, He would become your friend. I know it sounds weird, but I challenge you to give it a try. The next time you're bummed, lonely, scared or frustrated, go for a five-minute walk and talk to Him like you would a friend. Tell Him exactly how you feel and what you're thinking.

How many of us need to take that walk today?

A 5 minute walk can lead to so much more.
It can lead to cooler heads prevailing.
It can bring peace of mind.
It can serve as exercise for the body, mind and soul.
It can bring about conversation with the Father.
It can produce fruit from a deepened relationship with Jesus.

the 5 Minute Walk. sounds like a good resolution for the coming new year.

seize.life

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Seize life! Eat bread with gusto,
Drink wine with a robust heart.
Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure!
Dress festively every morning.
Don't skimp on colors and scarves.
Relish life with the spouse you love
Each and every day of your precarious life.
Each day is God's gift. It's all you get in exchange
For the hard work of staying alive.
Make the most of each one!
Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!
This is your last and only chance at it,
For there's neither work to do nor thoughts to think
In the company of the dead, where you're most certainly headed.

(THE MESSAGE)

abide.

ABIDE
being fully present with
resting in the comfort of
dwelling together with
journeying beside Jesus.

brings --->

direction in life
desire to serve
discovery of our true selves

we must pursue a life of trust
(to follow an invisible God)

live as a {wandering disciple} as if God is beside, in front of, behind, over and under us.

inspired from the Journal of Student Ministries - July/Aug 2007 - pg. 8

Now playing: Cranes - K56
via FoxyTunes

Into the Wild

I recently read Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer in record time... it took me about a week. I am a very slow reader - so this was a big accomplishment. The book made me want to go see the movie, and thus last weekend, Jen and I went. I thoroughly enjoyed both. Oh, in the mean time, I picked up the soundtrack, by Eddie Vedder. Also a nice piece of work.

So for the past month (since reading the book), I've been infatuated with the story of Christopher McCandless. I've googled everything there is to know about him and his journey. I've read all the articles and things related to him and about how he wound up in Alaska.

Over at Circle Six Magazine, i wrote a review of the book, movie and soundtrack. Check it out. Let me know what you think. You can read the article HERE. It's a fascinating story, and I think, if you are willing, it just might captivate you. I'd love to have dialogue about the book. I could tell you more about McCandless and his story - but I'd give too much away. Check out the book. Read my review. And then we'll talk about it. If you please.

Check out the official movie web site as well.

io

inspired by the song Io by Helen Stellar
(featured on the Elizabethtown soundtrack)