Why Music Is Important

Hey people - I had a great night last night rocking out to the sounds of Olympians (a very talented local band here in Indy), One Small Step (our worship band at The Journey), Quiet Science and Cool Hand Luke. I am always inspired by artists who love to make (and perform) their art. These guys and gals really did it for me last night. Quiet Science is a band I was not aware of until I started to make arrangements for this show. All I have to say is watch out for these guys. In all of the music I heard last night, there was an authentic expression of life's good and bad and the search for God and meaning in all of it. Isn't that what good music (and all art) should do: express the realities of the life we live in while creatively communicating this search for something more, something beyond us? Good music makes you tap your feet and think at the same time. Sometimes it makes you laugh and sometimes it makes you cry but mostly it makes you aware. It makes you aware that we as human beings are powerful. God has endowed us with powers to be creative which we use for both good and bad, to uplift and to hurt. It is amazing how this power can be used to motivate, inspire and change the lives of people. I was made aware of this power once more last night as I rocked out with these bands. They are all truly gifted and each desire to use those gifts in a way that glorifies and honors God, but also motivates and inspires us as people to be better human beings. Isn't that what we all want? Don't you think that is what God wants too? Why else would he have given us this great power to be co-creators with Him? God wants us to touch the hearts of each other, to use our creative power to help, to build up, to heal, to console, to comfort, to motivate, to inspire. Music is so vital to our existence and our prosperity. I was happily reminded of this again last night.

A Lot Has Happened In Five Months

Yes, that's right - I'm back, baby! And I'm back with a vengeance. My wife and I had our third child last month and I just feel like new life is teeming all around me! It's crazy because I am so darn tired yet so exhilarated at the same time. It's hard to explain unless you've been there yourself. Not only am I excited about the newest addition to my family, I'm also pumped about what is happening in my faith community, The Journey. For whatever reason, I have put myself in a position this last week where I have heard more than my fair share about vision: about how vital it is to have a vision for your life, your family, your organization, your church - and how without it you will eventually die. It is no secret why so many churches are dying. They have no vision for the future. They are not dreaming God's dreams. They are not putting themselves in a position to hear God's voice. Vision has definitely been on my mind as I've been walking around with my one-month old son late at night. Where will his life go? What will he become? Now I know that his entire destiny does not rest in my hands but I know that I will have a huge share in forming who this child will become. What kind of father will I be? Will he know he is loved? Will he see Jesus in me? Will I give him a chance to experience life without smothering him and plotting out his every step? Will I have grace for him when he fails? When he disappoints me? These are all important, tough, vital questions for me to wrestle with as he grows. What questions are you wrestling with? What do you want your life to become? What do you want your community of faith to become? I want my community of faith, The Journey, to be a place where people can come and learn the way of Jesus and see the way of Jesus lived out while not being judged for who they are or decisions they have made. At the same time, I want to be a place that motivates and inspires people to capture and live out God's dream for their lives and to be a place of grace when people fail and hurt themselves or others. In other words, I have the same kind of vision for my church as I do for myself as a parent. When you think about it, they are kind of similar. Both churches and parents have an incredible amount of power to shape, mold and direct the lives of people. Both get to choose how they use that power. I choose to use that power for good. I choose to use that power for love. I have a vision that my son, and my church, can both grow up to be very positive, significant and vital components of the context that they find themselves in. I believe that love will make this happen. The power of the love of a father for his son and the power of the love of Jesus Christ, lived through us, for his church. Love will make it happen. Love will make my vision a reality.

Going back to move forward

I love to read books. This was a love cultivated in me by my parents when I was a child and reignited in me as a young adult. One thing I notice when I walk into my favorite bookstores is that I always go to the new releases. I want to know what's new, what's hot, what's fresh. I want the new insight, the new knowledge and the new information. For better or worse, I have always tended to like newer books and newer things in general (which I guess, simply makes me a product of my culture). When people recommend books to me that are more than a few years old, I tend to shy away (which, of course, is very ironic since I am a pastor and hold the bible up as my guide and authority in life. I can be confusing sometimes). So I was a hesitant to pick up a book recently that was published in 1997. 1997?? Really?? That's the year I graduated from Seminary. That's the year I got married. That was before I had a cellphone and just as I was getting internet access. What could a book from 1997 teach me? Well, the book is called The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard. I'm only about halfway through. It's a long book but its teachings are incredible. Dr. Willard isn't really teaching anything new, but he is helping us see Jesus and the "kingdom of the heavens" that Jesus came proclaiming in a brand new light. He makes it accessible for anyone who has ever had a desire to follow Jesus. He helps the reader see what Jesus was about, and thus, what we should be about - which is being in relationship with God so that we can make this kingdom a reality for our world and all those that inhabit our world. It's a high calling, indeed - but one that is unchanging. Our calling is timeless but the way in which we live out our calling will change and must change with the advent of new technologies and the other massive changes our world has experienced. This book reminds me, though, that while everything else in the world presses forward at a breakneck pace that sometimes it's good to look back at the wisdom of ages past. Who knows? We might find a nugget of gold that will change our lives. We might even find God...

goals

What’s Happenin’? I’m writing this at my desk the day after President Obama’s inauguration. It certainly was an historic event for our nation and world. It was very surreal to see President Bush and his wife get on the plane for Texas and to leave their responsibilities as president and first lady. When President Bush was first inaugurated, Pam and I did not yet have any children (we were pregnant with Leah) we had been married less than four years and I was still serving at the first church I had been appointed to. Everything seemed so new to us. I think about all that has happened in the eight years since, both good and bad, for our country and for our family. Sometimes there is just a need for a fresh start, a new direction and bold leadership. My prayer is certainly that President Obama and his administration can bring those things for our country. I also pray that I can bring that to my family and to all those I influence. I pray that you can too. In order to be those kinds of leaders and live those kinds of lives we need to set goals for ourselves. In last month’s issue of the newsletter, I talked about the importance of goal setting in our development as people and as a church community. I told you I would share those with you in this issue, so here they are:

Personal Goals:

1) Be a better self-leader. For me, this means being more proactive in my life. Instead of reacting to life as it comes to me, I am setting the tone for my life. This means scheduling my time – both privately and professionally, so that it is used to its fullest potential. As a parent of young children this is challenging and I’ve already seen some ways that I’ve failed at this. I continue to press on because I know that I am best used for God when I control my time. This includes personal worship time, exercise and family time.
2) Remember that my family is my first ministry priority. In I Timothy 3:5, Paul asks “If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?” This really hits home on some days. Sometimes I find myself getting so excited about what’s going on with the church that family gets neglected. For me, this includes regular dates with Pam and Leah and roughhousing and hanging out with Alex. They need to know and understand the abundance of God’s love for them and the world we live in. As co-leader of my household, this must be a priority.

Journey Goals:

1) To truly become a church that sees itself as partners with God in helping to restore the world. We need to understand our unique calling as a body of people – to help bring people into the glorious light of Jesus by who we are and how we live. Understanding that what we do matters and that we can have a great impact. My goal is to make this clear through the vision for ministry that God has given us.
2) To create a culture of leadership. This means helping all followers of Jesus see that they have been uniquely gifted by God to lead and to serve. When people’s eyes are opened to this reality, I believe a movement is created that cannot be stopped. God desires passionate leaders who care about this world and the people in it and who are willing to give of themselves sacrificially for His cause, which is so much greater than who we are individually. When people begin to understand this and live this kind of lifestyle, watch out…

So, there ya go. How about you? What goals did you make? Post them where you can see them regularly and they can remind you of who you are and what you want to be about. The life God has given us is precious. Let’s make the most of it!

a new feeling

It's interesting to me how change on a national level can be so powerful that it trickles down to the small communities that inhabit our nation. Sunday morning was a great time for me and the community I "do life" with - The Journey. It just seemed that with the combination of the recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday and the forthcoming inauguration that there was a real sense of hope and gratitude in the air. Worship seemed to be especially powerful (even though our worship leader didn't get home until 4am that morning) and the teaching really focused on the power we have as followers of Jesus when we gather and serve with one common purpose. There really is strength in numbers. There really is power in unity. We remembered the call of Dr. King and of our new president to come together as one people to combat the problems that ail our nation and our world. We also remembered the call of our Lord Jesus to come together as one so that the world might know we are his. In Jesus longest recorded prayer, in John 17, He says: " I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

These are very powerful words. The world will know who we are and whose we are when we come together in unity. Churches talk about evangelism, but I don't know of any greater tool of evangelism than joining together in unity over our one common cause. We know that we live in a broken world and that God has called us to help him heal the brokenness - to heal the sick, to visit the imprisoned, to feed the hungry, to set the oppressed free, to love the unlovable and forgive the unforgivable. In all these ways we introduce people to The Great Liberator and Healer, Jesus Christ. He is the head of the church, and we are the body. A body cannot live without the head and the head cannot operate without the body. Jesus has chosen us - yes, us - to be the instruments he uses to bring about his vision for the world. So, can we let go of the things that divide us and concentrate on the one who has called us - Jesus - and what he has called us to - unity? For some people that seems impossible. Maybe I'm just the eternal optimist, but with the events of this past week, I have hope. I have hope that we can let go of the things that are temporary and cling to the things that are eternal. I have hope that we can let go of things that, in the economy of God, don't really matter so that this world can see what matters most. I've been inspired this week, and I hope you have too. Let's re-evaluate what is worth dying for and what we can let go of so that we might become one in Christ, for the glory of God and for the sake of our world.

Pat and Al

Hey! Have any of you seen the commercial or advertisement of Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Pat Robertson sitting on a couch together? It's a commercial about climate change and the point these two pastors make is that regardless of your political/theological/social or financial views this is something we all should be acting on. I like the commercial. Individually, I'm not a big fan of either one of these guys, but together, they make a compelling point. That point, of course, is that there are some things, there are some issues that should unite us - that are bigger than our differences. I like the fact that they acknowledge that they do indeed have major disagreements among them, but that doesn't stop them from working towards a common good concerning an issue as pressing as climate change. And I thought to myself...whoa!...I think I see a glimpse of the kingdom of God here. Ya see, this is what Jesus was constantly doing. Jesus was finding common ground with people and helping them work toward something better. Remember the woman at the well (John 4)? She was a Samaritan. Samaritans were an ethnic minority that Jews tended to despise (does this sound familiar)? Jews didn't associate with Samaritans and certainly a Jewish man wouldn't have been caught dead with a Samaritan woman. But here Jesus was, in broad daylight at a well, engaging this woman in some rather robust conversation. What was Jesus doing? He was finding common ground. They both were descendants of Jacob and as a matter of fact were standing at Jacob's Well, so Jesus starts talking about water and their common need for water and this new kind of water that the Messiah (Jesus) could offer. This woman was thirsty for something more than the well offered. She had been married five times and was living with a man who was not her husband. This way of life was looked down upon even among Samaritans. This woman was an outcast of outcasts. But Jesus invites her to come and drink the water anyway. When Jesus' disciples returned, they were surprised to see him talking to a woman (for reasons I mentioned above). But no one says anything, because they realize something is happening. They realize that the grip of nationalism and elitism and oppression and sexism are being confronted. They're beginning to understand that this kingdom that Jesus speaks of is different than the kingdoms of this world. Apparently, in the kingdom Jesus talks about, Samaritan women "living in sin" are invited to the table. Apparently, in the kingdom Jesus talks about, Pat Robertson and Al Sharpton can find something good to agree upon and work towards making that thing a reality. Apparently, the kingdom that Jesus talks about doesn't pose people and groups against each other but instead invites them to come together to work towards the good of all people. Al Sharpton and Pat Robertson...working together??? Democrats and Republicans...putting their own agendas behind them to serve the common good??? Liberals and Conservatives...understanding there are more important things than being "right" (or "left")??? I never thought I'd say this about either one of these guys - but when I see Pat and Al together, I see Jesus working. I see the Kingdom of God. Now, that, is amazing.

It's about time

First of all, I want to apologize to the four people who read my blog...I'm still new to this blogging thing and haven't made it a regular part of my day yet..I'm working on it, I promise. I want this to be worth your while. Anyway, on to some content...

I had an absolutely wonderful, thoughtful response to my last blog. I was particularly enticed by his/her question: How does the power of the presidency (and any elected position for that matter) intersect with our striving to work with God in the redemption of all things? What is the role of the government (if any), and ours as citizens who vote, in making God's kingdom a reality? I think this is the question that we have to wrestle with. Recently, Shane Claiborne and Greg Boyd wrote a book called Jesus For President. The book rightly points out that as followers of Jesus our ultimate allegiance is to Jesus Christ regardless who the president or prime minister or dictator is or what form of government rules the land. It seems that the authors are encouraging followers of Jesus to work outside the political system to bring about the kind of change we are called to make. The point seems to be that it really does not matter who is in power - that does not change our job as Christians. Having said that, I truly believe that certain candidates and certain platforms are worth voting for. Although these candidates are not perfect and have to play the political game to get elected (which may or may not cause them to lose their soul in the process) I feel strongly that if they are promoting a better way of life for people with real needs and have a means to bring about real change for these people, then we would be foolish not to vote for them. God has often worked through kings and governments to serve his purposes and to make his kingdom a reality on earth. There's no such thing as a perfect candidate but I think we miss out on a God-given opportunity not to vote for the person that we feel most closely aligns with God's values. In that way, I believe the power of the presidency (or any other elected position) intersects with our striving to work with God in the redemption of all things. For instance, I believe that the poor, oppressed, sick and broken are at the top of God's priority list. If there is one candidate who will increase relief to AIDS victims in Africa and those who are in poverty all over the globe and one candidate who would decrease that spending but spend more on weapons and defense, I think we are working with God and with the president/government to use our resources wisely, restore our world and bring God's kingdom to the darkest corners of the globe by electing the candidate who aligns more closely with God's vision for the world. I believe God can and will work through any and all people. We have to be on the look out for what God is up to and jump on the opportunities that are before us. Personally, I think this election provides our nation with a very important opportunity. It will be very interesting to see how our country, and those who call themselves Christians, will respond.