Some Quotations to Ponder...

The devil is a better theologian than any of us and is a devil still. A.W. Tozer

Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again. F. P. Jones

The greatest enemy of Christianity may be people who say they believe in Jesus but who are no longer astonished and amazed. Mike Yaconelli

I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once. Jennifer Unlimited

At the end of our lives we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made or how many great things we have done. We will be judged by: I was hungry and you gave me to eat. I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless and you took me in. Mother Teresa

The trouble with being punctual is that nobody's there to appreciate it. Franklin P. Jones

We should take care not to make the intellect our god; it has, of course, powerful muscles, but no personality. Albert Einstein

Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and bring Him nearer to our own image. A.W. Tozer

You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself. Sam Levenson

I have a great diet. You're allowed to eat anything you want, but you must eat it with naked fat people. Ed Bluestone

Dear Bertha

While surfing for Mother's Day thoughts and blessings I came across this. I'm hoping to incorporate some of these attitudes before I reach 88...

Dear Bertha,

I'm reading more and dusting less.

I'm sitting in the yard and admiring the view without fussing about the weeds in the garden.

I'm spending more time with my family and friends and less time working.

Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experiences to savor, not to endure.

I'm trying to recognize these moments now and cherish them.

I'm not "saving" anything; we use our good china and crystal for every special event such as losing a pound, getting the sink unstopped, or the first Amaryllis blossom.

I wear my good blazer to the market. My theory is if I look prosperous, I can shell out $28.49 for one small bag of groceries.

I'm not saving my good perfume for special parties, but wearing it for clerks in the hardware store and tellers at the bank.

"Someday" and "one of these days" are losing their grip on my vocabulary. If it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now.

I'm not sure what others would've done had they known they wouldn't be here for the tomorrow that we all take for granted. I think they would have called family members and a few close friends. They might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend fences for past squabbles. I like to think they would have gone out for a Chinese dinner or for whatever their favorite food was. I'm guessing; I'll never know.

It's those little things left undone that would make me angry if I knew my hours were limited. Angry because I hadn't written certain letters that I intended to write one of these days. Angry and sorry, that I didn't tell my husband and parents often enough how much I truly love them.

I'm trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter and luster to our lives.

And every morning when I open my eyes, I tell myself that it is special. Every day, every minute, every breath truly is a gift from God.

This was written by an 88 year-old woman to her friend.

A Safe Place

Yesterday our shepherding group met for lunch. We were going around the tables sharing what drew us to Skillman. A 12 year old boy, who is a foster child, commented that at Skillman he felt safe - he could trust the adults here and ask anyone a question. I was struck by a couple of thoughts...

1) What must a 12 year old have experienced to even think in terms of whether a place was safe? As I reflected upon that thought I remembered that this world is far from a perfect place. I am reminded to open my eyes and notice the conditions and the people that are often invisible - to learn to see through the lense of Jesus' eyes rather than the myopic lense of my own eyes.

2) I truly admire foster parents and the selfless way they minister to kids who need a safe place or some stability. They personify servanthood.

3) A safe place - what an apt description of what church should be for all of us. How many of us feel safe enough to disclose our true feelings or our darkest secrets. I know that I don't want to acknowledge even to myself my brokenness, let alone let you see that I am anything less than perfect. Yet church is where we should be able to feel safe enough to be open with one another and accepting of one another. When we recognize that we are all broken, we can begin to create a climate of healing - a place that is truly safe.

C.S. Lewis on the Deity of Jesus

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Brian McClaren on Judgement

In the current issue of Out of Ur, Brian McClaren is interviewed on his thoughts about heaven, hell, and judgement...

Western Christianity has been overly preoccupied with the question of who’s going to heaven or hell after death, and not focused enough on the question of what kind of life is truly pleasing to God here in the land of the living. We’ve got to look at that. In The Last Word and the Word After That, I wanted to raise the issue of “Judgment,” that all will be judged rightly and fairly by God alone, who weighs the scales rightly, and does this for everyone. Again, when we put ourselves in the position of judge – making pronouncements on the eternal destiny of others – I think it’s pretty dangerous, especially in light of Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount.

Tired

Growing up in the 70's in Wheeling, WVa there were not many options when it came to listening to the radio, and they were pretty well limited to the AM side of the dial. There was a country station and a couple of pop stations; occasionally when the weather was just right, you could pick up an FM station or two from Pittsburgh and hear some "good" music.

One of the things I discovered upon moving to Texas was Willie Nelson. I was listening to one of my Willie cds this morning on the way to the men's breakfast and this song just grabbed my attention. Here is the second verse and chorus:

I married Rebecca back in '77
And I still love her, and I guess
she loves me too
We go to church on Sundays
'cause we want to go to Heaven
Me and my family, ain't that how
you're supposed to do

But, I'm tired, Lord, I'm tired
Life is wearin' me smooth down to
the bone
No rest for the weary, you just
move on
And I'm tired, Lord, I'm tired.

I think Willie describes a world without a real sense of hope, and certainly a world where the idea of an abundant life doesn't exist. In the life he describes, you do the best you can to fulfill your duties and responsibilities, and hope it was good enough to earn a reward. How many people wear themselves down struggling through life with little or no sense of hope? With little or no sense of confidence in the grace of God to not only ease their burdens in this life, but to ensure their eternal life in heaven?

Church Shopping?

Some of the reading I have done contrasts a perception of the missional church with a perception of the church as a vendor of religious goods and services to a consumer audience. This clip from "King of the Hill" captures the latter perception...

We Are the Sermon

I think this recent Heartlight column from Phil Ware fits in nicely with our discussion on becoming missional. W.A.T.S. - We Are The Sermon...

W.A.T.S. Happening, by Phil Ware

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1 NRS)

"Did you enjoy the worship service today?"

Seems like a harmless question, doesn't it? However, there are at least two great dangers that lurk beneath this apparently innocent question.

First, there is the consumerist assumption that seems to have invaded every facet of western culture, even our pervasive church culture. "Did you enjoy ...?" Hmm, seems like that is kinda backwards to the way we ought ask that question. "Did God enjoy our ...?" We've made ourselves-- our wants, our needs, and our preferences -- the focus of everything, even our worship of God.

So we ask questions about church like the following:
* Do I like what they are doing?
* Does this church meet my needs?
* Am I comfortable with the people here?
* What benefits do I get from going there?

We often forget the more essential questions about the church's mission, the Bible teaching's faithfulness, the people's spiritual authenticity, and the passion of the members for following the will of God. Shouldn't we be asking a more important question: is our church seeking to live as the presence of Jesus in our community?

Second, how did we ever come up with the phrase "worship service" to mean an hour to two hour slot on Sunday morning? Surely our service of worship dedicated to God is much bigger than a sit down session wherewe stare at the cowlicks in front of us, sing a few religious songs, hear a bunch of religious words, and read from old religious texts. Isn't the whole concept of worship being limited to a place and time counter to Jesus' teaching? (John 4:23-24) Have we largely relegated worship to an hour or two on Sunday and divorced it from our dailylives? Isn't genuine worship a life lived for God in response to his grace? (Romans 12:1)

Assembling with Christians for worship, fellowship, and encouragement is not optional for followers of Jesus. (Hebrews 10:19-23) At the same time, that "getting together" must be a celebration of a whole week ofworship and the anticipation of a whole new week of daily worship that lies ahead. It must come from our appreciation of God's grace generously given us in Jesus and lead to a daily life of worship lived out of our shared mission to be Jesus to our world.
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As a followup to this post see what 4 Abilene churches, including Southern Hills where Phil Ware preaches, did this past Sunday... Click here to read article

Congregational Summit

I was encouraged today by the responses and attitudes displayed at the congregational summit. I have to admit to a little trepidation after reading through the comments section of the survey, and after hearing from a number of people their disappointment in the tone of some of the comments. There were a number of good suggestions in response to the questions about what we do well, what we can do better, what we can begin doing that we are currently not, and what we should abandon that we are currently doing. Even more encouraging was the spirit of unity that was displayed. It is my sincere hope that we have taken a significant step on the journey of becoming a missional people.

Survey Comments

I have spent quite a bit of time the past couple of days going over the 32 pages of comments from the congregational survey. I have to admit to a whole range of emotions as I read through the comments for the first time, but in subsequent readings I was able to be a little bit more objective. Some observations...

1. The need to address youth and children's programs was the most prevalent theme throughout the comments.
2. Roughly even was the number of comments indicating a desire to return to our traditional roots and the number of comments indicating a perception that we are currently too traditional to effectively reach out to the unchurched in our community.
3. There were a number of comments expressing concern with the low numbers within the 25-40 age range - the proponents of a more traditional approach and the proponents of becoming less traditional both expressed the belief that the approach they favor would help attract this demographic.
4. The number of comments regarding traditional vs contemporary worship styles was roughly even for both points of view, and while those were some of the more evocative comments they were relatively few when compared to the total number of comments.
5. There were some comments that seemed deliberately hurtful and some that were harsh towards some individuals.

I believe that many will feel some sense of hurt or disappointment when they read through the comments. I believe that the hurtful comments came from people who are themselves hurting and perhaps feeling a sense of abandonment of cherished ideals. I hope that some of the comments were not made simply out of meanness. I pray for healing for those who hurt badly enough to be hurtful. I pray for healing for those who are hurt by them. And I pray for understanding, acceptance, and a genuine love for each other within our congregation.

The Afikoman

I previously mentioned attending a Passover Seder with a Messianic Jewish congregation. (Messianic Jews hold to Jewish heritage and traditions, but believe that Jesus was the Messiah). Seder is a specific order with specific foods, readings, blessings, etc.

The Passover Seder Plate (ke'ara) is a special plate containing symbolic foods used by Jews during the Passover Seder. Each of the six items arranged on the plate have special significance to the retelling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt, which is the focus of this ritual meal. (Wikipedia)

The 7th symbolic food is set apart and consists of a stack of 3 whole Matzot. The unleavened bread symbolizes the haste of the preparation of Israel in leaving Egypt; they did not have time to prepare regular bread. The middle matzo is broken into 2 pieces. The larger of the 2 pieces is wrapped in a napkin and set aside. This is the Afikoman and is later eaten at the conclusion of the meal. The Afikoman must be eaten before midnight and once it is eaten no further food or alcohol is consumed.

There are a couple of explanations as to what the stack of 3 Matzot represent. The most common seems to be that they represent Abraham, Isaac (who was 'sacrificed' and returned from the 'dead', and Jacob. The Afikoman represents that which is to come - the Messiah. According to the leader of the Seder we attended, it was the Afikoman that Jesus broke during the Passover meal with his disciples when he said "This is my body".

I don't know with certainty that this is true, but it certainly adds another dimension to the richness of the account of the last supper.

Fewer Kids in CHIP - Good News?

In an editorial in yesterday's Dallas Morning News, Mary Katherine Stout attributes the decline in the number of children enrolled in CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program) to the growth of Texas' economy. As defined by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission,

The Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is designed for families who earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid, yet cannot afford to buy private insurance for their children. CHIP coverage provides eligible children with coverage for a full range of health services including regular checkups, immunizations, prescription drugs, lab tests, X-rays, hospital visits and more.

CHIP is a program designed to provide access to health care for the children of the working poor. The familiy income eligibility ceiling for CHIP is 200% of the annual federal poverty rate, which is currently $20,000 for a family of four. CHIP enrollment has declined from a high of 529,211 children in May 2002 to a current enrollment of 294,189 children.

According to Stout this is a reaction to an improving economy and a lower unemployment rate. She implies that families are disenrolling because their fortunes have improved to the point where they no longer need assistance in providing health insurance for their children. A THHSC December 2004 report An Analysis of Disenrollment Patterns in the Child Health Insurance (CHIP) in Texas suggests otherwise:

• 52% of families disenrolled did not obtain other insurance
• 31% became eligible for and enrolled in Medicaid - hardly an indicator of improving fortune
• 11% obtained employer-based family coverage
• 5% obtained other insurance on their own
• 1% did not know whether they had insurance for their children

I would suggest the possibility that the decline in enrollment might be attibuted to legislative cost cutting efforts resulting in more stringent eligibility requirments, a change in renewal timelines from every 12 months to every 6 months, longer initial waiting periods, and the use of a private vendor to handle the enrollment and renewal procedures. Hardly good news for poor working families.

I Wish Dad Was There...

Yesterday was Senior Sunday. Tonight was Taylor's basketball banquet - the last of 6 years' worth of football, basketball, and all-sports banquets. Prom is next week and graduation a month away. The days are dwindling in the high school chapter of our baby boy's life, and my time as a proud dad in the bleachers has come to a close.

As I reflect on the dozens of youth soccer and little league baseball games, the dozens of Jr High and High School football games, and the literally hundreds of basketball games Taylor has played over the past 12 years, I still have the pencil printed page from a journal his first grade teacher had her students keep...

Yesterday I hade A Soccer Game. I did prety Good. The Game was A Tie One to One and I made That one Goll. I wish dad was There Becose that was first goll I made this seson.

I wish dad was there...

I had been gone that weekend to a retreat at Camp Tahkodah in Arkansas with some friends from college. It was a time of renewal and I don't regret having gone, but those words have always stuck with me. I wish dad was there...

I have missed very few of the athletic or other activities either of my kids have participated in. Until Lauren went to Pepperdine, the only race I did not see her run was when I was in Russia. I made the trip to California to see her run at least 2-3 times each of her four seasons at Pepperdine, and was online every Saturday afternoon to see the results of her races on the west coast. I have spent more hours than I can count and have driven all over the metroplex to get Taylor to practices and games with select basketball teams.

It is hard to describe the pride and pleasure of a father observing the performance and the efforts of his children as they contribute to an athletic team, a choir, a Destination Imagination team, a youth group. It is sad to realize that I will no longer be able to see those things, while at the same time there is a sense of pride in his accomplishments and an excitement for this next chapter in his life.

I wish Dad was there...

There have been many milestones already in the lives of both my children as well as in Barbara's and mine as a couple. I have made a commitment to be there as they have faced decisions about school, about work, about all those little things that occur on a daily basis. I have had the privelege of baptizing both of my children. I hope I have demonstrated to them how I love their mother.

I wish Dad was there...

To the best of my ability, those words will not ever be written or even thought by my children while I am alive and well. Yet, knowing the frailties of human nature and the uncertainty of life on earth, I acknowledge that it may happen. But I can rest easy knowing that neither they nor I will ever have to say "I wish my Father was here". Jesus said it once on the cross and ensured that we would never have to.

Survey Results #2

In a comment on my first post on the survey results, Zach asked "Why do 56 not feel they have a strong sense of belonging? How do we reach out to those among us?"

I think that there are a number of factors that at times contribute to a lack of sense of belonging. Pat Keifert used an illustration at our initial PMC meeting that may shed some light. He said that a typical congregation can be described in a set of 3 concentric circles, with Family comprising the inner circle, Inside Strangers comprising the second circle, and Outside Strangers comprising the outer circle...

Family are generally those who feel a strong sense of belonging, are involved either directly or through influence in decision-making, and know how to be involved both socially and in the activities of the congregation.

Inside Strangers are members, often very active members, who don't perceive themselves as a part of the inner circle. This may be by choice, may be due to a lack of ability to navigate the soci0-political structure, or may be because family members are protective of status quo, whether by design or unintentionally.

Outside Strangers may or may not consider themselves members. They may be relatives of members or may be outsiders drawn in for specific needs or activities - a grief recovery class or a hurricane relief project.

This framework can be useful to understand some of the dynamics at work within a congregation. I think 15-20 years ago it was fairly evident who was family at Skillman. Today, I'm not so sure; I would not be surprised if a large number would describe themselves as inside strangers if they were asked to place themselves in one of the three categories.

That's not necessarily a bad thing if we are seeking to become more missional. If our focus is inward - wanting the church to meet our needs - then the further we are from family the less we feel connected. But if our focus is outward, then we naturally migrate more toward the outer rings - that's where our mission is.

I don't know that I've actually addressed Zach's concern - I do not mean to imply that we don't want to reach out to those among us or that it is not important to feel a sense of belonging. I do believe that one factor that contributes to the development of a sense of belonging is sharing in a common mission. Another is participating in conversation. I look forward to the opportunity to do that next Sunday afternoon.

The Politics of Bread

Tuesday morning was the 11th annual Urban Ministries Prayer Breakfast at the Anatole. John Edwards spoke powerfully about the problem of poverty in our country, but the phrase that really grabbed my attention was spoken by Gerald Britt, Executive Director of Central Dallas Ministries, as he introduced Eddie Bernice Johnson. Here is an excerpt from his remarks...
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And so, just as there is a politics of infrastructure, or public safety, or public education, there is a politics of bread.

The number of households which suffered from food insecurity increased by nearly one million from 2003-2004. Texas leads the nation in the percentage of households which experience food insecurity at 16%.

Any serious conversation in a city like Dallas about those among us, who daily face the issues of food insecurity and food inadequacy, dare not be confined to individual charity and institutional good will.

In a city like ours, people among us who go daily without healthy and nourishing food, because they don’t make enough money, or live in the wrong neighborhood, is a sad commentary on our collective priorities and ambitions.

While many of us seek to excuse ourselves from the conversation by pointing out the social pathologies of those whom we classify as “poor,” I would remind you that we are reminded daily of the pathologies of those who have sought safe haven in the suburbs. The purposelessness, self-destructiveness, the histories and habits of sin, the nihilism and materialism that characterize those of us who are middle class, leave us no room to point fingers.

The desperations of the poor and the prosperous, don’t teach us that any of us are better than one another, they teach us that we need one another.

The fact is, in a city like Dallas, there are far too many churches, far too many non-profits, far too many programs for anyone to go hungry because they don’t have access to healthy and nutritional food choices.

...But I will also make you another commitment. We will keep on working on the politics of bread.

It’s not enough to salve our corporate, theological, or electoral consciences by quoting Jesus, when He says, “The poor you will have with you always.”

We will continue to provide the pantry, AND train our neighbors for living wage jobs; we will feed the children AND work on fit and affordable housing; we will help those who are providing warm hot meals AND we will make health care accessible, AND we will work with every segment of and system in our society to bring people from dependency to the dignity of self-sufficiency, because it is what is right and just. And because that which is owed in justice, should never be given in charity.

Survey Results...

The results of our congregational survey were emailed to the everyone on the email list today. A couple of things, although not especially surprising, jumped out at me.

The first has to do with worship. As the elders have begun meeting with each of the adult Bible classes, no topic has engendered more discussion and strong feelings than worship. Yet, the survey results say that 80% of the congregation is satisfied that "Offering worship that provides a meaningful experience of God and the Christian faith" receives an appropriate emphasis, and 70% are satisfied with the emphasis on "Providing worship that expresses the Gospel in contemporary language and forms". The 30% that indicated a lack of satisfaction with the degree of emphasis on contemporary worship were almost evenly divided among those who feel it receives too much emphasis and those who feel that it does not receive enough.

Two observations.

1. The balance between contemporary and traditional forms seems to be about where it should be. While the 16% who desire more emphasis on contemporary and the 14% who desire more emphasis on traditional may not feel personally satisfied with the balance, the vast majority find it meaningful, and are satisfied. There is an opportunity for those on either end to love one another and to love the majority of the congregation by not insisting on changing to meet their preferences.
2. The amount of discussion over the past couple of years on contemporary vs traditional is either causing our focus to be on ourselves and what we prefer or is a symptom that we are focused upon ourselves. It would be appropriate to shift our focus and discussion from our own preferences about how we worship to how we can fulfill our mission of sharing the Gospel.

That leads me to the second thing that jumped out at me - the item rated as needing more emphasis by the largest number of people - 53% - is "Sharing the good news of the Gospel with the unchurched". As I reflect upon our initial exposure to the Partnership for Missional Church, and the conversations that we began on that Saturday, I am convinced that we have the willingness to be missional and that participating in PMC will help us develop the skills and the will to share the good news.

Christian Quotation of the Day

So long as we are full of self, we are shocked at the faults of others. Let us think often of our own sin, and we shall be lenient to the sins of others.
... François Fénelon (1651-1715)

Random Easter Reflections

This past week has seen a number of "firsts" in my Easter experiences.

I put one of the crosses in my front yard and have received comments from several of my neighbors expressing appreciation and several asked where we got it. It was a conversation starter. I am reminded that how I treat my neighbor (and my behavior that is seen by more people than I realize) communicates much about who I am and whose I am.

Sunday we visited my brother-in-law and attended University Christian Church on TCU's campus in Fort Worth. A very traditional high church liturgical service. Beautiful building, church bells, lots of standing and sitting, congregational responses. I'm not a fan of the organ, but I have to admit that when those trumpets were sounding during the Hallelujah Chorus it was mighty impressive.

Friday evening Barbara and I attended a Passover Seder (pronounced sayder) with a Messianic Jewish congregation in North Dallas. We were invited by one of our neighbor families who had made plans to attend with their life group and had a couple of seats available at their table. Very interesting and enjoyable evening. The Seder is a specific order with specific foods and drink that symbolize the story of the passover. More details to follow - particularly about the Afikomen.

Sunday Has Come

But very early on Sunday morning the women came to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. They found that the stone covering the entrance had been rolled aside. So they went in, but they couldn't find the body of the Lord Jesus. They were puzzled, trying to think what could have happened to it. Suddenly, two men appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes. The women were terrified and bowed low before them. Then the men asked, "Why are you looking in a tomb for someone who is alive? He isn't here! He has risen from the dead! Don't you remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again the third day?"

Luke 24:1-7

It's Friday...But Sunday Is Coming

It's Friday.

Jesus is Praying. Peter is Sleeping. Judas is Betraying. But Sunday is coming.

It's Friday. Pilate is struggling. The council is conspiring. The crowd is villifying. But Sunday is coming.

It's Friday. The disiples are running like sheep without a shepherd. Mary is crying. Peter is denying. But Sunday is coming.

It's Friday. Jesus is walking to calvary. His blood is dripping. His body is stumbling. His spirit is burning. But it's only Friday. Sunday is coming.

It's Friday. The soldiers nail my savior's hands to the cross. They nail his feet to the cross. They raise him up between two criminals. But Sunday is coming.

It's Friday. The disciples are questioning. The pharisees are celebrating. But they don't know that Sunday is coming.

It's Friday. He's hanging on a cross. Forsaken by his Father. Can no one save him? The earth trembles. The sky grows dark. My king yields his spirit. Oh, it's Friday. But Sunday is coming.

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Thanks to Rob Thomas and IgniterMedia for producing this powerful image and reminder that Sunday is Coming!

When Fishermen Don't Fish

One of the insights arising from our discussion at the Partnership for Missional Church session this past Saturday is that we see ourselves as a primarily inward focused congregation. Max Lucado tells this story...
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When I was in high school, our family used to fish every year during spring break. One year my brother and my mom couldn't go, so my dad let me invite a friend.

Days before leaving, we could already anticipate the vacation. We could feel the sun warming our bodies as we floated in the boat. We could feel the yank of the rod and hear the spin of the reel as we wrestled the white bass into the boat. And we could smell the fish frying in an open skillet over an open fire.

We could hardly wait. Days passed like cold molasses. Finally spring break arrived. We loaded our camper and set out for the lake.

We arrived late at night, unfolded the camper, and went to bed - dreaming of tomorrow's day in the sun. But during the night, an unseasonably strong norther blew in. It got cold fast! The wind was so strong that we could barely open the camper door the next morning. The sky was gray. The lake was a mountain range of white-topped waves. There was no way we could fish in that weather.

The next morning it wasn't the wind that made the door hard to open, it was the ice!

It was a long day. It was a long, cold night.

When we awoke the next morning to the sound of sleet slapping the canvas, we didn't even pretend to be cheerful. We were flat-out grumpy.

The next day was even colder. "We're going home" were my father's first words. No one objected.

I learned a hard lesson that week. Not about fishing, but about people. When those who are called to fish don't fish, they fight.

When energy intended to be used outside is used inside, the result is explosive. Instead of casting nets, we cast stones. Instead of extending helping hands, we point accusing fingers. Instead of being fishers of the lost, we become critics of the saved. Rather than helping the hurting, we hurt the helpers.

Leave soldiers inside the barracks with no time on the front line and see what happens to their attitude. The soldiers will invent things to complain about. Bunks will be too hard. Food will be too cold. Leadership will be too tough. The company will be too stale.

Yet place those same soldiers in the trench and let them duck a few bullets, and what was a boring barracks will seem like a haven. The beds will feel great. The food will be almost ideal. The leadership will be courageous. The company will be exciting.

When those who are called to fish, fish -- they flourish!


From In the Eye of the Storm- Copyright (c)1991 by Max Lucado - Word Publishing

That's Entertainment?

I frequently hear or read comments disparaging the use of drama, video, special music, solos, etc. in worship assemblies as being inappropriate because they are entertainment. In my experience, the intent of the use of any of these is to communicate with the listener - to convict, to motivate, to instruct, to illustrate - much like an effective preacher. The intent is not to entertain. Jesus told stories - we call them parables; the intent was not to entertain.

When Paul instructs us in Ephesians 5 to "speak to one another using psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs", he is talking about how we should live. He is not talking specifically about the assembly, but that is one of the occasions where we have the opportunity to speak to one another. The singing of a solo or presentational song can be a meaningful and effective way to speak, and may be more faithful to Paul's instruction to us than our insistence on acappella singing in the assembly.

The Gospel of Judas

As Dwight mentioned yesterday, Edward Fudge does a good job of coherently capsulizing the circumstances and relevence of the recently "rediscovered" Gospel of Judas. Reprinted below are his gracemails addressing this issue. It is worth the effort to be familiar with current issues such as this and The DaVinci Code, because for many people in today's culture they represent the extent of their understanding about the authenticity of the Bible...see my earlier post on The DaVinci Code.
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GOSPEL OF JUDAS -- UPDATE
Edward Fudge
Apr 10, 2006

Since writing the previous gracEmail on the “Gospel of Judas,” I have viewed the two-hour television special aired on Sunday night, April 9, 2006 on the National Geographic Channel and have read the actual translation of this apocryphal Gospel at http://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/national/judastxt.pdf . (Thanks to my friend and gracEmail subscriber Dr. Hans Rollmann, Professor of Religious Studies at Memorial University of Newfoundland, for the URL cite. I do not know how long the text will be available here.) Having now seen the program and having read the “Gospel of Judas” itself, both of which confirmed the previous gracEmail, I add the following observations in this quick update.

National Geographic certainly knows how to tantalize an audience even though its titillation is sometimes misleading. In discussing the “Gospel of Judas” found in an Egyptian cave in the late 1970’s, the TV special teasingly asked whether the manuscript was “real” or “fake,” fi nally assuring viewers that this “Gospel” had indeed been “authenticated.” Many viewers likely took these proclamations as assurances that the “Gospel of Judas” was written by the Apostle of that name, or even that the Gnostic doctrine this “Gospel” was written to promote was really true. In fact, the “authentication” talked about meant only that radiocarbon dating placed the manuscript’s origin at about A.D. 300, give or take 50 years. In other words, the “Gospel of Judas” is not a recently-forged fraud. But that is almost unimportant when we know that it was instead an ancient fraud, according to the church father Irenaeus, who wrote about A.D. 180. Unless I blinked and missed it, National Geographic’s television special never even mentioned the fact, also known from Irenaeus, that the “Gospel of Judas” was used by a group known as Cainites who claimed spiritual lineage from Cain, Esau, Korah and the inhabitants of Sodom.

At the surface level, the television special seemed to focus on this apocryphal Gospel’s potential to rehabilitate Judas’ reputation as a Satan-driven scoundrel – a characterization that has indeed been misused by some professing Christians as an excuse for anti-Semitism (which is always inexcusable). In fact, even the New Testament Gospels eschew a one-dimensional view of Judas since they report that he returned the betrayal money to those who had hired him and then committed suicide – two incidents which some Christians have seen as evidence of deep remorse and perhaps even of genuine repentance. Further, Judas inadvertently served the divine purpose according to the apostolic preaching recorded in Acts, even though he remained personally culpable for his actions.<>

Be that as it may, the presentation of Judas the man is only window-dressing in this newly-discovered “Gospel.” The manuscript’s real point – and the main reason orthodox Christians reject it (aside from the fact that it is a fraudulent work to begin with) – is its promotion of Gnosticism, a worldview contrary to the biblical understanding of reality on almost every fundamental point. This is apparently a minor detail to many postmodern scholars, for whom all ideas are equally valid and all groups claiming to be “Christian” are legitimate spokespersons of Jesus Christ.

Those of us who remain committed to Scripture as divinely-authoritative and who therefore oppose whatever essentially contradicts its core teachings need to realize that we are increasingly out of step with the spirit of the age. It is not unimaginable that the day may come even in America – as it did for the apostolic church of the first three centuries and as it has today in many other parts of the world – when we must choose between personal comfort and security on the one hand and faithfulness to Christ on the other. If that happens, may we – like Irenaeus and Polycarp and John – stand firm whatever the cost.
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Copyright 2006 by Edward Fudge. Permission hereby granted to reprint this gracEmail in its entirety without change, with credit given and not for financial profit.
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GOSPEL OF JUDAS
Edward Fudge
Apr 9, 2006

As every savvy marketer knows, sensationalism sells books and attracts a television audience. The National Geographic Channel can therefore expect a host of viewers for its special program "The Gospel of Judas" set to show tonight (Sunday, April 9, 2006). "One of the most significant biblical finds of the last century," hypes the producer's website, "-- a lost gospel that could challenge what is believed about the story of Judas and his betrayal of Jesus." The TV special follows the translated publication three days earlier of the so-called Gospel of Judas, a codex (bound like a book rather than rolled like a scroll) written on papyrus sheets in the Coptic language and discovered by looters near El Minya, Egypt in the 1970's.

This manuscript, carbon-dated at about A.D. 300, is indeed "significant" -- but primarily for its contribution to our understanding of early Gnostic teaching, an influential heresy opposed by numerous early Christian writers and, in an even-earlier form, by both the apostles John and Paul in the canonical New Testament itself (Gospel of John, First John, Second John; Colossians). The Gnostics (from a Greek word for "knowledge") claimed special insight into mysteries of the cosmos, secret wisdom passed down through the centuries but hidden from ordinary mortals. (The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown certainly did not invent sensationalism!)

Gnostic teaching usually claimed that the material universe was evil, having been created by a lesser deity; denied that Jesus was both truly human and uniquely divine; and (like philosophies ranging from ancient Hinduism and Buddhism to today's New Age cults) enticed adherents with promises of exclusive spiritual fulfillment if not actual deification. The "Gospel of Judas" claims to report conversations between Judas Iscariot and Jesus during the Final Week, in which Jesus tells Judas "secrets no other person has ever seen." In the document's most sensational "revelation," Jesus asks Judas to help the spirit of Jesus escape its mortal flesh by betraying him to death ("You will sacrifice the man that clothes me"), although this will result in Judas being "cursed by the other generations."

As of now, scholars believe the newly-translated "Gospel of Judas" might be a Coptic translation of the earlier Greek-language "Gospel of Judas" mentioned about A.D. 180 by Irenaeus of Lyons, a pupil of Polycarp, who in turn was taught by the Apostle John. In his work titled "Against Heresies," Irenaeus described the "Gospel of Judas" as a fictional work manufactured by a group known as Cainites who claimed spiritual lineage from Cain, Esau, Korah and the Sodomites. According to Irenaeus, the "Gospel of Judas" said of Judas that "he alone, knowing the truth as no others [of the Apostles] did, accomplished the mystery of the betrayal" (31:1). Irenaeus dismissed the "Gospel of Judas" as a fraud and its teaching as anti-Christian heresy. Those who know and believe the true gospel taught by John and the other Apostles should feel free to react the same way today.
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Copyright 2006 by Edward Fudge. Permission hereby granted to reprint this gracEmail in its entirety without change, with credit given and not for financial profit. Visit our multimedia website at http://www.edwardfudge.com/ .

Level Ground at the Foot of the Cross

When Dwight used the phrase "the ground is level at the foot of the cross" this morning I was reminded of the following article that I read recently in the Church Innovations Newsletter while thinking about what becoming missional looks like...

Crossing the Bar X: “Home by Another Way”
By Jim Johnson, Church Innovations Consultant

“How has it come to be that we who have sought to faithfully proclaim that the “ground is all level at the foot of the cross” and that Jesus came “to seek and save the lost” have so successfully put forth the impression that one needs to live as though he or she is not lost in order to be worthy of being sought and saved by our Savior?”

When I overheard Cathy, a soon to be retired elementary school teacher from a very small town here in Montana, talking with my wife Nancy one night at the Bull’n Bear, I was taken back to statements made to me in the space of three days in a small concert tour I was doing on the Oregon over 10 years ago.

Three women, in 3 different towns, had said the same thing to me that Cathy was saying to Nancy after they had listened to “A Hard Case,” a song I had written about divorce and how people often experience the church when their lives are falling to pieces. The only difference between Cathy and these other three women is that each in their own time had returned to the church – the first after a minimum of 10 years away and a maximum of 30 years for another.
Cathy has not.

“I used to teach Sunday School and everything,” Cathy said, “and was pretty active in my Presbyterian Church. Then I got divorced. The word got out that I was divorcing my husband, and for three weeks in a row, no one talked to me when I came to church. I haven’t been back since.”

Click Here to read the entire article

Partnership for Missional Church

This evening was our initial introduction to the Partnership for Missional Church process. I am excited by the potential for God to work through this process to facilitate transformation from an inward focus to one that is focused on fulfilling the mission Jesus gave us. After I got home this evening I found that Mike Cope had posted the following quotes from Dallas Willard on his blog today, and thought they were relevant to our discussion tonight and to the process we are beginning:

“Nondiscipleship is the elephant in the church. It is not the much discussed moral failures, financial abuses, or the amazing general similarity between Christians and non-Christians. These are only effects of the underlying problem. The fundamental negative reality among Christian believers now is their failure to be constantly learning how to live their lives in The Kingdom Among Us. And it is an accepted reality. The division of Christians into those from whom it is a matter of whole-life devotion to God and those who maintain a consumer, or client, relationship to the church has now been an accepted reality for over fifteen hundred years.”

And then this:

“Consumer Christianity is now normative. The consumer Christian is one who utilizes the grace of God for forgiveness and the services of the church for special occasions, but does not give his or her life and innermost thoughts, feelings, and intentions over to the kingdom of the heavens. Such Christians are not inwardly transformed and not committed to it.”

(From The Divine Conspiracy, pp. 301, 342)

Million Dollar Murray

I have been participating in the Urban Engagement Book Club. Sponsored by Central Dallas Ministries, we meet for lunch on the first Thursday of each month to review a book addressing some issue(s) affecting life in America today - poverty, education, health care, homelessness, and so on. Today, in addition to this month's book, we discussed a recent article in the New Yorker titled Million Dollar Murray.

Murray was a chronically homeless alcoholic who over a number of years was regularly arrested for intoxication. He was frequently in bad enough shape that he would be taken to the emergency room before he could be taken to jail. The pattern repeated itself over and over. The author estimated that the cost of treating Murray in the emergency room over time added up to more than $1,000,000. The thesis of this article was that it is more expensive to do nothing about the chronic homeless than it would be to provide them with housing.

What I found fascinating about this article were the studies that dispelled the notion that the homeless fit within a bell-shaped curve type of distribution in terms of the amount of time they spend in homelessness. Roughly 10% could be characterized as chronically homeless, while the majority spend some time as homeless and then find permanent shelter. The implications for treating the problem are that adequately addressing the chronic 10% by providing a home and support structure would be far less expensive than doing nothing. Whether motivated by a sense of compassion, altruism, or simple economics the end result would be a far better situation than what currently exists.

Lean Back, Kick Forward

Friday and Saturday this week we kick off the Partnership for a Missional Church project. Throughout Skillman's long and rich history missions have played a prominent role. As we enter into this conversation about what it means to be mission-shaped in our community in this place and time, we want to build on our history but not be bound by it. I'm reminded of Leonard Sweet's use of a swing in articulating his image statement:

There is a new theory among physicists about how the swing works. Previous theories revolved around the principle of "parametric instability," which pivoted the action of swinging at the middle of the arc, and the rocking forward into a higher center of gravity. Physicist William Case, while watching how children actually swing, has now posited a new principle which physicists call "driven harmonic oscillator." The key to the swing is not in the middle of the arc, but at each end of the arc, where and when the swingers at the same time lean back and throw their feet forward.
That's my image statement. As a historian of Christianity, I want the church to lean back–not just back to the 50s, but all the way back through 2000 years of history, all the way back until we're, in the words of that Sunday School song, "Leaning, Leaning, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms." But at the same time and I do mean simultaneously, we must use that energy and power that comes from "learning to lean" to kick forward into the future and Carpe Manana.

Much has changed in the 50+ years at our current location - people have been born and have died, old friends have moved away and new ones have come, the auditorium has changed color schemes and a new building has been built. But however much change has occurred within our walls, it does not compare to the changes that have occurred in the world around us. Demographic changes, cultural changes, technological changes, world view changes.

I believe that it is inevitable that some of the forms and methods that have served us over the years will have to change in order to communicate with today's community. In the midst of change, though, are some constants - the God we serve, the gospel we proclaim, our mission to make disciples - the media and methods have to adapt, but the message is eternal.

Christian Quotation of the Day

Christian Quotation of the Day
April 4, 2006

Meditation: But someone will say, "You have faith and I have works." Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. -- James 2:18 (ESV)
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Quotation: In my intellect, I may divide [faith and works], just as in the candle I know there is both light and heat; yet put out the candle, and both are gone. ... John Selden (1584-1654)

Cutting Down the Net

Just finished watching Florida team members and coach cut down the net following their solid victory over UCLA in the championship game. Each of the players cut for themselves a small piece of the net from where it connected to the rim and when Billy Donovan (the coach for you non basketball fans) cut the last piece, the net was no longer connected to the rim. If you could somehow picture that process in reverse, the result would be that as each member of the team added his piece, the net would become stronger until the last piece made the net complete. It just struck me how symbolic that was of successful teams and organizations. When each person weaves their string into the net, the result is stronger and more effective than the individual strings are. And conversely, the net is weakened when pieces are cut out or withheld. Just food for thought...

The DaVinci Code

One of the things I didn't get around to during Spring Break was reading the DaVinci Code. I finally got tired of waiting on the paperback and bought a used copy at HalfPrice Books, and read it this past week. I enjoy the genre and had intended to read it when it first came out, and then with all the attention it has garnered over the past couple of years it made it to my must read list, but I did not get around to it until now when the movie is due to open in a few weeks.

For what it's worth, I thought it was a pretty good read. Dan Brown is not in Robert Ludlum's class, but he wove a pretty good story here. There is enough suspense to keep your attention and enough historical accuracy to make the story credible. I can see now why the book has generated controversy and numerous responses seeking to refute the premises of the book.

One should keep in mind that the book is fiction. The author uses elements of truth and weaves a story that appears credible, but is fictitious. One example is the explanation of the development of the canon of the new testament. There are elements of truth in the author's story of how the canon came about, but the story as a whole is a fictional account supporting the theme of the novel.

I was struck by a couple of thoughts as I read this book. One is that many readers will likely take at face value that all the historical details and descriptions are true. As we are examining what it means to be missional in today's culture and in our community, we need to recognize that many of the people we encounter will have a distorted view of the Bible, of the church, and of Jesus. We cannot assume that people have a Christian world view, and that will impact how we try to reach them.

A second thought is that Satan often works in a similar fashion - he uses elements of truth to deceive. That is something to be on guard against.

Rubel Shelley's Fax of Life

I subscribe to a number of online resources and found this week's Fax of Life in my inbox this morning. I can relate to Rubel Shelley's thoughts on 'busyness' and spiritual formation, and think they are worth sharing...
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Subject: The Gift of Stillness
Date: For the Week of March 27, 2006

God is present everywhere and participates in all the circumstances of our lives. It is not necessary to shut down the rest of your life or retreat to a distant mountain top to be with him. Driving down the highway, in hospital waiting rooms, at dinner, greeting clients – God's presence fills every moment of the day.

The experience we call "spiritual formation" is essentially nothing more nor less than learning to be sensitive to the divine presence. We can't fix ourselves. We can't find our own way. We certainly can't control life's twists and turns. But we can gradually learn to sense God's presence with us in all things. His love. And his peace. But I confess to having a problem doing it.

As I've tried to figure out why I have the problem, at least this much is clear: I am more comfortable with noise than silence, activity than stillness, struggling than surrender, trying to be strong than admitting my weakness.

It was the French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal who said, "All human miseries come from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone." Could he possibly be right? Do we humans need more reflection than we permit ourselves? Time to take our thoughts and feelings seriously? The courage to bring them honestly before God to see what he may want us to learn? To be?

Last week I was forced to sit still in weather-bound traffic for a while. For Type-A personalities, that is nerve-jangling, finger-drumming time! I had a schedule. There were things to do. So . . . something told me to pray instead of churn. And I did – about a host of things. The time passed quickly. When I was able to get going on the road again, there was no haste or panic. Just gratitude for an unanticipated time for prayer. And a sense of peace about what lay ahead.

Maybe Pascal was right. And perhaps it would be wise to book a half day each month for silence before God. To use dead time in airports to be alone with God. To turn off the noise of a radio for the chance to hear God while driving to work. It would likely do wonders to focus our lives on being over doing. The meaning of life above its routines. The positives more than the negatives.

Perhaps you live at such a hurried pace that a half day or even a half hour of silence with God seems impractical. For today, put just five minutes of silence between appointments or work two five-minute periods of quiet into your morning.

At the end of the day, you may have discovered the meaning of this text from Scripture: "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).

Congratulations Charme

ACU will be honoring Charme Robarts tomorrow afternoon at a reception at Skillman as one of its Distinguished Alumni. ACU’s Distinguished Alumni Citation recognizes distinctive personal or professional achievement that has merited the honor and praise of peers and colleagues. This year 12 ACU Distinguished Alumni have been chosen as part of ACU’s Centennial Celebration. We are blessed at Skillman to have 2 of the 12 recipients in our midst. Doc Cornutt will be honored in a similar fashion on May 21. I will have more to say about Doc in a future post.

I don't think we realize how blessed we are to have Charme as a part of our family. She is a gifted speaker and writer, an excellent teacher, and a spiritual mentor to many. She speaks frequently at lectureships and workshops across the country and writes articles for Wineskins and Leaven magazines. She participates annually in a medical mission trip to Zambia, and serves on the boards of several mission/outreach focused organizations.

Charme's talents are probably better recognized and possibly better appreciated around the country and in Africa than they are here at Skillman. Partly because we tend to take for granted that which is familiar. Partly because she does not overtly draw attention to herself. And partly because she is gifted in areas that we have traditionally valued more in men. (Another topic for another time)

For now, I want to express my admiration and appreciation to Charme. I have grown on this journey towards spiritual formation in the 5 years that you and Dwight have been with us at Skillman, and you have helped to nurture that growth. Your recognition by ACU is well-deserved. Congratulations!

The Best Laid Plans...

Quite a night for college basketball. LSU outdukes Duke. Memphis overpowers Bradley. Texas gets the last shot against West Virginia and scores the winning points as time expires. Gonzaga fails to protect a big lead and misses a last chance shot as time expires. The top 2 scorers in college basketball this year missed shot after shot as the clock ticked down on their careers. 4 teams' seasons continue for at least one more game. 4 teams' seasons end in a way different from what they planned.

I'm reminded of a line from the movie The Natural. Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is talking with his childhood sweetheart Iris (Glenn Close) when they meet again years after their last time together. Knowing what his dreams had been, she asks, "What happened?" His response, "My life didn't turn out how I had planned." I would imagine that Joseph could have said the same thing when he ended up in Egypt.

Life doesn't always turn out like we plan, but how we respond to life's surprises speaks loudly about who (and whose) we are.

Love Thy Neighbor?

We have lived in our current house for more than 15 years. During that time we have tried to be decent neighbors - not too loud, keep the yard neat, chat on the sidewalk when we happen to see each other, even mowed one neighbor's yard several times one summer when her leg was in a cast. We have attended several of the annual block parties. But for the most part we have kept to ourselves - not unfriendly, just preoccupied with our own busy lives.

Over the past year or so we have made an intentional effort to actually get to know the people in our neighborhood. For the past few years I have thought about Skillman reaching out to and getting involved with the local community, but I was not doing that in my own neighborhood. It is hard to love your neighbors when you don't make any effort to really acknowledge their existence.

One of the families on our street has taken the initiative to organize monthly meetings to plan activities, share neighborhood news, and just spend some time getting to know one another. We have made it a point to attend these meetings when we can and to participate in the planned activities - a multicultural dinner, a New Year's Brunch, etc.

On St. Patrick's Day we hosted a neighborhood party with about 18 of our neighbors. I'm embarrassed to say that it was the first time any of them had spent any time in our home - some had been inside the front door or sat on our porch, but none had been in our home for a meal or any other extended time. It was an enjoyable time of food and fellowship. And we will not let another 15 years pass before we have our neighbors in our home.

We spent a little time talking about the story of St. Patrick. Barbara pointed out that when Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary he embraced the Irish culture and symbolism to allow Christianity to speak to the Irish in a way that was relevant to them. Not a bad lesson for us today.

The Body Broken - Ch 7

In the last chapter of The Body Broken Jack Reese talks about the consequences of fear. Fear paralyzes; fear fragments; fear causes us to lash out; fear creates distrust; fear causes us to retreat into a protective shell.

Seeing others as I wish to be seen is critical to overcoming fear. If I recognize my own brokenness and need for grace then I can see others not as a threat but as broken and in need of grace. I am a member of a community of brokenness and it becomes my task to extend grace and peace to the other members of the community. He compares the church to a hospital and points out that we are all patients in need of healing.

He discusses three attitudes that promote peacemaking. The first is a commitment to confession. Frankly I'm afraid to confess to you some of the sin in my life because I don't want you to think less of me. If I can learn to acknowledge my own brokenness, and expect you to see me as broken, then I don't have to fear your reaction to my confession. We can mutually confess to one another that we are sinners. We also confess that God is God and we are not.

A second attitude that promotes peacemaking is a comittment to repentence. He quotes Frederick Buechner as saying "To repent is to come to your senses. It is not so much something you do as something that happens. True repentence spends less time looking at the past and saying, 'I'm Sorry,' than to the future and saying, 'Wow!'" Repentence involves at least two deeper meanings than a simple "I'm Sorry" - a true sense of remorse and new sense of relationship that results is a new way of acting.

A third attitude that promotes peacemaking is the decision to live "As If". We treat others "as if" they are forgiven, "as if" they are deserving of mercy, "as if" they treat us with forgiveness and mercy. We no longer view others as hurtful or destructive, but "as if" they treat us with kindness. I think another way of stating it is we intentionally try to see others with the eyes of Jesus.

Epistemological Humility

It was good having Randy Harris at Skillman today. I first met Randy nearly 30 years ago when we were both freshmen in Honors Speech with Jack Ryan at Harding. Obviously he took to it better than I did. Can it be possible that it has been 30 years? I must have been a really young freshman...

I thought he did a terrific job of articulating prinicples for disagreeing without devolving into warfare. I would not disagree with any of the 12 principles he described, but I found some to be of particular value.

1. That we must be willing to be united in spite of our lack of uniformity;
2. The concept of concentric circles with the cross at the center and beliefs of decreasing importance on the outer rings;
3. Epistemological Humility - the willingness to accept that I just might be wrong;
4. Contextual Faithfulness - both in terms of interpreting scripture and in applying it to specific contexts. I think it will be vital to accurately recognize our context as we discover together over the next few months what it means to be a missional church in this community.

Bono Speaks

I read in the paper this morning that rock star Bono will be speaking in May at Fair Park. Earlier this year he delivered a powerful message as the speaker at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington. A bit of a long read, but worth the time...
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If you're wondering what I'm doing here, at a prayer breakfast, well, so am I. I'm certainly not here as a man of the cloth, unless that cloth is leather. It's certainly not because I'm a rock star. Which leaves one possible explanation: I'm here because I've got a messianic complex.

Yes, it's true. And for anyone who knows me, it's hardly a revelation.

Well, I'm the first to admit that there's something unnatural...something unseemly...about rock stars mounting the pulpit and preaching at presidents, and then disappearing to their villas in the south of France. Talk about a fish out of water. It was weird enough when Jesse Helms showed up at a U2 concert...but this is really weird, isn't it?

You know, one of the things I love about this country is its separation of church and state. Although I have to say: in inviting me here, both church and state have been separated from something else completely: their mind.

Mr. President, are you sure about this?

It's very humbling and I will try to keep my homily brief. But be warned - I'm Irish.I'd like to talk about the laws of man, here in this city where those laws are written. And I'd like to talk about higher laws. It would be great to assume that the one serves the other; that the laws of man serve these higher laws...but of course, they don't always. And I presume that, in a sense, is why you're here.

I presume the reason for this gathering is that all of us here - Muslims, Jews, Christians - all are searching our souls for how to better serve our family, our community, our nation, our God.

I know I am. Searching, I mean. And that, I suppose, is what led me here, too.

Yes, it's odd, having a rock star here - but maybe it's odder for me than for you.

You see, I avoided religious people most of my life. Maybe it had something to do with having a father who was Protestant and a mother who was Catholic in a country where the line between the two was, quite literally, a battle line. Where the line between church and state was...well, a little blurry, and hard to see.

I remember how my mother would bring us to chapel on Sundays... and my father used to wait outside. One of the things that I picked up from my father and my mother was the sense that religion often gets in the way of God.

For me, at least, it got in the way. Seeing what religious people, in the name of God, did to my native land...and in this country, seeing God's second-hand car salesmen on the cable TV channels, offering indulgences for cash...in fact, all over the world, seeing the self-righteousness roll down like a mighty stream from certain corners of the religious establishment...

I must confess, I changed the channel. I wanted my MTV.

Even though I was a believer.Perhaps because I was a believer.

I was cynical...not about God, but about God's politics. (There you are, Jim [speaking to Jim Wallis of Sojourners Magazine])

Then, in 1997, a couple of eccentric, septuagenarian British Christians went and ruined my shtick - my reproachfulness. They did it by describing the millennium, the year 2000, as a Jubilee year, as an opportunity to cancel the chronic debts of the world's poorest people. They had the audacity to renew the Lord's call - and were joined by Pope John Paul II, who, from an Irish half-Catholic's point of view, may have had a more direct line to the Almighty.

'Jubilee' - why 'Jubilee'?

What was this year of Jubilee, this year of our Lord's favor?

I'd always read the scriptures, even the obscure stuff. There it was in Leviticus (25:35)...'If your brother becomes poor,' the scriptures say, 'and cannot maintain himself...you shall maintain him.... You shall not lend him your money at interest, not give him your food for profit.'

It is such an important idea, Jubilee, that Jesus begins his ministry with this. Jesus is a young man, he's met with the rabbis, impressed everyone, people are talking. The elders say, he's a clever guy, this Jesus, but he hasn't done much...yet. He hasn't spoken in public before...

When he does, is first words are from Isaiah: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,' he says, 'because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.' And Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord's favour, the year of Jubilee (Luke 4:18).

What he was really talking about was an era of grace - and we're still in it.

So fast-forward 2,000 years. That same thought, grace, was made incarnate - in a movement of all kinds of people. It wasn't a bless-me club... it wasn't a holy huddle. These religious guys were willing to get out in the streets, get their boots dirty, wave the placards, follow their convictions with actions...making it really hard for people like me to keep their distance. It was amazing. I almost started to like these church people.

But then my cynicism got another helping hand.

It was what Colin Powell, a five-star general, called the greatest W.M.D. of them all: a tiny little virus called AIDS. And the religious community, in large part, missed it. The ones that didn't miss it could only see it as divine retribution for bad behavior. Even on children...even [though the] fastest growing group of HIV infections were married, faithful women.

Aha, there they go again! I thought to myself judgmentalism is back!

But in truth, I was wrong again. The church was slow but the church got busy on this the leprosy of our age.

Love was on the move.

Mercy was on the move.

God was on the move.

Moving people of all kinds to work with others they had never met, never would have cared to meet...conservative church groups hanging out with spokesmen for the gay community, all singing off the same hymn sheet on AIDS...soccer moms and quarterbacks...hip-hop stars and country stars. This is what happens when God gets on the move: crazy stuff happens!

Popes were seen wearing sunglasses!

Jesse Helms was seen with a ghetto blaster!

Crazy stuff. Evidence of the spirit.

It was breathtaking. Literally.

It stopped the world in its tracks.

When churches started demonstrating on debt, governments listened - and acted.

When churches starting organizing, petitioning, and even - that most unholy of acts today, God forbid, lobbying...on AIDS and global health, governments listened - and acted.

I'm here today in all humility to say: you changed minds; you changed policy; you changed the world.

Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor.

In fact, the poor are where God lives.

Check Judaism. Check Islam. Check pretty much anyone.

I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill. I hope so. He may well be with us as in all manner of controversial stuff. Maybe, maybe not.

But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor.

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house.

God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives.

God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war.

God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.

"If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom with become like midday and the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places."

It's not a coincidence that in the scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. It's not an accident. That's a lot of air time, 2,100 mentions. (You know, the only time Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor.)

'As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me' (Matthew 25:40).

As I say, good news to the poor.

Here's some good news for the president.

After 9/11 we were told America would have no time for the world's poor. America would be taken up with its own problems of safety. And it's true these are dangerous times, but America has not drawn the blinds and double-locked the doors.

In fact, you have doubled aid to Africa. You have tripled funding for global health. Mr. President, your emergency plan for AIDS relief and support for the Global Fund - you and Congress - have put 700,000 people onto life-saving anti-retroviral drugs and provided 8 million bed nets to protect children from malaria.

Outstanding human achievements. Counterintuitive. Historic. Be very, very proud.

But here's the bad news. From charity to justice, the good news is yet to come. There is much more to do. There's a gigantic chasm between the scale of the emergency and the scale of the response.

And finally, it's not about charity after all, is it? It's about justice.

Let me repeat that: It's not about charity, it's about justice.

And that's too bad.Because you're good at charity.

Americans, like the Irish, are good at it.We like to give, and we give a lot, even those who can't afford it.

But justice is a higher standard.

Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice; it makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties, it doubts our concern, it questions our commitment.

Sixty-five hundred Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drug store. This is not about charity, this is about justice and equality.

Because there's no way we can look at what's happening in Africa and, if we're honest, conclude that deep down, we really accept that Africans are equal to us. Anywhere else in the world, we wouldn't accept it.

Look at what happened in South East Asia with the tsunami--150,000 lives lost to that misnomer of all misnomers, "mother nature."

In Africa, 150,000 lives are lost every month.A tsunami every month. And it's a completely avoidable catastrophe.

It's annoying but justice and equality are mates. Aren't they? Justice always wants to hang out with equality.

And equality is a real pain.

You know, think of those Jewish sheep-herders going to meet the Pharaoh, mud on their shoes, and the Pharaoh says, "Equal?" A preposterous idea: rich and poor are equal?

And they say, "Yeah, 'equal,' that's what it says here in this book. We're all made in the image of God."

And eventually the Pharaoh says, "OK, I can accept that. I can accept the Jews - but not the blacks."

"Not the women. Not the gays. Not the Irish. No way, man."

So on we go with our journey of equality.

On we go in the pursuit of justice.

We hear that call in the ONE Campaign, a growing movement of more than 2 million Americans...Left and Right together... united in the belief that where you live should no longer determine whether you live.

We hear that call even more powerfully today, as we mourn the loss of Coretta Scott King - mother of a movement for equality, one that changed the world but is only just getting started.

These issues are as alive as they ever were; they just change shape and cross the seas.

Preventing the poorest of the poor from selling their products while we sing the virtues of the free market...that's a justice issue.Holding children to ransom for the debts of their grandparents...that's a justice issue.

Withholding life-saving medicines out of deference to the Office of Patents...that's a justice issue.

And while the law is what we say it is, God is not silent on the subject.

That's why I say there's the law of the land.

And then there is a higher standard.

There's the law of the land, and we can hire experts to write them so they benefit us, so the laws say it's OK to protect our agriculture but it's not OK for African farmers to do the same, to earn a living?

As the laws of man are written, that's what they say.

God will not accept that.

Mine won't, at least. Will yours?

I close this morning on...very...thin...ice.

This is a dangerous idea I've put on the table: my God vs. your God, their God vs. our God...vs. no God.

It is very easy, in these times, to see religion as a force for division rather than unity.

And this is a town - Washington - that knows something of division.

But the reason I am here, and the reason I keep coming back to Washington, is because this is a town that is proving it can come together on behalf of what the scriptures call the least of these.

This is not a Republican idea. It is not a Democratic idea. It is not even, with all due respect, an American idea.

Nor it is unique to any one faith.

'Do to others as you would have them do to you' (Luke 6:30). Jesus says that.

'Righteousness is this: that one should...give away wealth out of love for him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for the emancipation of the captives.' The Koran says that (2.177).

Thus sayeth the Lord: 'Bring the homeless poor into the house, when you see the naked, cover him, then your light will break out like the dawn and your recovery will speedily spring fourth, then your Lord will be your rear guard.' The Jewish scripture says that. Isaiah 58 again.

That is a powerful incentive: 'The Lord will watch your back.' Sounds like a good deal to me, right now.

A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life.

In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing.

I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it.

I have a family, please look after them.

I have this crazy idea...And this wise man said: stop.

He said, stop asking God to bless what you're doing.

Get involved in what God is doing - because it's already blessed.

Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing.

And that is what he's calling us to do.

I was amazed when I first got to this country and I learned how much some churchgoers tithe. Up to 10% of the family budget.

Well, how does that compare with the federal budget, the budget for the entire American family?

How much of that goes to the poorest people in the world?

Less than 1%.

Mr. President, Congress, people of faith, people of America: I want to suggest to you today that you see the flow of effective foreign assistance as tithing.... Which, to be truly meaningful, will mean an additional 1% of the federal budget tithed to the poor.

What is 1%?

1% is not merely a number on a balance sheet.

1% is the girl in Africa who gets to go to school, thanks to you.

1% is the AIDS patient who gets her medicine, thanks to you.

1% is the African entrepreneur who can start a small family business thanks to you.

1% is not redecorating presidential palaces or money flowing down a rat hole.

This 1% is digging waterholes to provide clean water.

1% is a new partnership with Africa, not paternalism toward Africa, where increased assistance flows toward improved governance and initiatives with proven track records and away from boondoggles and white elephants of every description.

America gives less than 1% now.

We're asking for an extra 1% to change the world--to transform millions of lives - but not just that and I say this to the military men now - to transform the way that they see us.

1% is national security, enlightened economic self-interest, and a better, safer world rolled into one.

Sounds to me that in this town of deals and compromises, 1% is the best bargain around.

These goals - clean water for all; school for every child; medicine for the afflicted, an end to extreme and senseless poverty - these are not just any goals; they are the Millennium Development goals, which this country supports.

And they are more than that.

They are the Beatitudes for a globalised world.

Now, I'm very lucky.

I don't have to sit on any budget committees.

And I certainly don't have to sit where you do, Mr. President. I don't have to make the tough choices.

But I can tell you this:To give 1% more is right.

It's smart.

And it's blessed.

There is a continent - Africa - being consumed by flames.

I truly believe that when the history books are written, our age will be remembered for three things: the war on terror, the digital revolution, and what we did - or did not to - to put the fire out in Africa.

History, like God, is watching what we do.

Thank you. Thank you, America, and God bless you all.

Spring Break

Since we didn't go anywhere this week, I took on several small projects around the house. The one that I am most pleased with is my "Harding Swing". For any of you who have ever been on Harding's campus, you will recognize the design although I did decide to leave it the natural wood finish and not paint it white - I think it blends into my back yard better this way.

March Madness

I love this time of year...one of the true benefits of the education profession is Spring Break. For the past several years Taylor and I have taken a father-son trip. This year we didn't plan one for a couple of reasons. One, we have taken a couple of college visits and plan to take a couple more, but the schools he wants to visit are also on spring break this week. Two, he has been applying for jobs since basketball season ended and we assumed he would be working this week. Wrong...the search continues.

I've been getting used to the idea of blogging and have kind of eased into it by reviewing The Body Broken, but I hope to make this space a little more interactive. I thought I might start by giving my picks for the Final Four and inviting anyone who reads this to do the same. I have UCONN beating Boston College and Duke beating Memphis in the semifinals with UCONN over Duke in the championship game. If anyone reads this and wants to respond just list your teams in order - champion, runner-up, and who they will beat in the semis - like so:

Connecticut, Duke, Boston College, and Memphis

The Body Broken - Ch 6

Spring Break is nearly gone and it has been a week since my last post - I find that while I like change and variety I tend to function more productively in routine. In chapter 6 Jack describes a very fragmented church as illustrated in Paul's letter to the Corinthians. There are several issues dividing the Christians in Corinth - moral issues, legal issues, ego issues, doctrinal issues - that manifest themselves in the Corinthians' observance of the Lord's supper.

He makes the observation that the other churches that Paul wrote to were at odds with the prevailing culture, but that the church in Corinth existed peacefully with and was more or less a reflection of the local community. He states that in the absence of tensions with outsiders the church quarreled among themselves. In many ways the church today often resembles the church in Corinth - a microcosm of the community with an internal focus, energies consumed with debating our differences.

Ironically, the only example in the New Testament of a church participating in the Lord's Supper is an example of how not to in the Corinthian church. Paul chastizes the Corinthians for being self-centered, for being oblivious of one another - the body, for dishonoring the cross. He tells them to wait for one another, to serve one another, to care for one another, to be aware of each other. In doing so, they would embody the cross until Christ comes again.

~~~~~~~

Last night's discussion in the Rotunda class culminated in a discussion of the significance of the Lord's Supper. As a group we identified a number of actions/attitudes that are aspects of our participation - among those that I can recall:

• Remembering
• Thanksgiving
• Communing
• Discerning
• Anticipating
• Celebrating
• Eating/Drinking
• Proclaiming

One concept that struck me as significant in our conversation is the need for balance. One of the problems with the Corinthian church was a focus on eating and drinking while neglecting the communal aspect. I think that we often do the same thing with remembering - we focus so somberly on Jesus' sacrifice on our own behalf that we neglect the communal aspects - discerning the body, celebrating, proclaiming.

Jon Mark Hicks addresses this issue in his book Come to the Table. We have learned to treat the communion table as an altar - focusing on our personal response to the sacrifice - to the near exclusion of the communal feast that celebrates the resurrection. God calls us to His table to feast together with His children - our brothers and sisters - that Jesus died to save.

The Body Broken - Ch 5

Getting back to thoughts on Jack Reese's The Body Broken...Chapter 5 starts with a moving description of a man baptizing his sister. Jack relates his own concern with getting the form correct to the unfortunate disconnect between the event of baptism and holy living that is frequently evidenced in the modern church by divisive and fragmenting behavior.

He goes on to a discussion of Paul's letter to the Romans and describes the tension between the Jews and the Gentiles in Rome. He states that the overriding question in the letter to the Romans is whether Jewish and Gentile Christians with their significant differences can be part of the same church. He asks what I believe may be the most profound question facing Skillman and its future - Can Christians who disagree with one another worship together? Can Christians who disagree profoundly with one another be part of the same church?

After describing the issues facing the Roman Church he illustrates with 2 issues within churches of Christ today - acappella singing and the role of women. He does not stake out a position on either of these issues, but says

the greater decisions have to do with how we treat one another. Now Paul's letter to the Romans has a direct bearing on us. Will we despise those with whom we differ? Will we condemn them? ...Will we be relieved when they find a church across town that is filled with people more like them? Can we even talk together? Can we sit down together to pray?

I have to confess that when I feel that I am being attacked or criticized the last thing I want to do is talk together or pray together. I have long held the 12th chapter of Romans as an ideal to live by, but I'm afraid that the life I live is far from ideal.

Dr. Barbara Gray...

Congratulations to my beloved for successfully defending her dissertation this afternoon! I am proud of you.

I posted last night about the walls that separate us - I thought today's Christian Quotation of the Day was relevant...

Christian Quotation of the Day
March 8, 2006

Quotation: The tremendous power of mass-suggestion, which we call the world, can only be confronted, and its victims cured, if they are received into a body which is filled with a vivid, vigorous, and conscious community life of the Spirit. Individuals are powerless to cope with a power so subtle and all-pervasive as this mass-suggestion is. If we are to save and rescue sinners, there must grow up in our Church a Spirit of Love and Brotherhood, a Christian community-life, transcending class and national distinctions, as pungent, as powerful, as impossible to escape as the Spirit of the world. No Apostolic Succession, no Ecclesiastical correctness, no rigidity of orthodox doctrine, can be themselves and in themselves give us this; it comes, and can only come, from a clearer vision of the Christ, a more complete surrender to His call and to the bearing of His Cross. ... G. A. Studdert Kennedy (1883-1929), The Wicket Gate [1923]

The Body Broken - Ch 4

There has been some discussion in political circles lately about building a wall along the Mexican border. Jack Reese spends some time in chapter 4 talking about walls that have been constructed throughout history. I was struck by his assertion that some walls protect, some walls contain, but all walls divide.

The symbolism of visible walls communicates a desire to be separated for safety, privacy, protection, or privilege. Invisible walls - barriers within human hearts - may not be as overtly symbolic, but they are often more impenetrable. These are the walls that divide races, that divide white collar and blue collar, that divide the North and South, and that divide Christians.

Paul addresses the walls that existed between Jews and Gentiles in the Ephesian church by pointing out that there is one body, one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God. Reese says that "Being separated from people for whom Christ has died is not living a life worthy of what Christ has done".

I have been contemplating the walls in my heart and I found that today's post in Mike Cope's blog speaks both to the source of some of those walls and the means to tear them down. What walls are in your heart?

The Body Broken - Ch 3

Continuing reflections on Jack Reese's The Body Broken ...Chapter 3 continues addressing the need to overcome conflict. Reese says "Many conflicts within churches occur not because of serious doctrinal differences but because the views and experiences of some of the members do not allow them to imagine the beliefs and practices of others. We tend to see things from our own point of view, with our own interests at the center, with our own experiences as the norm." (p55)

He begins describing a church that sounds very much like a model church. It "doesn't have many members who view themselves as mere attenders of worship services, hoping to get something good and giving only to what they like. Instead, they see themselves as partners with one another for the gospel's sake."(p57) As the description continues conflict creeps into the picture. He talks about some disagreement that has arisen between two "old warriors who have been a part of the vision and life of the church". In my male-centric mind I envision two strong-willed gray haired men until he mentions that they are women. It soon becomes clear that he is talking about Euodia and Syntyche and the Philippian church.

He continues by paraphrasing Paul's letter to the Philippian church, a pattern he follows in the next few chapters with the letters to the Ephesians, the Romans, and the Corinthians. I find throughout the book that his paraphrasing and setting of the context for these letters causes me to think about them in ways I had not previously. In each case he describes the existence of some difference in race, social status, or opinion. The difference has become a source of conflict and Paul has to remind his audience how to behave towards one another - in this case with humility. Do not think so highly of myself, and do think more highly of others.

- - - -

One of the comments Jack made the other evening was that we need to get out more, that the narrowness of the range of our experiences restricts our capacity to understand the views of and to trust the motives of others who are not just like us. I find this to be true on multiple levels - within the context of the local church, between churches, and between church and community. I mentioned Larry James in my initial post. One of the reasons I admire Larry is that he forces me to either broaden my range of experience or to stick my head in the sand and ignore the challenges faced by the poor and disenfranchised. While it is frequently not comfortable for me to become involved with people in circumstances different from my own, I am convicted by Jesus' words that "As you have done to the least of these..."

The Body Broken - Ch 2

Continuing thoughts on Jack Reese's The Body Broken...

We were privileged to have Jack visit with us last night. One thread that ran throughout his comments was the imperative to avoid being divided by disagreement and diversity.

This theme appears throughout the book as well, including the second chapter. The discussion of reasons why many of our younger generation walk away from Churches of Christ convicts us of our behavior towards one another. He says "If you want to know what I think about Jesus, then look at how I treat others."

He mentions in this chapter and emphasized in his comments the need to talk with each other - especially when we disagree - and to listen. I often preconceive what you think or believe, or what your motives are, sometimes based on prior experience, but more often by stereotype or reputation. And while I know that my motives are pure, I'm pretty sure that you have some ulterior motive or hidden agenda.

In all of our behavior and conversation with each other unity should be an overriding concern. Unity is what Jesus prayed for; unity is our being reconciled both with God and with one another. How can I be united with God if I am not willing to be united with those He loves and has brought into relationship with Himself? Unity exists in the midst of disagreement; unity is not optional and it is not the end product of the resolution of differences.

Back to the book...at the end of chapter 2 he tells the story of a friend who had visited church one Wednesday night when two men with divergent views on some issue were very much engaged in a discussion about that issue. When asked about her experience as a visitor, she said "It was great; these two men were debating - I don't have any idea what they were talking about, but I could tell how much they loved each other." My hope for Skillman is that when people see us, they will be able to tell how much we love each other.