Let wonder replace worry

Matthew 11:28-30

Are you tired?

Worn out?

Burned out on religion?

Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life.

I'll show you how to take a real rest.

Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.

Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.

-Jesus of Nazareth

I forget how much I love Eugene Peterson's The Message. While writing bible studies tonight, I read this from Matthew and was blown away at how eloquently these verses are written. What an amazing lesson for society today. I think I might even read it at youth group on Wednesday.

I need to spend some more time reading, reflecting, sharing, and teaching from The Message.

Dove Awards

When I got home from youth group last night, Nicole and I stumbled across the Dove awards on the Gospel Music Channel. The sad thing is that neither of us knew we even had the Gospel Music Channel. We did not watch the whole show, but I did have one observation.

Toby Mac stills dresses and acts the same way he did when I first started listening to DC Talk somewhere around 1990. I've always liked him as an artist, but for the couple of minutes I saw him on this Christian award show, he came across like a middle aged youth pastor trying to sit at the cool kids table at the local high school. With the students feeling sorry for him because no one his age should dress or talk like he is attempting and other adults wondering why he is trying so hard, because it is all clearly an act.

His clothes and his slang were really cool in the early 90s, but not any more. I guess no one around him has let him know this yet. I think he could act 43 and still be a cool guy, a great performer, and an amazing singer.

Oh well, I still like the guy and enjoy his music. And if there did happened to be a DC Talk 20 year reunion tour this year, I'd be there in a second.

Tammy Faye

As I have written about before, Doctors have stopped treating Tammy Faye Messner's cancer and she has began her journey home.

While I am far from charismatic, I have nothing but respect for this woman. She is loved more in non-Christian circles than she is in many Christian circles, and that is impressive.

Just a couple of days ago, she posted yet another message from her deathbed. This message, in its entirety, has appeared on several celebrity blogs in the past few days. It's kinda sad when people who gossip for a living have nicer things to say about someone than many people in the church. The beautiful thing is that the tens of thousands of people who read those celebrity blogs everyday, spent a couple of minutes reading about a dying woman giving praise to Jesus.

That makes me smile.

Her message:

July 16, 2007

My Dear Friends,

It has been such a long time since I've written and I am so sorry for the long delay. I have been in bed for almost a year now. I have times when I feel good and times when I feel really bad. But, I have learned one thing about feelings. They have NOTHING TO DO WITH FAITH IN GOD!! He is the SAME yesterday, today and forever. He NEVER changes. That is what the Bible says and God's word does not lie EVER!

There have been many days when I felt so terrible with my back and stomach, that I have hardly been able to breath. I cry out to the Lord knowing that many of you are praying for me. In spite of it all, I get dressed and go out to eat. I may only be able to eat one bite, or sometimes ten bites, but I swallow each bite in "faith believing". There are MANY times it doesn't stay with me long at all, but I keep trying and HE helps me.

My daughter is here a lot of the times to give me my medications and to make sure I don't forget. When I got sick, she literally moved in and gave me hugs and kisses that are so needful during this period of ones life. She said, "I want to take care of my Mom". I gave her the last couple weeks off to go home and spend time with her children, James and John. They are well taken care of while Sissy is gone. My girlfriend, Deborah has been staying with me for the past 3 weeks. We have been friends for thirty years, so we know each other well! She gave Tammy Sue some much needed rest and she has taken up where Sissy left off. She will be here for two more weeks. How grateful I am to have such strong, loving, support around me. Then of course, there is my wonderful husband! We moved from Charlotte, N.C. to Kansas City, Missouri. He came here every weekend to build me a new house and when I got here, it was ready to move into, bed and all!! They had it beautiful and it is the most beautiful home I have ever seen. He has wanted to build me a house for 13 years, and I finally let him! His children and grandchildren have come every weekend to visit us, and it is so much fun! Someone I cannot forget is a friend named Daina. She worked so hard, I thought she was going to get sick. Bless her heart. I have to have help eating, bathing, doing my hair, taking my medicine, and help just getting comfortable, which is really hard for me to do.

I try really hard to eat and keep the food down, but sometimes, it is like my throat would just shut down on me, and the food comes right back up. So through all the prayers, I have finally gained some weight. I have gone from 60 pounds, to 65, for which I am very thankful.

I ask in great humbleness that you pray that I will be able to eat without it coming back up. I crave hamburgers and french fries with LOTS of ketchup! When I can eat that again, it will be a day of victory!

In closing, I want you to know that I am praying for you and your loved ones and I am believing God for complete healing. God is a healer of EVERYTHING!

I will let you know when I get to eat my hamburger! HA!

Love,

Chruch Directory

Olan Mills is at the church for the next 3 days taking pictures of all our members and creating a photo directory. Nicole and I went tonight and had our pics done before heading off to Wenatchee.

The directory is free for the church and every member who gets their picture taken receives one for free.

Of course, the reason they do this is to sell you the pictures.

Nicole and I really have not had professional pictures made since our wedding, so this is a great opportunity for us, right?

The guy starts off trying to sell us $900 of pictures for "half price" and since I am a staff member, he takes an extra hundred off to be nice.

$350.00

After I was finished laughing, I politely turned him down. He then offered us 2 5X7 and 12 wallets for $100. Still, way out of the $40 we would have been willing to pay.

I know pictures are expensive, but we paid our wedding photographer $700 and have over 400 pictures that we can take to Wal-Mart and have printed anytime.

Maybe I am just a cheapskate.

Family Camp

Nicole and I had Family Camp at Tall Timber this weekend. It turned out so great, it was a blast. There had to be at least 10 feet of snow. We intentionally do not plan anything on Saturday until after dinner. We want families to spend as much time outside (or inside) together as they can. Life gets busy at home and there may not be tons of opportunities for whole families to be together. Everything we planned came off great, no problems at all.

I took Nicole on a fun hike up one of the mountains Saturday. That was our favorite part of the weekend.

It is always good on Sunday afternoon when no one wants to go home, especially on Super Bowl Sunday.

Jay Bakker: One Punk Under God

At the 2003 National Youth Workers Convention in St. Louis, Jay Bakker was one of the General Session speakers. I think he managed to piss everyone off during his talk, but I did run into him later that night and was able to talk with him for a couple of minutes. So, I was really curious about his new documentary on the Sundance channel, One Punk Under God, that premiered in December.

You can pick it up on iTunes for $10. Nicole and I watched all 6 episodes on Sundance On Demand, so check there if you have cable.  The documentary followed Jay Bakker dealing with his ministry, married life, and his ailing mother, Tammy Faye.  He also is desperately trying to reach his father Jim whom he has been unable to connect with for a couple of years. 

The first episode also takes us back to Heritage USA where Jay’s parents built their PTL empire in the 1980’s.  To look at it now, in ruins, is like coming across a ghost town, it was almost post apocalyptic.  The first episode really brings the viewers up to date on who Jay is and where he has come from.  It also shows the pain that he still carries years after his parents were destroyed by scandal. This pain is something you see him wrestling with through the series.

In the episodes that follow Jay makes a bold stand after visiting a openly gay church. He meets with several gay Christians who touch his heart in a way that is unique. Jay comes back feeling that he now sees the homosexuality issue in a new light. He doesn’t see being gay as a sin and wants to make that very known to both his church and the world.  This bold move nearly costs him the ministry and had potential to ruin his relationship with one of Revolutions key staff members. In the end things work out within the church but the backlash is enormous, as you could imagine, and Revolution loses most of its financial support. Luckily, after Jay leaves, Stu steps in and straightens things out.

Please don’t let that issue keep you from watching. I feel like since Jay was so mistreated when his Dad’s ministry fell apart, he feels that he could never not offer someone the grace that was denied to him. The gay issue is fascinating to see him work through and to see the ways others respond to him. Believe it or not, this issue is minor compared to what else Jay deals with in the series. The show goes on to deal with Jay’s relationship with his mom (who is very sick), his dad (who he has never had a normal relationship with), his wife (who is unsupportive of his ministry at times) and even an old youth pastor who is now an agnostic. These relationships are real and very complex.

If you don’t watch because of the gay issue, you will miss the most beautiful and painful pieces of Jay’s life. This pain also helps define the gay issue and put understanding to his convictions.  His visit with his father is tough to watch. Jay wants to please his dad so much it is killing him; and Jim still has trouble finding time for him. The pain in his eyes when he talks to his mom is real. I really like Tammy Faye after watching this. She is genuine and real, and still cries a lot; I’m sorry that I’ll never have the chance to meet her. I read online that in the middle of December she was down to 68 pounds.

I definitely do not agree with Jay Bakker on everything and he may piss you off because of his views but if you can’t see the love in his eyes than you must be blind.

New Years Resolutions

I've always liked Jonathan Edwards, the colonial American preacher who is known as one of the most profound evangelical theologians.

On the second day of the year, as you are determined to keep those New Years Resolutions you made, be guided by some of Jonathan Edward's resolutions I found on the Leadership blog:

• Resolved, Never to lose one moment of time, but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can.

• Resolved, Never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do, if it were the last hour of my life.

• Resolved, To maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking.

• Resolved, To study the Scriptures so steadily, constantly and frequently, as that I may find, and plainly perceive myself to grow in the knowledge of the same.

• Resolved, To strive to my utmost every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher excercise of grace, than I was the week before.

• Resolved, To ask myself at the end of every day, week, month and year, wherein I could possibly in any respect have done better.

• Resolved, Never hence-forward, till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God's.

• Resolved, Never hence-forward, till I die, to act as if I were any way my own, but entirely and altogether God's.

Check out the complete list here.

The thing I found most profound was how well rounded, serious, and deep this list is.

Nicole and I resolved to be on time with family birthday's this year. Little bit of a difference between us and Edwards.

Does God Want You To Be Rich

Nicole and I were at Target the other night and while she was looking at scrapbooks, bed spreads, and whatever else she came across, I was hanging out in the books and electronics.  TIME magazine caught my eye.  The cover story this week was one I just could not pass up. 

The magazine confronts an issue that all Christians have come into contact with at some point.  Even if it is just watching Christian TV for a few minutes.  It was a lengthy article, but very worth reading.  Two of the pastors interviewed were Joel Osteen and Rick Warren, who have different views of what the magazine calls prosperity lite theology.

Here is a quote from Joel Osteen:

"Does God want us to be rich?" he asks. "When I hear that word rich, I think people say, 'Well, he's preaching that everybody's going to be a millionaire.' I don't think that's it." Rather, he explains, "I preach that anybody can improve their lives. I think God wants us to be prosperous. I think he wants us to be happy. To me, you need to have money to pay your bills. I think God wants us to send our kids to college. I think he wants us to be a blessing to other people. But I don't think I'd say God wants us to be rich. It's all relative, isn't it?"

Here is what Rick Warren had to say:

"This idea that God wants everybody to be wealthy?", [Rick] Warren snorts. "There is a word for that: baloney. It's creating a false idol. You don't measure your self-worth by your net worth. I can show you millions of faithful followers of Christ who live in poverty. Why isn't everyone in the church a millionaire?"

Even though Joel Osteen is nothing like the guys you see during the praise-a-thons' on TBN, who are just plain ridiculous and who thankfully were not interviewed in this story, I personally fall into line with Rick Warren. Logical thinking easily debunks the idea God what's everyone to be rich.

I'm a youth pastor, so as long as I stay on this path, I'll never be a millionaire.  And that is ok because I am blessed.  I work in a great church that pays me more than I deserve and Nicole and I are able to have everything we need and even a few things we want.  Even greater than this though, we are showered with many, many blessings that money could never buy.

I'd take that over great financial wealth any day. 

ebible.com

If all goes as planned, it looks like ebible.com will be coming out of beta in the next few hours and going public.  No more invitations needed!   Check it out, it is a great site.

2006 MTV Video Music Awards

I Tivo'd the VMA's the other night and just got around to watching it this afternoon.  I watch the awards every year, even though I really could care less about who wins what, there is no better way to put a finger on youth culture in this country.  Something I noticed for the for the first time is it seems that every year when I watch the VMA's, I watched MTV less that year.  I guess its a sign that you are getting old, when you stop watching MTV.  Even though the show had a pretty strong sexual charge, (that is really to be expected) I did not think it was as bad as it has been in years past.  Here are some observations I made from the show.

• Video is extremely important.  There were at least 7 screens in use at all times.  A few times, I counted as many as 12.
• The treadmill performance was my favorite part of the show.  That is just pure genius.
• Animation looks really cool when it is done right.
• Today's top music style's sound nothing like anything I have ever heard in any church.  I am still working through if this is a good thing or a bad thing.
• Even on MTV, God gets alot of thanks and acknowledgment.
• Jack Black was a complete flop and not the least bit funny.
• Sarah Silverman is not funny either.
• Even though Jessica Simpson is very attractive, her dumb blond act voids that.
• Even though I hate to admit it, the Jackass guys still make me laugh.
• Shakira's hip's don't lie. 
• Even though youth ministry concert's and conference's seem cutting edge, they have nothing on MTV.  Even the camera work is breathtaking.
• I though I kind of liked the All-American Rejects until I saw their performance.  There was not one redeeming thing about it.  Bad music, sounds, and worst of all, vocals.
• I really liked to backstage shots.  It gives you a feel of the atmosphere.
• Even though it was mostly covert, drugs were really glorified during the show.
• An Award for "Ring-tone of the Year" is really a sign of the times.
• This really goes for all award shows, they would all be better if they would just accept the award without the speech.
• Christina Aguilera really blew me away.  She is such a talented vocalist.  I really like her.
• Al Gore has had an image make over.  He is no longer the stiff, boring, cocky man who ran for President in 2000. 
• Pop Culture changes drastically over 12 months.