Letter to my son

Today is my son, Caleb's, birthday. I wrote him a "birthday" letter and Kelli thought I should share it here with all of you. He's a special kid and I'm truly a blessed Dad.

Dear Caleb Andrew,

Today, December 30th, 2010 is your fourteenth birthday. Last year, at this time, you and I got to go to Florida and hang out together. I sorta wish I could go back in time, because that was truly awesome for me. It was a memory I’ll never forget. Now you are one year older. You’re not just “becoming a teenager”, you ARE a teenager! It seems so strange to me to see you getting older.

Of course, like all parents, I wish I could freeze time and make you stay small forever. I miss you being a little guy that I carried on my back and wrestled with and threw 15 feet in the air to watch you belly-flop into the pool. Now you could carry me on your back, kick my butt in wrestling, and push me into the pool whenever you wanted! Well,… almost. =)

Anyway… I want you to know how proud I am of you. I think you are a great person and you’ve grown into an awesome young man. You probably don’t know this… but I watch you… a lot. I see you talking with your friends. I see you playing with children that are way smaller than you. I watched you be an awesome brother to Maria, even though she was hard to relate to at times. I watch you with your brothers and Michaela and Merci.

I watch you Caleb… and I’m really proud of you.

When Mom and I were thinking of a name for you, we chose Caleb Andrew for a reason. Not necessarily because those two names mean something cool, but because of those two characters in the Bible.

Caleb was a spy. Actually, there were 12 spies that were chosen, out of all of God’s people, to sneak into the “Promised Land”. They did and they saw some killer stuff, including lots of food and water… and scary giants. Caleb and Joshua were the only ones, out of the 12, that told the leadership that they should definitely go into the Promised Land. But the other 10 spies all said, “No way! The giants are way too big! We’ll all be killed if we try and go in there!” Because of these 10 guys’ report, God’s people chickened out and didn’t do what He wanted them to do. However, Caleb and Joshua will always be considered studs for being brave enough to do whatever it takes to obey God. We chose Caleb, because he was a stud… a radical for God.

Andrew was one of Jesus’ disciples. He is one of the guys that doesn’t get mentioned very often in the Bible, however, when he is mentioned… he’s bringing people to Jesus! For example, he brought his brother to Jesus, and the kid with the lunch of fish and bread too. We think this is something that God is going to do with you.

When you put these two names together: Caleb Andrew – I get the picture of a radical guy, who doesn’t care what anyone else may think, all he cares about is what God thinks. A guy who is brave and doesn’t mind being quietly in the background, as long as he can be a part of helping someone else see Jesus. This is Mom’s and my prayer for you Caleb. That you would always be different than the rest of the crowd (all the other wimpy spies who call themselves God-followers, but are too wimpy to ever really take a stand for Him). You are definitely becoming that kind of person. I see it in you and the way that you are. This is why I am so proud of you.

I love you more than anything, son. I hope you know that.

As always, you must remember that I am always here for you. If you are going through something, or if you ever need to talk, I hope you’ll come to me. I love you 5, buddy… and I ALWAYS will.

Happy Birthday,
love Dad

Where Are We Headed?

In 2008 the church I pastor went through many changes. We had changed our name, our philosophy, many of our methods, and even our mission statement. The theme for that year was, “Keep Your Coins, I Want Change”, and man, did we ever live up to it. We did change… I think for the better, as we focused our lives on being exactly who Christ has called us, uniquely, to be.

In 2009 our theme was “Relate”. The ‘t’ in the word was formed by an arrow pointing up, and the cross bar formed with arrows pointing in both directions. The idea was that we were going to concentrate on relating better to God, and others. This is the time we began purposefully going out into the community to attempt ‘being’ the Church in what we refer to as DC-W.O.W. (Desperation Church With Out Walls) weekends. Because our mission statement is, “Love God, Love Others”, the theme of ‘relate’ was a good one. So good, in fact, we decided to keep it for 2010.

Now it is 2011. It’s time for a new theme. Some may consider it odd, or even cheesy, to have a yearly theme for a church. I disagree. It’s been said that “without vision, people perish”.

What if that's true? What does it really mean?

I believe it is imperative to keep the vision before us, to know exactly what it is that we are striving for personally, and corporately. Truly, when we don’t have a specific goal in mind, we can find ourselves spinning our wheels and going through motions, all while never really accomplishing much of anything, except weekly meetings. Of course, mission statements are important for this reason as well. However, while the mission of the Church (to love God and others) should never really change, the vision that God gives to a people will need to transform from time to time, as His Spirit moves and flows with where the culture is at the time.

To me, the vision is expressed in the theme.

In the context of a church family, the theme should be seen in a multitude of ways. Obviously, it will be woven into each sermon, but more than that, it will be incorporated into each worship time, each Bible study, each retreat and event, and hopefully become one of the defining characteristics of our community. For this reason, the theme is vitally important, and one that I have approached with much prayer and consideration. I totally hope you’ll like it.

What is it?

I’ll share it with the family this weekend at Desperation Church, I hope you can be there. If you can’t, don’t fret, I’ll share it here too, early next week.
See ya then!

The Christmas Letter Kelli Wouldn't Let Me Send:

Dear Friends & Family,

It is that time of year again to share with you our adventures in this journey we call life. 2010 has been another year of magic, wonder… and some other stuff.

Merci, almost 7, is the newest member of the clan. She came to us from Haiti, following the earthquake, and has fit in quite beautifully. She is a lot of fun, and her cooking, tennis, deep-sea-diving, driving, parachuting, and origami skills are increasing daily. When she grows up she wants to be a Ballet Dancer and a grown up.

Michaela, now 11, is quite the talker. She continues to amaze the professors at the University with her intuition in foreign languages. It was fun for her to serve as Official Translator for Bono at the Bosnian-Serbian Peace Talks. She intends to spend this Holiday transcribing the first five Books of the Old Testament into Pig-Latin and Cantonese.

Caleb, now 13, is growing in leaps and bounds. Ten years ago, when he got his first set of building blocks, he seemed quite interested in large buildings. Who could have ever forseen that this year he would design and build his first skyscraper in Hong Kong; the new 108-story International Commerce Centre. It is great to have a budding architect at home as he made a new addition to the house and a wonderful gazebo for our garden. Martha Stewart will be filming her next show here in April.

Kolten, a curiously remarkable 16, is immersed with his Graduate School studies, and managed to co-author a paper on Multidimensional Customer Attribute Analysis by Conjoint Survey and accept a Nobel Prize for his discoveries in Quantum Physics. Along the way Kolten took three startups through their IPO. We are proud of his work serving on the Board of Directors of IBM, Coca-Cola, and Walt Disney. His modeling career is also budding into something no one saw coming.

Conor, a noble 18 years of age, has kept himself very busy with teaching under-privileged children in the suburbs to read. He is finishing up his master's degree in public relations. Combined with his degree in business marketing, Conor has already used dual talents to develop advertising strategies for such clients as Conan O’Brian (you may have seen his new “Grow-A-Beard-Bag-A-Babe” ad for TBS. . . an idea brought to you entirely by Conor!). He has turned quite a profit, and consequently is starting his own Nasdaq stock, partnering with Zach" Galifianakis, (BEARDS=BABES). We will let you know when it goes public so you, too, can invest!

Kelli had a very busy year. In between her work as President of the American Red-Hat Society and Senior Partner of Amazon.com, she introduced a line of children’s novels and hand-made active-wear. She remains occupied with the children and has introduced them to Yoga, gourmet coffee, and power walking. She still will not let anyone forget how she led the 1991 Women’s World Cup Soccer team to the championship in China, and how she rode a horse bare-back around the pyramids in Egypt in 1983. Yes, we are all very proud of you, Mom.

Michael, also known as ‘Dad’, was active with the kids teaching Merci Ballet, and helping to lower the boy’s handicaps to 5. In February he was let go by the church, and even though the charges of grand theft were eventually dropped, the legal fees sent us into bankruptcy. However, this gave Michael and the family the opportunity to squeeze a little traveling in this year. We started in Aspen, went to Belarus, the Congo, Denmark, Ethiopia, the Falklands, Greenland, Holland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Venezuela, and Zaire. Our trip sailing our new boat around the world was a great experience for the kids, we learned to communicate with Dolphins and discovered a new region of deep water volcanoes.

And Lady, our Old-English Sheep dog, learned to speak… Latin. Other than that, it was a very quiet year. So from our household to yours, all the Blessings of the Season and may your New Year be prosperous. Ours will be. We found out yesterday that we won the $43 Million Powerball Lottery.

Actually, none of the above is true (except for the part about Kelli in Egypt), but you have to admit it makes more interesting reading than what our lives have really been like! What is true is that our sincere prayer is that the blessings of this holy season fill you with joy and peace, as you enjoy God’s awesome presence!

The Crafts,
Michael, Kelli, Conor, Kolten, Caleb, Michaela,and Merci

Explanation of a Broken Heart

Approximately four years ago I visited Haiti for the first time and fell in love. I fell in love with the country, the people, and specifically, I fell in love with two Haitian girls. One of the girls had just turned eleven years old, the other was only two. I met hundreds of orphans on my trip, but these two girls captured my heart. When I returned home and shared my experience with Kelli and my four children, we all spent a few weeks praying and seeking God’s perfect will, to distinguish if we should pursue adopting these beautiful girls. We all felt this was the direction that God had for us, and thus we began the painstakingly lengthy process. Over the next four years I would visit Haiti two more times, each stint spending more time getting to know these two girls.

In early 2010 a devastating earthquake hit the country of Haiti. Many people lost their lives and the country was in shambles. One bright light in all that darkness was the adoption process was sped up, literally overnight. For almost eleven months now, the girls have been in our home. Legally the adoption is not finalized and we are only considered a ‘foster’ family until the paperwork goes through. However, our hearts have always been that these girls were now a part of our family… forever.
The younger girl, Merci Klarrah, has grown leaps and bounds in that time. She is now six years old and is a constant joy to each and every one of us. The older girl, Marie Andre (Maria), is now fifteen years old and sadly, things have not worked out so well.

At first, we believed Maria to be shy. She exhibited all the symptoms of someone who had been through a lot of horrors in her life, such as physical, emotional, and perhaps even sexual, abuse. Our hearts were to love her through all of this and show her an unconditional love that would melt her hardened heart. At times, we could see huge progress in Maria, and she would smile and show signs of real life. But the majority of the time she would distance herself from us, from friends, and from anything or anyone that would try to get close to her.

We sought out a counselor. Then, another. Then, still another. We tried a different approach at education. We attempted all that we could, to try and win her heart. We read books and we sought the wisdom of others. Nothing seemed to help. A few months ago it began to worsen. Maria learned that she could manipulate the family with her behavior. She began to be increasingly mean to our eleven year-old, Michaela. We would talk to her about her behavior… to no avail. She wouldn’t apologize. She wouldn’t seek reconciliation. She wouldn’t simply be nice. We began to seek new ways to try and form her behavior, because ‘talking’ didn’t seem to work. We grounded her. We took things away. Nothing seemed to be successful. We grew tired of folks saying things like, “Well, that’s just a teenager for you.” We have never experienced this with our other ‘teens’… or any other teens for that matter. (I was a youth pastor for eight years and my minor in college was adolescent behavior/youth ministry).

We began to explain to Maria that when you are part of a ‘family’, unconditional love must be shown. Forgiveness must be given. We do not have the luxury of holding grudges, because it simply makes the entire household miserable. She wouldn’t change. We explained that the adoption wasn’t finalized yet and asked her if she would be happier if we tried to find a different family for her. She refused to give us an answer, but only asked if she could call her birth-mother in Haiti to ask her opinion. To this request, we agreed. Her birth-mother’s advice was for her to “count her blessings” and do whatever it took to stay in America, because Haiti was so bad. From this point on, Maria seemed to be increasingly sad. Each day she would seclude herself and remain very quiet. We tried and tried to love and minister to her, but we failed.

Things between Maria and Michaela grew so bad that we asked friends to keep Michaela for us for a week. Hurtful things were said to Michaela that cut her deeply. We were very concerned that Michaela was being wounded by the meanness of Maria. When Michaela was at home, at night we’d find her wrapped up in a blanket and sleeping in the hall, because she was afraid to go into her room. This was very unlike Michaela, and she was frightened to tell us anything, because Maria had warned her, “Don’t tell Mom and Dad anything about me!” At this time I began to research how we might find a place for Maria to go. Was there a place out there where she could be truly happy?

After much research, we did indeed find a Christian organization that takes in young people exactly like Maria. They have multiple staff that speak Creole (Maria’s native tongue) and counselors who are dedicated to the help and healing of Haitian children who’ve gone through much of what Maria has had to endure. Because the environment is Christian, Jesus is brought into every aspect of the kid’s lives. They were more than willing to take Maria in, after learning more about her.

Since all this has been decided, Maria has had her ups and downs. She had days where she would be a completely different person. She was kind and generous and completely loving. She wrote letters and showed us extreme love. She never seemed to act this way towards Michaela, but to the rest of us she was awesome. Apparently, she made it known to others that she did not desire to leave our family. When we would ask her about this, she would state that she didn’t want to leave. However, when we asked her if she loved her sister, Michaela, and could she be kind to her? She wouldn’t answer us. We had to take this as her not wanting to be a part of the Craft family. You see, the Crafts are: Michael, Kelli, Conor, Kolten, Caleb, Michaela, and Merci. You can’t just love six of us and not the seventh. We all must love all of us – it must be this way. Of course, kids will be kids, and arguments among sisters are going to happen, but this was different. Maria is good at hanging onto a grudge. The one she has against Michaela just didn’t seem like it was going away.

Today we said “goodbye” to Marie Andre. We cried… a lot. She cried… a lot. Our hearts are broken in two right now, there is no other way to say it. We will miss Maria, of course. Her leaving is the death of a dream. I wanted her to be a ‘Craft’. I wanted to walk her down the aisle one day. I loved it when she called me “Daddy”. I’ll miss that… a lot.

I have to keep telling myself that she just wasn’t happy. Although, today… and the past few days, (when she wasn’t around Michaela) she said that she was, I don’t think she truly wanted to be a part of our family. Kelli and I had just come to the realization that if we were going to be doing Maria any good, we needed to make sure she was happy and that she got the very best possible start here in America and in life. We initially thought our unconditional love would be enough to accomplish those goals. However, we have come to realize that it just wasn’t. We now feel that the best start for her is in Miami, Florida at HIS HOUSE, where she is going. We are saddened to admit that Maria needs so much more than we can provide.

We don’t think we misheard God, or that He made a mistake. We do believe that for a season, we were put into Maria’s life, and she in ours, for a reason. If we had not pursued the adoption, taken a second-mortgage on our home to pay for it, and put in all the time and effort – perhaps Maria would be one of the many victims currently suffering with Cholera, in the aftermath of the earthquake, in Haiti right now. Perhaps she would never have had the opportunity to become a citizen of America? Now she does.

I pray that she will be happy where she is going. I really do. I’d like to think we did what was best for Maria. I’d like to believe that God knows all things and that He has Maria… and us… in the palm of His hand. Perhaps he’ll bring Maria back into our lives at a later time – we certainly will keep tabs on her. Perhaps she’ll find happiness away from such a large and loud family like the Crafts. I just don’t know.

I do know that I’ve never been so sad. I know that I don’t like to see my wife and children crying. I know that I need some time to heal and grieve a serious “loss” with my family. For this reason, I’m taking some time to do just that. I hope you’ll all understand what we’ve been going through, and where we are at now. Some will, and have, judged us for the decisions we’ve made. My attempt at writing this long blog is that you will know our hearts, and why we are where we are at this time.

I love you. Please continue to keep us, and Maria, in your prayers. Many of you reading this have reached out and shown love to Maria. Thank you. Your kindness has not gone unnoticed. We have appreciated you all more than we can express.

Michael

WARNING: Includes Some Nudity

I read a lot... and am given a lot to read. However, the following poem concerning prayer has stood out among the rest. Enough so, that I'm sharing it here. Definitely something to chew on...

An Embarrassment by Wendell Berry

"Do you want to ask
the blessing?"

"No. If you do,
go ahead."

He went ahead:
his prayer dressed up

in Sunday clothes
rose a few feet

and dropped with a soft
thump.

If a lonely soul
did ever cry out

in company its true
outcry to God,

it would be as though
at a sedate party

a man suddenly
removed his clothes

and took his wife
passionately into his arms.

PSALM 151

Who said that the Book of Psalms had to stop being written? David seemed to get a lot of his feelings, praise, and prayers out in what we today call, 'The Book of Psalms'. I'm gonna give it a try:


A Psalm of Michael

O Lord, my God
in You will I put my trust,
in You will I put my whole life.

There is nothing that can compare to You
and nothing that can compare to how I feel when I am with You.

In the crisp and frosty morning
I find my thoughts drifting towards You and Your realm.
In the cool and bright evening
I stare at the stars and am awestruck by Your rule.

You seem to be so very big.

Each day and all nights I am nothing less than mesmerized
when I quiet myself and reflect on You.

But if I am to be ruthlessly and transparently honest,
I am wondering…
if You ever reflect upon me?

When those that entitle themselves ‘Christian’, ‘brother’, ‘friend’
and yet drag me into the courts of man…

When the stealer comes with his schmoozing and lies
and pilfers the refuge that I call a home…

When the darkness of disease, like an unwanted stranger,
has blown into town and taken up unyielding residence…

When those I’ve unconditionally loved and unreservedly cared for
lower their gaze and desire nothing more to do with me…

In these times of overwhelming shadows and devastating obscurity,
I simply can’t help but wonder…
seriously,… do I ever cross Your mind?

Surely, You see all that transpires
and indubitably, You hear the cries of a scared and lonely child.

Truthfully, what could ever escape
the One Who whittled the mountains, carved out the oceans and finger-paints each sunrise?

I should know better, huh?

Where else can I turn, but to the King Who’s authority spans the cosmos
and who’s undeviating love bridges the distance between my fears…
and my faith.
Selah (think about that for a second)

So, I say again
and again
and again…

O Lord, my God
in You will I put my trust,
in You will I put my whole life.

When Blood & Water Hit The Ground...

One of my new favorite singers is Phil Wickham. At the gym this morning I was listening to him and this song came on my IPOD. The words were rocking me pretty hard and I was fighting back tears and trying not to look silly. I came back to my office and stumbled upon a video for this song. I wanted to share it here, because it really is so very powerful to me.

Anything that inspires me to love God even more... is just special.

God bless.

Phil Wickham - True Love (The Wall) from DanStevers.com on Vimeo.

What Are You Shouldering?

This past weekend I was part of a community of people that canceled our regular services and handed out groceries to those in need. We transformed our Worship Center into a huge grocery store. As pastor of this great community, I was deeply proud to be a small part in the "Kingdom coming on Earth as it is in Heaven"... and truthfully,what I believe to be what Jesus would be doing.

Before we began handing out food, I shared a quick devotion from the Gospel of Luke to those gathered. In case you missed it, the following is that devotion:

Luke 1:26-38
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth,to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. "And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. "For nothing will be impossible with God." And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

As we are preparing to minister to our community today by handing out groceries to those in need, I want to remind us all that we are doing so in the name of Jesus. We, like young Mary in this passage, are simply ‘bondslaves of the Lord’.

We’ve all heard and thought about how incredibly hard it would have been for a young woman to be pregnant outside of marriage in the time period we are talking about here. Yet, this girl had a deep passion to serve and be used by her Lord. She even considered it an honor. I see in Mary, what I see in all of you today, this attitude of someone that is living with a different Kingdom in mind.

The angel here begins to explain to Mary about the Son she is soon to have. He mentions that “He will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David”… and so on. The things the angel was speaking were things that Mary probably would have recognized as coming from passages of Scripture found in the Old Testament referring to the Messiah! This would have been extremely exciting… and maybe even a bit intimidating. However, Mary responds, “I’m sold-out to God, I’m His bondslave, so bring it on. Whatever He says, as weird as it may sound, I’m in!” Again, this is the attitude of someone that is “Kingdom minded”, not someone who is “of-this-world minded”.

Interestingly, one of the passages that the angel was referring to was Isaiah 9. Verse 6 of chapter 9 in Isaiah’s Book states, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” I’ve always loved that verse, especially around Christmas time!

Think back to all the stories you know about Jesus and ask yourself; “When are Jesus’ shoulders ever mentioned?” I can think of stories where His hands are mentioned, His feet, His breast, His head, His back, even His eyes. However, the only time I can think of where anything at all might have “rested on His shoulders” was when He was walking up the road to Calvary. We’re told that as they led Jesus to be crucified that they had to recruit the help of someone named Simon to actually help Jesus with the burden of carrying His Cross. However, we can assume that Jesus at least carried it part of the way. He would have done this by placing the cross-beam upon His shoulder and dragging the entire Cross behind him. It would have been incredibly heavy, and it would have been tremendously difficult considering the physical beating He had been taking all night long.

Now, follow my thinking for a minute: The prophecy was that “a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders”. Jesus was that Child. What rested on Jesus’ shoulders? The Cross.

Could the “government” of God be symbolized by the “Cross of Jesus”?

When we talk about the Kingdom of God, we’re describing, among other things, I believe, a mind-set. We’re describing a person, or group of people, that have determined to live their lives according to God’s rules. Although we may live in America, or Africa, or China, or some other physical local, we admittedly live under the rule of another King. We pledge our allegiance to another Kingdom entirely! I do not mean that we do not submit to the governing authorities of the land in which we live, but should they ever run contrary to the Laws of God, we’d submit to a higher authority (Acts 5:29). So, our mind-set is that we are true God-followers. We serve the King of all other kings and rulers. In a very real sense, we consider ourselves “governed” by God.

By the way, did you know that that is what Israel means, “Governed by God”? Pretty cool when you think that they are called God’s chosen people and that the New Testament describes all those that believe in Jesus as having been ‘grafted in’ to that chosen family. [Romans 11].

The idea that God’s government is symbolized by the Cross of Jesus is intriguing to me. You see, it means that God’s Kingdom is totally upside down when compared to the kingdoms of this world. In God’s Kingdom you have a King that gave His life for His subjects. You have a King Who became poor to make others rich. You have a King that leads His subjects by example by actually living His message, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13).

This is the attitude that I see in Mary when she responds to the angel’s outlandish announcement, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” This is the attitude I see in those here today to simply love others by practically meeting their needs.

May each of us always be those that are ‘Kingdom-minded’ and follow the example of our King, Jesus, in laying down our lives that others might live. At times it may be a difficult thing to do. At times it may be an uncomfortable thing to do. However, it’s the mandate of a bondslave. It’s the mission of a God-follower. It’s also the privilege of carrying God’s government on our shoulders.

Let’s pray…

Football or Church?

Alright, here's a nice, tongue-in-cheek, hopefully semi-fun look at my warped sense of humor.

Recently, I 'tweeted' a series of 'tweets' that related some standard football phrases and words to the average church-goer. I had gotten the idea last week when I received a long list of 'tweets' from Rob Bell that told a story in short 140 character bursts. His series was much more substantive than mine, however, I've had some requests that I re-post my attempt at humor here. So... here ya go:

At DC we’ve got a lot of Kansas City Chief football fans, & that can often interfere w/ church. I’ve come up w/ some definitions for your amusement...

QUARTERBACK SNEAK – Church members quietly leaving during the message to go home and watch the game

DRAW PLAY – What most children do during the worship and what Pastor Bil does during the messages.

HALFTIME – The period between praise & worship and the message, when many choose to leave… or come in.

BENCHWARMER – Those who don’t sing, pray, work, or apparently do anything.

BACKFIELD-IN-MOTION – Making a trip up the aisle to the back (rest room or water fountain) during the service.

STAYING IN THE POCKET – What happens to a lot of money that should be given to the Lord’s work.

TWO-MINUTE WARNING – The point at which you realize the message is almost done and begin to gather up your belongings and tune out.

INSTANT REPLAY – The speaker forgets to look at his notes and starts saying the same thing over and over.

SUDDEN DEATH – What happens to everyone’s attention span when the speaker goes way overtime.

TRAP – When an Elder has asked you to pray over the offering and you don’t know how to say “I stink at praying in public!”

END RUN – Getting up and getting out of church by quickly bolting out the back doors before anyone has a chance to talk to you.

FLEX DEFENSE – The ability to allow absolutely nothing during the message to affect your life.

BLITZ – The rush for restaurants and anyplace showing the big game immediately following the final prayer.

CALLING AN AUDIBLE - Any time a cell phone goes off and the pastor makes a stupid comment about how distracted he has become

Whew... okay... glad I got that out of my system. I hope to see you all at DC this weekend! BTW... we'll be done way before the game starts now that our Sunday service starts at 10am!

(There will be special prayer offered for the Chiefs to be victorious over the Denver Broncos. Seeing as the Broncos are God's least favorite team, this prayer time should not require us to take much time. Truly, He hears us when we pray.)

Pastor Appreciation Month

Being a pastor is really crazy. It can’t really be compared to any other profession that I can think of. To say that it has its ‘ups and downs’ is a bit of an understatement. At one moment it is as if God Almighty is my Boss, and the next moment it seems that I have hundreds of earthly bosses all demanding something different. Sometimes it seems as though I’m filled with the courage and confidence of Elijah on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18), and other times I’m as nervous and intimidated as he was in the darkness of that hidden cave in the very next chapter. In some cases the Lord’s Will is apparent and obvious, while in other circumstances each and every word and action feels as though it demands a leap of faith. At times there is such an assurance of the Lord’s presence and blessing that it would seem I would never again entertain another doubt concerning His faithfulness or love. Unimaginably, those times can be followed by cold and shadowy moments when I am honestly questioning His very existence. Some of the people that I come in contact with in this ‘profession’ are open, extremely grateful, and hungry for what it is I’m promoting. Others, however, see me as nothing more than a salesman who is peddling an out-dated, inappropriate, and irrelevant basket of fables and fairy-tales. While still others compare my talents as a ‘salesman’ with the myriad of other salesmen they’ve seen and heard throughout their lives. These comparisons are usually communicated in a multitude of creative ways; everything from well-crafted emails to simply walking out of my life, never to be heard from again. Truly, the pastorate is full of inconceivable ups and unimaginable downs.

Like I said, being a pastor is crazy.

It has been said that the majority of people in our world today do much better with a “pat on the back” than they do with a “kick in the butt”. I think that is true. No matter the profession, or the situation, most folks will soar when their accomplishments are recognized and rewarded in some positive manner. Years ago, Focus On The Family instituted the month of October to be national “Pastor Appreciation Month”. As a pastor, I am very grateful for this. Of course it goes without saying that Jesus Christ is the only One that should ever be placed on any kind of a pedestal. However, to have a time set apart for those who are being ministered to through the ministry of the local pastor to have a chance to verbalize that appreciation is a powerful thing indeed. Perhaps it is powerful for those individuals, but I can tell you from personal experience that it is most definitely influential and powerful for the pastors as well.

When the appreciation month is over, when the ‘thank-you’ cards stop coming, when the cookies stop being delivered, when the pats on the back stop… the job of a pastor continues. As much as all of that has built-up, strengthened, and majorly encouraged the heart of a pastor it will never, ultimately, be enough. The singular thing that must drive a pastor is the call of God.

The apostle Paul once said, “To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the Gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it” (I Corinthians 9:22-23).

Paul was a man who could have put most others to shame with his knowledge of the Holy Scriptures (the Torah and the Law). When Paul hung out with the guys who did nothing but study that stuff, he could easily hold his own - He was absolutely no novice in the areas of theology and Biblical understanding. Yet, when his travels took him to those that did not know the Scriptures, he didn’t come off as a know-it-all snob. He came off “weak”. Why? His answer is that He does everything for the sake of the Gospel (translated “Good News”) and then he adds this awesome line: “so that I may become a fellow partaker of it”. The Message Translations says it this way, “I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!”

I like that.

As a pastor, I so appreciate that God is moving and that He could actually use a goof like me, even in the slightest of ways, blows my mind. To be appreciated for the work that I do is so completely encouraging and blesses me more than I can express. However, God really does deserve the applause on this one. You see, whether there are way more ups than downs, or way more downs than ups, doesn’t matter in the end. What does ultimately matter is that this Good News is truly, really, authentically, radically, beyond a shadow of a doubt, indescribably… good. This Gospel is something that is so real and so awesome that I seriously just want to be in on it. It is a privilege and an honor to be called “pastor” and I’ll gladly take the lumps, as long as I am afforded the opportunity to be a fellow partaker of this Gospel… a fellow partaker of God’s Story.

Faithful Wounds

I was blessed this morning as I read the following devotion by Lois Tverberg. I pray you will be too.

"Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are excessive."
Proverbs 27:6 (New English Translation)

Understanding a little more about Hebrew words can help us see why one verse can be translated in different ways. More interestingly, having two different translation of a verse often gives us a new "depth-perception," just as the combination of images in both of eyes shows us the three dimensions of the world around us.

One interesting way to see this is that in most Christian translations, Proverbs 27:6a reads, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend," or "The wounds of a friend can be trusted." But the version of the Tanakh by the Jewish Publication Society translates that verse differently, as "Wounds by a loved one are long-lasting." One casts hurtful statements in a positive light, the other points out how painful they are. Why is that?

The answer is intriguing. The Hebrew word that has been translated "faithful" is ne'emanim (neh-eh-mah-NEEM), which is related to the word emunah, which means "faithful" or "reliable." It is also related to the verb aman, meaning to believe or trust. But the same word can also mean "steadfast, long-lasting, enduring." So the wounds of a friend can be trustworthy and reliable, or they can be long-lasting, in the sense of never going away.

Which is the correct translation? Ironically, I think it is both. When our loved ones tell us their greivances, often they are something we should seriously consider changing, because they know that telling us will hurt us. But on the other hand, the speaker should realize that no matter how carefully said, his or her words will tend to stay with the hearer forever, often causing a wound that will take a long time to heal.

Words are like knives that with the slightest mishandling can cause great pain. Any time we say something critical to a person, we should consider carefully that it will likely affect our relationship for a long time. Is it really that necessary to "get something off our chest"? Only when we choose our words with the realization that they will have a long-lasting impact on others will they be faithful in helping them as well.

Reckless words pierce like a sword,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Proverbs 12:18

A Changing Atmosphere

I'm loving the weather recently! These crisp, sunny days are absolutely awesome. Especially when it seems like only yesterday the humidity and heat were ridiculously unbearable, and the thought of freezing, ice-covered roads in the short days ahead make me cringe. But right now... perfection. It's been a welcome change.

It seems much more has been changing recently. The atmosphere has changed, and I think it's a good thing. Not just at our local church, but all over the world. I'm running into more and more people who are noticing this change. Many of us have observed the Christian-Religion that dominated much of the 1970's, 1980’s, and 1990's as not much more than an argumentative and aggressive political attitude, mainly known for being totally intolerant about homosexuality and abortion. That posture led to a perception of moral and religious superiority for Christians. This attitude bullied through certain initiatives as being the most important things ever, but at the exact same time alienated countless people from genuine relationship with Jesus Christ.

Being associated with those who call themselves 'Christians', but who don't embrace this change, is something many of us can no longer do.

I kinda think that the atmospheric change that has happened around the world concerning these things has actually liberated and empowered us Jesus-followers. It has forced us to re-evaluate how and when we engage culture.

It's like now we are finally getting it.

We’re seeing that the mandate of Jesus is simply to love and accept people one on one, caring for them where they are. Our role is revolutionary, as we carry the light and love of Jesus into our work-places, schools, and even into the streets of our city. We're trying to flip that perception of superiority and hypocrisy by being honest and straightforward about our faults, as well as our sincere hope for transformation in Jesus. And we're doing our best to join our community in much different ways than we’ve done in the past. We’re not interested in fighting anymore, unless it’s in a war against the enemy of God – an enemy that promotes poverty, crime, addiction, and pain.

Rather than seeing ourselves against or above our culture, we are seeing a stronger impact from adopting several important attitudes concerning our culture. Let me explain:

1. An attitude of grace over judgment

I was reading a story of a guy named 'Sonny' in Las Vegas. When he first walked into a church, he had been living on the street as a crack addict for nine months. He was a mess. But the people didn't judge him, they cared for him. Sonny became a Christian, he was baptized, and began a spiritual journey. Eventually people in the church helped him get a job and gave him a car. He went on to grow and mature and even start his own business and get married.

Fast forward four years from the time Sonny walked in off the street. The mayor of Las Vegas tries to pass a law that says you can no longer feed the homeless in any public place in the city. Vegas does not have the social services of many cities already, and it has been voted the meanest city in America to the homeless.

Sonny gets ticked off and decides he cannot sit by and watch this happen. He actually sues the Mayor, contending that the law is unconstitutional. The first hearing finally comes. Picture the courtroom. All the attorneys for the Mayor on one side in their power suits. An average guy standing alone on the other side in his street clothes. The judge looked over the case and looked to the Mayor's attorney's. He said that it was unconstitutional to single out one group of people and discriminate against them in this way and he threw the case out! The reason you can give a homeless guy a sandwich on the streets of Vegas today is because one former homeless guy named Sonny used his influence.

Here's the question: Would that have ever happened if he'd first encountered judgment rather than grace when he walked into a church?

All of it starts with grace, God's grace, which can work in our lives powerfully over time. Are you living in that grace? Am I? Are you and I quick to share it or are we quick to judge? Are we meeting our friends and family with that grace? Are we envisioning them to accomplish their dreams for God through that grace?

2. An attitude of love over inaction

Love is not simply the opposite of hate. Love is the opposite of inaction as well. If we say we love our neighbors, but we don't act with love toward them, we're a joke and only kidding ourselves.

This past weekend I joined hundreds of Jesus-Followers who were acting out the love of Christ in practical ways. Many of them went to a nursing home and worked their rears off. They cleaned windows, they scrubbed and straightened, and they visited and loved on the forgotten. Others went to a neighborhood that had been hit harshly by a recent wind-storm. This group, consisting of young and old, trimmed trees, hauled away debris and downed limbs, and served many as, I believe, Jesus would have. Still others of us went downtown and picked up garbage that had been left over from the Liberty Fall Festival that had been taking place in that area for two days. I was amazed to watch Christians bending over and picking up everything from cigarette butts to half-eaten, soggy hot-dog buns, all for the glory of God in an effort to show His kind of love to our city.

Rather than picket the moral failure of our communities, what would happen if we began to serve the community? Won't our actions of love and mercy make a greater impact than our picket sign? Won't what we do be so much louder than what we say?

3. An attitude of truth over inauthenticity

Jim Gilmore, author of an amazing book entitled Authenticity, said, "Authenticity is a big buzz word in the church, but the Bible does not use the term. It doesn't talk about authenticity as we do today. The Bible talks about truth. Living in the truth and sharing the truth."

That statement will make you think. The Bible absolutely speaks in terms of truths that make unconditional claims on our lives. What I mean is; I should be more concerned about knowing this truth and living in it than I am about simply being authentic.

By living in the truth honestly, the authenticity side of things will take care of itself. I'm learning that people won't really listen to you until they trust you. By the way, trust comes from grace and love. When people trust you, and you tell them the truth, they will trust you even more, even if the truth is hard to swallow.

Truth must be at the center of our lives.

So, the mandate for me as a pastor, actually for any and all Jesus-Followers, is to be real and preach truth.

I pray that by taking an attitude of grace, love, and truth we can continue to see the atmosphere of our culture change in significant ways.

"You Are The 100%"

After our church service today I was handed a letter from a good friend of mine. Bernardo is a postman for the city of Liberty, and I love him very much. It was a letter addressed "TOO GOD" and he had pulled it from a mailbox on his route. Not knowing what to do with the letter, he gave it to me and asked me to do with it whatever I wanted.

The hard-to-read-letter, scribbled in yellow crayon, simply said,
"You are the 100%".

I just wrote the following reply and will be dropping it off in this child's mailbox on my way home from church today. Here's what I... I mean, "God"... wrote:

To My precious little one,

I received your note today and it made me so happy! I want you to know that I think you are 100% too!

I think you are 100% perfect.
I think you are 100% special.
I think you are 100% loved.

Thank you for taking the time to write to Me. When you take time to even think about Me, it is like you are telling Me that you love Me. That makes Me smile really big!

I love you too…

and I’m watching You all the time… and thinking about you all the time. There is NOTHING more special to me than you.

Never forget that.

I wish more people thought that I was 100%, but to hear you say it, and to know what you meant when you said it, has made Me very, very proud to be your Father in heaven.

Have a great day today… and every day. Write to Me again anytime you’d like, or just talk to Me, because I AM with you always, and I am constantly listening.

Your Buddy,
God


Matthew 18:1-3

Disastrous Victories & Magnificent Defeats

I don't know about you, but for me, it's been an exceptionally hard week. Beyond the normal 'stuff', (kids that are either sick or getting into trouble and the contstant stress of having to stretch finances, etc...) this week has introduced me to trials I don't run into very often. I'm learning that during times such as these it becomes increasingly important to "press in" to what I know to be Truth. By 'press in', I mean to work extra hard reminding myself mentally, but also to do the things physically that will enable me to focus on what God has done and spoken. One of these things is to get alone and spend some time with the Master and in His Words.

I once read, and find that I still identify with, the following:

"The road I've traveled... is pockmarked by disastrous victories and magnificent defeats, soul-diminishing successes and life-enhancing failures. Seasons of fidelity and betrayal, periods of consolation and desolation, zeal and apathy are not unknown to me.
And there have been times...
when the felt presence of God was more real to me than the chair I was sitting on;
when the Word ricocheted like broken-backed lightning in every corner of my soul;
when a storm of desire carried me to places I had never visited.

And there have been other times...
when I identified with the words of Mae West: "I used to be Snow White - but I drifted";
when the Word was as stale as old ice cream and as bland as tame sausage;
when the fire in my belly flickered and died;
when I mistook dried-up enthusiasm for gray-haired wisdom;
when I dismissed youthful idealism as mere naivete;
when I preferred cheap slivers of glass to the pearl of great price." *

If you relate to ANY of that, as I know today that I do, then may we both be encouraged by God's Words, which say:

"Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name, you are Mine. You are precious in My eyes, because you are honored and I love you... the mountains may depart, the hills be shaken, but My love for you will never leave you and My covenant of peace with You will never be shaken" (Isaiah 43:1,4; 54:10).

My prayer:
"Father, You have said over and over again that You love me... and You've proved it in the most radical of ways. Today I want to stand firm in Your love for me. I ask for the strength to endure the things You've called me to and set in motion in my life. At the same time, I ask for mercy in the areas that my own mess-ups have brought my way. I love You big-time, and want to thank You that "The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us" (Romans 5:5). Help me to walk this week out in an authentic love for others that is birthed in the love you've shown me; A walk of true compassion and forgiveness. You said, "Love your enemies and do good... and you will be sons of the Most High for He Himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked" (Luke 6:35). I pray this sincerely, Amen."



*Brennan Manning from his book, Abba's Child - NavPress 1994 pp 15

Attention Deficit

Last week, I saw this postcard on 'post-secret' and it really caught my eye. As a matter of fact, I've had it as my desk-top wallpaper since then. I think it's just a great reminder that as 'life' is happening all around us, there are millions of other stories taking place... besides ours.

At Desperation Church we’ve been discussing ‘Spiritual Warfare’ and the battle that we’re all in. However, may we never forget that each and every person we run into, and currently know, is also in a battle.

Some are lonely.

Some are angry.

Some are burned out.

Some are grieving.

Some are sick.

Some are out of work.

Some are wounded.

Some are ashamed.

Some are guilty.

Some are all of these… and more.

All have captured God’s heart... and are in need of HOPE.

I was reminded of this the other day, as I read; “The question at the Last Judgment is not ‘How religious was your talk?’ nor ‘How much time did you spend in prayer?’ nor ‘Was your faith orthodox in every respect?’ but ‘How did you respond to needy brothers and sisters?’ This is the one reliable measure of discipleship.”
[Thomas R. Kelly, A Testament of Devotion (New York: Harper and Row, 1941), page 58]

Several years ago a group of five computer salesmen went from Milwaukee to Chicago for a regional sales convention. All were married and each assured his wife he would return home in ample time for dinner. The sales meeting ran late, and the five scurried out of the building and ran toward the train station. A whistle blew, signaling the imminent departure of the train. As the salesmen raced through the terminal, one of them inadvertently kicked over a slender table on which rested a basket of apples. A ten-year-old boy was selling apples to pay for his books and clothes for school. With a sigh of relief, the five clambered aboard the train, but the last felt a twinge of compassion for the boy whose apple stand had been overturned.

He asked one of the group to call his wife and tell her he would be a couple of hours late. He returned to the terminal and later remarked that he was glad he did. The ten-year-old boy was blind. The salesman saw the apples scattered all over the floor. As he gathered them up, he noticed that several were bruised or split. Reaching into his pocket, he said to the boy, “Here’s twenty dollars for the apples we damaged. I hope we didn’t spoil your day. God bless you.”

As the salesman started to walk away, the blind boy called after him and asked, “Are you Jesus?”

May we respond to others, all others, in love. And may we be JESUS to them, slowing down and truly understanding that they may be blind, or simply fighting a battle that we know not of.

Praying For Revival

Recently I was in a discussion with someone about "Revival". They quickly found that I had a very different 'take' on what exactly revival is, and what it is that we should seek when it comes to revival. For some time now, I've felt that the Lord has been teaching me that I must be a man who consistently dies to the right to always be right. So, we seperated in disagreement, but hopefully in a loving way. I'm sure he left feeling that I was not very "spiritual", however, that wouldn't be the first time someone left a conversation with me feeling that way.

I think that today's Church can easily be ignored. I mean, we've tried not to be ignored through our annoying and noisy political involvement: "Listen to us, or we'll rally millions of voters and vote you out." "Listen to us, or we'll form our own political party." "Listen to us, or we'll..."

When I look at Jesus, or even the Church of the New Testament, I don't see them going for noisy political activism. I see them becoming a force to be reckoned with because they had this radical passion for God. That's what drove them. And it's what bound them together. The community of Jesus-lovers protected each other. At times they lived together, celebrated together, grieved together, gave together, served together, and they even died together. They hid together in the catacombs. Eventually, their passionate, radical strength conquered the Roman Empire.

That blows my mind! This small community brought fear to a mighty, brutal empire and they couldn't be ignored, simply because of their passion for Jesus and the strength they had in their relationships with each other. A Roman general once said, "Never have I seen such tenacity of love." He complained that if you killed one, three more would take his or her place.

Wow. With an insignificant number of people, this radical New Testament church overwhelmed a massive military empire. Its success had absolutely NOTHING to do with politics and EVERYTHING to do with it's commitment and passion for Jesus, its strength of character, and its community life.

To me,... that is revival.

It's like when real revival breaks out people HAVE to react to it. I believe that the authentic love for God and others is either going to tick people off and repulse them, or they are going to be compelled to join in. But I honestly can't see "the real deal" just being ignored.

Today, 'the Church' seems to be getting ignored. Why?

This friend of mine was telling me how he's part of what he called, "a house of prayer" that is consistently praying for revival. He began to describe powerful prayer services where folks are literally crying out to God "to revive our land". "Folks walk up to a microphone and scream and wail for God to 'loose their city in the name of Jesus!' It's totally awesome. Sometimes we'll pray like that all night long!"

Neat guy, but I think he's praying amiss. You see, he's part of a movement that is praying for revival so that God will fix our country. When you ask him what that means, he'll begin describing what revival will look like: We we will have more Christians in political offices. Kids will be able to pray in our public schools. Alcoholism will go away, as bars shut down. Pornography will evaporate. President Obama will quote the Bible in speeches. You know, stuff like that.

I wonder how many are praying for a revival within ourselves... personally? The kind of revival where God would give us a revolutionary passion for Him and the ones He loves so much. Who's praying for the kind of revival that would inspire them to leave their darkened, smoke-filled, candle-lit, worship centers with their incredible musicians and sound equipment, in order to walk next door and actually BE Jesus to a world that can't see Him so well through our walls?

What if we stopped singing revival songs and screaming into microphones for God to do something radical... and became the answer to our own prayers?

In Luke 10 Jesus is talking to His buddies and He tells them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest (verse 2). Did you catch that? Jesus told them to pray for people to get out there and get it done. So sure, prayer is extremely important. But check out the very next thing that comes out of His mouth: "Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves." You didn't miss that did you? Jesus told them to pray... then He said, "And by the way... BE THE ANSWER TO YOUR OWN PRAYER... AND GO YOURSELVES!"

Don't get me wrong. I believe the Church needs revival. It needs to be awakened. I'm just not sold on the idea that we should be spending hours praying for it... 24/7. I'm simply not sold on the idea that we need to attend conferences and seminars, where thousands gather to wail and "cry out to God to heal America". Sure, pray for God (He is the 'Lord of the harvest') to reach out; but shouldn't that take about 5 seconds? (Is there a Bible verse that gives us any idea how long our prayers should be? If you find one, please send it to me. Seriously.)

The truth is, we like our prayer meetings. They're cool. The goose-bumpy presence of God is groovy-neat... and we don't want to leave. I get it.

However, another thing is also true: Authentic revival isn't always so groovy feeling. It always seems to bring persecution. Jesus did say in that verse (Luke 10:3) that He was sending them out as lambs among wolves. In case you aren't familiar with the food chain: Lambs get eaten by wolves. Jesus also said, "If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also (John 15:20). Paul added, "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Timothy 3:12).

Feel like some encouraging reading about revival? Check out what happened when revival hit Pisidian Antioch (Paul and Barny got the boot). When revival hit Lystra and Derbe (Paul got stoned... with rocks, not hippie-lettuce... and then left for dead). When revival came to Corinth, the Jews hauled Paul into court and charged him with heresy (That time Paul actually escaped physical harm, but an angry mob beat the stuffing out of Sosthenes, the local synagogue ruler, right outside the courtroom). When a dude named, George Whitefield preached in the 18th century, they threw rocks at him and spit on him (he didn't exactly get a book-deal handed to him).

Yeah, baby... good times!

So, you bet... let's pray for revival! But get ready. It's not all about accoustic guitars, motivational sermons, and pretty prayers. Things might literally get rough and uncomfortable. Things could actually get worse,... and the 'worse' could start in our own church.

But you know what? When we're weak... Jesus is strong. It's always during the moments of persecution, that the Church advances and grows. It's when we are committed to serving, loving, and obeying the voice of God - whether we get the goose-bumps or not - that His awesome Kingdom advances. It's when God revives individuals and our passion becomes radical for Jesus and others that His followers, the Church, doesn't get ignored.

Praising in a Grave Situation

I'm smack dab in the middle of a devastatingly busy week. I could bore everyone with all the details, but take my word for it, I'm barely keeping afloat at the moment. As I was trying to organize my life and carefully plan how I needed to spend each and every hour in order to accomplish all that must be done... I received a text.

It seems one of my closest friends, Sheila Key, is losing her mother. Yesterday, Sheila and Buzz Key were enjoying their first day of a week-long family vacation when they received the call: Sheila's mother had had massive strokes on both sides of her brain. Today, the very hour I type this, they will remove her from life-support. As I talked on the phone with Buzz, my heart was broken,... because my friends were hurting.

So, I decided to take a few moments, turn the lights down low in my office, hold all calls, and read a bit of the Word.

Amazingly,... I opened to the following verse:

Job 1:21
"He said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.'"

Whenever I turn to read a passage from the Old Testament Book of Job, I realize a few things: First, I remember that I was taught somewhere along the line that this is the 'oldest' Book in the entire Bible. In other words, many Bible scholars believe that it was actually written even before Moses penned Genesis. I also recall that there is much debate whether or not this Book actually happened at all, or if is simply an ancient play that was performed before numerous audiences. I won't even touch that, except to say that the Book of Job IS in our Bibles and that is significant to me. It is meaningful to me because it means that God wanted us to have, study, and apply this story to our stories. It is also interesting to me to think that many of the great Bible heroes would have probably heard or read this story many times in their own lives.

I wonder if when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow to the king's idol and they said those awesome and famous words, "Our God can deliver us from the fire, but even if He doesn't, we will not bow!" (Daniel 3:17-18*), I wonder if the story of Job and that fantastic verse quoted above (Job 1:21) resounded in their hearts and minds?

Oh, how I long to be that kind of radical. That I'd be the kind of person that praises the name of the Lord in the good times... and the bad. That I'd recognize that every good gift I enjoy is ultimately from the Lord, and when anything... or anyone... is separated from me I should not murmur or complain, but rather bless the name of the Lord anyway.

I find it ironic how my problems, and my feelings of being overwhelmed, can seem so difficult at times, and then in a mere instant, literally the time it takes to read a simple text, they can seem to be put into perspective.

I'm learning, however slowly, that my story is fairly simple, and although it seems to be 'everything' to me at any given moment, in reality, it is only a tiny part of a greater story: God's story. God's story is filled with all kinds of adventures as well as mundane moments, joys and disappointments, victories and beatings, births and even deaths. Yet, it is the radical that chooses to bless the name that is above all the other names that have ever been spoken - the name of Jesus.

May you and I bless the name of Jesus: When we're hurting. When we're rejoicing. When we're tired. When we're burned out. When we're sad. When we're left without answers. Truly, there is no other name under all of Heaven greater and by which men might be saved!


* By the way... if you've never read the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego you are totally missing out. You've GOTTA read it! It's absolutely one of my very favorites! You'll find it in the Old Testament Book of Daniel, chapter 3.
Read it by clicking here.

Take The Reigns Off!

Riding my motorcycle from Colorado Springs, CO back home to Kansas City was quite the experience. The radio stated that the heat rose to well over 108 degrees in the shade. I really don't know exactly how hot it was out on the black top of I-70. I found myself having to pull over and soak my T-shirt in the sinks of every single Rest Area along the way, which made for a slow, difficult day of riding.

At one particular rest stop I met two women who were driving my way. They had a sticker on the side of their car with a Cross on it. As I was straddling my bike and putting on my helmet, I commented on how I liked the Cross. This began a short discussion that resulted in me identifying myself as a pastor. We exchanged pleasantries and they rode off. I took one last drink of water and started up the bike.

Before I could continue my journey, the ladies had done a U-Turn and come back to me with the driver's window down. The driver informed me that the Lord had just spoken to her and that she had to come back and give me a direct 'word from the Lord'. I turned off my bike and listened intently...

She said that God wanted me to know that He wasn't totally pleased with my youth ministry the way it was and that He was going to explode my youth group and do a new thing in it. She then asked what I thought of that. When I informed her that I wasn't a youth pastor, but actually a lead pastor, she back-tracked a bit and said that although the youth ministry was indeed going to explode, that the church I pastored would never be pleasing to Him, or grow, if I didn't "take the reigns off".

I asked her, "What do you mean, 'take the reigns off'? What am I supposed to do?"

She said that she had heard of Desperation Church, and that she knew that we were too "formalized and set in our ways". She mentioned how we always have our "little singing times and preaching times", but never leave room for the Holy Spirit to move and minister like He wants to among the people. She said that He was angry about the way that I had squelched the Holy Spirit by "reigning Him in, instead of letting Him reign". She began to describe how I needed to allow times of intercession and repentance, and forget about the singing and preaching and just let God knock people over with His presence and His power.

As I sat on top my bike, my soaked shirt already beginning to dry in the insane heat, I told her that I was very sorry, but I didn't feel that was a Word from God and would not be accepting it as such.

She was flabbergasted by this comment. She said, "Listen, I'm only telling you exactly, word-for-word, what I am hearing the Lord tell me. If you refuse to listen to the Lord, then that is on your hands... not mine!" She then drove off, heading east on I-70 towards her apparent home in Shawnee, KS.

I sat there for a few more moments and talked with my Friend, Jesus.

Honestly,... My conversation went something like this:

"Lord, please tell me that wasn't really You. I don't feel like it was You. That didn't sound like You. If it was You, how come You talk to people like her specifically about how I should be ministering, but You have been silent about the "reigns" thing every other time I've sought Your counsel? I read Your Word... lots. I love it. I am surrounded, pretty regularly, by those who are in love with You. We constantly are talking about ways in which we can love/serve/obey You. I love that. Why exactly would You dump all this on me, in that way, in the middle of Nowhere-Kansas, on the hottest freakin' day of my life?"

Nothing. No response. Only silence.

When I desperately need to hear God... and He doesn't make a peep... I have a choice. I can either freak out, get angry, and walk away from Him. Or, I can be still, wait,... and think back to the last thing I heard Him say. As I said earlier, He's my Friend, so I chose option #2.

I started my bike and started eastward on I-70. As I rode, all of a sudden, specific Scriptures began popping into my mind:

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1)

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:13)

"'An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.' And He left them and went away." (Matt. 16:4)

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers." (Psalm 1:1)

"Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace is joy." (Proverbs 12:20)

"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." (Galations 1:10)

Listen, I know I'm not very impressive. I wish I could write that I heard God audibly speak to me. But, for some reason, my Friend God doesn't work that way with me. It's almost as if He's pleased when I trust Him, love Him, and obey Him out of simple, child-like faith. (Remember Hebrews 11:6?)

As I rode, a big smile spread across my face. I knew God wasn't condemning me, but rather He was encouraging me. He was loving me. Within a half hour I was zooming past those two ladies and I flashed my smile and gave a wave... and I left them and their so-called-word-from-the-Lord far behind me. It was then that one last Scripture popped into my head:
"The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect." (Psalm 33:10)

May I never be a man, a pastor, or a Christian that puts the reigns on God's Holy Spirit. I truly desire for the Lord to reign in every aspect of my life and ministry. Perhaps that won't look like what others envision,... perhaps it will. However, one thing I'm grateful to be learning is that the Spirit of the Master is good and wants to make Himself heard in our lives. The prophet Elijah discovered that that Spirit does not usually come in a strong wind, an earthquake, or a fire - not usually in obvious, in-your-face kinds of ways. He is more subtle; He typically comes to you and I in a gentle whisper.

And that whisper can be easily missed when there's too much emotional noise around, or when we're crying out for an audible, or even visible 'sign'.

It's when we learn to quiet our soul to listen, we may be surprised at all that we hear. Wisdom, comfort, peace, truth, encouragement... all these things come from God's Spirit... to His friends.

Quitting Christianity

This article has captured my attention. Please read it carefully and especially the final two paragraphs. I'd love to know what you think. Thanks. - Michael


The Facebook announcement by bestselling author Anne Rice that she has "quit Christianity" has set off a firestorm among believers. But many in Christian circles are sympathetic. Kirsten Powers reports.

Anne Rice just gave Christianity the pink slip.

In 1998, the legendary author had returned to her childhood faith of Catholicism, announcing she would no longer pen vampire novels but instead "write to glorify God." Last week, she announced she had "quit Christianity."

In a posting on her Facebook page, she said: "I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being 'Christian' or to being part of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to 'belong' to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen."

Rice’s story is all too familiar to me, and I suspect many other people. American churches are too often hotbeds of intolerance and cruel condemnation.

I feel your pain, sister.

Like Rice, I developed a deep faith later in life and, like her, I brought with me liberal views that aren't normally associated with devout Christians. I also brought a dim view of organized religion, and a particular hostility to evangelicals, who I viewed as anti-intellectual bigots. The truth is, had I known the day I tagged along with a new boyfriend to his church, that it was evangelical—and not merely Presbyterian—I would never have set foot in the place. But I did, and as much as I tried to resist, my life was ultimately radically altered. With time, I came to call that church my spiritual home and today many of my closest friends are evangelicals who have turned my stereotypes on their head.

Nonetheless, Rice's story is all too familiar to me, and I suspect many other people. American churches are too often hotbeds of intolerance and cruel condemnation.

Although she says she hasn't abandoned religion, Rice herself says that other Christians have told her that she isn't a real Catholic; that she isn't really saved; that she is going to Hell, and that she should stop misleading people and leave the church. "My commitment to [God] is as firm as it ever was," she told me. "I want to keep that commitment front and center in my life. But I have to walk away from the churches. The anger and frustration becomes so toxic that you have to conclude this is coming between me and God, and I can't let that happen. I can't follow his followers."

This is reminiscent of what Mahatma Gandhi once said: "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Or, in the words of another famous Christian, U2 frontman Bono, who said: "Religion can be the enemy of God. It's often what happens when God, like Elvis, has left the building. A list of instructions where there was once conviction; dogma where once people just did it; a congregation led by a man where once they were led by the Holy Spirit."
But there is an alternative.

I was fortunate to get plugged into a community who take their faith seriously but have rejected the epidemic among devout Christians of spiritualizing conservative politics. Many of them are leaders in a new movement that seeks to restore the faith to its original purpose, which—believe it or not—isn't to elect Republicans or trash gay people. (In the same way, it isn't about electing Democrats or fighting for middle-class tax cuts.)

One emerging leader is Jonathan Merritt, a Southern Baptist pastor, who grew up in the bosom of conservative Christianity; his father was the president of the Southern Baptist convention and Merritt graduated from Jerry Falwell's Liberty University. "I am finding disillusionment with Christianity in America," said Merritt, who just released, Green Like God—Unlocking the Divine Plan for Our Planet. Christianity "has become so bogged down with cultural baggage that it has marginalized its followers. I know exactly how Anne feels: that Christianity has been hijacked."

Gabe Lyons, another Liberty University graduate, agrees. Lyons founded two influential Christian organizations, Catalyst and the Q Forum, which regularly bring together hundreds of young Christian leaders. Rice is actually in line with those decades younger than her, Lyons said, pointing to research that his organization has done that show young people between the ages of 16 and 29 see Christianity as "anti-homosexual, judgmental, hypocritical, and too political in alarming numbers."

Lyons, the author of UnChristian, added that he was pleased that Rice "was able to see the difference that so many others never do—that is, that Jesus was none of the above. The true Christian faith has never been about the points she refutes."

American Christianity is suffering from a hangover from decades of indoctrination by Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and a host of other religious leaders who falsely cloaked right-wing Republicanism in biblical principles. Worse, these leaders modeled the decidedly un-Christian behavior of treating certain groups with contempt. Even if Robertson et al. were actually justified in viewing liberals, gays, feminists, and Muslims as their enemy, their response is simply not rooted in Scripture. (See, for example, "love your enemies" and "bless those who persecute you.")

A popular bumper sticker—"I love Jesus but I hate his fan club"—reflects this growing frustration with the church among devout Christians. Something needs to change, or more Anne Rices are going to walk away. Says Merritt, who hopes Rice will reconsider her divorce from the church: "We need people like Anne Rice in the church. If she leaves, where will we find the prophetic voices that call the church back to what Jesus would want it to be?" Great question.

Kirsten Powers is a political analyst on Fox News and a writer for the New York Post. She served in the Clinton Administration from 1993-1998 and has worked in New York state and city politics. Her writing has been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the New York Observer, Salon.com, Elle magazine and American Prospect online.

Gotta Love LarkNews

NEW YORK — "Honk if you love Jesus" — and $1 million.

In a sure sign of a rebounding economy, original Christian bumper stickers have become the market's latest hot collectible, with specimens from "Not perfect, just forgiven" to the original "Jesus on board" routinely fetching $10,000 to $50,000 at auction.

"There's strong affection and demand [for classic stickers] from collectors and Christians alike," says Jeff Teague, modern collectibles expert at Christy's auction house. "That combination is driving prices to levels we haven't seen before."

The granddaddy of them all, and by far the most valuable bumper sticker in history, is the very first Christian bumper sticker: "Have you prayed today?" from 1958. Last month it sold for $1.2 million to a private investor who said he intended to frame it and hang it in his art gallery, alongside a Picasso.

"The cultural moment that bumper sticker captures is just as significant as the work of great masters," said the investor, who wished not to be identified. "And, frankly, there's not that many of these bumper stickers in good condition around anymore."

With those kinds of dollars chasing the unlikely, rectangular gems, a gold rush mentality is on in church circles. Christian sloganeers who held onto their bumper stickers — or the cars they were attached to — from the '60s and '70s stand to reap handsome profits. Some people have spent days painstakingly peeling their old "No God, no peace. KNOW God, KNOW peace" and "Turn on to Jesus" stickers off their Camaros, Pintos and Datsuns, mounting them and selling them at conventions. ("Previously applied" stickers are worth about a tenth of the value of an original, unused sticker.)

Doug Phelps couldn't believe his eyes when he saw an original 1974 "God said it. I believe it. That settles it" sticker appraised at $5,000 on PBS's "Antiques Roadshow."

"I had a dozen just like it on my guitar case" which he used during the height of the Jesus Movement, he says. The case was stowed away in a closet for 20 years. He took it to an expert, who recommended he have the stickers professionally removed and mounted. Phelps instead sold the entire case, stickers and all, to a collector who specializes in paraphernalia from the Jesus Movement, and made $14,000, enough to send his daughter to college for a year.

"I never thought those things would come back around, but I'm sure glad they did," Phelps says.

An even bigger legend in sticker lore is Lenore Crabtree, 73, of High Point, N.C., who worked in her church bookstore for 21 years. Her son used to bring home "every bumper sticker he could get his hands on" and tack them to his bedroom walls. Recently, a friend visited Crabtree and peeked into her son's old room, which is exactly as it was in 1977 when he moved out and got married.

"My knees went weak and I almost fell over," the friend says of the moment when she saw the cavalcade of bumper stickers affixed to the wall. "It was like seeing $10,000 bills everywhere."

Crabtree took the stickers to a bumper sticker convention and came away with $340,000.

"It was one of the most complete and pristine collections I have ever seen, apart from the tack holes which we consider minor blemishes," says expert Teague.

Both Crabtree and her son now live in houses near the ocean.

Some collectors have made cross-country trips in search of churches time forgot where, just maybe, they might stumble on an old stash of unsold bumper stickers in the basement or fellowship hall. Inspiring the hunt are several well-worn, true stories like Crabtree's and other small-town pastors who found they were sitting on a gold mine.

John Dignant, 31, a recent sticker aficionado, found himself driving behind a VW bus in Santa Cruz, Ca., when he saw dozens of old stickers covering the back. "I flagged the guy down and offered him $20,000 for the car on the spot," he says.

That investment turned into $720,000 in profits when Dignant sold the stickers at a convention. Instead of risking damage by peeling them off, he sold the entire rear panel of the VW. It now sits in the foyer of an artist's home in Montana, in a Plexiglass box.

"It's more than shabby chic," says the artist. "It's art that wasn't intended to be art, which is the best kind."

Celebrities have entered the mix, though many keep their passion hush-hush so the market won't skyrocket further. Billionaire businessman Phil Anschutz has invested roughly $5.3 million in a Christian bumper sticker collection, which is on display at the Denver Museum of Art through July 15. It includes a never-before-circulated "Honk if you love Jesus." Anschutz intends to start a Bumper Sticker Hall of Fame which will officially "retire" stickers which have given the Christian community years of exemplary service.

Barbra Streisand has a "small collection of 15 stickers," her publicist confirms. And Bono, who has quietly collected Christian bumper stickers for 25 years, has "around 400."

But the sticker phenomenon is dominated by amateur collectors who were lucky enough to hold onto their old stickers, and who now can drive "Jesus on board" all the way to the bank. *





*This article was taken from Lark News, because I thought it was funny.

Do They Know How Much You Care?

There are really only a few web-sites that I frequent on a regular basis. Most of them have to do with study helps in my preparation of messages. There is one, however, that I am completely hooked on and visit each and every week: Post Secret. PostSecret is an ongoing community mail art project, created by Frank Warren, in which people mail their secrets anonymously on a homemade postcard. Select secrets are then posted on the PostSecret website, or used for PostSecret's books or museum exhibits. Its simply an opportunity that allows folks to write their most intimate secrets on a postcard. These 'secrets' have over 349 million viewers worldwide! I've been a welcomed voyeur of these secrets for over three years now. I own one of the books and I've even traveled to their events when they've been in driving distance (150 miles). I guess I'm a fan.

WARNING: Some of the content is extremely sexual in nature. Remember, these are people's inner-most secrets that they're revealing and, although there is 'Christian' stuff oftentimes represented on the site, it does not sell itself as a 'Christian' endeavor.

One might ask why a Christian, let alone a 'pastor', would visit such a site? The above sample is why? I feel as though this 'art project' allows me a glimpse into the hearts and minds of everyday, ordinary people. You see, you may not believe this, but the truth is; Some people aren't real truthful with others. Masks are something worn by countless folks... and not only on Halloween. The reason for these masks is because we all feel, to some extent, that if the truth were known about us... we'd be 'unlovely'.

Those in Christian leadership positions are especially aware of this, I believe. If I'm sitting on an airplane having a pleasant conversation with the person seated next to me, the question inevitably comes up: "What do you do for a living?" If and when I answer, "I'm a pastor", the conversation immediately shifts. Many times the person becomes very uneasy. They begin apologizing for any 'foul' language they might have used up to that point, and they often shut the communication down, or worse, they begin to talk in a phony-bologna Christian-ese (lots of 'praise the Lords' and 'amens').

God has called me to love Him first... and then love others. To do this, I think I have to 'know' them... I have to have some sort of 'relationship' with them... I have to 'earn the right' to perhaps speak into them and show Jesus to them. It's my belief that for far too long Christians, and especially preachers, have stood in our lofty places and preached the truth to folks, without truly knowing them at all... or knowing what their unique hurts, wounds, and life has been like up to that point. What if we could actually get a TRUTHFUL glimpse into their minds? Would that help?

Of course it would.

Loving others can seem pretty vague, however, God gives us an awesome example in exactly how to do this. You see, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, "All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, He brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us" (The Message Translation).

My translation: "God is totally compassionate and comforting to us, not so we'll be comfortbale, but so we'll go out and comfort others".

What is one of the main reasons we're drawn to God? Isn't it because He is a compassionate Father? But how well do we really understand compassion? We define God's compassion as guarding us from all trouble, but Scripture defines it as God's drawing near to us during trouble. If we respond to our trials by running toward God, we learn that He is always there and some how, some way supernaturally strengthens us and sustains us in difficult times.

Likewise, this verse says that the Lord is the "God of all healing counsel", Who "comes alongside us when we go through hard times". The original Greek wording here suggests that He comes alongside us to strengthen us, to be our advocate in the midst of trial. God does not shield us from all trouble, but draws near to us through trouble, so that we learn to depend more fully upon Him. Then we're able to comfort others with God's kind of comfort, not by trying to smooth over their pain, but by doing what God does: drawing alongside, staying close, and listening carefully.

How do we come alongside people who are hurting, wounded, bound up with all kinds of sin and struggles... if we don't take the time to truly listen and 'know' them?

Read the above postcard secret again. Isn't that what this priest did?

What if the old saying is true, "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care"?