My Daughter

Hi, This is my spouse...

Tony Morgan wrote an intriguing little piece titled "Are we married to the mission or methods"?

"We operate in denominations and congregations, while the rest of the world is open source..."

He has some good things to say about the way in which we communicate and how that reflects our values. This is something that has run across my mind in the student ministry world as of late. We have a good handle on how to communicate to our sr. high crew and the community of parents. Our middle school students still remains an enigma. We reach them but i feel that there is a much more effective and efficient way we could be doing so. That said there is also a caution. It is possible, and as a fallen sinner probable that I start to worship the latest flashiest form of communication/music/media/community site/messaging feature May the method in which we communicate truth never take the place of the truth we are trying to communicate.

Josh Garrels

Interesting new artist I was shown earlier this week...

Sweet river roll over me
Let my body find peace and let my mind be free
Oh my soul sings to Thee

The wild man he just killed my religion
He cut it to the bone like a needed incision
The cancerous growth of formulaic precision
That blocks the life-blood in rebellious collision
Cold constructs robbing faith from decision
But where’s your rubric for the man that was risen
He is my vision, he is my vision, be Thou my vision
When the tables have turned, and I’ve lost money, and temples are burned
By His scares we will learn about truth
In the depths of our souls that are marred by the tooth of a beast
Underneath so many deceased, sold out suckers traded life to be yeast
Just to get a piece or a status increase
Find grace and have peace when you eat the Lords feast
And you eat, of His flesh, and His blood
It’s coming quick and strong as the mightiest flood
Yet my mind still gets stuck in the mud
Bottom feeding on the trash like a catfish, brats wish on all of that which
Is established to sit ill in hearts and in our souls, sweet river roll

Sweet river roll over me
Let my body find peace and let my mind be free
Oh my soul sings to Thee

It’s like the water in the valley, submerged totally
Yet all the children rally around the safety of their shallow beliefs
Let’s swim against the current out and into the deep
But first I pray the Lord for my soul to keep
That price payed was not cheap as I stand knee deep in His blood
We’re knee deep in his blood
See, I choose to refuse the regulated rhetoric of someone elses rehearsed ideals
In place of a real living commitment, Hell no
We put the rock in the water and it made cement
We put the water with the wheat and then we made it ferment
Shine light through the rain and a spectrum represent
We’re pumping water through the veins and the brains content
Went down to the river following providence
Old man under water gonna die when he repents
Old man under water gonna die when he repents
But there’s a new man coming up with the wings to ascend
The son of man walks on water because he’s heaven sent
I’ve these tears in my eyes as I cry with the joy and lament

Sweet river roll over me
Let my body find peace and let my mind be free
Oh my soul sings to Thee

Rest

It hit me today like a ton of bricks. Harder than I had expected it.

The past 72 hours had become a blur. Our middle school small groups headed out Friday on a retreat hosted by Young Life at a camp south of Charleston. So much of my rainy weekend was spent trekking back and forth between camp and home to be with my 8.9 month pregnant wife. With all that our dear friends who recently moved out of state to plant a church were in town on a special trip. Piled up on all that we had our final informational meeting on the confirmation process Sunday morning and a packed middle and high school youth group Sunday night. Whewww....

Not complaining. Part of me secretly loves the fray. However what I wasn't ready for was at 1pm today my body basically said ENOUGH. I was fried. Physically, emotionally, and mentally. It forced me to slow down.

I had a chance to ponder...
Here's what I came up with

• I'm thankful for a church that allows me time to tend my soul after a long weekend.
• I'm thankful for my wife who knowing full well what she was getting in to three years ago took the plunge anyway.
  
• I'm thankful for leaders who took the lion share this weekend and served their hearts out in the name of Jesus.
• I'm thankful for scripture which continually reminds me that it's Jesus not me.
• I'm thankful for tomorrow. In which i'm completly looking foward to charging in again under the banner of "the one who loved me and gave himself for me"

†

Bored of the gospel.

I work with teenagers. People who are not yet adults but not children. They are a fickle bunch. The result is that the culture they cling to dearly changes almost as rapidly as they do. (Another former youth group kid just got married!) As any good missionary i think youth ministry has adapted over the years to speak the gospel to that generation of teenagers.

Yet in a way I think we get board. Now before I get shot at let me explain. The gospel should always be preached in the language of the people (Thank you reformation) but the language of the people should NEVER change the content of said message.

That being said I feel we as professionals get bored with the timeless truth so we seek new programs (this would explain the program lust of the Christian publishing world) to save us, New paradigm shifts to fix us, and new conventions, books, retreats, activities to keep us from having to proclaim such a boringly simple message that over and over again changes lives, hearts, and even the culture around us.

We are either scared or skeptic that the message of Christ will either bore kids to tears or perhaps in a terrifying place do simply nothing at all. I type this to challenge myself most of all... So what.

If I'm scared of the simple message of the cross not having any affect in the students life then the onus of responsibility lies on my ability to proclaim this message in an advantageous way and not on the movement of the Spirit to bring faith in their lives. It puts me as the functional savior and not the one who bore my stripes.

A favorite preacher of mine is known to say... "Jesus plus anything ruins everything".

The myth of Someday

With the advent of my baby girl I've come to recognize the "Myth of Someday". There are things in life (at least my life) that fall into that category of someday. Let me explain : I'll get to that someday... I'll see this accomplished someday... My family will head here someday... My faith will be this strong someday...

All of these fall into this idea that if I tell myself "someday this will happen" then it takes me off the hook in the present. Physiologically it is comforting for me to put things off. Normally I'd just slump this into the general battle of procrastination. However i think the "someday" is worth singling out.

With the new year well upon us I've heard a lot of spiritual resolutions that sometime this year (which is someday in a cleaver disguise) ... I'll read my Bible more, I'll pray more... you get the idea. For me it's been the idea of family worship. I'll be the first to say that I stink at leading my wife in spiritual matters. Praying together is often an afterthought as we hit the sack after a long day. It's reserved to meal times when everyone would rather eat then thank the giver. (i've become a fan of an orthodox tradition (i think) that offers thanks for the meal after it is consumed.) The idea is family worship. If the family is a primary building block of the church. I feel compelled by scripture, and desire to see worship happen within my family. Then the someday hits and hits, now as we are expecting our little girl i'm faced with the huge question of how do i pass on this wonderful gift of faith to her. Will my someday be when she's born? When she's able to speak? When she's able to process? Apply? about to leave home?

I think someday needs to be today and it needs to begin with the same 1st thesis that Luther nailed to the church door. "All of life is repentance." May the reformation of my family begin there.

From there we worship.

Down to 1 Car

Have been pondering this post awhile and finally decided to share. It's been a long hard road to decide what to do financially with my wife being home on maternity leave. I'm blessed with an amazing job and an incredibly supportive community. We do however rely on my wife's job as part of our family budget so faced with a change in seasons we looked for ways to tighten our belts.

The most noticeable way to simplify our lives was to sell my wife's VW Passat. The car had recently become a large headache with several problems. All covered by its warranty thankfully. So we took the plunge last weekend. With some help we sold it back to the dealer and washed our hands of it. It actually was a very benifical move. We drop a car payment, drop gas, insurance, all the fun stuff cars need... tires, oil changes, and etc.. all of which really adds up monthly. If she worked we would need all of those expenses plus the huge expense of child care, and not to mention the cost of meals etc.

The down side is that transportation needs will have to be worked out. When in our sparce free time do all the little errands get done. Grocery ? Dr. Apts? All of this will need to be played out but I feel the decision to live simply will hold much fruit.

Fasting

This is a comment I left on a different blog. It's something I've wrestled with in the past on the subject of "fasting".


I think a proper theology of fasting is well over due.

In speaking with an incredibly old monk several years ago he almost teared up at the benefits of abstaining so to focus on the Lord.

Yes i think that the commonly held belief has either asceticism at its root or the thought that the Lord actually NEEDS this broken vessel of a fallen man to do anything.


He chooses to use the broken.

Piper wrote a great book a few years ago called "When i don't desire God"

in it he refers to the practice as a weapon in the arsenal for the fight for Joy in the lord. "Fasting proves the presence, and fans the flame, of that hunger It is an intensifier of spiritual desire. It is a faithful enemy of fatal bondage to innocent things. It is the physical exclamation point at the end of the sentence : "This much, O God, I long for you and for the manifestation of your glory in the world!..I invite you to turn off the dulling effects of food and teh dangers of idolatry, and to say with some simple fast; "This much O God I want you." ~ John Piper

Contrast it with : I want you to do __________ oh great gene in the sky.

Lives change as Christ changes them.

The Playoffs

Our Father
Who Art in Pittsburgh
Football be thy game
The Kingdom come,
5 Super Bowls Won,
On Earth As it is in Heinz Field.
Give us this day a playoff Victory,
and forgive us our penalties,
As we defeat those who play against us.
But lead us into a victory,
and deliver us to Tampa.

A-Ben

Mac

Well it's happened. I know I know if you've ever been around me you'll probably have heard my rant about Mac's the glowing white idols of heresy and idolatry. Give me a second to explain the events of the last two months. If you keep up with the blog you'll remember a post awhile ago about how we had some major computer issues. (If not click here) 

Soon after our good friends the Wheats upgraded their laptops and mentioned to us that the plan was to sell their old MacBooks.

 After learning of our computer troubles they (in a super generous move) gave their MacBook to us. We are blown away at the kindness they have shown. It has become for my wife and I a very tangible illustration at the overflowing generosity of our church family. It speaks very loudly that our dear friends marriage and lives are not governed by things but by the continued pursuit of following Jesus. We are humbled at their love, and the lords provision. So here it is... the first post from our family's new MacBook. 

The weekend past and the weeks ahead.

This past season for me has been one of rest. Work has been calm as the pendulum swings. It's odd that as other ministries in the church ramp up to celebrate the birth of Christ ours, rightly so, calms down to give families a chance to be together. This quiet season has allowed me to reflect and relax. Read several book, digested a handful of articles, and put together a nursery for our daughter to be born shortly. One of the highlights of this season of rest was a gathering of friends this past weekend. From as far north as Philly the crew gathered here in Charleston to reconnect with each other and recommit our friendship and ability to speak truth into each other lives. It's a great honor to be counted among such noble friends it was a blessing to have them around.

The pendulum as it happens does swing and the nights of sitting out in my study with a warm cup of tea are quickly winding down. Which is good. I have no use for the ivory town divorced from action. The real question for work is do you put into practice that which the times of rest have taught you? The week ahead is crammed with meetings, vision casting, organization as the semester ramps up. There is a rush of planning these next few weeks to get my house in order (in every way conceivable) for the arrival of the little lady. Which in itself holds many questions about insurance, schedule adjustments, will we be able to stay financially afloat on my salary in this season? Not to mention the greatest act that will determine what people call her for the rest of her life? All of these are counted as a joy. With so many things on my plate to do it is easy to forget that which matters most. I've found myself praying in the most minor situations "Lord keep me faithful." That above all even those on shot prayer i know the lord hears and is quick to answer. From the physical provision to the emotional stability to simply the urge to press on when a Monday seems to drag on.

2oo9

Here's a little something to get all those new years resolutions off on the right foot.


Thanks Stuart

Today is actually a big day, several friends from across the east coast are gathering here in Charleston for an overnight event. Missionaries, seminary students, teachers, pastors it'll be a passionate group no doubt. I'm looking forward to seeing many old friends and reconnecting with others.