my fingers hurt

Most of you are probably wondering, "Why do his fingers hurt? It certainly can't be from blogging too much." Well, you are right. It is not from too much blogging. Sorry, by the way, for the lack of posts recently. I've had plenty to write about...but no time to write it.

But back to the point...my fingers hurt.

Those of you who know me well are probably thinking, "So, its not from too much blogging...and there is NO chance that it is from ANY kind of hard work or manual labor." Well, you are right. Although, I see no need to place such emphasis on the words "no" and "any". That's just mean.

No...the reason my fingers hurt is because this past Saturday I took part in the 1st annual Tour de Knoxville Disc Golf Open. Impressed? Don't be. We made the tournament up.

4 courses and 63 holes in 8 hours. We even bought a green jacket at Goodwill to give to the winner.

Who won? Well, unfortunately not me. No, the winner was...and this should be no surprise to those of you who know him...

Mark "The King of all White Man Sports" Nelson

Here are a couple pics from the Green Jacket Ceremony...

Congrats Mark. It was an impressive and dominate performace.

In case any of you are wondering, I finished in third place. The prize? A date with my wife.

Man, that green jacket would've been cool.

(By the way, we are not sold on the name of the tournament, so if you have any ideas...)

three men...one thought

Rob Bell calls it "systemic sin".

When God's people were led by Moses out of Egypt, they not only escaped individual bondage, but systemic bondage. The Jews were enslaved as a people by the entire Egyptian justice system. Today, when we are led by Christ out of our own spiritual Egypt, we are intended to not only to be saved from our individual bondage to sin, but also from the systemic sin. God not only desires to save our souls, but also to redeem our human systems; the way we interact with one another.

Interesting thought. Rob Bell.

N.T. Wright talks about our idea of "justice". Here are some quotes from the first chapter of his book Simply Christian:

"...But the voice goes on, calling us, beckoning us, luring us to think that there might be such a thing as justice, as the world being put to rights, even though we find it so elusive. We are like moths trying to fly to the moon. We all know there's something called justice, but we can't quite get to it."

"The rich use the power of their money to get even richer while the poor, who can't do anything about it, get even poorer. Most of us scratch our heads and wonder why, and then go out and buy another product whose profit goes to the rich company."

"Isn't it odd that it should be like that? Isn't it strange that we should all want things to be put to rights but can't seem to do it? And isn't the oddest thing of all the fact that I, myself, know what I ought to do but often don't do it?"

Finally, Thomas Merton chimes in on the same subject. In his book The Seven Storey Mountain, he recalls the feeling of doom that accompanied the first hints of World War II in the fall of 1939. He writes:

"All this was obscure to most people, and made itself felt only in a mixture of disgust and hopelessness and dread. They did not realize that the world had now become a picture of what the majority of its individuals had made of their own souls. We had given our minds and wills up to be raped and defiled by sin, by hell itself: and now, for our inexorable instruction and reward, the whole thing was to take place all over again before our eyes, physically and morally, in the social order, so that some of us at least might have some conception of what we had done."

That second sentence, "...the world had now become a picture of what the majority of its individuals had made of their own souls", is at the heart of what Merton was trying to say. That we are all connected.

So what is the point of all of this, why am I sharing it with you. Frankly, I'm not sure. All three of these ideas I either read or heard preached within a 36 hour window this week. All three resound in me as being good and right.

In a world that is so individualistic, so compartmentalized, a world where we regularly use phrases like, "That works for you, and this works for me" or "You do your thing, I'll do mine", a world in which people think they can do whatever they want without hurting anyone else; messages of common bonds and interconnectedness are both a challenge and a blessing.

Bell, Wright and Merton...much like the Three Musketeers are standing together, swords in air, shouting in unison, "All for one and one for all!"

unbelievable

Watch this video.



I know that this is old news. You may have seen it, been appalled by it, and moved on months ago. But I just came across it this past week.

And I find something about it absolutely unbelievable.

Not that there exists a group of inbred nutcases somewhere in Iowa that believe hate, racism, picketing funerals, holding signs that read "God Hates You" could ever be God's will. Or even that these people are ignorant enough to call themselves a "church". Unfortunately, I don't find that to be unbelievable at all.

Or that FOX News would create a timeslot and put a "spokeswoman" from that group of people on air to boost their ratings. They're a TV station...that's what they are supposed to do.

No, what had me shaking my head in amazement the first time I watched this clip is the thought that if this woman truly does claim Jesus Christ as Lord (and I am making no claim one way or the other as to whether or not she does...I am only saying "if") IF this woman claims Christ as Lord, then as appalling as her actions seem, her sins require absolutely not one more ounce of grace than my own.

I am in need of no less of the grace of God than this woman for the sins in my life which I either conveniently overlook or consider to be too small and too insignificant to warrant any real repentance.

The same grace covers us both. That is unbelievable.

As off-base and insane as this woman appears, as brain-washed and hateful she her words are, as much pain and suffering as she causes other human beings, as much pain and suffering as she causes the heart of God, IF she truly does bow in submission to Christ...the dirt that her knees are resting upon is no further away from the foot of the cross than the dirt under my own knees.

I can look down with judgment on her. I can point my finger at her glaringly obvious sins. I can list off for you where and how she and her "church" misquote and misuse verses from the Bible to further their own disgusting mission. I can do all of those things. But the truth is, I share with her the same penalty for my sins. And I fall on the same hope and love and mercy and grace.

I love God. And I want what is best for His mission in this world. Because of that, I pray that these morons figure out by the light of the gospel of the grace of God that what they are attempting to accomplish is the exact opposite of what God desires for His children. I pray that they get a glimpse of God that makes them realize the error of their ways, that what they are doing is wicked and wrong and sinful. I pray that they will one day hold a bonfire outside of their church, invite every family of every soldier whose funeral they picketed and burn everyone of their stupid signs, worshipping over the flames. I pray that they will become more Christ-like, that the grace of God would become real to them and take effect over every part of their lives; the way they live, the way they talk and the way they act.

I pray all of those things for that woman and her "church" in Iowa.

...and I pray all of those same things for myself and for my church and for everyone of us who claims Christ as Lord, Savior and Treasure of our lives.

Glory be to God for His stubborn and amazing grace.

church wisdom from the vegas son

Jake grew up in the church. His father was the preacher and his mother led the singing. After graduating highschool, Jake went to bible college and entered the ministry.

Today, Jake works for a construction company in Las Vegas.

Not the path his parents would've chosen. Not the path he would've predicted. But the path he has traveled nonetheless.

Sometimes Jake feels like a failure because he no longer works in a church. Sometimes he actually feels like more of a minister because of it. But truly I'm not writing to comment on Jake's situation. I want neither to glorify it nor condemn it. I simply want to share with you a comment he made to me recently.

Eight weeks ago, his parents started a contemporary service at church and his mother has been leading the worship for it. Last Sunday, an elder made a discouraging comment to her about the fact that the contemporary service hasn't "grown the church" like it was supposed to.

In discussing that comment with him yesterday, Jake said this:

"Programs and services don't grow a church. People excited about Jesus grow a church. Now, programs and services can be good and can help stir that excitement, sure. But we can not rely on them to do the growing of our churches for us. A church grows because its people are excited about Jesus and naturally do what good Christians are supposed to do, namely: talk about and act like Jesus."

I like that. Whether Jake is holding a hammer or a Bible in his hands right now, I don't know. But I do know that those are the words of minister of the Gospel of Christ.

time i have...its patience i lack

This week...

Oh, this week...

How can I explain what this week has been like for me? Hmm. Well, if it were possible...I'd reach through your computer screen right now and sucker punch you square in the gut. That'd be a start.

Let's see:

Car breaks down. Check.
No internet connection. Check.
No cable. Check.
Lose my cell phone. Check.
Betsy comes to her senses and leaves me. Che...wait. No. At least, not yet.

Well, outside of that last one (fingers crossed) all of those have taken place this week. By the way, I'm not even mentioning moving and changing jobs...both of which also happened this week.

So...the first three items on my to do list Monday morning were: 1) get the car towed to the mechanics, 2) call computer services and get our internet up and running, and 3) have Comcast come and hook-up our cable. And after those three, I had multiple other tasks that I needed to get done this week...all of which depended on at least one of those first three items being taken care of.

Very, very LONG story short: after three days in a row of waiting...quite impatiently, today we finally got our internet and cable hooked-up. And after being stood-up by the tow truck people again yesterday, I borrowed a truck, rented a tow dolly and towed my car to the mechanic myself. Granted even that involved (and I'm not exaggerating in the slightest) an hour and a half of waiting at U-HAUL which included listening to a man who barely speaks English try to rent a truck from a man who I'm guessing can barely spell "English"...AND getting to watch an idiot try and unscrew a bolt from a trailer hitch using a blow-torch.

I wish that I was kidding.

Apparently, the first three items on God's to do list for me this week were: 1) wait, 2) wait, and 3) wait. And I'm sure there is supposed to be a lesson there. He was probably trying to teach me patience or something. But all I've really learned is how to cuss soft enough for my Bible College neighbors not to hear, but loud enough for it to still feel good. That...and to never, EVER go back to the Chapman Highway U-HAUL ever again. Seriously, I think the guy with the blow torch was drunk.

Here is the thing, though. A couple weeks ago, Mark...lead guy for our church plant...was having a horrible week. He really felt attacked by Satan. As though Satan was trying to distract him from Crossings and God's call on his life.

After he had told me about everything that had happened to him (it involved things like car accidents and snakes and Comcast Customer Service people), I asked God, "Why is Satan attacking him and not me? Am I not a threat to him as a part of this church plant too? Am I not stepping out in faith far enough? Am I not acting as a part of Your will?"

I wondered aloud to God why Satan was ignoring me.

Oops.

I guess that prayer was answered. And now, here I am blogging at 3:30 in the morning about a week that (I believe) was literally from Hell.

So, moral of the story: be careful what you pray for. And Comcast and U-HAUL are the tools of Satan. The end.