question of segregation

Last night, I went with some friends to Louisville to catch Rob Bell on his current teaching tour, "The God's Aren't Angry".

It was very good. As always, I absolutely loved his background stuff...placing well-known Biblical stories into their lesser-known sociological contexts. He is extremely intelligent and has a knack for making people say, "I've never heard that before..."

Bell's popularity has grown rapidly over the last few years thanks in large part to his video series titled Nooma. He is smart, hip, funny and looks like an indie rock-star.

Basically, if you are a Christian under the age of 35, own a Mac, and drink Starbucks coffee...you are going to love Rob Bell.

Well, as long as you're white.

Now, my intention in saying that is not to be shocking. The simple truth is that last night there was somewhere around 1,400 people sitting inside The Brown Theater.

I saw two African Americans.

And I looked. A lot. I was curious. There may have more, but it could not have been many. It was pretty much just a bunch of hip, white kids.

Driving home, two questions stuck in my mind:

Question #1. Why?

Why is there such segregation amongst followers of Jesus? Because the black-white ratio last night inside The Brown Theater was NOT an aberration. Just the opposite, actually. My guess is that very few people even noticed. That kind of segregation is absolutely the norm in my experience with the church. Its either all black or all white. Why?

Question #2. Is that a bad thing?

My first instinct is to say, "Well, of course it is a bad thing. We are supposed to be unified in Christ..."

My second instinct says, "Yeah, but that is just the culture we live in. Birds of a feather flock together. And as long as people are coming to Jesus..."

But then I think, "But we are supposed to be counter-cultural in our approach to faith. We should be bringing God's Kingdom to earth through our love and our community..."

Honestly, I go back and forth on just how big of a deal this all is. I just don't know.

And I realize that this is a very touchy subject. I am in no way trying to be controversial. I'm just asking the questions and looking for some wisdom on this subject.

Any thoughts?

starring me!

Yes. I know. I'm a tad bit late on the JibJab bandwagon. But I had a couple hours to kill at work before practice.

So...

a quick thank you

And I do mean "quick".

Below is a short video that we made to say "Thank You" to Community Christian Church (and New Thing Network). They played a vital role in the birth of Crossings and continue to play a vital role in our life as a community.

We shot the video yesterday during our post-service tear down.

We used a little time-lapse magic again. However this time we took a page out of Bob Dylan's notebook to spice it up a bit.

Okay, Here it is...

a thanksgiving haiku...or two

one:
today is the day
our sovereign Lord has ordained
stuffing our fat face
................................

two:
a strange holiday
no presents but a parade
and i should give thanks?
................................

three:
turkey makes me sleep
its a good thing the Jets stink
nap, and miss nothing
................................

four:
tofurkey? not me
i like my turkey with meat
that crap's yours to eat
................................

five:
those were all bitter
how 'bout I write another
i am thankful for...

(hmmmm, oh I got it!)
................................

six:
I can give thanks for
sugary kernels galore
Mmm, that candy corn

neil cole

Yesterday, I was searching for a Neil Cole quote about discipleship.

And of course, by 'searching' I mean...I typed "Neil Cole quote discipleship" into Google and hit search. That is extent of my research ability anymore.

If it ain't googleable, it ain't worth knowing. That's my motto.

Anyway, the first page that came up was this dude's blog. I don't know who he is, other than what he shares in his 'about me' section (his name is Guy Muse, though, how cool is that?).

The post was of his top ten favorite Neil Cole quotes.

Now, I have never read anything by Neil Cole. I have often come across his quotes in other books I've read, each time making me think, "Man...I need to read his stuff." But with my "to-read" list way too long, I have yet to do so. Thus, most of these quotes were brand new to me. But I really liked them...and am going out on a limb and assuming you do not frequent Guy Muse's blog...so I thought I'd share them with you.

By the way, the one I was looking for is #1 (...naturally).


10. If you want to win this world to Christ, you are going to have to sit in the smoking section.

9. If we can't see them, we won't love them (Matt.9:36).
If we can't love them, we won't pray for them (9:36-38).
If we can't pray for them, we won't win them (10:1).
If we can't win them, we won't send them (10:2-5).

8. Bad people make good soil--there's a lot of fertilizer in their lives.

7. Simplicity is the key to the fulfillment of the Great Commission in this generation. If the process is complex, it will break down early in the transference to the next generation of disciples. The more complex the process, the greater the giftedness needed to keep it going. The simpler the process, the more available it is to the broader Christian populace.

6. There are two kinds of lost people in the world, the moths and the cockroaches. In the darkness, it's impossible to tell them apart, so the best way to discover the difference is to turn the light on. The moths will be drawn to the light, and the cockroaches will flee.

5. Though we long for fresh fruit, many of our efforts at growing it leave us with nothing but mud because we have failed to plant the seed that brings life. It does not matter how good you are at fertilizing, watering, cultivating, and harvesting. If you do not plant the seed, you will never have a harvest--never.

4. We must invest everything in the few who will bear fruit. Life is too short and the potential yields are too great to spend our lives babysitting fruitless people.

3. We would do much better as leaders in the Church to learn at the feet of the farmer rather than study with the CEO...It is time we see that the Church starts in the fields, not in the barns.

2. We have taught people to be consumers rather than workers. We have made a terrible mistake by separating the convert from the worker. They are not two, but one. Each new convert is a worker--immediately.

1. We want to lower the bar of how church is done and raise the bar of what it means to be a disciple.


Man...I need to read his stuff.

november 1997

So, what were you doing this week 10 years ago?

Because I was doing this...

greg's list

Last night I attended my good friend's, Greg Adkins, CD release concert for his second studio album, Chase the Western Sky.

You can (and should) purchase the CD here.

Greg is one of my favorite song-writers. He truly is. His songs are deep, poetic and extremely honest. So, to honor him, and the release of his new CD, I have created a top 10 list of my favorite...


Words (or group of words) Greg has Fit into a Song

10. "angioplasty" (from Talkin' Monster Thick Burger Blues)
9. "Angelia Jolie" (from Romantic Comedy) - What is funniest about him fitting this into the song is that it was a serious re-write. The original lyric was "Julia Roberts". But Greg was not satisfied. The lyric had to be just right. Changing it to "Angelina Jolie" apparently did the trick.
8. "pantalones" (from Conner's Spanish Song)
7. "40 YEARS of purpose" (from Talkin' Church of the Future Blues)
6. "some chicken wings" (from Deeper Waters) - Not a lot of chicken wings. Just some.
5. "traffic jam at West Hills" (from Meaningless) - Its just so...Knoxville. You've gotta love local references.
4. "maybe you're queer" (from Forgiveness for Everyone) - I feel it is necessary for me to point out that this is a serious song, and all joking aside, one of my favorites. This line is in no way offensive at all given the context of the song. I promise.
3. "varicose veins" (from Uncle Joe's Bunions) - This line, however, may very well be offensive. Actually, I could've done a top 10 list of my favorite words for this song alone. In fact,
10. "whooping cough"
9. "wicked blister"
8. "I. B. S."
7. "elbow pain"
6. "kidney stone"
5. "canker sore"
4. "dandruff"
3. "halitosis"
2. "athlete's foot"
1. "varicose veins"
2. "Right Said Fred" (from The Song Stuck in Your Head)
1. "Prayer of Jabez tattoo" (from Bumber Sticker) - It was between this and "How can I be more like Kirk Cameron today?", also from Bumper Sticker.


Well, there you have it.

Greg has a song called Under the Sun, in which he sings "Every song has been sung, every word written down". I don't know if that is true or not, but as you can see from the list...Greg is doing his part to make that a reality.

In all seriousness, Greg is an incredibly gifted song-writer. Yes, he has a knack for writing silly songs...but he also has a knack for writing raw and deeply spiritual songs, as well. Songs about God and life and doubt. Songs about the darker side of faith. And he does it with insight, heart and truth.

His songs constantly inspire and challenge me as a song-writer and follower of Jesus. Maybe not the one about angioplasty, but the others ones.

If you haven't already...you really should check out Greg's music. It will be a blessing.

belly dancing & the restoration house

Yesterday we had belly dancing...with fire...as a part of our worship service.

I don't have anything funny or anecdotal to say about that. It was just really cool.

Delacey and her husband Marc have been a part of Crossings community since July. She is a professional belly dancer/stay-at-home mom (you know...one of those). She performs with a troupe called Gypsy Hands based out of Knoxville. They travel all over performing at clubs and concert venues. They even performed at Bonnaroo.

Basically, she is a rock star.

The only disappointing thing was that I really thought Delacey would be able to convince my wife to dance with her yesterday. Betsy has been taking belly dancing lessons with Delacey for a couple months now. But...she could not be persuaded. Oh well. It was still really stinking awesome.

You can read Mark's blog if you want to understand why we had belly dancing as a part of our worship service.

I want to share with you one more exciting story from yesterday.

Daniel and Mandy Watson, also Crossings people, had an open house for their non-profit organization The Restoration House, which seeks to provide transitional living for "single mothers emerging from public housing and/or referral programs" and partners with "other community organizations to provide counseling, life skills training, parent training, job training, transportation, etc."

It was a very big day for them. It even got local news coverage. Click here to read the story and watch the news report online (the video player is on the right side of the page, scroll down the list of clips til you see the one for The Restoration House).

What Daniel and Mandy are doing is not easy, but it is much needed in Knoxville.

I can't explain what a blessing it is to be in community with such a wide variety of people who have such a wide variety of passions and talents.

and the pendulum swings

As I mentioned a few days ago, I led worship a capella recently. And I loved it. Right before going up on stage, a friend asked if I was nervous because I had "nothing to hide behind".

Oh man, that wasn't it at all.

I was a little bit nervous because I had never done it before. But it had nothing to do with feeling exposed or empty-handed. No, honestly...I felt incredibly free.

I wasn't worried about the monitor mix. I wasn't waiting for the bridge and wondering if the bass player was going to remember that we were going to a Bm instead of a D. I wasn't listening to see if my guitar was out of tune or if the electric guitar was too loud. I wasn't thinking about any of that.

I could simply worship and lead worship. I loved it.

And what I thought was most interesting was the response. We were leading for college students and the day before we rocked it out with a full band. The mix was good, the band was tight, it was exactly what I hope for when leading with a band. But the students were...well, bored.

So the next day we decided to strip it all away and go a capella. And the students were right there. They were engaged. They sang...loudly. Afterwards, a number of students found me and told how good of a job I had done. But to be honest, it wasn't a "job" at all. It was easy. There was no band to rehearse, no equipment to set up, and the sound-check took all of 2 minutes.

But the point is, they loved it. They were moved to worship in a way they were not the day before. Why? Because the pendulum has swung. Those students, most of them 18-22, have been raised in churches that, for as long as they can remember, have done the rock band thing on Sunday mornings. And that isn't a bad thing. But it has made the "praise band" as old hat to them as hymns and organs were to the previous generation.

And that is interesting to me.

About a year and a half ago, I was part of a panel discussion on the topic "The Worship Ministry of Tomorrow". I blogged about it afterwards, and this is what I had to say...