God and Coffee

Two amazing Slam Poems

2011-04-29T17:22:00.002-04:00

I don't know much about urban slam poetry - I'm not even sure I'm calling it the right thing... but I do know I really like it as an art form and a means of expression, especially in worship. I've posted a couple of poems previously, here and here.

Below are two more examples of how slam poetry has impact. The first one explains the Gospel in relevant street language. The second is about Holy living as a single person - note the audience reaction. Very powerful and captivating.

HT to Rick Ianniello and Gary McGhee via Facebook.

New Blog Layout

2011-04-23T19:13:00.000-04:00

photo by Vicki

Due to numerous comments from FireFox users that the previous template would not format correctly on their browser, I've reverted back to using a standard Blogger template. Hopefully this will remedy the problem.

Thanks for the feedback and for reading. Look for more frequent posts going forward. I'm anxious to start writing again.

Rob

PS: Coffee anyone?

Praying for Our Enemies - a Good Friday reflection

2011-04-23T16:02:00.005-04:00

The following is a devotion and prayer I wrote for our church's 40 Days of Prayer during Lent.

This past year has been perhaps the most difficult year in my life. Emotionally speaking, it feels like I’ve gone through major surgery. The process has been painful, but I know it’s corrective and healing will come despite the scars. Among other things, it has been a year to heal and forgive – to extend forgiveness to those who have deeply hurt or disappointed me – to seek forgiveness as God reveals some difficult truths about myself and how it affects those around me – and by His grace to learn to receive forgiveness freely from the God who loves me despite myself.

I’ve always believed in the redemptive power of forgiveness through Jesus. Over the years, I have forgiven others and have sought the forgiveness of others. But there’s nothing on my forgiveness résumé that prepared me for my recent experiences.

During Passion Week, we are reminded of Jesus’ final prayer on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)

What I know about forgiveness is completely trivial when compared to the full measure of forgiveness reflected in Jesus’ prayer on the cross. Imagine the shame and humiliation of being hung between two criminals, slowly drained of life by the torturous pain of murder by crucifixion. A bloody, dying and naked Jesus, the very Son of God and Savior of the world, praying to the Father on behalf of those who betrayed him, mocked him, beat him, and took amusement from his suffering.

We wonder how any innocent human being, even divine, can utter such a compassionate prayer with his final breaths? I suspect the imagery and words of this prayer haunts many of us. As we read it, perhaps it conjures up the faces and images of people in our lives that we can’t forgive. When we are wronged, we want to strike back and avenge people. At the very least we want to avoid any further interactions with those who offend or hurt us. Sometimes avoidance is healthy, if only temporarily, but it’s not a long term solution. (Granted, sometimes a situation is toxic or abusive and new boundaries are required, but that is another topic altogether.)

If you’re like me, it isn’t easy to move beyond the desire for vengeance or avoidance. We may be able to control our actions and bite our tongue, but it’s hard to let go of the anger and hurt we feel in order to move on. The pain is still very raw as if it happened only yesterday.

Jesus didn’t wait for an apology from his conspirators and perpetrators. Forgiveness has nothing to do with being owed an apology. It has nothing to do with forgetting. It has nothing to do with condoning another’s behavior. It even has nothing to do with reconciling, if the two parties can't agree to. BUT it has everything to do with changing our heart and choosing to release those feelings festering in the depths of our soul.

Jesus also said to love and pray for our enemies (Matt. 5:44). Personally that has been a struggle for me to move from theory into practice. To pray, “Lord, bless my enemies and prosper them” makes me feel like a raging hypocrite. My words sound so empty, I actually fear being struck down by the Lord. In fact, as I wrote this devotion, I had to stop. I shouted out loud to God, “Why do you want me to pray for a bad person in order that they may prosper?” I meant every word of what I said, but I honestly didn’t expect the Lord to answer. A moment later, the voice in my mind said, “Who says that they are bad? Who says that you are good?”

Suddenly several scriptures ran through my mind, reminding me of my sinful nature and who I am without God’s grace. We are all a mixed breed. We have both good and evil inside our souls – no exceptions, and they are never far apart. I’m no better than the person I’m struggling to pray for, so who am I to think I’m so innocent not forgive the person who is guilty of wronging me?

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in pondering the meaning of his imprisonment in the Soviet gulag, wrote: "And it was only when I lay there on the rotting prison straw that... it was disclosed to me that the line separating good from evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between parties either - but right through every human heart, through all human hearts."

Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy. Eph. 4:21-24

Jesus spoke often about forgiveness. It is the essence of the Cross. In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant from Matthew 18, Jesus has very strong words for those who won’t forgive others.

Conversely, when it comes to loving our enemies, sometimes the greatest enemy we have is ourselves. We have difficulty forgiving ourselves for our past mistakes and are traumatized by our own shame.

One of my favorite movie scenes is from The Lion King. The main protagonist, Simba, is living in exile and shame because he falsely believes he is responsible for his father’s death. Rafiki, the wise sage confronts Simba and reminds him of his destiny as the rightful king of the Pridelands. Simba says he can't go back because he can't change the past. Rafiki whacks him over the head with a stick, causing Simba obvious pain.

"Ow! Jeez, what was that for?" says Simba.

"It doesn't matter. It's in the past!" replies Rafiki.

"Yeah, but it still hurts."

"Oh yes, the past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or... learn from it."

Rakiki swings his stick again, but this time Simba ducks out of the way.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Heb 12:1-3

Jesus never said forgiveness would be easy. Even when we are trying to forgive, we will stumble. We can forgive today and hate again tomorrow, only to forgive again the next day. We are bungling amateurs of righteousness in a world of professional sinners. But he has given us the resources through his Holy Spirit and the Gospel message to pursue holiness with confidence. Despite our brokenness and shame, God’s love is even greater and He continually invites us in to participate in His redemptive Story.

Prayer: Lord God, our words cannot convey our thanks for the price that was paid on our behalf – the life of your only Son. Jesus, you suffered the judgment of death on the cross so that we might live free of the penalty for our own sins. Please give us the grace and strength to live a life worthy of Your great sacrifice. Holy Spirit, allow us to stand before Your cross every day, to continually experience anew the wonder of Your forgiveness and the depth of your love, so that we may forgive others as well – and truly mean it. Lord, at this moment we think of someone who has wronged us, or caused us pain, who even delights in our hardships. I pray that you will forgive them just as you forgave me. I ask that you will love, prosper, and protect them abundantly. Bless them with every good and perfect gift from above. Grant them peace that passes understanding and joy beyond measure. Above all, demonstrate Your love and reveal Your face, drawing them near so that they may know You as the Hope and Savior of this world.

In the name of the One who truly loved his enemies, Jesus our Lord. Amen.

(The books God Heard That! by Dr. Thomas E. Phillips, Forgive and Forget by Lewis Smedes, and A Violent Grace by Michael Card where inspirational to me in writing this post. Plus a special thank you to Pastors Clint and Mike for your recent sermons on forgiveness.)

"Have Fun Storming the Castle..." - A Church Planting Prayer

2011-02-24T12:16:00.001-05:00

For the last year and a half, I've been involved with a church plant, mostly as a musician. A dear friend is the lead pastor and God has called him to plant the church in a community that has a declining population and high unemployment. The choice of location goes against conventional church planting strategy, but it certainly seems, at least to me, to be consistent with where the Gospel is needed the most. Over and over, God has confirmed his decision to plant here.

The church officially launched last October. In the month leading up to the launch, the leadership team initiated a "30 days of prayer" in which volunteers from the launch team were asked to take turns writing a brief devotion and prayer that would be shared via email with the rest of the launch team. Thirty days with thirty unique perspectives. It was a very meaningful activity.

When it was my turn, I remember sleepily writing something at around 3:00 in the morning. I had no clue how God would use these words to encourage others. My pastor shared it with other church planters and read the devotional portion as part of his sermon at the commissioning service. Also, the Sr. Pastor of our mother church read the prayer portion as the Elders laid hands on us during the commissioning prayer. The attention this received was totally unexpected, but given the difficult year I've had, it was a very healing thing for me personally.

Below is the devotion and prayer that I wrote. The main premise, underlined below, is a direct quote from Erwin McManus in his sermon, "Heroes and Villains - the boy with the loaves and fishes" (8/1/2010). Otherwise, the rest are my own words. Note: the reference made about an old drummer, is a reference about myself.

September 27, 2010 ~
There is a scene in the beloved movie, The Princess Bride, where the protagonists Westley, Inigo Montoya and Fezzik are planning their strategy on how to storm the castle and rescue Princess Buttercup before she is tricked into marrying the evil Prince Humperdinck. Westley, who's been "mostly dead all day" surveys the situation and asks, "What are our liabilities?" Inigo replies,

"There is but one working castle gate, and... and it is guarded by 60 men."

"And our assets?"

"Your brains. Fezzik's strength. My steel."

With little time for planning a strategy, Westley wishes they had two random items - a wheelbarrow and a holocaust cloak. Indigo and Fezzik just happen to have both items on hand, to which Westley replies with some indignation,

"Well, why didn't you list that among our assets in the first place?"

This illustration is not unlike the Christian life - God puts us into seemingly impossible situations where He under-resources us, so that we can experience His grace and provision.

As He often does with us, Jesus uses an impossible situation to test the disciple's reaction in John chapter 6. It's the familiar story where Jesus feeds the five thousand.

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

Jesus foreknew what He was going to do. But as it says in the text, His question was intended to test Philip. Philip being a good numbers man calculates the cost, perhaps revealing the exact amount of money the disciples had amongst them. Their resources are no match for the opportunity. Besides, this was 30 A.D., just where exactly were they going to buy enough bread to feed 5000 people on short notice? Beth-Costco?

Imagine Jesus having fun with this teaching moment to his disciples and saying, "What I wouldn't give for a small basket of bread and fish right now..." And after Andrew brings forward the young boy, Jesus responds, "Well, why didn't you list that among our assets in the first place?"

Fast-forward to today. These are tough times. The economy is no respecter of people, social class, or business. Across denominations, church planting has come to a virtually stand-still because of depleted financial resources and uncertainty. Experts say this not the time to be planting a church, especially within a economically stressed community. Our meager resources are no match for the enormity of opportunity, but Jesus always knows the way out of an impossible situation. In reading the Gospels, it is clear that Jesus does more with the one who has least.

As a church plant, our resources are modest. Much of our equipment is used and donated. For example, the electronic drum kit we use on Sunday mornings was purchased by Grace Chapel back in 1998. In recent years, it sat in storage and was almost tossed in the dumpster. It's a relic. It's missing some hardware and has been known to collapse to the floor, but it somehow gets the job done. Similar observations have been made about the drummer, but that's getting off the subject... ;-)

So the question is, Where shall we buy bread for all these people? Like Philip, we are tempted to answer the "how" and not the "where" of the question. Like Westley, we calculate our assets and liabilities, when in fact what we want is staring right back in our face. You, Lord, are the answer and able to provide.

How do we as God's children respond to the enormous task of planting a church during difficult economic times, amidst declining population and high unemployment? Like the little boy with the humble basket lunch, the key to stepping into God-given opportunities is proximity - of just being present in the moment and allowing God to work.

I'm sure that little boy didn't awake that morning planning to give his lunch away. But he was close to Jesus and available at the right time and right place. It's not surprising that God works the most with those who are seeking holiness and give of themselves the most.

Is there a closeness in our personal walk with Jesus that allows us to hear from God and be available in the moment? Just seeing the opportunity is the portal for what God wants to do in us and through us. Impossible situations are uncomfortable, even punctuated with great fear or grief when God seems absent or cruel, but it is part of God's graciousness, for it achieves a deepening of our faith by revealing our own weakness and embracing God's all-sufficiency.

Majesty amidst the mundane. Sufficiency amidst deficiency. Possibility amidst the impossible. God puts us into seemingly impossible situations where He under-resources us, so that we can experience His grace and provision, and because His solution is the one that our soul really needs.

Prayer: Thank you Lord God, that you are the Bread of Life and the God of possibility. Thank you that You personally invite us to participate in your redemptive story to be the hands and feet where the Bread is needed. Jesus, help us as a faith community seeking to support families in the Redford area to fully understand and embrace the spectrum of families within this community. Open our eyes to see where you are already at work within this community so that we may align ourselves and our resources with your Kingdom purposes. Holy Spirit, teach us to live our lives in intimate relationship with you and to allow Your holiness to invade our lives. As we prepare for Mercy Road's launch on October 10th, may we not only be diligent in detail, but also aware of your presence and sensitive to your Spirit, to your mission, to your purpose for the world, and to therefore build your church according to your will. God, may we be present in the moment and dependent upon You to meet our every need and to experience Your grace and provision as a means to reveal Jesus as the presence Who is providing the ultimate gift - eternal life. Amen.

"Have fun storming the castle!"

A Better Story - some thoughts on editing my life

2010-08-20T23:58:00.123-04:00

(The purpose of this post is twofold: first to promote the upcoming Living a Better Story Seminar featuring Donald Miller, based on his book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. I highly recommend this book. Second, I'm entering a contest to win a trip for two to attend this seminar by blogging about the kind of story I want to live and how I think this seminar might help me to live out a better story.)

Life is a battle between faith and reason in which each feeds upon the other, drawing sustenance from it and destroying it. ~ Reinhold Niebuhr

Life has been a battle lately. The sources of stability in my life - faith, career, family, even church, have all been shaken. In the past year, both my wife and I lost our jobs due to organizational downsizing. My wife has since found a new career whilst I'm in my seventh month of searching. My layoff was not unexpected, but it was particularly painful because of the way in which it was carried out. The aftermath has truly challenged my faith - to forgive, heal, and trust. Amidst the uncertainty, there exists within my soul an inner conflict between the voices of reason in my head and the spiritual convictions within my heart. It feels sometimes as if the sources that sustain are being sucked right out of me.

There is also a third voice within that is growing louder and slowly weakening my faith and reason - fear. As the current U.S. economy teeters between recovery or a second downturn, I've come face-to-face with the reality that I'm not in control and that I've lived my adult life in a safe bubble. I can identify with Donald's words from his book:

"I thought of fear as a subtle suggestion in our subconscious designed to keep us safe, or more important, keep us from getting humiliated... But fear isn't only a guide to keep us safe; it's also a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life."

I'm fearful for several reasons - first, I don't want to live in a bubble anymore. I'm turning 50 next month. My time remaining is short and there is a hole within my soul that is longing for something more than just a safe, boring life. My hobbies and passions sit like in a box on a shelf gathering dust. I somehow became too busy during prosperity and too numb during downturns to even bother. There is a sense of lost identity.

Secondly, I live in Michigan, where the unemployment rate is amongst the highest in the country. Labor statistics suggest that because of my age, I will probably have to discover or invent a new career rather than find something familiar based on my previous job experience. I'm not a young man anymore and companies prefer to hire the young at a lower wage, rather than pay for experience. Furthermore, consumer prices have fallen for 3 consecutive months. Joblessness has increased for 2 consecutive months. Wages have diminished 0.7% from a year ago. We are in the midst of deflation which will slow the private sector's hiring and consumer's buying confidence.

Thirdly, my daughter starts high school next week. She is my only child and represents my only opportunity to raise her towards a healthy, independent, and fulfilling story of her own. As she lives through her formative teenage years and transitions into adulthood, she needs the example of a father living a meaningful story, rather than a boring mundane life punctuated by the paralysis of fear and uncertainty.

So what do I want to do?

I recently saw an impactful movie where the protagonist faced his main antagonist - which in this case was himself and his inner conflict. His search for answers led him to discover the difference between choosing a life versus just living a life. In other words, choosing a better story or just accepting to live a story.

If the life we choose tells a story, then I want to choose to live a better story – free from the boredom and idleness induced by fear, and replaced with memorable scenes of risk, opportunity, love, beauty and a compelling narrative. Whether that means managing a product, leading a team, or driving a truck, it doesn’t matter.

I’m seeking a new career, renewed health, a stronger marriage, and bonding memories with my child. In all, better stories to influence my family for them to live their lives through. I feel helpless just sitting in front of a laptop screen searching for answers by submitting résumés for jobs that get no response. There has to be a better way to live a story.

Therefore the opportunity to attend this seminar is of great personal interest to further grasp the concept of story and how it defines our history – our greater life story. To better understand the differences between acceptance and choice and how this affects not only ourselves, but others as well. Also, what role does our community, friendships and faith play in our decisions?

I believe we are defined by the things we pursue and the things we celebrate. My life has been a story in the pursuit of safety and a celebration of the mundane. Sure, I've done some interesting things, but too often it seems with the intent of pleasing others while missing opportunities.

Two weeks ago, I read something very surprising. Jerry Rice, one of the greatest athletes to ever play professional football was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. In his Hall of Fame speech, he said the following:

"I'm here to tell you that the fear of failure is the engine that has driven me throughout my entire life. It flies in the faces of all these sports psychologists who say you have to let go of your fears to be successful and that negative thoughts will diminish performance. But not wanting to disappoint my parents, and later my coaches, teammates and fans, is what pushed me to be successful ... The reason nobody caught me from behind is because I ran scared. People are always surprised how insecure I was. But I was always in search of that perfect game, and I never got it. Even if I caught 10 of 12 passes, or two or three touchdowns in the Super Bowl, I would dwell on the one pass I dropped ... If I have one single regret about my career standing here today, it's that I never took the time to enjoy it.'' ~ Jerry Rice, August 7, 2010

In Jerry's own personal narrative, he was not defined by the memorable scenes of successful pursuit or celebration, but rather by fear, approval and perfection. His life is a highlight reel with scenes of athletic accomplishment. As Donald wrote, memorable scenes don't make a story, they "punctuate the existing rise and fall of narrative."

I will never be inducted into any hall of fame. But I want to choose to live a better story, rather than just exist in one. Whatever path I feel God calling me down, I want to enjoy it scene-by-scene and moment-by-moment without regret.

"The worst sorrows in life are not in its losses and misfortunes, but its fears." ~ Arthur Christopher Benson

Below is the promotional video for the seminar.

Living a Better Story Seminar from All Things Converge Podcast on Vimeo.

Dissing the Unemployed

2010-08-09T00:30:00.008-04:00

Dissing (or mocking) the unemployed is a political meme that politicians have been accusing one another of regarding the recent debate to extend unemployment benefits. The meme became even more mainstream last week thanks to a controversial column written by celebrity Ben Stein.

Ben Stein, the millionaire economist, lawyer, former presidential speechwriter, author, and actor (“Bueller… Bueller… anyone… anyone…?"), writes a regular column for the American Spectator. He made headline news last week over some remarks he wrote about unemployed people. In his column, he wrote:

"The people who have been laid off and cannot find work are generally people with poor work habits and poor personalities. I say “generally” because there are exceptions. But in general, as I survey the ranks of those who are unemployed, I see people who have overbearing and unpleasant personalities and/or who do not know how to do a day’s work. They are people who create either little utility or negative utility on the job. Again, there are powerful exceptions and I know some, but when employers are looking to lay off, they lay off the least productive or the most negative. To assure that a worker is not one of them, he should learn how to work and how to get along -- not always easy... Productive workers with real skills and real ability to get along are also sometimes unemployed, but they will be the last fired and the first hired."

Hello?? Someone needs to buy a calendar for Mr. Stein. It’s the year 2010 on planet earth, not 1968.
With nearly 7 million people experiencing long-term unemployment. plus millions more who are underemployed, plus millions more who don’t qualify for any benefits (including myself), there has been an uproar in response to his insensitive and ignorant comments. He mentions the hardships of his unemployed friends in Washington D.C., Beverly Hills, and Malibu as if they are the exceptions (not exactly representative of mainstream America).

I guess the little people who polish his silver spoon don’t count as exceptions.

To make matters worse, Ben has written an “I’m the victim here” response to those who have called him out in response to his column. He defends his comments and makes no apologies. He says the following to Aaron Crowe, an underemployed writer who wrote an editorial response Ben’s column:

“Good luck to you, Mr. Crowe. You have found a simple key to getting your name in the papers – say something bad about someone famous. Now try for the next rung. Make it fairly reflect what I said... not just what gets you in the news.”

Ben should heed his own advice. With a new book out that isn’t selling well (it’s ranked #15,335 on Amazon), he’s put himself in the news with his own comments.

Seriously Ben, what about mergers and acquisitions where corporations reduce redundancies by the tens of thousands? My unemployment in 2007 came about through a €100 billion acquisition between a consortium of powerhouse financial institutions. Believe it or not Ben, neither myself, or the other 3000 others who were let go, took a personality test to determine our people skills or motivational attitude. It wasn't a factor. In fact, in my termination I was treated with so much dignity and respect, it was almost embarrassing. My managers handled it right and I wouldn’t hesitate to go to work for them again. Unfortunately, all these good managers eventually lost their jobs as well. You see Ben, whether it's mergers or downsizing due to supply and demand, mass layoffs are determined by CFO types who need to please the shareholders. In today's economic realty, personnel managers have little or nothing to do with the decision making. Performance has little to do with low labor demands and the high unemployment rate we're experiencing today.

Last week it was reported that jobless claims have gone up each of the past 2 months. Apparently this news was shocking to economists who were saying we've turned the corner. They now blame the weak hiring rate in the private sector as undermining the economic recovery.

I have two friends who were laid off in the last month, both had been with their companies for a long time. I can only offer this advice: prepare to thicken your skin. People will kick you in your worst moments.

For me, I was kicked by a member of my family in a Facebook message. They wrote:

“We keep thinking of the following Scripture and are concerned about you: ‘If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.’”

Ouch! To make such a suggestion about my faith was a low painful blow during a difficult time. But I had to ask myself, was I receiving this message the way it was intended or am I overreacting? To be sure I wasn’t being overly sensitive, I asked my wife to read the message. She read it the same way and affirmed it was a cheap shot and uncalled for. It wasn't the first or even second time this family member has said something critical to me whilst unemployed. They mean well, but they criticize because it makes them better about themselves.

To my non-Christian friends who may read this, this is an example of the expression, “the Christian army is the only army that shoots their own wounded.”

Overcoming unemployment is emotionally difficult enough without having to deal with insensitive comments. Losing a job hurts deeply. Telling your kid she can’t go to summer camp because we can’t afford it is crushing for a father. Granted, there are far worse things like losing health insurance, having utilities shut-off or losing your home.

Criticism seems to always come when you least need it and rarely when we’re at the top of our game. It always seems to come on the heels of failure, misfortune or when we least deserve it. Everybody makes mistakes and has regrets, but when you’re innocent or tired from working hard to make the best of things, the unjust attacks are devastating. It also seems to come from those who are least qualified to give it, in terms of intellect or integrity, and rarely is it delivered with grace or in a constructive manner. There is a saying – speaking the truth about someone else never hurts the one who is speaking it.

But let’s face it, life is hard and ignorant/insensitive people just make it harder – and nothing is going to change that.

So how do we deal with the Ben Stein’s in our lives?

In 2 Samuel 16:5-14, King David encounters Shimei, who brutally curses the king and pelts him and his officials with stones. One of David’s aides offers to cutoff the Shimei’s head, but David declines. He understood that sometimes it’s God’s will to bruise His own, even if it comes in a harsh way or from a discreditable source. David said,"Leave him alone; let him curse, for the LORD has told him to. It may be that the LORD will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today."

God has used such moments and people in my life to point out something wrong within me. We can dismiss it by saying, “Consider the source,” but maybe we should “consider the criticism,” especially if you hear it more than once - as in the old Yiddish proverb that says, “If a man calls you and ass, pay him no mind. If two men call you and ass, go get a saddle.”

The Christian life is punctuated with injustices – our Lord was falsely accused and murdered like a criminal. We can count on being unjustly nailed to our own crosses. Sadly, other Christians could be the ones pounding the nails.

This raises the question, should we defend ourselves? David Roper writes, “We can take every criticism to our Advocate and ask Him to vindicate us... We can get in God’s way when we try to protect ourselves from harm.” If people are attacking our character and we are living right before God, we need not do anything else. If people are deliberately ruthless without just cause, then the principles of Matthew 18 do apply.

Lastly, and this one is hard to do, is to pray for our critics. In Matthew 5, Jesus says to “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” It’s not easy to do, believe me I know, especially when you’re in pain, but it is incredibly freeing once you do it.

I pray for Ben Stein. Despite his misinformation, he seems like a good man. He may not understand the ways of corporate life in the 21st century, but then he doesn’t need to. He’s already made his mark in life. I pray for his continued success and prosperity and that his eyes and heart will be opened beyond the realities of Beverly Hills to the realities of mainstream America - where decent people with good work ethics and people skills are jobless and sacrificing to makes ends meet despite having their hearts and dreams ripped apart by the cruelty of this economy.

Movie review: The Way - starring Martin Sheen

2010-08-03T14:24:00.006-04:00

Recently I attended an advanced screening of the movie The Way, starring Martin Sheen and co-starring his son Emilio Estevez. Emilio also wrote, directed, and co-produced the film. Both Martin and Emilio were surprise guests at the screening and spoke to the audience afterwards. Emilio apologized for the kinds of films Hollywood produces today which are typically devoid of any story concept, relatable characters, and moral values. He said he hasn't shown The Way to any Hollywood film executives yet, because he feels the movie is so un-Hollywood, he isn't confident about finding a U.S. distributor. He plans to open the movie this fall in Europe to build momentum towards a projected release here in the U.S. by year end.

I loved this movie and highly recommend it for several reasons. It has a well written script – the movie tells a story that you want to apply to your own life. The acting is a pleasure to watch. In my opinion it's the best acting by Martin Sheen since Apocalypse Now. Even when there is no dialogue, Martin gives a master class on acting with his eyes and facial expressions. The supporting characters are interesting and well acted, adding to the depth of the story. The soundtrack includes songs by James Taylor, Alanis Morrisette and Coldplay, as well as a beautiful score by Tyler Bates.

Martin Sheen plays Tom, an American doctor and widower who travels to St. Jean Pied de Port, France to recover the body of his estranged adult son (played by Emilio), who was killed accidentally during a storm while walking The Camino de Santiago (The Way of Saint James). Driven by his profound grief, Tom decides to finish the 800 kilometer pilgrimage his son began, taking his son's cremated remains with him and spreading them along the historical trek - from the Pyrenees in southern France, to Santiago de Compostela in northwest of Spain.

While walking “The Camino”, Tom meets other pilgrims from around the world bearing their own unique burdens, all looking for greater meaning in their lives. The film centers on this unlikely quartet featuring the main protagonist Tom, a gregarious Dutchman (played brilliantly by Yorick van Wageningen) a Canadian with an attitude (Deborah Kara Unger) and an Irish narcissistic travel writer (James Nesbitt) who is experiencing writer's block.

Together these pilgrims experience community in the journey together as they learn from one another. Tom’s inner healing is gradual, as is his journey from agnosticism back to faith again. The words of his son come back to him as he learns to let go of his California-country-club life and discover the difference between "The life we live and the life we choose".

The Way was filmed entirely in Spain and France along the actual Camino de Santiago.

The Camino de Santiago or the Way of St. James is a spiritual journey that pilgrims of all faiths and backgrounds have traversed for a thousand years. The French Way (Spanish: Camino Francés) is the most popular of the routes. This route covers 800 kilometers and runs from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side of the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles on the Spanish side before making its way through to Santiago de Compostela through the major cities of Pamplona, Logroño, Burgos, León and concludes at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain where tradition says that the remains of the Apostle James are buried.

Pilgrims walk the Camino for various reasons. Some to seek penance, others enlightenment, and still others for a sense of adventure. Most pilgrims choose to carry a scallop shell with them to symbolize their journey in honor of St. James. Pilgrims also carry a Compostela, which is a passport that is stamped at each important stop highlighting the completion of the journey officially recognized with a special certificate at the passport office in Santiago.

As I watched this movie, there was something strangely familiar about it (in a good sort of way). The previous week I read Donald Miller’s recent book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, in which he writes about a life-changing epiphany he experiences through the concept of story and how it shapes our greater life story – the life we choose tells a story. He illustrates how this concept changed his life from boring and reclusive to being filled with risk, opportunity, love, beauty and meaningful narrative. Inspired to tell a new story with his life, he describes, with his usual endearing candor and humor, several new life experiences including biking across America for charity, hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, finding his estranged father after 30 years, and founding a successful non-profit mentorship program that led to his appointment on President Obama's task force on Fatherhood and Healthy Families.

There was a similar epiphany in this movie and an identical reason - which I'll unpack below. The concept of story that Don describes in detail in his book comes from a series of intensive lectures he attended at a seminar given by Robert McKee, a Fulbright Scholar and former USC professor who is renowned for his story seminars. McKee is the author of a "screenwriters' bible" called Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting. It is considered THE source for inspiration amongst screenwriters. Mckee was depicted in the movie Adaptation which showcased his teaching and influence.

Besides Miller's book, I heard identical story/values concepts in Emilio’s speech after the screening. In Emilio’s bio on Wikipedia, it states he is also an alumnus of Robert McKee’s story seminar. Though entirely unrelated, the film and the book went together very well and were food for deep personal introspection on my spiritual walk as a struggling follower of Jesus Christ.

The following are some excerpts from McKee’s book on story:

“The storyteller’s selection and arrangement of events is his metaphor for the interconnectedness of all the levels of reality – personal, political, environmental, spiritual.

Stripped of its surface of characterization and location, story structure reveals his personal cosmology, his insight in to the deepest patterns and motivations for how and why things happen in this world – his map of life’s hidden order.

The final cause of the decline of story runs very deep. Values, the positive/negative charges of life, are at the soul of our art.

The writer shapes story around a perception of what’s worth living for and what’s worth dying for, what is foolish to pursue, the meaning of justice, truth – the essentials values. In decades past, writer and society more or less agreed on these questions, but more and more ours has become an age of moral and ethical cynicism, relativism, and subjectivism – a great confusion of values.

As the family disintegrates and sexual antagonisms rise, who, for example, feels he understands the nature of love?

And how, if you do have a conviction, do you express it to an evermore skeptical audience?

The erosion of values has brought with it a corresponding erosion of story.”

~ Robert McKee

It is interesting to note that McKee is not a Christian.

The following comes from the movie’s website. It sums up well the application of a story we create with our lives and the inherent values we portray.

In the film, a father unfortunately comes to understand his son's life through his death and along the road finds himself as well. The main protagonist of the film is the conflict we each have within ourselves of choosing a life versus living a life. This greater question of finding oneself is a matter of acceptance and choice. Given the circumstances of our lives, how do we understand ourselves, our family and our friends, and the choices we make? Do we blindly go through life unaware of our actions and how they affect not only ourselves but others, as well? What role does our community, friendships and faith play in our decisions?

The Camino, by its nature, serves as the ultimate metaphor for life. Footsteps along a well-trodden path may be our guide, but do not shield us from the questions that most of our busy everyday lives prevent us at times from fully recognizing. The road offers very little to hide behind. The process of life is life along whichever road, path, Camino, or Way we find ourselves on. Our humanity toward ourselves and others, our history and our future is what defines us. Take the journey of life. Buen Camino.

Lovesick and Dumbfounded

2010-07-20T12:16:00.001-04:00

After a month long sabbatical from social media, I'm back...

I've read some books and did a lot of thinking during this time off. During a particularly low moment, I happened upon the following post called Lovesick and Dumbfounded by David Roper. It really ministered to me, so I'm re-posting it below. David has been one of my favorite authors for years, especially his devotional books. Enjoy! (All content is that of the author and not my own.)

"(The Lord) takes great delight in you…" (Zephaniah 3:17).

With apologies to Zephaniah the prophet and my Hebrew professors, I offer this translation:

The Lord, your God is with you -
your hero, mighty to deliver!
He takes great delight in you.
He is speechless with love for you.

Every time he thinks of you he breaks into joyful song! (Zephaniah 3:17)

I’m awed by the notion that God takes great delight in me, that he breaks into song each time he thinks of my name. But it’s the phrase I render, “He is speechless with love” that dumbfounds me.

The verse is usually translated, "He will be quiet in his love," or in some translations, "He will quiet you with his love." But the Hebrew verb does not suggest tranquility. It means, “to be dumb," or “to be speechless."[1] And since the verb is in parallel with other verbs that describe God’s emotions (“He takes great delight," and “He breaks into joyful song") it must point to what he himself feels.

Could the analogue be a lovesick swain, thunderstruck with love for his beloved, so overcome with affection that he is tongue–tied? Is God, in some inexplicable, anthropopathic way, “struck dumb” with love each time he thinks of me? If so, to be loved like this is, in turn, to be rendered speechless.

Who is it that God so loves? One who is good and true and breathtakingly beautiful? No. One who is unholy and unsightly, but who “takes refuge in the name of the Lord” (Zephaniah 3:12).

[1] Jenni-Westerman, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament.

Is that not an awesome thought? The above referenced verse is of course familiar as the basis of the popular chorus, "Mighty to Save". Why not take a moment and worship God for His speechless and dumbfounding love.

HT to David Roper

How He Loves

2010-06-14T08:39:00.008-04:00

The following story hit me at a time in my life when I'm really struggling to know God's purpose or even presence in my life. Life and circumstances seem to keep getting in the way (I've blogged about my personal Dark Night of the Soul previously). I'm a big-picture person and I'm dying inside wanting to know where this journey is going. I fully trust that one day I will, but in the meantime this story and song are of great comfort to me.

The following video tells the story behind the song, How He Loves by John Mark McMillan. In anticipation of John's new CD release, the clip has been posted recently on some blogs and Facebook. The song is very popular in worship settings. It has been covered by David Crowder, Hillsong United, Flyleaf, and others. John says this about the song's redemptive message:

"The love that I am singing about in that song is not a pretty, clean, Hollywood, hot-pink love. It is the kind of love that is willing to love things that are messy, difficult, and gross... in my anger, resentment and frustration, he could still love me through that... he wasn't offend that I was angry at God. This song isn't a celebration of weakness and anger. It's a celebration of a God who would want to hang with us through those things, who would want to be a part of our lives through those things and despite who we are, he would want to be a part of us and be a part of our community and be a part of our family."

How He Loves : A Song Story from john mark mcmillan on Vimeo.

In the second video below, filmed at a Passion gathering, McMillan explains with great emotion how the song was never intended as a worship song, but as a fulfillment of a movement - he wrote it following the death of a dear friend who, during a church staff meeting, prayed out loud, "If it would shake the youth of a nation, I will give my life today." Later that night, his friend was killed in a car crash. John wrote "How He Loves" the next morning. John later became a youth leader himself in part to see his friend's prayer fulfilled.

The evidence of the song's anointing is apparent in reading numerous comments posted on various blogs, YouTube, etc., as it has touched many, many people with similar stories. One blogger, Tammy Hodge shares her gripping testimony about the song's impact on her life. The following excerpt is from Lindsey Nobles' excellent blog, I'm Just Saying:

1987, 16 1/2 years old, i sat in an abortion clinic in southern california. alone and frightened. i didn’t show it. i couldn’t show it. i wouldn’t show it.

i no longer lived at home with my family. i had to be the big girl now. i had do the right thing. i had to look out for me. at all costs.

fifteen months later…i sat in the very same abortion clinic waiting to rid my life of one more mistake.

how could God love me after ending two innocent lives? why would He?

i never thought then of the repercussions my decisions would have. not once did i consider the impact those abortions would have on my life or the lives of others.

and it certainly never occurred to me then that i would one day have to tell my own daughter.

when i look at my daughter, kassidi, i don’t just see my first born…i see my first chosen born. i see grace. i see redemption. i see mercy. i see Love.

kass knows about my abortions now. she has ministered to many girls in her high school because of what she now knows of the subject. this is God using my ashes to demonstrate His beauty and love.

Gods love has allowed kass to experience life. her life has allowed me to know Love.

i was 16 when i had my first abortion. my first born is now 16. and she sings today because He loves us... Oh, how He loves us...

Below is her daughter singing How He Loves

How He Loves - Kassidi from Brent Hodge on Vimeo.

He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane
I am a tree
Bending beneath
The weight of his wind and mercy
When all of a sudden
I am unaware of these
Afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize how beautiful you are
And how great your afflictions for me

Oh how he loves us so
Oh how he loves us
How he loves us so
Yea He loves us
Oh how

We are his portion
And he is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in his eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss
And my heart burns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way
He loves us

Oh how he loves us so
Oh how he loves us
How he loves us so
Yea He loves us
Oh how

I thought about you
The day Stephen died
And you met me between my breaking
I know that I still love you God
Despite the agony
See people they want to tell me your cruel
But if Stephen could sing
He'd say its not true
Cause your good

HT to Matthew Gregory Burns and Lindsey Nobles

Friday Funnies: two EPIC drummers

2010-06-04T12:54:00.002-04:00

I'm a hack drummer that plays in a church rock band. This weekend we're playing in a municipal parade - on a float, rain or shine. This could get interesting...

My band mates are great musicians thus I'm surprised they keep inviting me to play - but I have a great time. We sound pretty good, but we're not much to look at - with the exception of our female lead vocalist. I'm thinking I need some cheesy choreography to help make us look more entertaining (e.g. stick twirling, hand crossovers, etc.)... OK not really - I can barely hang onto my sticks under normal conditions, but the two drummers below have some impressive moves (tongue-in-cheek), They are amusing to watch. Both of them have become internet sensations

1. What's up with the yellow sequin jackets and the pink flames on his set?

2. He's very interpretive. It gets good around the 2:15 mark...

Avatarize yourself

2010-06-02T08:23:00.001-04:00

Turn yourself into a Na'vi character based on the movie Avatar with this easy photo generator. Click on Create my Avatar below to get started.

Memorial Day: a happy ending

2010-05-31T10:56:00.000-04:00

It was the photo that put a lump in the throat of the nation.

Last year, Army Reservist Staff Sgt. Brett Bennethum was ordered to Iraq in July with the 733rd Army Reservist Division. His four-year-old daughter Paige had a hard time saying good-bye and letting go, so much so that she defiantly held onto his hand when he stood in formation. No one, including the commanding officer, had the heart to pull her away. The picture was taken by her mother. Brett's deployment was scheduled for 12 months. Happily he came home safely earlier this month, according to NBC Philadelphia. Their follow up story is here.

This picture deeply moved me when I saw it. I am a father of a daughter. When she was that age, she used to get very upset whenever I traveled for business. I can see her doing the same thing if I were in the service and being deployed. I can feel her little hand in mine. Paige gave her dad a teddy bear to keep him safe in Iraq. My daughter used to do the same thing.

Even if you don't support the war, please remember our troops and their families as well as our veterans.

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video.

Friday Funnies: Mr. Bean goes to church

2010-05-28T10:54:00.000-04:00

I laughed out loud several times at this - probably because I've seen just about every one of these quirky behaviors in real church.

HT to Kevin DeYoung

Teens and Werewolves... (Emo is so yesterday)

2010-05-26T06:12:00.001-04:00

Is this the latest trend for teenager expression and belonging... running as a pack of werewolves? A local news channel in San Antonio, Texas offers this report, which was also picked up by the LA Times... and yes, these teens take themselves very seriously.

Friday Funnies/Saturday Edition: Gandalf recites the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

2010-05-22T13:36:00.006-04:00

There's just something about a British accent that makes even the most mundane sound brilliant, interesting, and sophisticated. In the video below, this guy (Hunter Davis) does an impressive Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) impersonation while reciting the lyrics to the Fresh Prince theme...

I'd like to use his voice on my GPS.

Friday Funnies: When a guy does something wrong

2010-05-21T15:39:00.005-04:00

There's a funny spoof of an old saying that goes something like this, "If a man speaks his mind in a forrest and no woman is around to hear him, is he still wrong?"

The following comic from Doghouse Diaries is a good illustration of this... (click to enlarge)

Motivating and Keeping your Youth Staff

2010-05-19T09:02:00.002-04:00

Several years ago, I worked for a church as a part-time youth director. My terms of call provided only 1 week of vacation per year. When the time came to ask for my week off, my Pastor refused my request saying, "You already had your vacation when you took our youth on that mission trip last month..."

Yup, that really happened. Needless to say, I didn't stay there for more than a year.

I also worked at another church where I averaged one day off per month. I was supposed to get one day off per week, but nearly every week the pastor would call on my day off and ask me to come in so he could take the afternoon off to be with his children.

I was working between 70-80 hours a week. No surprise that I burned out after a year.

As a follow up to Monday's post about managing a staff, the following is another leadership lesson from Perry Noble entitled, Hey Pastor, Want A Successful Youth Ministry?. The principles are transferable to any staff position.

Brad Cooper is our student pastor here at NewSpring Church…and is one of the most gifted/anointed leaders on the planet. Since he has been with us our student ministry has grown from about 125 to over 1,000 kids every weekend…and the number of committed, sold out volunteers has multiplied dramatically.

Anytime people hear about what is going on in our student ministry they always ask me, “So, what did you do?” It’s pretty simple…

#1 – I hired a leader, someone I could trust, someone I would not have to stand beside and make decisions for. (Some pastors won’t do this because they need to be needed!) AND…I made sure he was able to assemble the team he wanted around him…I did not hire for him!

#2 – I made sure he was resourced. We don’t do car washes or bake sales…and we never have. I’ve read that over 85% of the decisions to follow Christ happen before the age of 18…if THAT ISN’T a ripe mission field then I don’t know what is. Churches don’t make the senior adults do a bake sale if they want to go somewhere…why in the heck do they make the students do it? (By the way…it’s ALWAYS been this way, so please don’t email me with, “What did you guys do when you were small?” We took care of our students…period!)

#3 – I make sure he understands the vision of our church. I spend time with him…we go to lunch, he sends me texts that encourage the heck out of me. If he ever has a question about vision…he asks me.

#4 – I spend time with the students. Every year I am our “camp speaker” for The Gauntlet…and it is SO refreshing for me to get to spend that time with the students…it is literally one of my favorite weeks EVERY YEAR!

#5 – I don’t try to do youth ministry! When I did youth ministry it was SO cool to play DC Talk, Carman and Degarmo & Key…for those that may not have figured this out yet…those days are GONE! I am NOT the expert in youth ministry…and I don’t try to be!!!

#6 – I ask our student ministry staff lots of questions! BECAUSE, like it or not…what they are doing right now is going to be what the church is doing in the next 10 to 15 years!

#7 – I give him permission to fail…as long as he fails by trying great things then I don’t have a problem with it!

Those are just a few things that “I’ve” done…which hopefully you see isn’t much!!! Hope that helps!

Motivating and Keeping Your Staff

2010-05-17T09:04:00.006-04:00

In a previous career, I remember sitting in a meeting listening to a presentation by a consultant on how to boost employee morale. The essence of the report was her sharing the survey results from our own corporate managers for their practical ideas on boosting employee morale within our company. Their ideas were so banal and mundane, the meeting began to get hostile. The consultant was sympathetic and clearly embarrassed by their suggestions as well. As she shifted gears to soothe the anger in the room, she did the smart thing and asked us how we would answer those same questions. Our answers were overwhelmingly consistent - if you're going to lead a staff, you'd better be competent in your field, lead by example, and respect your employees. Sadly, there was nothing in common between our two lists.

In a corporate environment where there's either rapid growth or high turnover, too often managers have "qualified" for their position by being knowledgeable in a specific field, but have little or no experience in leading people and managing teams. Corporate structures often perpetuate this by providing inadequate training.

A couple years after this meeting, our company merged with another major player in our field. They were very large, but not historically profitable. What they lacked in bottom-line expertise, they more then made up for in management skills. They were the most well-trained and competent managers I've ever seen. Not surprisingly, their turnover rate was extremely low. Prior to the merger, my new co-workers had been with their company on average between 20-30 years. I was fortunate to eventually work for one of their managers. She was the best boss I've ever had. I never work as hard for anyone or was more fulfilled in career than when I worked her. Why? She was very respectful of her team and truly made us feel valued. She wasn't phony and didn't break promises. She wasn't a perfect person, but her actions were consistent with her values and words. She didn't pretend to know everything, but she knew how to lead, motivate, and treat people in order to achieve a desired outcome and keep everyone happy and focused. Not surprisingly, we met our goals and set the bar high with a standard of excellence, professionalism and creativity that was the envy of other departments.

More recently I was in a meeting with two individuals to discuss a personnel matter. Both individuals have PhD's and presumably years of experience in dealing with employment issues. I was absolutely dumbfounded by their lack of common sense and integrity regarding basic human resource matters. I didn't disagree with their ultimate decision, but their methodology was a very poor example of leadership.

When it comes to common sense in leading a staff, it was refreshing to read Perry Noble's blog post last week, Do You Want a Loyal Staff? (below).

If you want loyalty…then GIVE IT! The leader that demands it but does not offer it often leaves a wake of abused and neglected staff members. Here are a few things that I try to do…

When a person isn’t performing their job in an adequate fashion…TALK TO THEM, don’t just cut them loose! They are real people, with real lives…and sometimes they actually have REAL problems. A leader who only loves his staff when they are performing at maximum potential but will “cut them” at the first sign of struggle is pathetic.

Don’t buy into the “fire a certain percentage of your staff every year” philosophy. I have heard that line taught at leadership conferences and I just don’t buy it. Why? Because let’s say you are on staff…and you hear your leader say, “I fire BLANK percent of my staff every year.” Uh…does that motivate you to be loyal…or does it scare the heck out of you? Staff members should be motivated, not intimated by their leader. AND saying that people are going to be fired “just because” will NEVER bring about an environment of loyalty.

Hang out with your staff. It’s sad…but many leaders have bought into the “you can’t be friends with the people you lead” lie. Personally, I think you can’t be friends with the people you lead if you are an insecure leader. I love the fact that the people I lead with I also do life with. They see me in an environment outside of the church…which allows them to trust me more (and I trust them more as well.) The leader who wants to be a celebrity to his staff may be effective in getting them to kiss his butt…but they will never be truly loyal to him.

Have integrity! The people on staff (and in your church) always need to see that you are smokin’ what your sellin’! In other words…we can’t preach a value if we are not actually living it out.

I’ve alluded to this before…but believe the BEST about them. Don’t listen to every negative word and story you hear about the people you work with an immediately receive it as true…but actually sit down and have a conversation with the person that works with you. A staff member that NEVER gets the benefit of the doubt from his leader will eventually never offer them that same benefit.

Don’t think that just because someone questions a decision that you made that they are automatically against you and are in the process of leading a rebellion against your leadership. God has used some GREAT staff members who had sincere questions to direct me away from making some REALLY bad decisions…and if I had dismissed them as “disloyal” then I would have been both wrong AND stupid because I would have followed through on a wrong decision.

Friday Funnies: Mommy Rhapsody

2010-05-14T08:28:00.000-04:00

This was the opening at last Sunday's service (Mother's Day) at the Church on the Move in Tulsa. Creative and fun! The lyrics are included below.

Lyrics:

Is this the real life
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide
No escape from reality
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see

I'm just a mom
I need no sympathy
Because I do it all
On the go
Poopy pants, runny nose
Kitchen, kids and laundry
Everything is dirty
No sleep, no sleep.

Momma, I puked in the van
Momma, there's gum stuck in my hair
I just pushed Lucy down the stairs (she's bleeding)
Momma, where did I come from?
Better ask your daddy that when he gets home

Momma, oooooooh
I don't wanna die
Well, you should have thought of that before you broke my lamp!

I smell a little bit of poopy in the van
Sarah move, Sarah move
Get your butt in the Durango
Daddy's coming home late, better fix a hot plate NOW!

Fettuccini
Ravioli
Fettucini
Ravioli
Fettucini Alfredo
Magnifico!

I'm just a poor boy can I have some money please?
What do I look like? Money doesn't grow on trees!
Maybe if you ever picked up your things!

Party at Stevie's house will you let me go?
Joshua, we will not let you go!
Let me go!
Joshua, we will not let you go!
Let me go!
Joshua, we will not let you go!
Let me go!
Will not let you go!
Will not let you go!
Let me go!
No, no, no, no, no!
Oh mamma mia, momma mia, let me go!
If you ask me one more time I'll scream!
I'll scream!
I'll scream!

So you think I don't care if you stay up and cry?
So you think I don't need any sleep tonight?
Oh, oh baby
Please just go to sleep baby!
Just gotta get out
Just gotta right out of here

In the end it's worth it
Wouldn't change a thing
In the end it's worth it
In the end it's worth it to me

Gotta wash the kids' clothes

HT to Susan Houston via Facebook

How Teens use Their Mobile Phones

2010-05-13T06:00:00.003-04:00

Flowtown.com has posted this comprehensive chart detailing how U.S. teens (ages 12-17) use their cell phones. The data is based on research conducted by Pew Internet Research. Click on the photo at left to enlarge or click here to view on their site.

The accompanying article states, "This study includes not only information regarding how much teens use their mobile phones, but what they are using them for as well, such as: to go online, text and access social media sites. Perhaps not surprisingly, average mobile use varies greatly by age, and sexting seems to becoming more of an issue."

Click here to read more.

Betty White and the Social Media Revolution

2010-05-10T19:07:00.005-04:00

The much anticipated appearance by 88-year-old Betty White as guest host on NBC's Saturday Night Live occurred this past weekend. Based on various media comments, it appears that she delivered big-time and the show lived up to the hype as it was SNL's highest rated episode of the season.

After appearing in a Snickers ad during Superbowl 2010, arguably the most popular commercial from this year's telecast, a grass-roots movement began a group page on Facebook which lobbied for Betty to be the SNL guest host... and it worked. Over half a million people on Facebook joined the group.

Betty's opening monologue (below) was golden (no pun intended) as she gave credit to the Facebook effort and made good fun of it as well. She appeared in nearly every skit throughout the show and many people have commented how her comedic chops were superior to the supporting SNL cast.

For NBC, this was a no-brainer and it paid off big-time in both the ratings and PR. It'll be interesting to see if this starts a new trend on Facebook. Savvy corporations are already picking up on the power of social media. Recently in my current search for employment, I applied for a newly created media specialist position with a well-known health insurance organization. They are looking to expand into the world of Twitter and Facebook as well as other popular social media vehicles. And why not? The total number of Facebook users world-wide would make it the 3rd largest country in the world. In addition, an astounding 96% of Millennials are registered Facebook users. Still not convinced? Check out the video below - the data is mind-blowing. (Note: the video below, Social Media Revolution 2, is the 2010 version in the ongoing series originally known as "Shift Happens" and "Did You Know" which were created by two school teachers.

For more information, Mashable.com has posted this article on How Non-Profits are Using Social Media for Real Results including brand awareness, networking, and knowing your audience.

Also, Flowtown.com has posted this chart showing how Fortune 100 companies are leveraging social media.

Friday Funnies: Contemporvant Worship

2010-05-07T16:29:00.000-04:00

This cracked me up... a literal video of a mega-church contemporary service, done by North Point Media. They nail it - music, announcements, intro video, and message.

"Sunday's Coming" Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

HT to Ed Stetzer

The Anthem of the Millennial Generation

2010-05-06T21:59:00.000-04:00

Last week the front page of USA Today reported on the spiritual views of Millenials (those born in the early '80's to the mid 90's), based on survey data compiled by Lifeway Research.

Some key highlights include:

• 72% say they're "really more spiritual than religious"
• 65% rarely or never pray with others, and 38% almost never pray by themselves either.
• 65% rarely or never attend worship services.
• 67% don't read the Bible or sacred texts.
• Many are unsure Jesus is the only path to heaven: half say yes, half no.

These results dovetail with the conclusions found in the recent study conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

In short, this generation isn't statistically any less interested in spirituality, but is less prone to attend church or embrace orthodox Christianity.

Interestingly, this generation's views can be summed up in a short song without all the scientific research. The song, Sacrilegious by NeverShoutNever is agruably the spiritual anthem of the Millennial generation.

HT to Ed Stetzer and Ben Arment

Remembering Ernie Harwell - The voice of summer (1918-2010)

2010-05-05T07:34:00.002-04:00

As a memorial tribute to broadcaster Ernie Harwell, I'm reposting the following from last September. For those who listened to him, his passing feels like losing a family member. He was a class act, a true gentleman, and a man of God. Broadcast in peace, Ernie...

For, lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds is come,
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.

It's a ritual we all look forward to - hearing baseball Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell recite Song of Solomon 2:11-12 at the start of the very first spring training game. It means spring is here and summer is coming.

In the state of Michigan, Ernie Harwell is the voice of summer. For more than 40 years, he was the radio voice of the Detroit Tigers. I have so many memories of listening to Ernie call a game. As CBS sports writer Scott Miller said, "If Michigan summers could talk, they would sound like Ernie Harwell: Relentlessly sunny and optimistic." Scott wrote a beautiful tribute to Ernie in his recent column. He sums up well the love for Ernie and his influence on his listeners.

Ernie's broadcasts were like a canvas that he painted by eloquently describing in great detail a story that lasted 9 innings or more. On the occasion when the Tigers were playing in a historic game, such as no-hitter, Ernie was at his best. His colloquialisms never got old, "called strike three... he stood there like the house at the side of the road..."

Most importantly, Ernie's faith was real. All his listeners and colleagues know about his deep Christian faith. But it's not because he talks about it openly. He lives it.

I met Ernie on a couple of occasions. He was as warm and gracious in person as he was on the radio.

Last week Ernie announced he has a form of incurable cancer. The news was stunning and made front page headlines. The tributes from his fellow journalists and athletes all commented about Ernie's faith and his example in life and now in facing death.

With that announcement, Ernie was quickly honored this week during a Tigers game - perhaps indicating that his days are few. The video of that tribute is embedded below.

As you watch the video, note all the signs that people hold in paying tribute to him. Near the end, you see one sign which says it all, "How a person should be."

Growing up and living in Michigan, you have to endure some cheap shots about our state from those who don't live here. Ernie is one reason why I feel genuinely privileged to have grown up here.

God bless you Ernie. Thank you for your life and for being a part of the soundtrack of our lives. The voice of the turtle is heard in our land and forever in our hearts.

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Get off the Stage... You're Boring

2010-04-30T13:05:00.013-04:00

It's a look I've seen many times... that glazed over look students give me when my talk hasn't connected with them or has gone too long. Their eyes say it all, "It's time to cue the orchestra to play the song, Get off the Stage." Watch the video below to hear the lyrics of the song in an epic performance by Jack Black and Will Ferrell. (Update: embedding has been disabled on the clip below. Click here to watch it on YouTube.)

I've done a lot of speaking as a youth leader and retreat speaker. I'm not God's gift to public speaking, but I feel called to do it. I've had my moments of success and failure as a speaker. My worst moments generally happen when I over-prepare in terms of research and content, thus I talk too long. I'm also prone to under-prepare when it comes to memorization and delivery. My best moments, in terms of connecting with an audience and seeing God work, happen when I talk from my heart on what I'm passionate about.

Recently in preparation for a speaking engagement, I pulled a story from a sermon I gave back in 2004. When I opened the file to copy and paste the text, I was shocked at how many pages of the sermon were devoted to historical context and exegesis, compared to life application and heart matters. I remember how it was a disaster of a sermon. I spoke way too long and still didn't get through all that I had written. It's embarrassing to admit, but I definitely could feel the pain of the audience that morning, "Get off the stage... you're boring!"

Even polished speakers with the "it factor" can be lulling if their content is no match for their delivery. I consider Rob Bell to be one of the best communicators I've ever witnessed, but even he has literally put me to sleep a couple of times. But boredom in church isn't just related to bad sermons - the music, prayers, eucharist, and ambiance all make a collective statement.

A well known blogger, who is not a Christian, recently blogged about his starting to attend church again. He hasn't attended since he was a child when his parents made him go. Now a parent himself, he is taking his family with him. His children have never attended church until this year. He writes the following perspective:

"I knew when we decided to return to church that it would sometimes be boring. What I didn't expect was how much I would come to appreciate that boredom - how much I look forward to sitting in the back pew, basking in the sun, as my eyes unfocus and the choir sings Amen. It's not the old church boredom I'm feeling, the kid-sized desperation of being stuck somewhere awful, listening to something that lasts forever, itching inside your own skin. It's more akin to relaxing thoughtfully, settling down, opening up your mind. Meditating, I guess... The best part of returning to church so far has been that it's offered an oasis of calm in our ridiculous lives. We wake up, we hectically prepare the kids for school, we work and work and work, we pick the kids up, we put them to bed, we work some more... But church is one hour a week in which we don't have to write or research or pitch or network or parent or do much of anything. One hour a week in which all we have to do is think. One hour a week of sweet boredom."

"Sweet boredom"?! Is that a refuge for the weary or just someone with low expectations? If you're a Pastor, what would you do with such feedback from a seeker?

Years ago, I was the Youth Director on the staff of a very small church in a small town. The people were the warmest and most gracious I've ever known. But our worship services were a great opportunity for character development, if you know what I mean... it was dryer than eating sand on burnt toast. Week after week, our services consisted of 5 hymns (singing all 4 verses), a piano offertory, and a sermon that lasted nearly 60 minutes. The pastor was very studious but not a gifted communicator or blessed with social skills. Once when the worship Elder asked me what I thought about the services, I said, "Our services are so boring that if I were a parent, I would keep my children home because having them attend worship is doing more harm than good."

OK, tact is not one of my gifts... what I said was actually a quote from Mike Yaconelli. But it was true and reflected my frustration in trying to get our youth to discover the whole person of Jesus and not the one created in the image of our worship services.

The truth is, the content and presentation of our worship services reveals a lot about how we view Jesus. Recently, I read the following on a blog post by Adam McLane:

"Perhaps the reason your church isn’t growing is because you are boring? Your church is boring. Your faith is boring. The Jesus you’re presenting is boring. People’s faith isn’t challenged by your ability to keep them busy. It is transformed when they are sent out to do God’s work in their daily life. The last thing most people need is another sermon. The last thing they need is another worship experience. The first thing they need is to apply the last thing you taught them. I guarantee you that your next worship service will be exciting if your community of believers is coming to worship Jesus after they have dipped their toes in the River of Grace and seen Him act. That is exciting. That grows… Quickly. No more songs about moving mountains until you show people - God moving mountains!"

It almost sounds unfair or haughty to hear those words, but when you think about it, Adam is spot on. He's not talking about turning up the volume for more high impact or dumbing down doctrine for relevance. He's talking about Faith without works is dead. A spirit-filled Christian will practice social justice, not compelled by legalism, but because the love of Christ compels compassion and love. Our worship should be a reflection of that same compelling love that moves mountains. Now that is a song, a testimony, a prayer, a sermon that I want to know and hear about.

The following clip is from the movie, Walk the Line, the biographical story about Johnny Cash. In this scene, a naive Johnny auditions for the legendary producer Sam Phillips. I love this clip because it asks important qustions that every pastor, worship leader, or youth director should ask themselves before preparing their next message or service. What is the one song you would sing that lets people know what you're passionate about? Are you going to choose the status quo or something that is real and saves people?

"Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can’t commend what you don’t cherish." ~ John Piper

"Anyone who can picture Jesus as the great Advocate of tradition is doing some serious doctoring of biblical history. Jesus was anything but the poster child for the status quo." ~ Erwin McManus

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Missional Pizza and the Sandwich from Hell (a rant about excellence)

2010-04-28T06:00:00.003-04:00

I absolutely love this post called Missional Pizza from Scot Mcknight's blog, Jesus Creed. Scot asked the question, What other missional stories are you aware of or a part of in your neighborhood? The following is a portion of one pastor's response.

"I am a pastor and had spent nearly a decade in our community pastoring a congregation full-time and doing what churches normally do related to outreach and the like. I became acutely aware that I didn't know the folks in our small (about 1,000) neighborhood/community. Eventually frustration grew to a tipping point... and we decided to do a really crazy thing, we opened a pizzeria. The whole idea behind doing this was to get to know our neighbors... We knew more people in our small town after six months of making pizza, than we did in 10-years of pastoring the church; we've been at it three and a half years now. We're just serving them and being kind - it was the sole purpose of the venture, to just be with the people in our community that we can't seem to get to.

Our level of customer service is high, but we've sacrificed away the edge of professional sterility with genuine warmth and hospitality... Thus, the place doesn't feel at all contrived, nor like a restaurant that is a tract. We're just meeting the folks, being kind to them, and it is opening doors allowing us to pray for them, pray with them, and minister in many ways we'd never have had the chance, simply because we're becoming their friends. We connect with 600+ families a month. 75% of them are in at least twice, 35% are in every week. I've been waiting on them a few nights a week for the last 3.5 years and have developed some great relationships; been invited to cycle with some, attend a wedding of another (which I ended up performing), helped someone decide on a new computer, helped a bunch of parents with their kids and parenting skills, helped kids with their homework, prayed with a devastated young man who just watched his cousin die, read to elementary school kids in their reading program, sat with and prayed with an older lady whose husband had just been diagnosed with cancer, helped kids with their entertainment choices and family problems, I've been serving on a civic committee, we regularly feed various community groups, the police department sends the hungry to us, we donate food and services to the non-profits (PTA, etc.), I was just named 2010 Citizen of the Year for our community, and I have just been asked to run for City Council (though I'm not sure that last thing is a good thing). All of this around our table. Jesus' table really."

That's what it's all about. A church on mission and doing it with excellence. I love hearing stories of community engagement and incarnational ministry, whether it's a pizza joint, coffee shop, or a car clinic for single moms and widows, etc.

But there are times when missional intentions don't equate with good results and the church embarrasses itself. The following is a personal story:

A couple of years ago, I attended conference that took place at a popular tourist town on the Mid-Atlantic coast. One afternoon I had some time to kill, so I drove to the beach to take a walk, shop and grab a late lunch. As I was walking along the main strip, passing the numerous touristy beach shops and cheap bars, I came upon a cafe with with a friendly person standing outside giving away free samples of a panini sandwich. This cafe was operated by a Church as a ministry on this rather seedy part of the strip. I glanced at their menu and thought, this is something I want to support- a church on mission engaged in the local community.

Once inside, the place reminded me of typical church youth room. It was furnished with cheap tables and chairs. The walls had painted murals that were "unprofessional" looking. A small stage had been constructed for live music. There was clutter everywhere - and I mean a lot of clutter. Everything looked like it sat in its place a long time. The cafe interior looked unfinished and was now an afterthought. There were several youngish college students working there under the direction of an older woman who seemed to be rather stressed. She was telling everyone what to do, from the cashier to the cook and everyone in between. It wasn't that she was a control freak, it was just that no one knew what they were doing. I wondered if maybe these students were volunteers.

The place was a dive, but maybe the food was good, I thought. I ordered a tuna-melt sandwich and a large iced tea, to go. Not too difficult. I paid for my meal and sat down to await my order. A young confused looking person brought me a small cup of what appeared to be hot tea. There was a tea bag steeping inside the cup that which was filled with boiled water poured over ice. It was lukewarm and not very refreshing. A little later, the older woman brought me a large cup of hot tea poured over ice and yelled at no one in particular that I had ordered a "large" not a "small". She snatched the small cup out of my hand and stormed off. Why not let me keep the small cup, I wondered? I drank half of it already. While I was waiting, there was another customer standing nearby waiting for his order. We struck up a conversation. He was a driver for a courier service.

They delivered our "to go" orders at the same time. The driver grabbed his box and mine and looked inside. I had to ask him for my box. He apologized and said he wanted to be sure they got his order correct. Apparently they have a history of messing up orders. I took my food and walked back to my car. I was running late and decided to scarf the sandwich as I drove. The sandwich was steaming hot and the bread nicely grilled. I took a big bite. My teeth could not penetrate all the way through the sandwich... there was something unusually tough in the middle, like a thin piece of leather. I had to spit it out. I pulled over to examine the sandwich. It was wax paper. They had neglected to to remove the wax paper inserts from the pre-sliced cheese.

You know where I'm going with this...

Was it a deliberate mistake? No. Was it a careless mistake? Absolutely. Were their hearts in the right place? Probably. What message does the whole experience say to an outsider visiting this cluttered and confused establishment?

Too often, I believe our attempts to creatively serve our communities in the name of God are lacking sufficient competence, knowledge, and skill. We justify it by saying our hearts are in the right place. But isn't that just an excuse? We regard "the pursuit of excellence" as it if were a sin. I see and hear this all the time whether it is in our worship, ministry programs, or outreach efforts. This is a pet peeve of mine. In one of my personal ministry values, I wrote,

Excellence is not an accident nor is it a level of performance to be achieved. Rather it is a commitment to strive and honor God’s worth with our best effort and resources, punctuated by humility and holiness.

Granted, it seems that I am merely quantifying the impression of excellence in this context by external measurables and not by the fruit of their ministry. The lesson I'm attempting to convey is NOT to put obstacles in the way of a person's salvation experience. The pizza parlor pastor placed a high value in customer service, training, and mission. He did not achieve his place within the community through shoddy food and poor service.

The cafe I visited wasn't clean and orderly, the staff wasn't professional or courteous, the iced tea was sub-par, and the sandwich literally could've choked me. Now I could go deeper quantifying the sponsoring church's top-down vision, leadership training, and standards and practices, but you get the point - my experience did not reflect any implementation of these values. Quality is directly correlated to efficiency of our systems and practices.

Some claim 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 as an authoritative excuse not to pursue excellence. I disagree. I believe such an interpretation is taken out of context. In fact, I believe it means just the opposite. Paul clearly knows his audience and gives them only what they need. He is passionate about His Lord. Such standards are not accidental.

If someone is not aware of specific standards that should be upheld, then they cannot be held responsible for their actions. On the other hand, a person who understands standards combined with a passion for excellence can be trusted to do quality work every time. Which of these best describes the ministries and volunteers you come in contact with?

Ted Engstrom, former head of Youth for Christ and World Vision, defines excellence as follows:

Excellence is a measurement and assumes a standard of accountability. Yes or no. Make it or not.
Excellence demands a goal, and that's sticking your neck out to others.
Excellence demands priorities, and that's telling people what comes first in your life.
Excellence is a process, and that means continually checking progress.
Excellence has to do with style, and that means determining which gifts God has given you and how you should be responsible for those gifts.
Excellence has to do with motivation, and that's what it's all about!

"Holy shoddy, is still shoddy." ~ Elton Trueblood.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." ~ Aristotle

Friday Funnies: A Bluegrass cover of "I Kissed a Girl"

2010-04-23T07:00:00.004-04:00

The bluegrass comedy group The Cleverlys play a cover of Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl". Watch the singer's face as he reacts to the lyrics. The Cleverlys are a family band that cover songs by Fergie, U2, Yes, and others.

Speaking of Katy Perry, below is a video from when she was known as Katy Hudson, the gospel singer. She's just 16 years old in this clip, but she can really sing and displays great guitar chops.

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HT to Matthew Paul Turner

A Tale of Two Documentaries - reviews of "Requiem for Detroit" and "City of Heartbreak and Hope"

2010-04-21T14:49:00.018-04:00

Two separate but very similar documentaries about Detroit recently premiered on TV. Last month, British filmmaker Julien Temple’s documentary "Requiem for Detroit?" was shown on BBC2. It hasn’t officially been released in the U.S. yet, but there are bootleg copies floating around the web, including the full-length version on YouTube embedded below.

Secondly, last Sunday NBC Dateline presented "America Now: City of Heartbreak and Hope" featuring former native Detroiter, Chris Hansen.

Both documentaries covered the rise and fall of Detroit over the last 100 years, a city once known as the Paris of the West for its exquisite architecture and abundance of trees. Today, some refer to Detroit as the Beirut of the West for its urban blight and decay.

Detroit’s population peaked at over 1.8 million during the late 1950's & early '60's, making it the nations 4th largest city. Current estimates put the population in the 700,000 range.

One of the most impactful facts highlighted in both documentaries states that Detroit is a city of 143 square miles (139 sq mi are land, 4 sq mi are water) of which 40 square miles of land are now vacant and have been reclaimed by nature.

Hansen points out that 40 square miles is the same size as the entire city of Buffalo. To put it in another perspective, Disneyworld is also 40 square miles, including the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom combined.

In Temple’s words, Detroit feels like a slow-motion hurricane Katrina and could actually be in the process of disappearing from the face of the earth.

“The blackened corpses of hundreds of burned-out houses, pulled back to earth by the green tentacles of nature. Only the drunken rows of telegraph poles marching away across acres of wildflowers and prairie give any clue as to where teeming city streets might once have been.”

Temple wrote an op-ed column for the British newspaper The Guardian in which he said, "The only growth industry is the gangs of armed scrappers, who plunder copper and steel from the ruins. Rabid dogs patrol the streets. All the national supermarket chains have pulled out of the inner city. People have virtually nowhere to buy fresh produce. Starbucks? Forget it."

The Starbucks quote was taken to task by a writer for the Detroit News, who admittedly hasn’t seen the film and doesn't quite get his facts straight. Temple is correct regarding major retailers abandoning the city. If you want a Starbucks, you have to go the Ren-Cen (General Motors HQ), a casino, or in Midtown – but all three locations will cost you at least $10 in parking… There isn’t a Kroger or other supermarket chains within the city limits – nor are there any super-stores like Walmart or Target either…

The production values in “Requiem” are excellent, though for my taste the animation fills (a Temple trademark) and car-crash sound effects got annoying very quickly. Temple takes us on a colorful pictorial journey through history – a “destiny fatally entwined” with the automotive industry. Images and footage from some of the city’s landmarks are shown (both in their prime, but mostly in decay), including the old Packard and Fisher Body auto plants, the Michigan and United Artist Theaters, and the Lee Plaza Hotel (pictured at left).

Detroit was once the gateway to American Dream in the 20th century. It wasn’t just cars, but pretty much everything that is associated with western civilization and the modern industrial revolution were born here. Manufacturing, mass production, assembly lines, stop lights, freeways, shopping malls, suburbs, and the evolution of the middle-class workforce were all pioneered in Detroit.

Temple doesn’t shy away from Detroit’s history of racial and social tension. He chronicles the rise of the middle class, labor unions, the race riots of 1943 and 1967, and the subsequent “white-flight”. The auto companies promoted a color blind society of middle class opportunity, but they also stimulated racial tensions by the way they tried to manipulate the labor unions through race relations. Temple says that the automakers "imported the racial prejudices of the South into Detroit... a policy of virtual Apartheid that would eventually tear apart the very fabric of the city..." In my opinion, Temple’s commentary is too pat about the city's social ills. He doesn't delve into the city's long history of political corruption that also built the social barriers around the city. Remember, Detroit was the main source for importing illegal alcohol during the prohibition and politicians were bought. Hansen's documentary does touch on this as it relates to current headlines, but he doesn't go back in history to explore its roots.

The one fault I find in "Requiem" is that the commentaries are too one-dimensional about the city's plight. For example, one of Temple's narratives says the following about the expanse of suburbs,"By redrawing the map of the rapidly expanding city, the auto-barons were able to siphon the wealth out of Detroit and pay taxes into the coffers of their own private thieftains." But Temple doesn’t mention the thousands of European immigrants who also poured into the city. Also, Franklin D. Roosevelt referred to Detroit as "the great arsenal of democracy" because of the rapid conversion of much of the Detroit-area automotive plants to produce armaments during World War II. Temple acknowledges this fact, but the workers flocked here to support our allies and troops, not because of auto baron coercion. Suburbs and expansion were a necessary result of life before and after WWII. Temple's European perspective isn't always accurate.

On the other hand, Temple does a nice job of letting Detroiters tell our story, including activist Grace Lee Boggs, the Heidelberg Project artist Tyree Guyton, beat poet John Sinclair, as well as Lowell Boileau, and musicians Martha Reeves and Mitch Ryder. Personally, for me the most fascinating person was a guy name Logan X, an urban explorer, who takes the documentary crew through several abandoned buildings.

Temple concludes the film by showcasing grassroots urban renewal efforts including urban agriculture. I wish he would’ve spent more time developing and presenting this part of his 75 minute documentary. He paints a more positive note about Detroit’s future in his op-ed column:

"With the breakdown of 20th-century civilization, many Detroiters have discovered an exhilarating sense of starting over, building together a new cross-racial community sense of doing things, discarding the bankrupt rules of the past and taking direct control of their own lives. Still at the forefront of the American Dream, Detroit is fast becoming the first "post-American" city. And amid the ruins of the Motor City it is possible to find a first pioneer's map to the post-industrial future that awaits us all. So perhaps Detroit can avoid the fate of the lost cities of the Maya and rise again like the phoenix that sits, appropriately, on its municipal crest."

Hansen’s “City of Heartbreak and Hope” isn’t nearly as visually stunning as “Requiem”, but makes up for it through better investigative journalism and fact-finding. While Temple blames everything on automotive greed, Hansen gets to the heart of the matter – Detroit’s infrastructure. For years Detroit has been operating a city government and school system designed to serve a population of 2 million, when in reality the population has shrunk to less than half that. For decades, both entities have been exploited by incompetence and corruption, leaving the City government and school system hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. Newly elected Mayor Dave Bing and emergency school manager Dr. Robert Bobb are grounded in reality, with both preaching the message that Detroit has to downsize significantly in order to survive.

Hansen also effectively uses a touching human interest story of a single, unemployed mom, Cordette Grantling who has been taking in abandoned children for 25 years. This remarkable woman knows what it takes to survive in Detroit and in life. Her story is a fitting allegory to the city’s troubles and hope for the future. Detroit knows it has problems, but her people are gritty, determined, and will give you the shirt off their backs if needed.

Both documentaries are not without controversy. Hansen’s has received mixed reviews in the local media. The Mayor’s office also released this statement expressing displeasure in not equally showcasing the other side of Detroit.

Both documentaries are worth the time to watch in my opinion, but neither one tells the complete story. My disappointment with both productions is how they almost completely ignore the renewal efforts taking place, as well as our cultural heritage and the quality of life in the surrounding suburbs. They touch on it, but not in a significant way.

Detroit’s culture is rich. Motown music is legendary, but Detroit also gave birth to punk, garage band, techno, and hip-hop. Detroit’s jazz scene is also highly regarded. The city’s orchestra has flirted with world-class status for decades, held back only by labor rifts. North America’s first certified world-class master chef was based in Detroit. Chef Milos Cihelka’s culinary protégés are located throughout the metro area.

Detroit does boast some beautiful neighborhoods, including the historic Boston-Edison district and Palmer Park. The downtown entertainment district continues to expand with show venues, eateries, loft apartments and condos.

I’m a native of the suburbs, but during my college years, I lived in the Detroit. Post-college I worked in the inner-city for an ecclesiastical neighborhood development organization. It was located in one Detroit’s worst neighborhoods notorious for its famous drug lords. The fruit of this program received the 107th Point of Light award from President George H. Bush and we were also featured in a PBS documentary that aired nationwide. I’ve talked with hundreds of current and formers residents. There isn’t much I haven’t scene or heard about Detroit.

In my last job, I endured a lot of ridicule for living in metro Detroit. People were shocked when I told them that metro Detroit's suburbs are among the most affluent in the nation. Cross over the infamous 8 Mile Road and you enter Oakland County, which is currently the fourth wealthiest county in the entire United States. Before the recent economic downturn, it was the second wealthiest county. Even during economic stress, the standard of living in metro Detroit still rates extremely high.

In Money magazine’s Top 100 Best Places to Live, which measures quality of life standards, metro Detroit consistently ranks at least 6-7 cities on this list. There is no other metropolitan area in the U.S. with that many cities listed. None. Not even close. Last month, Business Week magazine named Berkley Michigan (a Detroit suburb) the best suburb in the U.S. in terms of affordability and quality of life. A few years ago, Livonia Michigan was named the best U.S. city to raise a family.

Yes, Detroit has problems and is years away from recovery. It may not happen in my lifetime. As the auto companies go, so goes the city. Two of the big 3 (GM and Chrysler) were in bankruptcy last year. Just last week, a report listed Detroit as one of the world’s 10 most unsafe places to live. New Orleans was the only other U.S. city on the list. My hope and prayer is Detroit will rise again and become North America’s first truly post-American city.

Located at a municipal building in downtown Detroit is a large bronze monument known as The Spirit of Detroit. The sculpture has been a city icon ever since its dedication in 1958. A sketch or watermark of the statue appears as the central element on most of the logos of Detroit's city departments and services.

The wall behind the sculpture bears an inscription from 2 Corinthians 3:17, "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." The root words in this verse are a reference to Isaiah 61:

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners… They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. (vs. 1 & 4)

May Isaiah’s prophecy of Spirit and renewal ring true again today.

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How Awesome is Your Youth Director, part deux: 11 traits of awesomeness

2010-04-14T09:10:00.000-04:00

Yesterday's tongue-in-cheek post, How Awesome is Your Youth Director? A scorecard, received several comments on my Facebook page from youth worker friends. To continue the conversation on a more serious level, I'm repeating the following post from last year - 11 traits of a great youth worker. The first 9 were borrowed from Tim Schmoyer's blog Life in Student Ministry. I've added some comments as well as two additional traits.

Secondly, embedded below is Travis Hawkin's popular video about an impressive youth director. How many traits of awesomeness does this illustrious youth leader have? What would you add or subtract from the following list?

1. They don’t know everything
The funny thing about knowledge is that the more you know, the more you realize how much you don’t know. Great youth workers are more than willing to admit that they don’t know everything. In fact, those who have been in ministry for decades are the ones who admit that they have the most learning to do!

Don't be afraid of what you don't know. A good youth leader doesn't have to have all the answers. Dr. Kara Powell's research through the Fuller Youth Institute shows that students who have the freedom to express their doubts about faith in high school were more likely to have an enduring faith through college. It isn't about having the quick answer but rather being secure enough to allow these kinds of conversations to occur within our youth groups.

2. They are teachable and humble
Since great youth workers are willing to admit that they don’t know everything, they are also very teachable and open to learning from others. That doesn’t mean they accept all input as wisdom, but they’re at least willing to honestly weigh it against their experience and make any adjustment as deemed necessary.

3. They are approachable
There’s that unspoken quality of great youth leaders where people just feel comfortable talking with them openly and privately, not because the leader signed an agreement to be confidential, but because they are naturally trustworthy and respected.

4. They spend time with the Lord
There’s a saying that that behind every great leader is a great spouse, but even more importantly, there is a great God in front of them with whom that leader communes with every day. A youth leader can only be great when they are first and foremost wholeheartedly following the Lord in their own personal life.

5. They take plenty of time off
A good youth leader recognizes that youth ministry is a marathon, not a sprint. They establish healthy boundaries in ministry, they maintain good relationships at home, and take plenty of time to keep their emotional and physical batteries charged, knowing that they are no good to anyone else if they don’t first keep their own lives in check.

6. They train others, then delegate
A good youth worker knows that ministry is not about trying to do it all on their own. Instead, they equip the body of Christ for service and then, once properly trained, they hand aspects of the ministry off to other people, knowing that only then will the ministry really start to grow.

7. They never stop learning
Reading both ministry and non-ministry material is a regular part of any good youth worker’s schedule. They attend seminars when possible and regularly interact with other youth workers who challenge and stimulate their thinking. This ensures that both their minds and ministry will never fall into a rut.

8. They model more than they teach
The most effective learning takes place when something is caught, not taught. Great youth leaders know this and live lives that are continually investing into the teenagers and parents around them, not only from a stage, but in everyday life by letting them see how faith and real life intersect in their own lives all the time.

Bill Hybels often shares an "a ha" moment that occurred when he realized that his church members remember virtually nothing from his sermons, but they do remember the conversations they shared with him one-on-one over coffee. The life he modeled in those moments far outweighed the content of any sermon. Preaching correct doctrine is essential, but as Tim Keller says, it is naive and non-biblical to think everything else will fall into place if you just preach correct doctrine.

9. They admit weaknesses
Not only do they admit weaknesses, but they don’t dwell on them either. Instead, they delegate their areas of weakness in ministry to someone who is strong in that area. Together they form a team that is exponentially more powerful than they were apart.

10. They don't fear culture
To quote Mark Oestreicher in his book Youth Ministry 3.0, "... like good missionaries, youth workers need to become contextual specialists... What's needed are cultural anthropologists." It's not about being "best-friends" with your kids or becoming one and the same with them. Like a missionary, a great youth worker engages with culture and ministers contextually with humility and grace as a guest within particular people group or tribe, working towards acceptance. To do so, you must learn the language and customs of the tribe and translate the Truth into their culture.

11. They are intergenerational
Youth workers understand that their leadership needs to be balanced and not just made up of young twenty-somethings. They understand that youth ministry is not an isolated culture, but an integrated sub-culture within the larger church community. Again, Dr Powell's research shows that students within an "intergenerational ministry", i.e. students who have meaningful engagement with the adults through church ministry, do far better post high school.

Great youth workers also understand that the leadership values and methodologies of their generation are different from the previous generations. Thus the Millennials and Gen-X&Y youth worker seeks to understand their differences and find common ground with their Senior Pastor and Elders from the Baby-boomers and Baby-builders generation.

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"How Awesome is Your Youth Director?" A scorecard

2010-04-13T10:59:00.002-04:00

Yesterday Jon Acuff at Stuff Christians Like posted another one of his comical lists describing the stereotypical church employee. This time it was the youth minister.

Here are a few samples:

1. Has at any point made one of the students cry because they are so competitive in the sports. = +2 points

5. They can burp the entire five points of Calvinism. = +10 points

6. They are awesome at Frisbee golf = +1 point

8. Their toddler can throw a Frisbee farther than you can. = +3 points

10. They’ve had a “talking to” from the elders. = +2 points per each talking to

11. They have a goatee. = +1 point

14. They work at another job because they love the youth but can’t afford to live on the salary the church pays. = +100 points

22. They have been known to wear fanny packs on mission trips. = -3 points

28. They once made someone pee in a Mountain Dew bottle because they didn’t want to stop during a road trip. = +3 points

33. Once convinced the church to pay for an official youth group event that may have involved going to a U2 concert. = +15 points

34. Justifies iPad purchase as “something I need because a lot of my students have one.” = +3 points

37. Dresses 12 years younger than their actual age. = -2 points

39. Named youth group something extreme. = +2 points

40. The extreme name starts with a lowercase “i,” e.g. “iExperience” or “iYouth.” = +3 points.

43. Designed a cool youth group room at church, complete with working traffic light, a booth from a coffee shop and a mural. = +3 points

45. 80% of their wardrobe consists of free t-shirts from camps and conferences. = +1 point

46. Had to explain to church elders that a summer mission trip is not the same thing as a vacation. = +2 points (this is something I had to do once at I church I served at)

47. Is on a first-name basis with the people at the laser tag arena or local skate park = +2 points

51. Has a tattoo and explains that if you look at it in the right light, it has deeper meaning as a witnessing tool. = +3 points

52. Tells youth group that the Psalms are kind of emo. = +1 point

56. Has full knowledge of all the names of Target and Sams Club knock off sodas. = +2 points

57. Has ever purchased “sandwich cremes” instead of Oreos. = +3 points

67. Still making Chuck Norris jokes. = – 2 points

73. Believes no youth retreat is complete without a “fear factor” session, complete with habanero peppers and beef & peas baby food. = +3 points

75. Wakes up at 4:30 am on youth retreats and runs down the halls singing “Rise and shine, and Give God the glory glory” at the top of his lungs while banging on doors to wake everyone up: = +10 points

80. Owns Justin Bieber CD because it helps them relate to students, but secretly loves it. = +2 points

108. Has ever accidentally left a youth at a rest stop while on a road trip. = +1 point

113. Owns all the Nooma videos. = +3 points

114. Owns a Nerf gun that is so big they had to register it with the state. = +3 points

To see the entire list, as well as the scoreboard, click this link, Wondering How Youthtastic your Youth Minister is? Also, be sure to read some of the comments.

A Case of the Monday's - April 12, 2010

2010-04-12T11:27:00.006-04:00

It's the Monday after Easter break. Time to catch up on a week's worth of random thoughts, links, videos and articles... and no, I don't have too much time on my hands. Seriously... just yesterday I clipped my gerbil's toenails. That was intense. Today I'm going to organize the spice cupboard by Country of origin before going to my OCD support group...

I found the following New York Times Op-Ed, Learning from the Sin of Sodom, to be a well written as well as a fair and balanced treatment on the shift in faith-based social justice efforts. I posted it on Facebook and several people commented how good this article was.

I'm not a Kate Gosselin fan. Her performance on last week's Dancing with the Stars was hard to watch and highly criticized by the media. Her interpretation of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" was spoofed by Jimmy Fallon. Check out Jimmy's superior technical prowess in the paso doble compared to Kate in this hilarious video. Her dancing abilities are no match for her diva personality. I personally don't understand why she hasn't been voted off yet, unless America really enjoys watching a delusional woman who claims to be dancing for her kids and single moms everywhere, when in reality she seems to enjoy overextending her 15 minutes of fame. Either way, ABC is enjoying the ratings.

This April Fools video by a Biola University Math professor Matthew Weathers is as awesomely clever as it is funny. His Halloween lecture video is also great.

I was shocked to read this: "Last week, Forbes magazine published what the top U.S. corporations paid in taxes last year. 'Most egregious,' Forbes notes, is General Electric, which 'generated $10.3 billion in pretax income, but ended up owing nothing to Uncle Sam. In fact, it recorded a tax benefit of $1.1 billion.' Big Oil giant Exxon Mobil, which last year reported a record $45.2 billion profit, paid the most taxes of any corporation, but none of it went to the IRS." (HT to AlterNet)

I was truly blessed by this blog post from Mark Oestreicher. We both have experienced job losses recently and have encouraged each other via email about "what's next?" in our respective journeys. I appreciate Marko's transparency as he describes his personal "mini-revival" and a shift from his once busy pace to a new life with more emotional connection and intimacy with God.

Lately, I've been kicking around some ideas in my head for song writing. Some of these ideas include writing R&B arrangements of my favorite hymns. While doing some research on the hymn, "And Can it Be?", I came across this interesting article by R.C. Sproul examining the theological accuracy of this beloved hymn.

Last Friday marked the 40th anniversary of the Beatles break up. I read that their compilation album "1" was the best-selling album of the last decade (2000-2010). That's pretty impressive considering the lads from Liverpool haven't recorded anything together in the studio since 1969. Here are the links to the last live concert they ever gave from the movie "Let it Be". Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.

Speaking of music, last night at youth group one of the youth shared this video of the band Jesserit covering Owl City's "Fireflies". It's awesome and IMO better then the original! I also like this cover of the same song by the talented vocalist/keyboardist Diane Birch. Speaking of Owl City, it is actually a one-man-band featuring Adam Young. Adam talks about his Christian faith here. (HT to Josh Walker for the Jesserit clip)

Last week I wrote a post about the homegoing of the iMonk, Michael Spencer. That post ended up as a link on several other blogs around the world in memorial tributes and my blog received 3-4 times the usual visitors. Michael's influence was that big. Here are two nice tributes (here and here) about Michael's life and ministry.

Another one of my blog posts, this one about "social justice and responsibility", apparently struck a kindred chord with a grassroots movement in Sweden. I had no idea... Check out their response.

Empty School

2010-04-09T15:11:00.002-04:00

I love this. One student in an empty school making a song with the school as his instrument. This is a very creative video made by a high school student. The concept, filming and editing are all excellent.

Facebook and RSS readers, this is a post from my blog. Click here to view the video.

Friday Funnies: the most awesome ballet ever!

2010-04-09T08:43:00.001-04:00

Over the years, we've attended several performances of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet. I usually fall asleep during the second half. No one told me I was missing such awesomeness! In the clip below, watch the Tiger on left. It takes place during the Arabian dance sequence. The stage exit is the best part. I wonder if it was the last show?

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Identifying and Connecting with 6 Types of Students

2010-04-08T11:30:00.000-04:00

As a shepherd to students, it's a good idea for the youth director to take inventory of his/her sheep and better understand what their connecting point to the youth ministry is.

Jonathan McKee has produced this short video to help with that task by identifying 6 categories of students you will likely encounter in ministry.

Facebeek and RSS readers, click here to view the video.

The Heartbreak of Silence

2010-04-06T13:58:00.004-04:00

"I believe in the sun even when it isn't shining. I believe in love even when I am alone. I believe in God even when he is silent." There are different variations of this quote, some attribute it to a message found scrawled on a cellar wall where Jews had hidden in World War II in Cologne, Germany. I don't know whether that is true or not, but it does make for an engaging story to those who are broken and hurting.

I've often heard testimonies from people who describe times when God seems silent or distant. It's been 20+ years since I've felt that way. I've always sensed His presence during these years, whether through His word, worship, a prompting, answered prayer or a blessing so unexpected and perfect that it could only be from above. Privately I've actually dismissed anyone who claimed to feel the silence of God. That is, until now...

About a year ago, I sensed within my spirit that my life was about to be pruned in a big way. I felt that God was behind this and it would be for my benefit and His glory. Honestly, I wasn't looking forward to the experience. I liken it to knowing you require major surgery - the anticipation sucks, but in the end it brings better health and a new perspective. Many things have happened to me since then. I'd like to say that the people God used in this process were gracious or wise, but that hasn't always been the case. I am reminded daily of our total depravity. I still wrestle with some emotional rawness, but I'm humbled by glimpses of His grace. I still wait for the voice of God and the light that reveals how He was in this through it all...

Elmer Towns wrote, "Times of isolation are hard on people because God created people for relationship. Separation from God causes alienation from people. The sense of "lostness" we experience during these times makes us unsure and takes away confidence. As a result, we second guess everything and begin feeling bad. We can identify with David when he said, 'I will say to God my Rock, 'Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?'" (Ps. 2:9).

Everyone fears abandonment, especially in relationships. It can literally kill you. Credible studies now reveal that a broken marriage or realtionship is a significant contributor to heart disease - it will literally break your heart. A broken heart is regarded as a real medical condition that is like a real heart attack. The condition, called stress cardiomyopathy, or "broken heart" syndrome, is recognized by researchers at John Hopkins.

Jesus experienced the ultimate heartbreak from abandonement and silence. He said that he and the Father are one (John 10:30). When the Spirit of God descended upon Jesus, the Father declared, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). But when darkness descended upon Calvary's hill on Good Friday, the Father turned His face and the Son cried, "My God, my God, why...?" "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (Mark 15:34). For the first time in all eternity, Jesus was alone and abandoned. No Father... no relationship, no answers to his plea... just silence. It may be the loneliest and most painful question ever asked in human history.

Theologically we know the answer to the question and because of the separation and silence Jesus endured on our behalf, we know we will never be forsaken.

For several months, I just feel like I'm on the dark side of the moon awaiting to come into the light and make radio contact again. Until then, I have much learning and growing to do from the "silence of God".

Last week I stumbled upon this remarkable song by an artist I was not familiar with. The song is "The Silence of God" by Andrew Peterson. The lyrics are honest and powerful. Check out the video and lyrics below.

It’s enough to drive a man crazy; it’ll break a man’s faith
It’s enough to make him wonder if he’s ever been sane
When he’s bleating for comfort from Thy staff and Thy rod
And the heaven’s only answer is the silence of God

It’ll shake a man’s timbers when he loses his heart
When he has to remember what broke him apart
This yoke may be easy, but this burden is not
When the crying fields are frozen by the silence of God

And if a man has got to listen to the voices of the mob
Who are reeling in the throes of all the happiness they’ve got
When they tell you all their troubles have been nailed up to that cross
Then what about the times when even followers get lost?
‘Cause we all get lost sometimes…

There’s a statue of Jesus on a monastery knoll
In the hills of Kentucky, all quiet and cold
And He’s kneeling in the garden, as silent as a Stone
All His friends are sleeping and He’s weeping all alone

And the man of all sorrows, he never forgot
What sorrow is carried by the hearts that he bought
So when the questions dissolve into the silence of God
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
In the holy, lonesome echo of the silence of God

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HT to Kevin DeYoung for the video.

Remembering the iMonk: Michael Spencer (1956-2010)

2010-04-05T23:45:00.006-04:00

I just learned tonight via Facebook that Michael Spencer, the Internet Monk, lost his battle with cancer today. It's a loss for Christian bloggers and readers everywhere. Mike's blog was consistently rated one of the best Christian blogs by Christian leaders and media writers. He also hosted another blog called The Boar's Head Tavern, as well as a popular podcast. His work has been reproduced or quoted by several major media outlets including CNN and TIME.

Michael had that kind of influence. When he posted something provocative, everyone picked up on it. Last year, his three posts entitled The Coming Evangelical Collapse were condensed into an article and published by the Christian Science Monitor. Every major secular media outlet picked it up including CNN, MSNBC, Yahoo, and USA Today. The blogosphere ignited with commentaries and opinion about the article. One favorite story I have of his blog is when he posted the spoof video, Ignatius, about the less than virtuous youth director.  About 150 people left comments in response to it. Some people thought the video depicted a real person. The comments were so heated, that the director of the video had to post a comment to assure certain readers that Ignatius was not a real person. The video went viral on several sites after that. That was the kind of influence iMonk had.

My regrets are that Michael's life was taken much too early and I came to know his work too late. I never met Michael face-to-face, but I wanted to.  Our backgrounds and convictions were similar. We exchanged emails once - I had asked permission to reproduce one of his posts, The Shepherd of These Hills, for a training manual I was assembling for our Appalachian Impact student mission trips. I sent him an email explaining who I was as a denominational student ministries director, what our trips were about and how his post would be used if he granted permission to include it in our manual. His email reply contained just one word, "honored".  That humble response made my day.

Michael, tonight as I read the comments left on your blogs, I see how much you were loved and how much you will be missed.  Your family is in my prayers. I regret that we never connected more online or in the hills of Kentucky, but I respected you and your work.  Today you are free from the bondage of cancer and now in the presence of the One you love most. I look forward to meeting you on the other side.

Gethsemane: Believe the Lie

2010-04-02T17:41:00.007-04:00

I used to love watching the Fox TV show "The X-Files" during the early years of its run (the later years were too silly and campy for me). In the season finale of season 4, the show's episode was entitled "Gethsemane". The tagline for this episode was changed from the usual, "The Truth is Out There" to "Believe the Lie". The title is an allusion to the biblical garden of Gethsemane where Jesus Christ was arrested because he was betrayed by Judas.

This episode earned the shows highest ratings ever, due in part to the plot's implication of Fox Mulder's death. According to Chris Carter, the show's creator, "The whole plot line of "Gethsemane" revolved around a hoax... And it's an amazing thing that we could get people to believe that Mulder could actually kill himself because his belief system was stolen from him."

I remember the episode well, because you could really feel Mulder's sense of hopelessness. As a child he witnessed his sister's abduction by extraterrestrials. He spent his entire professional career as an FBI special agent investigating paranormal activity in an attempt to scientifically prove the existence of extraterrestrial life - and ultimately find his sister. A series of carefully fabricated events designed to bankrupt his belief system, brings Mulder to the point of contemplating suicide. In the episode's' final scene, Mulder is sitting in his apartment, drinking heavily and watching a video of his hero, Dr. J. Allen Hynek, a noted astronomer, professor, and ufologist. A gun is positioned near Mulder. The camera pans away and as the screen fades to black, you here a gunshot...

Yesterday I posted an interview between an illustrious atheist and a well known Unitarian minister. The minister claims to be a Christian despite confessing agnostic convictions and dismissing the Bible as metaphorical. A friend of mine commented on the post, via Facebook, saying the atheist was so much "closer" to salvation than the minister because the atheist's convictions were "reasonable and logical, and therefore more prone to admit his fallen state." The liberal minister was living in a world "completely void of reason". I couldn't agree with him more. It's not heresy to say that in this context. In the interview, even the atheist called into question the usefulness of the minister's orthodoxy.

That's the problem I have with pastor's that embrace liberal theology. I always want to ask them "What hope can you possible offer to your people?" and "Why do you collect a paycheck preaching the stuff you don't even believe?"

A new study called Preachers Who are Not Believers was just released by the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. It probed the answer to similar questions and more through intensive and confidential interviews with 5 ordained pastors from different mainline denominations who are "closeted non-believers". It's compelling reading told mostly in first person narrative. Some of the comments are stunning:

"I reject the virgin birth. I reject substitutionary atonement. I reject the divinity of Jesus. I reject heaven and hell in the traditional sense, and I am not alone. I am a ‘Jesus Follower’ for sure. It is arguable whether I am also a ‘Christian.’ I can't imagine continuing in this work if I did not have a strong personal faith of some kind. My cognitive dissonance revolves around the urge to rescue others who find themselves in the same boat - and who still strongly believe in God in some sense, and find Jesus a compelling religious figure."

"This is not only the course of my live [sic] I’ve chosen to pursue, but I provide for my family this way. So if I’m having this cognitive dissonance, then sure, I’ve got to come to terms with how I do this in a genuine way. And at what point do I not do it any longer."

"Here’s how I’m handling my job on Sunday mornings: I see it as play acting. I kind of see myself as taking on a role of a believer in a worship service, and performing. Because I know what to say. I know how to pray publicly. I can lead singing. I love singing. I don’t believe what I’m saying anymore in some of these songs. But I see it as taking on the role and performing. Maybe that’s what it takes for me to get myself through this, but that’s what I’m doing."

"I didn’t plan to become an atheist. I didn’t even want to become an atheist. It’s just that I had no choice. If I’m being honest with myself."

"I couldn’t ask for a better wife... She doesn’t need to hear this right now. It’s not going to serve any of us. I feel like when the time’s right, I can talk to her about it... it’s going to turn her life upside-down…she’s a very dedicated Christian..."

Not all of the ministers were of a liberal persuasion when they entered the ministry. Interestingly, those that initially upheld conservative evangelical views didn't gravitate towards liberalism before embracing atheism or agnosticism. They were conservative and then they were non-believers. The report suggests the one common element amongst this group of ministers that led to their doubts, whether liberal or literalistic, was their seminary experience.

In a sense, these five "professional Christians" have entered into their own Garden of Gethsemane to reconcile their destiny. Some realize they have to be honest with themselves and their flocks and find another career. Some question how will they maintain their standard of living and pay their mortgage and other monetary debts. For others, telling their wives of their crisis of faith will be the hardest thing they ever do. Yet another isn't looking for a way out of his situation, but hoping he can influence the people around him to change, saying:

"I’m interested in community, relationships. And I believe the argument could be made that that’s what Jesus was interested in anyway. So I can do that at the local church level. And I’m also there for people who are recovering Christians. There are a lot of people out there who have been damaged by Christianity. And they feel guilty that they’re not a Christian --- or that they’re not practicing or whatever. I’m their ideal pastor, because they can come to me and be told that they don’t need to feel guilty."

For him, Gethsemane means, believe the lie...

The truth is out there. Today is Good Friday. Yesterday and today Christians gathered for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services to worship and reflect on the events that took Jesus from Gethsemane to Golgotha. This is a story that can leave one feeling distraught and hopeless like Fox Mulder, because the story ends in the violent death of an innocent man and it robs us of our belief system. Onlookers at the Cross, both believers and doubters, must've wondered why Jesus didn't save himself. There were no angels, no miracle, no demonstration of supernatural power. The nails seemingly secured his failure into the wood of the cross. What about the prophecies, the angels voices, the wise men, the shepherds, John the Baptist, all those who witnessed miracles? Everything ended in utter shame and weakness...

But of course that's not the end of the story... the whole story resolves on Resurrection Sunday. As Tony Campolo says, "It's only Friday, but Sunday's a comin'."

Jesus began His surrender to weakness in Gethsemane with a prayer for glory. In John 17, he uses the word "glory" eight times in His prayer. Jesus as the hope of glory willingly remained on the cross, refusing to use the power at His disposal to end the shame. Frederick Buechner wrote that the real miracle of Calvary was that there was no miracle. It was the greatest victory. Paul's reveals God's amazing strategy this way:

"But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are..." 1 Corinthians 1:27-28

Jesus defeated the mighty Roman empire and the religious establishment through His own weakness. He conquered death through His own death. He revealed His Kingship unlike any other king. Again Paul says,

"Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them at the cross." Colossians 2:15

When Jesus prayed that night for God's glory, he prayed for you and me (John 17:20, 24). It was this hope in glory awaiting that sustained Paul through all his suffering. It is this same hope that sustains us in life as the reason for life. As Tim Keller says, "The English word that always translates the Greek word for 'hope' never translates it well. Biblical hope is rooted in eternity.  It is life changing certainty about the future and being certain about the future in a way that affects how you live now."

We are hope based creatures. We are controlled by what we think will happen latter. Christian hope has to do with the ultimate future, not the immediate.  Our hunger for heaven, our sense of incompleteness now, and our joy yet to come draws us to the cross.

The early Christians had a saying for that hunger - "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). This is my prayer for the five aforementioned pastors and my new prayer for pastors in general.

Jesus invites us to our own Gethsemane, to give Him all of our shame and weakness in exchange for the hope of glory.  For followers of Christ, Gethsemane means believing the truth is out there.

HT to Jonathan Mauney for the Tufts' link via Facebook.

An Atheist and a Unitarian walk into a bar...

2010-04-01T14:29:00.001-04:00

Today is April fools day, but the following is not a joke. It is a real interview between the renowned atheist Christopher Hitchens and retired Unitarian minister Marilyn Sewell. It's a fascinating read. After a couple of paragraphs you'll be hooked...

The complete interview can be read here. It was published in the Portland Monthly, January 2010.

A couple of observations:

First, Rev. Sewell describes herself as "a Christian and a person of faith." Yet when it comes to the existence of God, she regards "God" as a metaphor and that she's "kind of an agnostic" when it comes to God as an interventionist. Hitchins politely schools Sewell on orthodoxy and her humanistic theology as shown in the excerpt below-

MS: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

CH: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.

Secondly, Hitchens has a very high regard for the arts (i.e. literature, poetry, music, sculpture, etc). He uses the words “transcendent” and “numinous” to describe pinnacles of human creativity - something that is achieved beyond their thinking abilities or by hand. But he is quick to point out that such impulses are human and not God-given.

Conversely Hitchens brother, Peter Hitchens, a journalist and now author of an autobiography: The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith, shares the same affinity for the arts . In the interview below, Peter shares how the arts had a profound impact on his coming to faith in Christ.

Peter Hitchens Author Interview--The Rage Against God from Gorilla Poet Productions on Vimeo.

Facebook and RSS readers, this is a post from my blog contianing video. Click on the link above to view.

HT to Dan Rose

Best Youth Ministry Resources - from a panel of experts

2010-03-31T10:04:00.003-04:00

Whenever I attend a youth ministry conference, I often find that the best takeaways, at least for me, are learning about books, websites, curriculum and similar resources that other youth workers use and recommend. Ironically these money moments usually happen during impromptu forums and informal sharing times rather than the plenary or breakout sessions.

The current issue (March 2010) of Youthworker Journal features some great articles about resources for improved effectiveness in working with teens. These resource recommendations come from a rock-star list of youth ministry gurus, including Dan Kimball, Duffy Robbins, Ginny Olson, Mark DeVries, Chris Folmsbee, Mark Oestreicher, Jonathan McKee, Jim Burns, and Andrew Root.

The following article contains their picks for best youth ministry books, youth culture resources, leadership books, youth bible study resources, best website, favorite conferences and more. Best of the Best Roundtable: Experts Pick the Top Methods and Resources for Youth Ministry.

This issue also contains similar articles for college ministry and middle school ministry.

"I am Holding Half an Acre..."

2010-03-29T13:30:00.008-04:00

My first boyhood home was in Canada, only about a 1/2 mile from Lake Ontario. I never ventured to the lake by myself, that half mile was intersected by a highway too big for a boy my age to cross alone. Besides there was too much to explore on our side of the road. In our backyard beyond the picket fence was a huge wooded field. Further up was an apple orchard and beyond that was a flowing stream. It was my own 100 acre wood. In reality, I have no idea how big it really was, but to a child, it was bigger than life. These woods were a boy's paradise with wonderful places to explore, pretend and hide. There were trees to climb, willows to swing from, apples to pick and throw, small animals to chase and birds to watch. The stream ran clear most of the year. In the spring, the run of spawning smelt would find us with our plastic sandbox pales. You could literally dip them into the water and they would be filled with silvery smelt. I would return home triumphantly declaring to my mother that I had caught tonight's dinner. Strangely, she never cooked them...

After dark, the woods were too scary to venture out. In the distance you could hear the barking of dogs presumably coming from the mysterious junkyard that bordered the woods. All of us kids genuinely believed that the dogs were big, evil, and known to consume children. We weren't supposed to go near the junkyard... but there was no fence surrounding the property, so our curiosity took us there occasionally during the day to explore and play on the giant rusted steam shovels. I never saw any dogs, or humans for that matter, but I did get in trouble from my parents for going there. Other than that, this was an adventurous and happy time in my life...

But after my older brother died, my family moved from Ontario to Michigan. I was almost six years old. Several years later, I returned to my former hometown for my 40th birthday. The neighborhood was smaller than I remember and the surrounding woods were now developed. The junkyard was now occupied by expensive condos. It was nice to see that the old neighborhood was actually a very desirable place to live.

It has been a long time since I played in my own 100 acre wood, but the memories still remain and fill me with a “divine discontent and longing,” as Kenneth Grahame’s Mole said in The Wind and the Willows. There is an emptiness there that only God can fill.

Curiosity has led me to discover the following song, "Half Acre" by the alternative folk band, Hem. This haunting melody will sound familiar - for several years now it is been featured in commercials for Liberty Mutual. The commercials feature a series of perpetual "pay-it-forward" events and conclude with the tagline "Responsibility, what's your policy?"

My curiosity was piqued by the snippet of lyrics featured in the commercial. What was she singing? So I searched for the song and lyrics. The lyrics are very meaningful to me personally, but I wonder do they really have anything to do with the commercial's theme? They almost seem Holden Caulfield-like, who is a study in cynicism and aimlessness in J.D. Salinger's, The Catcher in the Rye.

I am holding half an acre
Torn from the map of Michigan
And folded in this scrap of paper
Is the land I grew in

Think of every town you've lived in
Every room you lay your head
And what is it that you remember

Do you carry every sadness with you
Every hour your heart was broken
Every night the fear and darkness
Lay down with you

A man is walking on the highway
A woman stares out at the sea
And light is only now just breaking

So we carry every sadness with us
Every hour our hearts were broken
Every night the fear and darkness
Lay down with us

But I am holding half an acre
Torn from the map of Michigan
I am carrying this scrap of paper

That can crack the darkest sky wide open
Every burden taken from me
Every night my heart unfolding

All of us have a longing for our lives to have purpose, but also to make a difference in the lives of others. We are created for longing and hope - and to give it away. When we become jaded like Caulfield, we ignore those who are falling over the edge, hoping someone else will do it. But the longing is still there and it haunts us.

Erwin McManus writes: This is the mystery of the human spirit, that God never intended for us to live hopeless lives. When we treat the future as something that happens to us, we become passive, apathetic, and even paralyzed. When we embrace our unique place in creation, when we believe that God created us to create, it begins to change everything for us. It not only empowers us to live, but it holds us responsible for life. Not only our lives, but the lives of everyone we could affect for good." (emphasis added).

Responsibility... maybe the insurance company had it right all along?

Perhaps my divine discontent is the longing for the adventure of our eternal place. In the meantime, I have some responsibilities here.

A white-tailed deer drinks from the creek; I want to drink God, deep draughts of God. I'm thirsty for God-alive. I wonder, "Will I ever make it — arrive and drink in God's presence?" I'm on a diet of tears - tears for breakfast, tears for supper. All day long people knock at my door, Pestering, "Where is this God of yours?"

These are the things I go over and over, emptying out the pockets of my life. I was always at the head of the worshiping crowd, right out in front, Leading them all, eager to arrive and worship, Shouting praises, singing thanksgiving - celebrating, all of us, God's feast!

Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul? Why are you crying the blues? Fix my eyes on God — soon I'll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He's my God. Psalm 42:1-5 (The Message)

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Friday Funnies: The difference between British and American surfers...

2010-03-26T16:50:00.001-04:00

...it's all in the accent.

This is from last night's Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

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Virtual Choir

2010-03-24T11:23:00.001-04:00

This concept gets me very excited thinking about its potential. You just have to see and hear the results. This is a hybrid of virtual and reality in the form of a 185 voice choir. This project is a colloboration between composer/conductor Eric Whitacre and 185 random vocalists from 12 countries, singing his 9 part composition "Lux Aurumque".

Each singer recorded their own part indivudially by following Eric's conductor video which included all instructions and cues. All they needed was a webcam and headphones. Last July, he posted the announcement and instructions on a blog and the results are astounding!

There are numerous uploads on Youtube showcasing the individual singer's recordings. Some were creative by uploaded their own multi-track version. Below is the final mixed and edited version. It may not be Carnegie Hall, but it is something truly amazing made possible only through technology. It is well worth watching.

Below is another example of a virtual musical collaboration using the same technique. It is a virtual version of "We are the World ". It is much better than the We are the World 25 remake.

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a Rant, a Billboard, and the Ministry of Presence

2010-03-23T12:41:00.003-04:00

The following story is one of most practical and innovative Missional ideas I've ever heard.

"More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them." ~ Henri Nouwen

The above words from Henri Nouwen probably sum up a lot of how people in ministry feel. It is their heart's desire to be more present, to listen, pray, and hug their people. But time spent fulfilling agendas demanded by organizational structure seems to undo what we want and should be doing - connection to those who are lost, hurting, and seeking.

Nouwen died in 1996 just a few years before the tech explosion that made social media accessible and easier to connect or reconnect with one another. Sure there's nothing like face-to-face community, especially for those are used to that, but there's a whole generation of millennials that are more comfortable connecting through texting - even while in the same room.

Many ministers of the Gospel wrestle with the usage of social media. You can literally draw a generational line separating those who embrace it and those who don't. For some it's a theological issue - God is personal, but salvation is not private (Eph 3:18, Heb 10:25).

But for those ministers who do embrace technology and are social media savvy, there is this frustration that comes when your congregation doesn't embrace it with you. Why bother with blogging, tweeting, or eNewsletters when it seems that no one is reading them? You find yourself saying, "What a waste of time!"

Below is an email "rant" written by Allen Hendrix, a Communications Minister in Shreveport, LA. This email was a correspondence between Allen and his friend Kem Meyer. Allen channeled his frustration into a tangible project to connect with people who have no connection at all with his church. His email was posted on Kem's blog with his permission. Allen also granted his kind permission to post it here.

“I have learned that the vast majority of our church members are clueless [about social media]. I’m actually okay with that. However, I also know that we (my church) also don’t know any people outside church. Can you believe that?! We have so insulated ourselves that the majority of us literally don’t go anywhere that doesn’t surround us with other church people. You think I’m kidding…I’m not.

THE QUESTION: Nobody is ever going to search for our church Twitter account so they can follow it. Why would they? And since only a few of our people even know what Twitter is, our church membership certainly isn’t going to follow it. So why then should I spend any time at all working on it?

In an effort to tangibly demonstrate to my church the magnitude of the people around us who don’t have any connection to church, I developed a billboard campaign that shows a head shot image of an expressionless middle aged man along with the simple question:

Where can I find hope?

Below the question, this appears: Text GOD to 25827.

This single billboard, located at the second busiest intersection in the city, went up on Jan. 27, 2010. As of noon today there have been 1,214 specific cell numbers gathered from this effort that are not registered within our own database already. This tells me that nearly 25 new people a day, who are nameless to us, are taking the time to stop and send a text message to find out the answer to that question. This billboard is less than a mile from our church.

No effort in the history of this 80 year old church has garnered that number of potential candidates for salvation.

MY ANSWER TO THE QUESTION: There is a lost and suffering society all around us without hope. A high percentage of them actually use Twitter and Facebook. Since I know they don’t have an interest following our church, I’m going to follow them instead. Using the search tools, I’m going to purposely follow anyone and everyone who posts anything on Twitter within 10 miles of our zip code. I’m going to do this with the prayer that some of them will in turn follow us. And even further that some of the people who follow the people we follow will want to follow us (confusing I know…draw a picture if you need to).

In all honesty, much of what is posted on the twitter accounts I’m now following is very objectionable. I want to lead old school believers to an understanding that not only is it okay for the church to do this, we’re supposed to. What I know to be true is the best way to fill your own cup is to fill someone else’s. Since I know these people are not going to come to me, I’m going to go to them.

I wrote (very quickly I might add) a brief statement to this affect on our web site. Let me know what you think."

Allen's frustration and context echo what so many others are experiencing in their ministries. I think his idea is brilliant because it effectively makes connection points within the local community beyond the church walls that never would've happened otherwise. Making external connection points is where I believe many churches fail when desiring to be missional.

For me this concept is an effective means to walk around town, shake hands, meet people, enter into their world and listen to their stories. I think Henri Nouwen would be very pleased...

Note: the photo at top is the actual billboard. Allen says they will continue this campaign after Easter with a new billboard, "Where do I find worth?". I look forward to hearing more.

HT to Kem Meyer and Allen Hendrix

Monday Morning Mind Dump

2010-03-22T16:42:00.003-04:00

Below are some random thoughts for a Monday morning:

I had the privilege to speak 4 times at Imlay Ciy United Methodist Church over the weekend. They hosted a conference called Hunger 4 More. What a warm and inviting congregation. The Pastor and his wife are old friends that I hadn't seen in many years. This invitation never would've happened without Facebook. My four "Hunger" talks were:

Hunger for God's Word (1 Pt 2:1-3, Mt 4:18-22, Mt 16:13-20)
Hunger for Obedience (Phil 1:12-24)
Hunger for Holiness (Luke 5:1-11)
Hunger for God's Mission (2 Cor 3:1-6)

In my first talk, this video got a positive response from the youth.
Due to the conference, I didn't catch any March Madness basketball. I woke up this morning and was surprised to read the Sweet 16 teams, but my predictions for the final 4 aren't surprising: Ohio State, Kentucky, Syracuse, and Duke.
Late last night I watched an episode of "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" on the Food Network. The challenge was Cuban sandwiches. Oh man, am I craving one right now along with a Cafe con Leche. The basic version of the sandwich consists of grilled Cuban bread (soft white with a hard thin crust), pulled pork, thin sliced ham, roasted turkey, thin sliced kosher pickles, swiss cheese, and mayo. There are several variations.
I read about Marko's experience with a Quaker Clearness Committee. I love this concept for discernment in seeking God's will.
Matt Chandler's honesty and courage is so amazing as he goes through chemo treatments.
I've started reading this book. I was sent a complimentary copy in exchange for a blog review. The author is missionary Paul Richardson, son of illustrious missionary Don Richardson (The Peace Child). I'm looking forward to the read.
I have a soft spot for WWII veterans. I thought this story was awesome about a WWII vet who couldn't attend his senior prom because he was drafted before he could finish his senior year of high school. He finally went at the age of 83 at the invitation of the class of 2008. He also received an honorary diploma. Awesome!
The videos from the 2010 Paralympic winter games in Vancouver are amazing.
I just don't get this and this. Seriously? These aren't headlines from The Onion either.
This commercial cracks me up every time. But this commercial makes me embarrassed for Meghan Mullally. In the current pop-culture, things are intentionally marketed to look stupid - the more stupid something is, the more awesome people may think it is, but you if fail, you risk looking even more stupid... sorry Meghan.
I'm excited about tomorrow's blog post. It's the story of one of the most creative and practical missional ideas that I've ever heard.

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Friday Funnies: Satan oscillate my metallic sonatas

2010-03-19T07:00:00.010-04:00

No, I haven't lost my sanctification. The title of this post is a palindrome, which is a word, sentence, or number that reads the same backward or forward. For example, the word "bob"; or the sentence, "Lisa Bonet ate no basil"; or the recent calendar date, 01/02/2010 (by the way - the next palindrome date is 11/02/2011).

The first video embedded below is a genius song by "Weird" Al Yankovic in which all the lyrics are palindromes. It's sung in the style of Bob Dylan and appropriately titled, "Bob".

The second video is an example of a scrolling palindromic video, which has become very popular in recent years, particularly for conveying a thought provoking message. Embedded below is powerful example of one that is very appropriate for student ministry, called "Be Honest".

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The Missional Church... simple - a pictorial illustration

2010-03-17T14:54:00.000-04:00

This is a great video that illustrates the missional church concept simply and effectively.

HT to Missional Bootcamp

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Mystery Worshipers Wanted

2010-03-15T16:39:00.002-04:00

Have you ever seen those web ads, "Mystery Shoppers Wanted"? Mostly they're scams to make you believe you'll be employed to shop undercover, but only after you send in a few hundred dollars for "training". But there are legit undercover shoppers who do this for a living, but mostly for large retailers and customer service purposes.

When I was a church worship leader, I took the summers off to discreetly visit nearby churches to observe and learn what others were doing. It was an invaluable experience that sharpened my focus and spurred creative thinking.

There is a Christian website that does something similar. They send "mystery worshipers," out to visit churches and then they write about their experience and post it on their site.

A self-proclaimed atheist has started a blog called Churchgoing with the same intent - to visit churches and write about his experience. He's not angry or vindictive, but rather offers a rather unique perspective. In the post linked below, he describes his recent visit to Vintage Faith Church, pastored by Dan Kimball. CJ, as the atheist refers to himself, is a good writer and goes into a lot of detail. It's well worth the time to read.

You can read it here, as well as Kimball's response here.

The overall premise here is that you can learn a lot about your "products and services" from qualified feedback. One may argue that the Church shouldn't concern herself with what others think and only strive to please God. There is the fear that feeding into the consumeristic mentality of the sheep risks compromising the Truth by telling them only what they want to hear.

To me, the problem is that the Church has concerned itself more with trying to look good to other churches, rather than being concerned with God's mission of reaching a community. The church is the primary agent of God's missionary action. We respond to the sending commands of Jesus by engaging the cultural context of our communities and connecting with people at their level of spiritual interest and moving them towards community and discipleship. Through Biblical fidelity and cultural engagement we become an incarnational, indigenous, and intentional Gospel presence in the surrounding community. And if sometimes that means engaging in hip music and a cool coffee shop both in the cultural centers of our communities and on the church campus - then so be it.

I believe it's a leadership and strategic issue. I've met too many pastoral leaders who believe that if they emphasize preaching sound doctrine and theology, everything else will fall into place. As Tim Keller says, "The danger there is that we can have a naïve and unBiblical view that, if we just expound the Word faithfully, everything else in the church - leader development, community building, stewardship of resources, unified vision - will just happen by themselves."

There's so much we can learn from each other... including athiests.

Friday Funnies: Typography (an animated slam poem)

2010-03-12T09:37:00.003-05:00

I found this video to be very funny as much as it was thought provoking. It is a slam poem that has been put to animation. The speaker is Taylor Mali, a poet, author, teacher, and voiceover artist. This video was made by a student who, according to Mali on his website, "I have no idea who he is (and he didn't ask for permission), but what would you do when the result is so good?"

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.

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HT to Laura

Tom Brokaw's report on Gander, Newfoundland and the events of 9/11

2010-03-11T06:00:00.004-05:00

During the the recent Vancouver Winter Olympic games, I saw Tom Brokaw's compelling documentary on Gander, Newfoundland. It was probably the finest piece of journalism I've ever seen.

On September 11, 2001, after U.S. airspace was closed, all inbound international flights were diverted to Canada. A little used commercial airport in Gander, Newfoundland Canada allowed 167 commercial jets carrying nearly 7000 passengers to land there. They remained there for the next 4-5 days, nearly doubling the size of the town's population. There was no adequate hotel or restaurant space to accommodate this inpouring of unexpected travelers. To make things even more difficult, the airlines would not unload the passenger's luggage for the entire duration of their stay. No change of clothes, no prescription drugs, and no toiletries. I'll let the videos tell the rest of the story...

If you need your faith in humanity restored, this story will do that. This documentary is so worth the time to watch . Oh, and grab some tissue... the final 7-8 minutes are very moving.

One final note: for some reason NBC has not uploaded this video on their official Olympic website, despite hours of other videos available there. The clips below may be removed at anytime from the host site due to copyright.

Tom Brokaw Gander Newfoundland 9 11 - Part 1 of 3 from torontoguys videos on Vimeo.

Tom Brokaw Gander Newfoundland 9 11 - Part 2 of 3 from torontoguys videos on Vimeo.

Tom Brokaw Gander Newfoundland 9 11 - Part 3 of 3 from torontoguys videos on Vimeo.

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Practical Youth Group Communication Ideas

2010-03-10T13:16:00.008-05:00

The video below is a practical seminar for effective youth group communications to teens and parents. It's presented by Tim Schmoyer, creator of youthministry.org. Over the years, Tim has done a lot to connect youth workers with technology. His website is like a department store for youth workers, except all the resources are free.

The video is nearly 2 hours in length and was recently taped at the 2010 Simply Youth Ministry Conference in Chicago. Some of the content will be review, but it's always helpful to hear what others are doing and what works for them.

I recommend expanding the screen in the viewer below or clicking out and viewing it on YouTube in the wide screen version.

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HT to Terrace Crawford

A Fresh Cup

2010-03-09T02:08:00.003-05:00

To the readers of Rob's Blog, thank you for sharing in this journey with me. This is still the same old blog, but with a new name and a new look. The content and intent are still the same.

I began this blog almost two years ago. Some things have changed in my life recently, so the timing seemed right for a change. I'm still passionate about youth ministry, culture and the church - and I still intend to blog about these topics and hopefully continue to offer relevant resources, video clips, and the occasional opinion.

So why call it "God & Coffee"? To those who know me, I'm rarely seen without a cup of espresso or coffee in my hand. It's been an ongoing joke as much as an obsession for over 20 years. Plus, ever since I read the book Tribal Knowledge, I'm even more passionate about the role of coffee in our society and what we can learn by seizing the opportunity it's inviting us into. In my opinion, coffee has become the new community in our culture. Just like the traditional Italian cafes, coffee is now the conduit for gathering people into community and sharing life together.

So this is an invitation to join me here over a cuppa Joe each day and enjoy God together with some caffeine and dialogue.

A note about the artwork: The painting in my blog header, Creation of Coffee, as well as the picture embedded in this post were hand painted using only espresso by the creative and talented artist Karen Eland. I'm thrilled she has granted me permission to use it in my blog. When I saw a web article featuring her awesome work, I knew I had found the whimsical blog theme I wanted. Please visit her website, Coffee Creations, to view her entire gallery.

I'll Stand by You

2010-03-06T01:22:00.005-05:00

"When you're standing at the crossroads and don't know which path to choose, let me come along 'cause even if you're wrong, I'll stand by you..." ~ The Pretenders

As I wrote last week, unemployment has given me significant pause for reflection. During this time, I have heard from several people via phone calls, Facebook, and email. I have been truly humbled and blessed by friends and colleagues through the healing touch of their encouraging words and prayers.

So many of my friends are currently going through valleys themselves. Their offerings of encouragement come from a ministry of brokenness - a friend who lost her daughter, or the popular President of a widely recognized organization who was released unceremoniously, a seminary Dean who's experienced significant financial loss, a dear brother whose business is teetering due to this cruel economy, a dear sister who is going through chemo treatments for cancer. These and many others have lifted me up and touched me deeply with their words of encouragement, laughter over a meal, or a spontaneous trip to the museum. They have served to remind me that we were not meant to journey through this life alone. More importantly, they make me want to be a better friend.

C.S. Lewis said, "Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival."

Jonathan and David were known for their incredible loyalty as a friends and brothers. When they met, "there was an immediate bond of love between them" (1 Sam. 18:1). Both were great leaders and warriors. But these guys grew up on two different sides of the track. Jonathan was a prince, a son of King Saul and the rightful heir to the throne. David was a shepherd boy. But Jonathan had the perspective and humility to see that it was David's anointing, not his own, to be the future King of Israel. So Jonathan commissioned David to live out his anointed calling and sacrificially gave him "his robe, tunic, sword, bow and belt." (1 Sam. 18:4). And Jonathan made a special vow to be David's friend." (1 Sam. 18:3). Jonathan risked his life fighting for David's true calling - even against the will of his own father King Saul.

What a gift they gave to one another as friends.

An anonymous quote says it well, "It costs to be a friend or to have a friend. It not only costs time, affection, patience, love, but sometimes a man must even lay down his life for his friends. There is no true friendship without self-abnegation, self-sacrifice."

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." ~ John 15:13

I pray I will be more sensitive to my friends and to be a "true friend" to others. I pray for a lens of humility to see the way Jonathan saw and to not be jealous or insecure. I pray for grace to allow others to shine where I am weak.

The video below is one of the most incredible stories I've ever seen. It's a story about friendship, sacrifice, brotherly love and grace - made strong through weakness and sacrifice.

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HT to Gary McGhee via Facebook for the video.

Image is Everything

2010-03-03T11:54:00.008-05:00

"Image is Everything" is one of the most recognized advertising slogans ever created. You may remember it from the Canon Rebel commercials featuring Andre Agassi back in the '90's (presumably before he resorted to wearing a wig).

Last week on Jon Acuff's awesome blog, Stuff Christians Like, he posted this question: What are Youth Ministers? He invited his readers to post comments in response to this question. To date, there are 230 responses posted. I read through all the responses (hey, I'm unemployed - I've got time on my hands), I couldn't help but notice so many of the comments were about the youth pastor's image and coolness factor: tattoos, piercings, skateboard, clothes, facial hair, hot looking wife, car, verbal expressions, video game skills, etc.

Granted, many of these comments were tongue-in-cheek but others weren't. These stereotypes originated from somewhere and reading these comments left me feeling sad because there wasn't a clear validation of what truly is a youth pastor. Is it possible that heart matters in youth ministry have taken a back seat to outward appearances for the sake of street credibility? It bothers me but we may have only ourselves to blame.

To be fair, youth pastors are like missionaries and cultural anthropologists, called to engage a unique people group within a foreign cultural. That almost sounds laughable, but the analogy is very sound if you've worked with teenagers. The calling is unique and few succeed.

The problem is when we've tasted some success, it's intoxicating and we're tempted to start believing our press clippings. Our posturing may come from our infatuation with the romantic role of the worker. Our drive may come from some unfulfilled expectation from our high school years. We have to ask ourselves, Are we concerned with how things look rather than experiencing things in the moment? Are we a self-fulfilled prophesy, or a servant?

Shepherding is essentially not about what we think being a shepherd is at all, but rather keeping our eyes on the Chief Shepherd and seeing ourselves and others in relationship to Him. He provides the image that is reflected in us. So the question is, who is it that others see?

Now Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them. "The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God's Law. You won't go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don't live it. They don't take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It's all spit-and-polish veneer. "Instead of giving you God's Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn't think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called 'Doctor' and 'Reverend.' "Don't let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don't set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of 'Father'; you have only one Father, and he's in heaven. And don't let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them — Christ. "Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you'll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty. (Matthew 23:1-12, The Message)

Unfortunately, the "Image is Everything" stereotype has been around since Jesus walked the earth. I have no doubt that we could name Pastors, worship leaders, youth directors who fit what Jesus was describing above. As I look back on my life, I'm ashamed to say that there was a time when my name would be on the list as well. Maybe when you get to be my age, there's a certain immunity to the stereotype? (said tongue in cheek).

Below are two well made videos that were shown at the recent Simply Ministry Conference that humorously deal with the topic.

5 Rules to Fight the Youth Ministry Stereotype

Killer Youth Ministry Tips

Killer Youth Ministry Tips from Igniter Media on Vimeo.

Also, click here, if you've never seen the infamous Ignatius the Ultimate Youth Pastor video

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The Secret Wisdom and the Argument from Ignorance

2010-03-02T01:34:00.010-05:00

Last week there was a lot of media coverage regarding a new study suggesting certain political, religious and sexual behaviors may be reflections of intelligence. More specifically, it suggests that on average, people who identified as liberal and atheist had higher IQs. It also suggests that male sexual exclusivity applies to a higher IQ, but there was no difference in a women's IQ if her choice was open or not.

Personally I think the latter only suggests a historically greater survival rate for men who were smart enough to know what's good for them. I'm just sayin'...

The study suggests that IQ differences are statistically significant, but experts say the data shouldn't be used to stereotype or make assumptions.

That's funny because scientists have a term for making stereotypes and assumptions, it's called "arguments from ignorance."

So what's the point? Some of the conclusions are really amusing, such as the basis of religion stemming from caveman paranoia. And that "unconventional" political and religious philosophies such as liberalism or atheism may stem from a desire to show superiority or elitism, "which also has to do with IQ."

Oh really? I thought the desire to show everyone that you're pretty smart was based on insecurity... which is based in part on paranoia...

The findings from the above study will be published in the March 2010 issue of Social Psychology Quarterly. It apparently is a big deal to some social anthropological thinkers because these results go against our human evolutionary past because these traits would not benefit our ancestors, particularly for men spreading their genes.

Huh? I can't help but be amused by such commentary.

The amusing part for me is one of human inadequacy. Man's knowledge is finite, so no one knows everything. The Greek philosopher Anaxagoras concluded that "we are certain of nothing, because our intellect is too weak, our senses are too illusory, and our life is too short." If reason is our only recourse, then indeed we are drawn to agnosticism.

The scientific method is likewise incomplete. It works only for subjects that can be studied by observation and experience. But some aspects of reality aren't empirically discerned. Our spirituality and sexuality can't be measured by instruments. Our judgements about about ultimate meaning and purpose in life are beyond sensory experience.

Scholars may be brighter than me, but even they seldom agree with each other even when they're on the same side of an issue. No one is so intelligent and educated that they know everything there is to know. We are finite people with human methodologies. Historically in science when the unknown cannot be explained, the hand of God has been invoked by great minds like Newton and Galileo. Secular philosophers and scientists refer to this as the "God of gaps." But even the brightest theological minds can't know everything either - if they did, that would make them omniscient, which is to say the least idolatry, and to say the most, heresy.

When we think we know everything about ourselves, we put too much confidence in ourselves and our abilities. Overconfidence makes us do foolish things and unfortunately the church is no different than the scientific community in this regard. The greatest wisdom comes from confessing what we don't know. We need information from a higher source.

David Roper says, "The Apostle Paul describes something that cannot be scientifically known ('no eye has seen, nor ear has heard'), nor can be rationally determined ('no mind has conceived'). In fact, it can't be discovered at all; it must be disclosed ('secret wisdom')."

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" — but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. (1 Cor. 2:6-10, emphasis added)

"Those who love God receive His words gladly. They get in on His secrets. They get answers to their nagging questions, questions for which wise men and women have no satisfying answers, questions like. 'Who am I and why am I here?' "How can I deal with my dying and with death?' 'What can I do about guilt and shame?' 'How can I heal my marriage?' 'How can I suffer successfully?' ' How can I live and like it?'"

That is the secret wisdom revealed.

Below is engaging clip explaining "argument from ignorance" by Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson. Dr. Tyson is popular media scientist who has made more appearances on "The Colbert Report" than any other guest. He also hosts his own show on PBS. He is an astrophysicist with the energy and charisma of a televangelist. In fact, he sometimes refers to his lectures as sermons. Though his writings and teaching are embraced by atheists, he is a self-proclaimed agnostic. He argues vehemently against incorporating religion (intelligent design) into the scientific arena, but at the same time he treats faith with respect. He doesn't resort to the militant tactics of a Richard Dawkins in his arguments. Tyson will also openly criticize the scientific community, particularly in the medical field, for bad science. Thus he is often criticized by atheists as much as theists.

I embedded this video because church youth directors should be familiar Dr. Tyson. He is an influential educator whose writings our students read in school. He presents the questions they are asking and we should be prepared to answer.

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Friday Funnies: Post-rapture pet care

2010-02-26T11:53:00.004-05:00

I hope this is a joke, but it just might be real when you consider all their effort in making a website, blog, and video. Either way it's just too funny not to post, especially for the amusement of Reformers.

Imagine this scenario: the rapture occurs leaving behind those who are non-Christian as well as all the pets once owned by Christian humans. Who is going to care for these cute furry orphans in a post-rapture world? What if you could register your pet with a secure database where non-Christians would agree to adopt, feed and care for your four-legged friends. That's the inspiration behind this concept.

You have to wonder what Christians are thinking when they come up with this stuff? "It's really so nice of the Weinbergs to volunteer to care for our little Boscoe. They're such good people, it’s really a shame they're going to burn in hell forever."

This is so not missional...

Check out the clip and website. Cue Larry Norman's "I wish we'd all been ready."

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Motives

2010-02-25T10:26:00.020-05:00

I've been unemployed since early January. I am frequently asked, What do you want to do now? Good question, especially in light of the economy and the weak job market. The unemployment rate in Michigan, where I live, is at 15% - the highest in the country. That rate is just based on jobless claims. When you factor in under employment, the unemployment of those who don't file or are ineligible for assistance, our reality index rate for unemployment is a staggering 33%. The forecast for job recovery (career and income) is devastating. Last Sunday's New York Times featured an article projecting the job recovery from this downturn could take up to 10 years and will be the slowest rebound in our nation's economic history.

Until two weeks ago, my wife was unemployed for a few months. She was one of the fortunate ones to find a job in her field. My wife has an impressive résumé, but she didn't get a single nibble despite her diligent job search. Her new job came virtually out of nowhere. With both of us unemployed and with no job prospects, things were more than a little stressful as we faced the possible reality of relocating out-of-state in order to find employment.

Unemployment for me is a time of personal reflection. I'm constantly asking: What do I really want to do? What do I feel called to do? Am I still called to the ministry? What should I do differently? Should I return to school?, plus several other questions which I wrote about previously.

Soon after my unemployment, I had lunch on separate occasions with my Pastor and an Elder, both of whom are close friends. In both conversations, I was affirmed and encouraged to stay in the ministry. I was still a little numb at the time, but these conversations meant a great deal to me coming from these dear brothers. If they had told me to leave the ministry, I'm sure I would've heeded and blessed them for their advice. I trust them that much. Either way, I am very grateful for Doug and Ron's words and to have them speak into my life.

Wrestling with a ministry calling is not for cowards. I openly question anyone whose "call" to the ministry isn't punctuated with suffering (Acts 9:15-16). Our motives for ministry should be examined constantly.

Life is hard and the Christian life is full of persecution. Suffering sheep will need a seasoned shepherd. A shepherd's motives can only be true if they are in response to a calling. Peter appeals to the motives of shepherds when he writes:

"To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away." 1 Peter 5:1-4

Tending to the hurting isn't always what we envisioned. The dreamy romantic notions of vocational ministry are quickly dashed by reality. The "joy" of ministry may elude us. Yes, there are glimpses of glory, but mostly, it's just hard unsafe work.

What then is our motive for a vocation with a 50% turnover rate? One of my favorite authors, Dr. David Roper, says this about the motives of ministry:

"What will keep us going when the going gets tough? Certainly not that we're driven by need. A need, no matter how clamant, doesn't necessarily constitute a call. Nor will we be sustained by some habit in our family (a 'tradition of ministry' as they say), nor by some fleeting inclination to 'go into full-time Christian service,' which may come from any devil, disposition, or mood. And certainly we should not be compelled by personal ambition. It can only consume us in the end. Not even love for the sheep will keep us going. The sheep are sometimes insufferable. If it's only a love for the sheep that constrains us, we'll end up hating them after a while. It should go without saying that we're not motivated by money... If we're driven by money and upward mobility it will only harden our hearts in the end. As Jesus said, when 'the hired hand... sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away... The man runs away... and cares nothing for the sheep' (John 10:12-13)... Good shepherds aren't driven by a need to control... Shepherding is not driving the sheep but leading them - setting the pace and showing them how."

The only sufficient motivation and sustenance is the will of God. We shepherd "not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be" (vs. 2). The only thing that will sustain over the long haul is that we've been called and chosen. Doing God's will is the only sure thing. In those times when it's hard, when it goes unrewarded, when sheep forget to say "thanks", we remember Peter's promise: "when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away" (vs. 4).

Ministry is hard work and youth ministry is arguably the hardest. God knows our efforts and will reward us in His time... maybe not at the end of the day or after a sleepless retreat, but at the end of the age.

I may or may not find employment in ministry again. It's not up to me. As I alluded to above, I need to keep all my employment options open, whether in ministry, banking (my former career), driving a truck, or as a barista. The only motive that matters is knowing God's will and a personal obedience to His calling.

As a youth director for many years, I certainly respect the grit and calling of the people who serve in this profession. In my most recent job as a shepherd to youth directors, my respect for the calling grew tremendously because of the many talented men and women I met serving in trenches of the local church. Despite the "dirty" and overlooked work of serving in youth ministry, these are some of the most happy, passionate, and fulfilled people I've ever met. Sure it's hard work, yet what a peripetia to discover that joy and motives are not exclusive to one another.

The video below in an amazing allegory for shepherding. It features Mike Rowe speaking at TEDS. He is the host of the TV show "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel. His personal crusade is to counter the decline in the blue collar trades and the crumbling state of the infrastructure by promoting more resources to encourage more workers in these fields. His story telling and humility are very engaging.

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Friday Funnies - a new thing called the "Internet"

2010-02-19T11:36:00.004-05:00

This is a report from Tom Brokaw in 1994 predicting how the internet will impact life in the year 2000. This was edited and recently shown on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

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Millennials and Faith - a revealing new study

2010-02-18T07:00:00.001-05:00

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has released a revealing study on Religion Among the Millennials.

The results are significant because this study quantifies just what many youth and young adult ministry directors have known - young people today have traditional views about God, but they aren't connected to the church. Connecting with this GOd-believing but non-religious generation often means meeting outside the church walls in unconventional places (coffee shops, online, etc). There's nothing wrong with that, in fact para-church ministries have done it successfully for years. But it can challenge church Elder's and Pastor's personal views of how youth ministry should be done (i.e. Sundays and Wednesdays in the youth room). It also makes it potentially difficult to show tangible results in meeting job description expectations if numbers are important - and let' face it, as much as it's downplayed or denied, ministry success is often equated with numbers. With this study, the youth director now has some scientific data to support building non-traditional programming and community.

Reading the comprehensive Pew Form results can be a bit overwhelming. An article from CNN online, dated Feb. 17, 2010, does a nice job with the highlights. The following is an excerpt from the article:

One in four American millennials - which it defined as those who were born after 1980 and came of age around the millennium - are not affiliated with any faith tradition, Pew found. They characterize their religion as "atheist," "agnostic" or "nothing in particular."

That compares to fewer than one in five Generation Xers -- Americans born from 1965 to 1980 -- who were unaffiliated with a religion when they were in their late teens and early 20s.

Just 13 percent of American baby boomers -- those born from 1946 to 1964 -- were unaffiliated with any religious tradition when they were young adults, according to Pew.

But when it comes to many beliefs and practices -- like views about life after death, the existence of heaven and hell and miracles -- millennials resemble previous generations of young Americans. For instance, 45 percent of young Americans report praying daily, about the same proportion who said they did in the 1980s and '90s.

"While growing numbers of people are unaffiliated, it's not necessarily a sign that they're committed secularists," said Greg Smith, a senior researcher at the Pew Forum. "We're seeing among young people that there are ways of practicing faith and being religious outside of belonging to a religious organization or attending services."

Roughly two in three millennials said that they believe in God with absolute certainty, according to Pew, similar to the share of Gen Xers that reported such certainty about God a decade ago.

The entire Pew Forum report can be viewed here. The full CNN article can be read here.

Note: The Pew Research Center is an American think tank organization based in Washington, D.C. that provides information on issues, attitudes and trends shaping the United States and the world. The Center and its projects receive funding from The Pew Charitable Trusts. The Pew Research Center is a strictly non-advocacy organization. It is named after Sun Oil Company founder Joseph N. Pew and his wife, Mary Anderson Pew. It is NOT a religious organization.

What is Missional? - and why those who defend it don't get it...

2010-02-02T11:55:00.005-05:00

What is Missional?

There are multiple definitions based on a few theological threads*. The interesting (and perhaps sad) thing is how much this essential Christian precept is serving to divide denominations as much as it defines them in the 21st century. It is notable that many great 'missional" thinkers are now openly critical about the fruit of this movement.

In a well-written yet edgy article called Converts to What?, Dr. Ed Stetzer puts things into perspective and, in my opinion, rightly gets to the heart of the matter. Below is a portion of his post. The entire article can be read here.

I continue to see movements gaining traction among Christians that do not seem to have many converts. In other words, they have recruits to their cause, but few converts to Christ. And I am concerned. I am concerned that in the name of "fixing the Church" we are not proclaiming the Church's gospel.

You've seen it, too, among others--the emerging church wants to rethink structures; the missional folks want more social justice; the charismatic folks want more of the Spirit; Baptists want to convert the Presbyterians; the house church people want more authentic community; and the Reformed folks just want, well, I am not sure since they never seem happy.

I must confess I have an affinity with some of these groups. But, a change movement that does not produce converts is as useless as a systematic theology text at Joel Osteen's church. Even if and when the cause is important, that is not enough for the church and its mission. Central to our task is to display the glory of God through His redemptive work through the redemption of those far from Christ...

Now, I am not willing to say that a lack of converts is a sign of unfaithfulness. But, I am willing to say that too many change movements are not seeing lost people's lives changed. And I think that is the wrong kind of change.

So, my Reformed friends, let's not only read 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John (that is, John Calvin, John MacArthur, and John Piper), let's go plant some more churches. My emerging church friends, let's take a pause from the theological rethink and head into the neighborhood and to tell someone about Jesus. My missional friends, let's speak of justice, but always tell others how God can be both "just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." My house church friends, let's have community, but let's be sure it is focused on redemption. My Baptist friends, let's focus more on convincing pagans than Presbyterians. And, my charismatic friends, let's focus less on getting existing believers to speak in tongues and more on using our tongue to tell others about Jesus.

Now, I know the preceding paragraph will tick some of you off--and, I am trying to be a bit edgy while making a point. But, let me suggest you be less offended at my words and more focused on Jesus' words: Go therefore and make disciples of nations.

So, tell your alternative story. Show me a way that is passionate about the cause and filled with new converts to Christ. If all you have are criticisms, concerns, or new ideas, but no new converts, that hardly seems a better path or an "alternative story."

What Does It Mean to Be Missional? from The Resurgence on Vimeo.

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*To read an excellent primer on the Missional Church, click here. It was written by Dr. Ed McCallum, Assistant Stated Clerk of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church denomination (EPC). This document nicely summarizes the theological and historical threads of missional thought.

Also, Dr Stetzer has a comprehensive 5-part blog post on the meaning of Missional.

Recruiting and Developing Volunteer Leaders

2010-01-05T13:38:00.004-05:00

The following article is money for Youth Directors. It's from the Fuller Youth Institute E-Journal, dated January 5, 2010.

The article, Developing Essential Leaders: part 1, highlights Young Life's Project X study, which was inspired by Jim Collin's book, Good to Great. The article also features an interview with Mark DeVries, author of Sustainable Youth Ministry (one of the better YM books out there). He is the founder of Youth Ministry Architects, a consulting team that helps churches build sustainable youth ministries. For the past 23 years, Mark has served as the youth pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee.

Here are some excerpts:

What’s essential to effective youth ministry?

That’s a great question.

It’s a question Young Life has recently used research to tackle. Started in 1941 in Texas by Jim Rayburn, the mission of Young Life is to introduce adolescents to Jesus Christ and help them grow in their faith. Young Life is one of the largest U.S. parachurch youth ministries with active ministries on 3,700 middle school and high school campuses and over 104,000 teenagers involved every week.

Inspired by the work of Jim Collins’ study of organizations that moved from “good” to “great”, in 2005 Young Life launched Project X. 1 The first step in Project X was to identify the 30 Young Life areas in the United States that were most effective in terms of the number of kids involved in weekly club, summer camp, and discipleship groups (called Campaigners) per paid Young Life staff member. In other words, they didn’t merely identify the 30 “biggest” U.S. clubs but rather the 30 clubs that were reaching the most kids per paid Young Life adult.

Having identified these 30 high performing ministries, the purposes of Project X were to discover why those ministries were more effective and to share those findings so that every Young Life area could have even greater impact. At FYI, we think Young Life’s findings are relevant even to non-Young Life ministries. In fact, they might help you unearth what’s most essential to effectiveness in your own setting.

What is the essential component of these best areas?

The central finding of Project X is that the most important factor driving area effectiveness is volunteers; more specifically, it’s the number of volunteers per paid adult staff. This is true in all four of Young Life’s U.S. regions, and it’s true in suburban, urban, rural/small town, and mixed contexts.

In fact, to the surprise of many, the number of volunteers is more important than the financial health of the area or the number of paid staff. There’s some evidence that the most effective areas may even have smaller staffs, but they have more volunteers, and more volunteers per staff.

How about involving students’ parents as volunteers?

We love having students’ parents involved in leadership, though not all of them are good candidates for working hands-on with students (any more than every 20 year-old is a good candidate). Nobody has the investment in kids like their parents do—that’s a plus. At the same time, nobody is more anxious about their kids than the parents are—that can make things challenging. As a result, we like to be very deliberate and clear with parents about our expectations and the direction of our ministry to make sure our philosophies are a fit. Many parents of church kids grew up in youth ministries themselves and are crystal clear about how youth ministry should be done, based on their own selective memory. It is important for parent volunteers to be aligned with the overall vision of the youth ministry before they sign on as a load-bearing volunteer.

Click here to read the entire article.

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The Color of Faith - Racial reconciliation and the Church

2010-01-04T06:26:00.003-05:00

The following excerpts are from an article, The Color of Faith, by David van Biema, dated Jan. 11, 2010, and published in TIME Magazine. All copyrights belong to the author and publisher.

In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. famously declared that "11 o'clock Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the week ... And the Sunday school is still the most segregated school." That largely remains true today. Despite the growing desegregation of most key American institutions, churches are still a glaring exception. Surveys from 2007 show that fewer than 8% of American congregations have a significant racial mix.

But in some churches, the racial divide is beginning to erode, and it is fading fastest in one of American religion's most conservative precincts: Evangelical Christianity. According to Michael Emerson, a specialist on race and faith at Rice University, the proportion of American churches with 20% or more minority participation has languished at about 7.5% for the past nine years. But among Evangelical churches with attendance of 1,000 people or more, the slice has more than quadrupled, from 6% in 1998 to 25% in 2007.

Call it the desegregation of the megachurches--and consider it a possible pivotal moment in the nation's faith. Such rapid change in such big institutions "blows my mind," says Emerson. Some of the country's largest churches are involved: the very biggest, Joel Osteen's Lakewood Community Church in Houston (43,500 members), is split evenly among blacks, Hispanics and a category containing whites and Asians. [Bill] Hybels' Willow Creek is at 20% minority. Megachurches serve only 7% of American churchgoers, but they are extraordinarily influential: Willow Creek, for instance, networks another 12,000 smaller congregations through its Willow Creek Association. David Campbell, a political scientist at Notre Dame studying the trend, says that "if tens of millions of Americans start sharing faith across racial boundaries, it could be one of the final steps transcending race as our great divider"--and it could help smooth America's transition into a truly rainbow nation.

Some think the integration of American churches is inevitable. Willow Creek Association head Jim Mellado cites the Census Bureau projection that by 2050 the U.S. will contain no racial majority. "Every church will have to deal with that or find itself on the side of the road," he says. Hybels differs, saying that "there will still be people who will only want to worship amongst their own kind."

Click here to read the entire article.

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God Came Near - A Nativity meditation

2009-12-21T12:05:00.007-05:00

The following excerpts are from the book, God Came Near by Max Lucado. I read these chapters every year at Christmas and ponder the story...

"The noise and bustle began earlier than usual in the village. As night gave way to dawn, people were already on the streets. Vendors were positioning themselves on the corners of the most heavily traveled avenues. Store owners were unlocking the doors to their shops. Children were awakened by the excited barking of the street dogs and the complaints of donkeys pulling carts.

The owner of the inn had awakened earlier than most in the town. After all, the inn was full, all the beds taken. Every available mat or blanket had been put to use. Soon all the customers would be stirring and there would be a lot of work to do.

One's imagination is kindled thinking about the conversation of the innkeeper and his family at the breakfast table. Did anyone mention the arrival of the young couple the night before? Did anyone ask about their welfare? Did anyone comment on the pregnancy of the girl on the donkey? Perhaps. Perhaps someone raised the subject. But, at best, it was raised, not discussed. There was nothing that novel about them. They were, possibly, one of several families turned away that night.

Besides, who had time to talk about them when there was so much excitement in the air? Augustus did the economy a favor when he decreed that a census should be taken. Who could remember when such commerce had hit the village?

No, it is doubtful that anyone mentioned the couple's arrival or wondered about the condition of the girl. They were too busy. The day was upon them. The day's bread had to be made. The morning's chores had to be done. There was too much to do to imagine that the impossible had occurred.

God entered the world as a baby.

Yet, were someone to chance upon the sheep stable on the outskirts of Bethlehem that morning, what a peculiar scene they would behold.

The stable stinks like all stables do. The stench of urine, dung, and sheep reeks pungently in the air. The ground is hard, the hay scarce. Cobwebs cling to the ceiling and a mouse scurries across the dirt floor.

A more lowly place of birth could not exist.

Off to one side sit a group of shepherds. They sit silently on the floor, perhaps perplexed, perhaps in awe, no doubt in amazement. Their night watch had been interrupted by an explosion of light from heaven and a symphony of angels. God goes to those who have time to hear him - so on this cloudless night he went to simple shepherds.

Near the young mother sits the weary father. If anyone is dozing, he is. He can't remember the last time he sat down. And now that the excitement has subsided a bit, now that Mary and the baby are comfortable, he leans against the wall of the stable and feels his eyes grow heavy. He still hasn't figured it all out. The mystery event puzzles him. But he hasn't the energy to wrestle with the questions. What's important is that the baby is fine and that Mary is safe. As sleep comes he remembers the name the angel told him to use ... Jesus. 'We will call him Jesus.'

Wide awake is Mary. My, how young she looks! Her head rests on the soft leather of Joseph's saddle. The pain has been eclipsed by wonder. She looks into the face of the baby. Her son. Her Lord. His Majesty. At this point in history, the human being who best understands who God is and what he is doing is a teenage girl in a smelly stable. She can't take her eyes off him. Somehow Mary knows she is holding God. So this is he. She remembers the words of the angel. 'His kingdom will never end.'

He looks like anything but a king. His face is prunish and red. His cry, though strong and healthy, is still the helpless and piercing cry of a baby. And he is absolutely dependent upon Mary for his well-being.

Majesty in the midst of the mundane. Holiness in the filth of sheep manure and sweat. Divinity entering the world on the floor of a stable, through the womb of a teenager and in the presence of a carpenter.

She touches the face of the infant-God. How long was your journey!

This baby had overlooked the universe. These rags keeping him warm were the robes of eternity. His golden throne room had been abandoned in favor of a dirty sheep pen. And the worshiping angels had been replaced with kind but bewildered shepherds.

Meanwhile, the city hums. The merchants are unaware that God has visited their planet. The innkeeper would never believe that he has just sent God into the cold. And the people would scoff at anyone who told them the Messiah lay in the arms of a teenager on the outskirts of their village. They were all too busy to consider the possibility.

Those who missed His Majesty's arrival that night missed it not because of evil acts or malice; no, they missed it because they simply weren't looking.

Little has changed in the last two thousand years, has it?"

And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. Luke 2: 6-7 (NLT)

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Friday Funnies - Pop culture spoofs

2009-12-18T07:11:00.007-05:00

It's been awhile since since my last FF post. It's not due to lack of material, just lack of time and motivation. To make up for it, here are 3 offerings -

In this media crazed society, spoofing pop-culture is about as common as serving mostaccioli at a wedding. Is there an organization that hasn't made their own "The Office" spoof video, or a bad rap song? The TV show Saturday Night Live has lasted 30+ years by entirely spoofing culture.

But what about spoofing the spoof?

Churches, especially youth groups are no exception and probably the most common offenders. I'm not against the concept of engaging culture and contextualizing the Gospel. Something done well can be an effective tool. But there are times when it comes across as an inside joke and it doesn't translate well for outsiders. There are lots of cheesy cringe-worthy video spoofs on YouTube. And yet there are times when, golly-goshililly Ned Flanders, it works well (e.g. Ignatius, the Ultimate Youth Pastor - which was so well done, some people thought that he was the real deal!).

The first two videos below are youth group productions. These are examples of culture spoofs that you'll either love or hate because of their cheese factor. In my own opinion, I like one of them and dislike the other. Can you guess which one?

The first one is a rap song exhorting the virtues of the "side-hug", a Christian sub-culture invention. This video went viral thanks mostly to non-Christian bloggers panning it. There's even a spoof of this video called "No More Christian Side Hug".

Facebook and RSS readers, click here to view.

The second video is a spoof of the viral sensation JK Wedding Entrance Dance featuring Chris Brown's "Forever". This spoof features a Nativity entrance dance.

Facebook and RSS readers, click here to view.

Lastly, this is an example of spoofing Christian sub-culture. This video and accompanying website were created to promote the launch of a new Wii video game called Mass We Pray. The whole thing is a hoax. When you click on the pre-order link it reveals it is actually a promotion for EA's new game, Dante's Inferno. The scary part is, they nailed the cheese factor of Christian sub-culture. The web was abuzz debating whether this was real or not.

Facebook and RSS readers, click here to view.

Note: I'm not advocating the game Dante's Inferno, I just think the cheesy spoof was pretty funny. Oh, and in case you're wondering, I strongly disliked the side hug rap - suburban white people just can't rap and it's comes across to me like an example of taking ourselves too seriously.

Teen Brain Development - an exercise for teens and parents

2009-12-10T11:01:00.003-05:00

Last week the New York Times published an article, What Were They Thinking? Exploring Teen Brain Development. This is more than just an article, it is an actual lesson plan complete with exercises, questions, media resources and follow-up materials.

Whether for personal research or hosting a parent/teen group meeting, the NYT has done all the work gathering resources on the latest literature and imaging resources related to adolescent brain development, including using the popular PBS Frontline documentary Inside the Teenage Brain. The article does present opposing views and the exercises allow students to compare and contrast them in practical situations. It is also adaptable.

Click here to read the article.

HT to Youth Specialties

Don't be an Individual - a seriously funny satire by a high school student

2009-12-09T07:00:00.001-05:00

About 5 years ago, when Nick Kocher was a high school senior at Paideia School, he gave the following speech at their senior banquet. His straight-faced satire about individualism is extremely funny. Not surprisingly, he is a comedian and writer today.

The following video is not high quality so you'll need to listen closely. But it is seriously funny, especially towards the end. (FYI: Michael Moore is the name that gets obscured by the laughter whom he later refers to as "even Disney thinks he's kind of a jerk.")

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The 10 Commandments of Youth & The 7 Contemporary Sins of Youth - according to European youth

2009-12-08T10:12:00.005-05:00

MTV Sticky, which follows "youth culture trends and insight," has produced a report called "Youthtopia, the study of hopes and dreams amongst European youth." The study describes itself this way: “In the first-ever effort to understand the values, hopes and dreams of young people in Europe, MTV asked over 7,000 youths to imagine their ideal world and to consider brands as people and whether those ‘people’ would be welcome in their world –‘Youthtopia’.”

Their study in numbers include:

7 European countries
5 months
3 study phases
11 academic expert interviews
1,000 hours of qualitative research
2,500 blog entries
200 webcam responses
7,000 survey respondents
180 brands rated by youth
1 Youthtopian Brand Equity Model

The latter refers to the brands being measured against the collective ideals of their target audience, rather than their own ideals. The question being, "what are these hopes, dreams and desires that brands should be taking care to be mindful of?"

This study invited participants to re-write some of the most recognized values for human behaviour. The results shed light on "some of the fundamental shifts in values among youth today." For example, one exercise invited 100 European youths to "challenge, criticise and collectively re-write The 10 Commandments." Another exercise was to re-write the 7 Deadly Sins in the same manner. The results of these exercises are outlined as follows:

The Ten Commandments of Youth

Have faith in yourself
Respect your parents
Be honest
Take responsibility for your own life
Live life to the fullest and be passionate
Keep your promises
Work hard to succeed but not to the detriment of others
Be tolerant of others’ differences
Be happy and optimistic, even in adversity
Create, don’t destroy

The 7 Contemporary Sins of Youth (original listed in parentheses next to "new')

Racism (Pride)
Dishonesty (Envy)
Bullying (Gluttony)
Greed (Lust)
Adultery (Anger)
Anger (Greed)
Envy (Sloth)

Fascinating stuff isn't it? Granted it's not God-centered, but these weren't Christian youth involved in the exercise. Nevertheless these are still very high ideals. I would be very interested to see American youth take the same exercise and compare and contrast the results.

The point here is not to get bent of shape about the rewriting of these sacred texts. This is not special revelation, but it is incredibly insightful into youth culture. Notice the similarities as well as the differences between the sacred and new. This tool would serve to compliment and connect any teaching series for students on the subject of the original 1o Commandments or the 7 Deadly Sins.

HT to Ypulse and Marko

What is the biggest theological battle the next generation will face?

2009-12-01T09:28:00.004-05:00

The Resurgence has been posting several snippets of an interview between Mark Driscoll and R.C. Sproul.

In this video Mark Driscoll asks R.C. Sproul, "What is the biggest theological battle the next generation will face?"

Click the following link to view:

http://theresurgence.com/biggest-theological-battle

Helicopter Parents

2009-11-30T09:42:00.006-05:00

There are many differences in youth ministry from when I began in the 1980's compared with today. Students today are much busier with extra-curricular activities (scheduled by their parents) which prevents them from participating in traditional church youth time slots (i.e. Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights). Consequently, this has contributed in part to the dramatic youth ministry "shift" that has taken place in recent years. Another area of change is with mission trips. Parents often don't allow their teenage children to participate in local urban or border crossing experiences. This was hardly an issue 20 years ago and has created another "shift" in how we do ministry.

I could go on, but the point is, youth workers, like teachers, must be savvy in how they deal with the current generation of "overprotective" parents. It's becoming well documented of how good parental intentions can go too far.

TIME Magazine recently published an article, Helicopter Parents: The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting. The article begins:

"The insanity crept up on us slowly; we just wanted what was best for our kids. We bought macrobiotic cupcakes and hypoallergenic socks, hired tutors to correct a 5-year-old's "pencil-holding deficiency," hooked up broadband connections in the treehouse but took down the swing set after the second skinned knee. We hovered over every school, playground and practice field — "helicopter parents," teachers christened us, a phenomenon that spread to parents of all ages, races and regions. Stores began marketing stove-knob covers and "Kinderkords" (also known as leashes; they allow "three full feet of freedom for both you and your child") and Baby Kneepads (as if babies don't come prepadded). The mayor of a Connecticut town agreed to chop down three hickory trees on one block after a woman worried that a stray nut might drop into her new swimming pool, where her nut-allergic grandson occasionally swam. A Texas school required parents wanting to help with the second-grade holiday party to have a background check first. Schools auctioned off the right to cut the carpool line and drop a child directly in front of the building — a spot that in other settings is known as handicapped parking."

Click here to read the entire article. Also, below are some videos to further explore and respond to the issue.

Facebook and RSS readers, this is a post from my blog containing video. Click here to view the clips.

Barna Group report on impact of Children & Teen's Spiritual Formation

2009-11-19T13:38:00.004-05:00

The Barna Group recently released a new study exploring, "What is the connection between childhood faith and adult religious commitment?"

They surveyed adults asking to describe the frequency of their involvement in Sunday school or religious training during their developmental years. Their responses were then compared with their current levels of faith activity and faith durability.

The research examined four elements of adult religious commitment: attending church, having an active faith (defined as reading the Bible, praying, and attending church in the last week), being unchurched, and switching from childhood faith.

According to the survey results:

More than eight out of every 10 adults remembers consistently attending Sunday school or some other religious training before the age of 12.

Adults recall their church involvement as teenagers as less frequent than their participation as children.

Among the most active as children were Catholics (86%), upscale adults (78%), Midwesterners (76%), notional Christians (75%), college graduates (75%), women (73%), political conservatives (73%), and those ages 65-plus (73%). The least likely population segments to have attended Sunday school or other religious programming as children were atheists and agnostics (35%), people associated with faiths other than Christianity (52%), Asians (53%), unchurched adults (56%), 18- to 25-year-olds (59%), never-married adults (60%), Hispanics (61%), and residents of the West (63%).

The types of Americans most likely to recall religious participation as teenagers were evangelicals (61%), those ages 65-plus (60%), born again Christians (58%), Catholics (58%), women (56%), political conservatives (56%), residents of the Midwest (56%), married adults (55%), and Protestants (54%). On the other hand, atheists and agnostics (19%), members of other faith groups (30%), unchurched adults (31%), never-married individuals (33%), economically downscale adults (40%), and men (44%) were the least likely to have frequently attended Sunday school or other religious programs during their teen years.

Based on Barna’s findings, Dr Ed. Stetzer provided the following analysis on those who were engaged in traditional Christian Education as children and teens:

“When it comes to church engagement, those who attended Sunday school or other religious programs as children or as teens were much more likely than those without such experiences to attend church and to have an active faith as adults. For instance, among those who frequently attended such programs as a child, 50% said they attended a worship service in the last week, which is slightly higher than the national average and well ahead of those who rarely or never attended children's programs. Among those who frequently attended religious programs as teenagers, 58% said they had attended a worship service in the last week. In comparison, less frequent participation as a teenager correlated with less frequent adult participation. “

Probably most of this data doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone involved in Spiritual formation. However, now there is some statistical data to support the correlation between childhood and adult engagement through Children’s and Youth (teen) ministry, as well as parental instruction and discipleship.

Click here to read the entire report by the Barna Group.

Friday Funnies - 2 Epic marriage proposals

2009-11-13T16:22:00.002-05:00

The following clips are of two marriage proposals. The first involved a lot of time, resources, rehearsals, and creative planning. The second is short and spontaneous.

The first one requires some explanation - Steve and Tracey were going to see a movie. tracey was unaware that Steve had rented the entire theater and filled it with 160 of their friends and family. They arrived late to the movie and went into the theater after the lights had gone down and the movie trailers were already playing.

In the months leading up to this moment, Steve made an entire movie trailer with actors portraying both he and Tracey during different times in their relationship. The scenes ion the airplane are supposed to be them 20 years in the future. The resemblances of the actors are amazing.

After sitting down in the theater while the "real" trailers played, the one that Steve made was inserted last. Steve said, "Tracey thought it was just another trailer for a movie soon to be released. Tracey was just perplexed as to how many different things had similarities to our relationship, she kept nudging me throughout the trailer. Tracey had no idea this was a marriage proposal until the last three seconds of the trailer."

Secondly, during a tennis match several years ago involving Steffi Graf, a fan yelled out asking Steffi to marry him. Her spontaneous response is priceless.

Facebook and RSS readers, this is a post from my blog containing video. Click here, and here, to view the clips.

I was a Teenage Adolescent - Why we're growing up so slowly today

2009-11-12T11:35:00.006-05:00

Adolescence is the phase between puberty and adulthood. Experts say biology dictates when adolescence begins and culture dictates when it ends. Experts also say the window of adolescence is expanding to where it begins at around 10.5 to 11 years old and arrives in adulthood in the mid to upper 20's.

Dr. Chap Clark describes this transition in more tangible terms - "when an adolescent pays for their own cell phone bill, they've fully evolved into a contributing adult..." (my paraphrase). It's both symbolic and practical.

The term Adolescence was defined about 100 years ago in a landmark book by the same name by Granville Stanley Hall. In those days, the adolescent window was just 18 months. Today it is 15+ years. How have our expectations impacted the cultural norm of adolescent growth and behavior?

The following article provides some insight. Why Teenagers Are Growing Up So Slowly Today, by Po Bronson was published in Newsweek magazine online, November 5, 2009. All content and copyright belong to the author and publisher.

Here's an interesting portion from the article.

And we wonder why it’s taking so long for them to mature. The old explanation used to be they needed time for the wave of raging hormones to dissipate (more on this tomorrow). The newer explanation is that their brains simply aren’t developed yet: their prefrontal cortex hasn’t converted from gray matter to white matter, their amygdalas have a surfeit of oxytocin receptors, and their reward centers have a paucity of dopamine receptors. Few can say for sure yet how these anatomical features actually interact and create modern teenagers, but the gist of it is quite simple – until their brains are finished, they’re not ready for real life.

“Most parents will tell you that this idea of the immature teen brain is one of the few notions that truly provides them comfort,” says Allen. “They feel like it gets them off the hook – that it’s biological, not a fault of parenting.” But Allen speculates that our parenting style may indeed be causing their brains to be this way. Brains of teens a hundred years ago might have been far more mature. Without painful real-life experiences, modern teens’ brains never learn to tell the difference between what they should fear and what they shouldn’t. Without real consequences and real rewards, teens never learn to distinguish between good risks they should take and bad risks they shouldn’t. “We park kids on the sidelines, thinking their brains will develop if we just wait, let time pass, as if all they need is more prep courses, lessons, and enrichment courses. They need real stress and challenges.”

Click here to read the entire article.

HT to CPYU

Dance Revolution - a lesson from Oprah and the Black Eyed Peas

2009-11-10T05:40:00.010-05:00

Most everyone has seen or heard about the Oprah flash mob dance video. The video features the Black Eyed Peas singing "I Gotta Feeling..." in front of a live crowd on Chicago's "Miracle Mile". It was part of Orah's launch to her 24th TV season in September 2009. If you haven't seen the video yet, check it out below before reading on.

Disclaimer: let me say up front that by using this clip in this post, I am not endorsing Oprah's show, nor am I condemning her or her views. Simply put, I don't watch her show or follow her career. This video is used here as an illustration.

One solitary dancer who initially seems to be alone in her joyful abandoned enthusiasm, is joined by a handful of others, and it multiplies like a rip tide throughout the crowd until 20,000 people are dancing the same choreography in unison. It's an impressive site, isn't it?

Even if you don't like Oprah or the BEP's, you can't help but wonder, How did they stage this event?

This didn't just "happen" minutes before the show. It took months and months of preparation. Here's the amazing thing, the choreography training started off with only 20 people. Then those 20 people trained 800 more people, and those 800 people trained even more until there were 20,000 dancers. Amazing!

This video demonstrates the influence of the small through the power of multiplication. All the great movements of recorded history, whether religious or non-religious, started with just a few people sharing a common vision, passion, and the courage to act. In most cases, they didn't set out to change the world, just their sphere of influence.

I used to work for an inner-city development mission in Detroit that was honored with a "Point of Light Award" by then President George H. W. Bush. We had a saying in that organization, "How do you change a city...? One block at a time..." The work of this organization changed the city's worst drug infested neighborhood by starting a revolution that spread person to person, house to house, block by block, until the drug lords and gangs were driven out. By doing so, it became a beautiful revolution that reclaimed a desirable neighborhood.

Greg Boyd wrote, "What Jesus was about was starting a revolution. He called this revolution 'the Kingdom of God'... manifesting the beauty of God's character and thus revolting against everything that is inconsistent with this beauty." Boyd calls this a beautiful revolution.

"So you see, the Kingdom has nothing to do with religion... It's rather about following the example of Jesus, manifesting the beauty of God's reign while revolting against all that is ugly."

This Cross becomes the paradigm for the revolution of sacrificial living, even suffering for others. That kind of life involves even revolting against society and traditions - everything that keeps us apathetic and narcissistic.

Erwin McManus wrote, "Anyone who can picture Jesus as the great Advocate of tradition is doing some serious doctoring of biblical history. Jesus was anything but the poster child for status quo. With a band of brothers and a small community of others, Jesus instigated an uprising that He expected to reach the very ends of the earth. You must never forget that it was only to a handful of individuals that Jesus entrusted an outcome that would make disciples of all the nations of the earth. The uprising was to transcend culture, ethnicity, race, religion, status - every and any divide established by men."

Every great revolution needs a revolutionary. Where does the revolution need to take place in your world? In your youth group? Your church? School? Neighborhood? City? It just takes one to start.

The following flash mob video illustrates this even more beautifully than Oprah's staged event, because this one is real and spontaneous. Watch it through till the end. It starts with only one...

Facebook and RSS readers, this is a post from my blog containing two videos. Click here to view the clips.

HT to Kevin

Monday Morning Mind Dump - some reflections on encouragement and the Marko situation

2009-11-09T10:46:00.014-05:00

The Master, God, has given me a well-taught tongue, so I know how to encourage tired people. He wakes me up in the mornings, wakes me up, opens my ears to listen as one ready to take orders. The Master, God, opened my ears, and I didn't go back to sleep, didn't pull the covers back over my head. Isa 50:4-5 (Msg)

It would be an understatement to say these are difficult times. Despite some recent positive news with the economy (building materials sales are way up, which is a key performance indicator), it will take time for things to trickle down and for other industries to bounce back.

My wife was recently laid off after 10 years with her company. We're learning about unemployment benefits, COBRA, and budget belt-tightening on the fly. Two years ago, I was also unemployed due to a large corporate merger. I received a very generous severance and eventually found employment in my current ministry position. I love what I do, but this has been a difficult year due to financial pressures and a reevaluation process for a potential reorganization. In my weakest moments, I've grown a little weary of the overall uncertainty. These are signs of the times.

Just last week, I received a phone call from the leader of a popular summer conference that our church youth have participated in for many years. He informed me that the 2010 conference is in doubt and likely to be canceled. The numbers to sustain it financially just aren't there anymore. It's such a beloved tradition that bore much fruit. I can't believe it's going away.

I could write a very long list of stories involving friends, family, and traditions that are victims to the current economic realities. Lately I confess it's a struggle to find the strength and words to respond.

What does one say when encountering loss and grief over life tragedies? People are weary and anxious about life's hardships and realities. How do you speak to "encourage tired people"?

When Jesus sent out the twelve, he said they shouldn't worry about "what to say or how to say it" (Mt 10:19). Does this mean that God fills our minds with thoughts we've never had before, or does he draw from a deep ocean of accumulated truth and life experiences that he wants us to share? Such answers are beyond my pay scale, but I'm convinced of this: we'll never have anything worthwhile to say until we start taking in God's words.

God speaks to us in solitude. He whispers his all-knowing secrets in our ears. There we begin to see only what he can see and discern his voice. Jesus also said when sending out the twelve, "What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs" (Mt 10:27).

John Wesley wrote, "I sit down alone - only God is here. In his presence I open, I read his books and what I thus learn, I speak."

George MacDonald said, "Hide yourself in God and when you rise before men, speak out of that secret place."

It's a matter of desire - to meet with God every day. It's also a matter of obedience - obedience is the first step towards learning more. Lastly, it's a matter of prayer - inviting the Spirit to indwell the Word within you and then asking God for the opportunities to give that word away.

A vivid illustration of a God-inspired, God-directed word comes from a story recently posted by Mark Oestreicher. As many youth leaders know by now, Marko is no longer with Youth Specialities (YS) - an organization that his name was synonymous with for many years. The details behind the decision are probably known by only a select few - and it's better that way. But a poorly written press release announcing Marko's release has generated a lot of criticism throughout the blogosphere towards Zondervan. It's definitely a case of someone not "getting" their intended audience. The comments from various bloggers blasting Zondervan are both harsh and amusing. In my opinion, Zondervan just brought it upon themselves by handling it the way they did. One thing l've learned in leadership, you set the stage for the new leader by how you part ways with the old leader.

Since his departure, Marko's comments on Facebook and his blog have been gracious and above the fray. In a recent blog post, Marko describes his transitional journey over the past year in a very vulnerable and honest manner. He also shares a story about how someone whom he never met, offered words of encouragement that had a profound impact on him. The words came in the form of an email from a youth worker. You can tell that her words were born out of her desire to meet with God, her obedience to share, and prayerful opportunity. Click here to read Marko's post.

I am grateful to Godly men and women who have spoken into my life recently with sincere words that didn't ring hollow (Pastors Doug, Mike, and Sonny - you're awesome!). I've searched for something to say directly to Marko as a word of encouragement. I certainly echo the many affirming sentiments that other youth leaders have posted in support of him. He has inspired so many and continually reminded us all why we don't quit this thing called youth ministry. I just feel ashamed by my own weariness that seemingly prevents me from finding the right words to say, but I'll try...

Marko - I'm truly sorry for your job loss. We all share a sense of loss without you in the YS platform. God used you as the voice for so many because you knew your audience and understood the culture of what we do. I believe the prayers for your future are going to be answered in the most amazing way, allowing your gifts and personality to shine and touch others beyond your imagination. I pray for your transitional days ahead, that they may be filled with contemplative reflection and affirmation, strengthening of bonds with family and friends, and rest and joy in the journey as you leave this calling and cleave to a new. Oh, and one more thing - I'm glad you're blogging again.

Friday Funnies - The side hug and other Youth Group rules

2009-11-06T10:41:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Jonathan Acuff posted a funny but all so true list of youth group rules on his awesome blog, Stuff Christians Like. Here's the post:

“What am I supposed to do, swivel?”

An exasperated friend asked me that recently. He was telling me about a rule he had received as a Christian youth camp counselor. In the contract for the camp, he had been told, “You can only side hug the campers. No front hugs.”

And that’s an OK rule. That makes sense, I get that. It’s designed to protect both the campers and the counselors. But my friend had a problem. Occasionally a camper would break down in tears, say something like, “My uncle just died and it is killing me” and then throw their arms out for a front hug.

Which is when my friend proclaimed, “What am I supposed to do swivel? In that moment, as they lean in for a hug, should I just turn, lightning fast and offer them a side hug? ‘Go ahead, let it out fella, go ahead and cry on my hip.’”

The weird thing is my youth group basically had the opposite rule. At the end of each time we hung out, we couldn’t leave the room until we had all hugged the mandatory number of necks. The youth minister would say, “5 mandatory hugs tonight” and then the most awkward 7th grade hugs would commence. (They weren’t awkward for me, I was rocking MC Hammer type pants and a vanilla ice stripe in my eyebrow, my hugs were dope. Yo.)

But hearing his story about the forced side hug made me realize something: there are no internationally agreed upon rules for the governance of youth groups.

So today, I thought I would set out to right that wrong. To create a list of rules for all youth groups based on the ideas we’ve all discussed in the last 18 months. I give you …

The Stuff Christians Like Youth Group Rules …

1. The youth group bus or van will not be purchased from a dealership named, “Vans that like to catch on fire & buses that break down in the middle of the night on the side of the road on the way to New Hampshire ski retreats.”

2. Only one “dude with an acoustic guitar” will be allowed per youth group.

3. If you go on a retreat and you’re boyfriend/girlfriend doesn’t go, they should expect to get dumped when you return home. Cause that’s happening.

4. All youth group ministers should expect at least one kid to ask for a precise definition of “what it means to be a virgin.”

5. Only tankinis and swim shirts shall be worn on youth group beach trips.

6. All youth group retreats should be held at locations that could double for horror movie backdrops because it adds to the intensity of the weekend.

7. Youth group volunteers who are helping out primarily to relive their own high school glory days vicariously through the teens will be removed quickly and quietly.

8. At no point should there be a circle of back massages during a youth group event. (Saw that happen a number of times.)

9. At no point should a youth minister try to keep a bad dating relationship together simply because he knows that as soon as the church girl dumps the non church boyfriend he’ll drop out of youth group.

10. Every month there should be at least one gross food related game played. Preferably involving baby food. Preferably not involving me.

11. The big tub of orange drink should not be stirred with a youth worker’s sweaty arm.

12. You should pull and eventually apologize for epic pranks, claiming that you want to do “all things with excellence” when you are caught.

13. The one parent who complains about something you did will not be empowered to steer the entire course of the youth group. The 50 other parents who didn’t complain will also be considered.

14. If someone hasn’t complained or taken issue with or questioned something your youth group has done in the last six months you will retreat to your youth room and ask yourselves, “What are we doing wrong?”

15. The guy with the jeep will always let the pastor’s kid ride shotgun. In 1993 that would have meant me and the jeep guy were pretty tight.

16. If the youth minister changes his/her tone of voice, vocabulary and outfit, when they get around youth, saying things like, “Yo, my tweets are blowing up, we ballin’ on a budget,” that youth minister will be hit with water balloons filled with honey.

Those are my rules for youth group, but I’m sure I missed some.

What rules did your youth group have?

What rules for youth group would you add?

Meltdown for a Cause

2009-11-05T08:37:00.005-05:00

Being in student ministry leadership, you're always keeping your eyes and ears open for new and creative ideas that work. Below is a unique fundraising idea that actually worked during these difficult economic times.

The following comes from Christian Standard magazine online.

Despite the generosity of her members, SouthBrook Christian Church (Miamisburg, Ohio) faced a budget deficit in late 2008. At the same time, requests for financial help from church members began to increase. Worst of all, the reduced income meant the church would have to delay its commitment to complete construction of a desperately needed AIDS clinic in Manzini, Swaziland.

“I felt a real sense of urgency to finish the clinic,” says Jerry Ittel, extension ministries leader. “The people in Manzini had overcome so much to move it forward—I just had to figure out some way to make it happen.”

A SouthBrook member suggested taking advantage of the huge demand for precious metals by collecting donations of unwanted gold and silver jewelry and selling it to a metal refinery. The goal was $100,000, and the call to action was simple: “Your class ring could save a life.”

“The idea was perfect,” Ittel says. “It was a compelling vision, we had a volunteer willing to lead the effort, and everyone could participate. Even people who were struggling financially could find something to donate.”

By the end of “Meltdown” week, the church had received $160,000 worth of metal, $100 from an 11-year-old boy without jewelry who wanted to help anyway, and a prized plastic ring from a little girl.

“This worked beyond our wildest dreams,” Ittel says. “If you put your faith in God and you’re open to some out-of-the-box ideas, miracles can still happen.”
The church offers its planning and promotional materials free of charge for any congregation interested in planning its own Meltdown experience. Visit http://www.southbrook.org/.

Just for fun, Steve Taylor's old song Meltdown at Madame Tussaud's is embedded below.

Facebook and RSS readers, this is a post from my blog containing video. Click here to view the clip.

Character

2009-11-04T16:30:00.000-05:00

Recent circumstances at work, home, church, with friends and even the economy have all given me reason to reflect on my character lately. If you've been through those seasons when God orchestrates these circumstances all at the same time, you know it's not fun. This is one of those times...

I'm not a young man anymore. I've had my share of "character" building moments, some of which were punctuated by some remarkably patient and gracious role models. But I still get impatient during these times, as much with myself as with God, wanting it to be over. Maturity comes in its own time and way. We want to look over God's shoulder and chart our progress, move the schedule along, put limits on the process, and then write a book about it.

Oh sure, in many of my past circumstances, I've definitely brought upon myself the need to be sifted and seasoned. Through these times, I've learned how to apologize, seek forgiveness, understand compassion and grace, as well as to learn that life does not guarantee happy endings - at least not on this side of heaven.

Our job is to follow and obey with humility and be open to what God is doing in and around us. We must surrender with a humble heart and let Him work it out within His time.

It's still not easy. Even today, I still sometimes feel like a kid being punished. I have a lot of past memories of adults shaming me into the desired behavior or action that suited their agenda. Agendas kill opportunity. I'm so conscious of that now as a parent.

I believe the Cross instills in us a desire to do better and He who prompts that desire is able to fulfill it.

Phyllis McGinley writes: "The wonderful thing about saints is that they were human. They lost their tempers, scolded God, were egotistical or testy or impatient in their turns, made mistakes and regretted them. Still they went on doggedly blundering toward heaven."

David Roper writes, Every day has its mishaps and memories of something we should have done or not done... though in process and incomplete we are freely loved, fully forgiven and on our way to glory. Sin may frustrate us for a day, but God's favor goes on forever and on ahead lies perfection.

In the meantime, I pray I have his character to wear on my face.

The following movie clip is an amazing illustration of learning the difference between truth in character and agendas. It's from the movie, The Big Kahuna.

The story line is a veteran salesman (Danny DeVito) who schools a young and idealistic company researcher (Peter Facinelli) while on an important business sales trip. They hope to sell their particular brand of industrial lubricants to an elusive customer. The young Christian man has a few things yet to learn about life.

RSS and Facebook readers, this is a post from my blog containing video. Click here to view the clip