Jonny Baker, famous for his many worship tricks, points us to a great open source site for sharing worship-like videos.
Download their stuff, upload yours.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Monday, April 10, 2006
How To Read A Book
Why do you suppose I am reading a book entitled, "How To Read A Book" ??????????????????
When Command #1 Comes To Blows With Command #2 - Emergent To The Rescue
Command #1 - Love God
Command #2 - Love people
It's so simple that it is almost ridiculous. When Jesus went and boiled it all down for people, he said it like this: "Love God and love people." He then went on to affirm that this has always been God's will when he said, "The law and the prophets hinge on this."
It's all about loving God and people and it always has been. Furthermore, it always will be.
Maybe when people get this right, we'll get some more revelation. The problem is that religious people have found ways to pretend like they are doing this while simultaneously not doing it.
Let me overstate it like this: Conservatives will defend God against people while liberals will defend people against God. Conservatives say, "We will obey God rather than man," way, way too much. Liberals will cater to, coddle, and cuddle people to the nth degree of political correctness bouyed with their self-righteous "socially just" platform.
More often than not, Christians take Jesus' explanation of God's great desire - to love and be loved - and make it into a competing dualism.
I will use 3 examples from the conservative side which are from my experience to make my point.
Example #1: In my fellowship, the Churches of Christ, the use of insturments during worship is banned. Why? Because that's the way God wants it and culture be damned. Although there is significant softening on this point in some locations, it is still the rule.
Now think about it for a minute. When I said culture be damned, I was not overstating it. To many Church of Christ people, to worship God with instruments is to offer up "strange fire" like Nadab and Abihu and the same punishment they received (death) is due to those who worship with instruments. So, here you have a people willing to withhold salvation from other people based on this weird, sectarian issue.
Why? It is their love for God that gets them there. They do not want to offend God and it does not matter how many people they offend in accomplishing their goal. They are willing to defile the second command in order to accomplish the first. Is this what Jesus meant?
Change the religion to Islam and what do you get?
Example #2: In Churches of Christ and in many other denominations, women who are perfectly capable of leadership are banned from leadership. Again, this rule is rooted in a love for God over (not with) a love for people. OK, sure, there are verses in the Bible that, when read as if they were written for contemporary times, would lead one to believe that women are not allowed to lead. Granted. One the other hand, there are a lot of verses and examples in the Bible that don't jibe with those gender exclusive verses. Conservatives err on the side of trying so hard not to offend God that they can offend half the people in the world without any probelm whatsoever. They ahve become experts at compartmentalizing God's will.
God never said, "love me and hate (insult, demean, exclude, etc) people," but when you look around at the church you see that it acts as if that was what God said.
Example #3: About homosexuals. OK, if the first two issues were a no-brainer for you, then this one is more likely to be a challenge. When it comes right down to it, worship style and gender are arguably not moral issues. Few are the people who do not attach a moral value to some perspective on homosexuality.
It seems like this issue forces one to choose to love God or love the homosexual, but not both. And please, let's not be trite and bring in the "love the sinner and hate the sin" crap here. I have yet to see a person who says this actualy capable of pulling it off - at least not very well. People on the receiving end of this statement rarely feel loved and I don't know of one who does.
OK, let's assume that the conservatives are right on this one and homosexuality is a sin against God. Then how do we go about loving homosexuals as God commanded? How do we honor God and homosexuals at the same time?
While you're hurintg yourself over that one, let's go a little further and consider the other side of morality here. There is a moral component to the reponse to homosexuals. This applies to anything (instruments, women, war, politics, lying, abortion etc) where people are involved. The homosexuals are not the only ones dealing with a moral issue here. There is a morality embedded within the attitude of the responder that runs as deep as the one to whom repsonse is given. For example, it is immoral to be unjust to a gay person because he is gay.
It is immoral to be unjust for any reason. It would be immoral to punish men for their persistent refusal to breastfeed their own children. OK, that one came out of left field, but imagine a militant group of La Leche Leaguers came to political and theological power in governemnt and the church and demanded equality, requiring men to breastfeed their children despite their obvious physical inabilities. Imagine these people even jacked up their demands with a scripture or two. Whatever would men do? Being ousted from their positions of power, they would beg for mercy. They would cry out to be loved - in pissed off manly ways, of course, but they would appeal to the second greatest command, not the first.
OK, I am drifting a bit from my point, so let's come back. When Christians say, "Love God and love people," they have already said more than they are capable of doing. Woe to the person who believes he is doing it well, for that person is a dangerous person.
This is the reason why I so much like the efforts of the emerging church. It is a new way of approaching God and people. The fact that the emerging conversation gets so much criticism from the right (too liberal and catering to humanism) and the left (too conservative and catering to evangelicals) may be similar to why Jesus got the same criticism. No, emergent isn't perfect like Jesus, but they are willing to be revolutionary, risky, and pay the price for their efforts. The emerging church is willing to re-examine all assumptions about what it means to love God and love people. Some of these assumptions will remain as they are indeed valuable, some will be fine tuned and tweaked, while others will be completely deconstrcuted and left for waste, hauled out to the dump, and never remembered again.
Command #2 - Love people
It's so simple that it is almost ridiculous. When Jesus went and boiled it all down for people, he said it like this: "Love God and love people." He then went on to affirm that this has always been God's will when he said, "The law and the prophets hinge on this."
It's all about loving God and people and it always has been. Furthermore, it always will be.
Maybe when people get this right, we'll get some more revelation. The problem is that religious people have found ways to pretend like they are doing this while simultaneously not doing it.
Let me overstate it like this: Conservatives will defend God against people while liberals will defend people against God. Conservatives say, "We will obey God rather than man," way, way too much. Liberals will cater to, coddle, and cuddle people to the nth degree of political correctness bouyed with their self-righteous "socially just" platform.
More often than not, Christians take Jesus' explanation of God's great desire - to love and be loved - and make it into a competing dualism.
I will use 3 examples from the conservative side which are from my experience to make my point.
Example #1: In my fellowship, the Churches of Christ, the use of insturments during worship is banned. Why? Because that's the way God wants it and culture be damned. Although there is significant softening on this point in some locations, it is still the rule.
Now think about it for a minute. When I said culture be damned, I was not overstating it. To many Church of Christ people, to worship God with instruments is to offer up "strange fire" like Nadab and Abihu and the same punishment they received (death) is due to those who worship with instruments. So, here you have a people willing to withhold salvation from other people based on this weird, sectarian issue.
Why? It is their love for God that gets them there. They do not want to offend God and it does not matter how many people they offend in accomplishing their goal. They are willing to defile the second command in order to accomplish the first. Is this what Jesus meant?
Change the religion to Islam and what do you get?
Example #2: In Churches of Christ and in many other denominations, women who are perfectly capable of leadership are banned from leadership. Again, this rule is rooted in a love for God over (not with) a love for people. OK, sure, there are verses in the Bible that, when read as if they were written for contemporary times, would lead one to believe that women are not allowed to lead. Granted. One the other hand, there are a lot of verses and examples in the Bible that don't jibe with those gender exclusive verses. Conservatives err on the side of trying so hard not to offend God that they can offend half the people in the world without any probelm whatsoever. They ahve become experts at compartmentalizing God's will.
God never said, "love me and hate (insult, demean, exclude, etc) people," but when you look around at the church you see that it acts as if that was what God said.
Example #3: About homosexuals. OK, if the first two issues were a no-brainer for you, then this one is more likely to be a challenge. When it comes right down to it, worship style and gender are arguably not moral issues. Few are the people who do not attach a moral value to some perspective on homosexuality.
It seems like this issue forces one to choose to love God or love the homosexual, but not both. And please, let's not be trite and bring in the "love the sinner and hate the sin" crap here. I have yet to see a person who says this actualy capable of pulling it off - at least not very well. People on the receiving end of this statement rarely feel loved and I don't know of one who does.
OK, let's assume that the conservatives are right on this one and homosexuality is a sin against God. Then how do we go about loving homosexuals as God commanded? How do we honor God and homosexuals at the same time?
While you're hurintg yourself over that one, let's go a little further and consider the other side of morality here. There is a moral component to the reponse to homosexuals. This applies to anything (instruments, women, war, politics, lying, abortion etc) where people are involved. The homosexuals are not the only ones dealing with a moral issue here. There is a morality embedded within the attitude of the responder that runs as deep as the one to whom repsonse is given. For example, it is immoral to be unjust to a gay person because he is gay.
It is immoral to be unjust for any reason. It would be immoral to punish men for their persistent refusal to breastfeed their own children. OK, that one came out of left field, but imagine a militant group of La Leche Leaguers came to political and theological power in governemnt and the church and demanded equality, requiring men to breastfeed their children despite their obvious physical inabilities. Imagine these people even jacked up their demands with a scripture or two. Whatever would men do? Being ousted from their positions of power, they would beg for mercy. They would cry out to be loved - in pissed off manly ways, of course, but they would appeal to the second greatest command, not the first.
OK, I am drifting a bit from my point, so let's come back. When Christians say, "Love God and love people," they have already said more than they are capable of doing. Woe to the person who believes he is doing it well, for that person is a dangerous person.
This is the reason why I so much like the efforts of the emerging church. It is a new way of approaching God and people. The fact that the emerging conversation gets so much criticism from the right (too liberal and catering to humanism) and the left (too conservative and catering to evangelicals) may be similar to why Jesus got the same criticism. No, emergent isn't perfect like Jesus, but they are willing to be revolutionary, risky, and pay the price for their efforts. The emerging church is willing to re-examine all assumptions about what it means to love God and love people. Some of these assumptions will remain as they are indeed valuable, some will be fine tuned and tweaked, while others will be completely deconstrcuted and left for waste, hauled out to the dump, and never remembered again.
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Emerging with legs
If the emerging church is to be more than an historical anomaly, then the following must happen in denominations, associations, and congregations:
1. Proliferation of organic faith friendworks. What this means is that Jesus followers, whether they are contained within a denomination or not, must develop networks of friends who are different than they are and truly be their friends. Engage with these friends in peer, non-hierarchical, unforced conversations about faith - engage with them in meals, wathcing "24," and child care swaps - engage with them in service, sacrifice, and generosity.
2. Differentiate the Religious from the Godly - and persue the latter. I have yet to see an organized church do this well. In the few places where the talk of confronting religion for the sake of God is allowed, the conversation goes well until the topic nears a sacred cow. It is at that instant when religion reasserts itself and stifles any and all progress made. Many times, just by the mere fact that the sacred cow was for a moment in play, the religious backlash is so fierce that the institution is set backwards rather than forwards. For this to happen on more than a personal level, savvy, courageous, and humble leaderships is required.
3. Overhaul the definition of the follwing word: CHURCH. If the word, "church," is not already an irreversibly contaminated word, then it needs massive redefining. It must no longer be synonymous with building, social club, networking opportunity, the saved, the elect, the elite, organization, and institution, and must come to mean people who love large in service, generosity, inclusion, goodness, and hope. They must do unbelievable things - things that pleasantly confuse the irreligious and make possible the legitimacy of Jesus in their lives.
4. Non-denominational emergents must make space for denominational emergents (and pre-emegents). One of the criticisms of emergent types is that they have this little club, this fledgling movement that is self-proclaimed as exclusive, superior, and enlightened. Frankly, I think most of the criticism is more rhetorical than substantive. Anyone can find a bad example and generalize it to the whole. It's a decent rhetorical technique, but it is not all too honest. At the same time, emergents need to do a better job with their deep ecclesiology - blurring the lines between denominations without writng them off. Their inclusions must be more than rhetorical as well. This will only be done with skill and patience and through mutual meaning-making between peoples from various groups and identifications.
5. Denationalize Christianity. I will address the American church only since it is all the experience I have. Americans have the uncanny ability to recognize opportunity, colonize it, own it, defend it, and make the bar on membership high with many requirements. I short, American aaccumulate power and utilize it to the their own best advantage. The most amazing aspect of this process is that it is mostly, if not completely, invisible to the people doing it. Americans have done this to Christianity. In some denominations and congregations, it is literally impossible to determine where the religion ends and the patriotism begins (or is it the other way around?). However, in others it is not completely overt, which almost makes it worse. Democracy, capitalism, free market, consumerism, individualism are highly valued in most American churches. None of these are the values of the church found in the Bible, in history. These are American values. It's not that they are all bad values, but rather to attribute them to God's will is overstasted and creates unnecessary barriers between people.
More could be said on these 5 points and more points could be added. In fact, feel free to do so.
1. Proliferation of organic faith friendworks. What this means is that Jesus followers, whether they are contained within a denomination or not, must develop networks of friends who are different than they are and truly be their friends. Engage with these friends in peer, non-hierarchical, unforced conversations about faith - engage with them in meals, wathcing "24," and child care swaps - engage with them in service, sacrifice, and generosity.
2. Differentiate the Religious from the Godly - and persue the latter. I have yet to see an organized church do this well. In the few places where the talk of confronting religion for the sake of God is allowed, the conversation goes well until the topic nears a sacred cow. It is at that instant when religion reasserts itself and stifles any and all progress made. Many times, just by the mere fact that the sacred cow was for a moment in play, the religious backlash is so fierce that the institution is set backwards rather than forwards. For this to happen on more than a personal level, savvy, courageous, and humble leaderships is required.
3. Overhaul the definition of the follwing word: CHURCH. If the word, "church," is not already an irreversibly contaminated word, then it needs massive redefining. It must no longer be synonymous with building, social club, networking opportunity, the saved, the elect, the elite, organization, and institution, and must come to mean people who love large in service, generosity, inclusion, goodness, and hope. They must do unbelievable things - things that pleasantly confuse the irreligious and make possible the legitimacy of Jesus in their lives.
4. Non-denominational emergents must make space for denominational emergents (and pre-emegents). One of the criticisms of emergent types is that they have this little club, this fledgling movement that is self-proclaimed as exclusive, superior, and enlightened. Frankly, I think most of the criticism is more rhetorical than substantive. Anyone can find a bad example and generalize it to the whole. It's a decent rhetorical technique, but it is not all too honest. At the same time, emergents need to do a better job with their deep ecclesiology - blurring the lines between denominations without writng them off. Their inclusions must be more than rhetorical as well. This will only be done with skill and patience and through mutual meaning-making between peoples from various groups and identifications.
5. Denationalize Christianity. I will address the American church only since it is all the experience I have. Americans have the uncanny ability to recognize opportunity, colonize it, own it, defend it, and make the bar on membership high with many requirements. I short, American aaccumulate power and utilize it to the their own best advantage. The most amazing aspect of this process is that it is mostly, if not completely, invisible to the people doing it. Americans have done this to Christianity. In some denominations and congregations, it is literally impossible to determine where the religion ends and the patriotism begins (or is it the other way around?). However, in others it is not completely overt, which almost makes it worse. Democracy, capitalism, free market, consumerism, individualism are highly valued in most American churches. None of these are the values of the church found in the Bible, in history. These are American values. It's not that they are all bad values, but rather to attribute them to God's will is overstasted and creates unnecessary barriers between people.
More could be said on these 5 points and more points could be added. In fact, feel free to do so.
Friday, April 07, 2006
My Generation - Emergent
I have been listening to the music from my father's funeral - 60's and 70's rock music. There is much to learn about that generation from the music they produced and became popular. There was rebellion to be sure, but there was also this sense of freedom bursting forth out of the restraints of the given context. As crazy and dangerous as much of it was, it took a certain degree of courage to break free with such force.
It must have been an exciting time to live in the 1960's. They must have felt like they were on the verge of something great - even if they didn't know what it was.
Fast forward to emergent. What is happening in the emerging church mirrors the tone and mood of the 1960's, only within theological realms. However, there is one major difference.
The emerging church that I know realizes that it needs the older generation.
"Don't trust anyone over 30," was the mantra once upon a time. Right now emergent seeks to learn from those over 30 while at the same time not being ruled by them. There is a sense of context for emergent - an ancient-future awareness that informs its theology and helps to hedge against the grand self-absorption of the 60's. Oh yes, there is an exaggerated sense of self-importance that wigles out here and htere and every now and again, but that is not the main thrust.
What I really like about emergent is that it is seeking to follow God in the way that they see Jesus following God. That means service. That means revolution. That means respecting no institution over people. That means fearless challenges to repressive authority. That means spiritual practices. That means religion is servant, not master. That means morality is what I do as opposed to what I can get others not to do. Faith is lived more than spoken.
I want to see the the kingdom of God penetrate each and every denomination, congregation and community in the world. I want to see Jeus have a good name in the world - the Jesus that seemed to obvious to Ghandi. I want to be swept up into a community of people for whom this kind of love is the normal flow of their day. I want invest my time and money into more than bricks and denominational self-preservation. I want to be friends with people who are not like me. I want to learn how to respect cultural differences rather than eliminate cultural barriers.
I want to love like Jesus did.
It must have been an exciting time to live in the 1960's. They must have felt like they were on the verge of something great - even if they didn't know what it was.
Fast forward to emergent. What is happening in the emerging church mirrors the tone and mood of the 1960's, only within theological realms. However, there is one major difference.
The emerging church that I know realizes that it needs the older generation.
"Don't trust anyone over 30," was the mantra once upon a time. Right now emergent seeks to learn from those over 30 while at the same time not being ruled by them. There is a sense of context for emergent - an ancient-future awareness that informs its theology and helps to hedge against the grand self-absorption of the 60's. Oh yes, there is an exaggerated sense of self-importance that wigles out here and htere and every now and again, but that is not the main thrust.
What I really like about emergent is that it is seeking to follow God in the way that they see Jesus following God. That means service. That means revolution. That means respecting no institution over people. That means fearless challenges to repressive authority. That means spiritual practices. That means religion is servant, not master. That means morality is what I do as opposed to what I can get others not to do. Faith is lived more than spoken.
I want to see the the kingdom of God penetrate each and every denomination, congregation and community in the world. I want to see Jeus have a good name in the world - the Jesus that seemed to obvious to Ghandi. I want to be swept up into a community of people for whom this kind of love is the normal flow of their day. I want invest my time and money into more than bricks and denominational self-preservation. I want to be friends with people who are not like me. I want to learn how to respect cultural differences rather than eliminate cultural barriers.
I want to love like Jesus did.
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
Why I'm Only Sad
Top 10 reasons why I am only sad (not angry, bitter, resentful, lonely, etc)
10. I know my father is free from his weak and tired body
9. He is likely the newest drummer in God's celestial praise band (OK, cheesy)
8. 12 years ago I reconciled with my fahter
7. I got to say good-bye
6. I got to be there when he passed
5. I got to crack jokes at his funeral
4. I have bonded with my brother and sister
3. I know I'll see him again
2. I am having tons of good memories
1. I now have the coolest funeral soundtrack ever and I listen to it every day
10. I know my father is free from his weak and tired body
9. He is likely the newest drummer in God's celestial praise band (OK, cheesy)
8. 12 years ago I reconciled with my fahter
7. I got to say good-bye
6. I got to be there when he passed
5. I got to crack jokes at his funeral
4. I have bonded with my brother and sister
3. I know I'll see him again
2. I am having tons of good memories
1. I now have the coolest funeral soundtrack ever and I listen to it every day
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Best Funeral Soundtrack Ever...Period.
OK, so who thinks of funerals having soundtracks?
In 2002, my father was hospitalized and we decided at that time we needed a healthcare directive in case he were ever to need someone to make decisions for him. In the healthcare directive, there were funeral questions, which were kind of weird to work through at the time, but last week, it was essential to dealing with making decisions for my father's healthcare and eventually his funeral.
Anyway, my father specifically requested rock-n-roll music at his funeral - a live band if economically feasible. The Rolling Stones were booked, so we went with a compilation of classic rock. Here it is:
Midnight Rider - Allman Brothers
In A Gaddad Da Vida - Iron Butterfly
Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf
Joy To The World - Three Dog Night
Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin
Roundabout - Yes
My Generation - The Who
The Letter - ??????????
Bad To The Bone - George Thorogood
You Can't Always Get What You Want - Rolling Stones
Can't Get No Satisfaction - Rolling Stones
Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
Momma Told Me Not To Come - Three Dog Night
Black and White - Three Dog Night
Celebrate - Three Dog Night
Wild Thing - The Troggs
It's Only love - ZZ Top
In 2002, my father was hospitalized and we decided at that time we needed a healthcare directive in case he were ever to need someone to make decisions for him. In the healthcare directive, there were funeral questions, which were kind of weird to work through at the time, but last week, it was essential to dealing with making decisions for my father's healthcare and eventually his funeral.
Anyway, my father specifically requested rock-n-roll music at his funeral - a live band if economically feasible. The Rolling Stones were booked, so we went with a compilation of classic rock. Here it is:
Midnight Rider - Allman Brothers
In A Gaddad Da Vida - Iron Butterfly
Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf
Joy To The World - Three Dog Night
Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin
Roundabout - Yes
My Generation - The Who
The Letter - ??????????
Bad To The Bone - George Thorogood
You Can't Always Get What You Want - Rolling Stones
Can't Get No Satisfaction - Rolling Stones
Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
Momma Told Me Not To Come - Three Dog Night
Black and White - Three Dog Night
Celebrate - Three Dog Night
Wild Thing - The Troggs
It's Only love - ZZ Top
Monday, April 03, 2006
Last Laugh
That last thing I know for sure my father heard before he died was the follwoing joke, at which he laughed pretty hard. (Warning PG 13 content)
-----------------------------------------
So a guy walks into a bar carrying a brown sack and sits down next to another guy. They each enjoy a drink when the first guy says, "hey buddy, you want to see something?"
"Sure," the second guy responds.
The first guy pulls out a miniature grand piano from the sack and sets it on the bar. The paino was no larger than a basketball.
"Wow," says the other guy, "that is really a beaituful piano. I am really impressed."
"Thanks," says the first guy, "do you want to see something else that's pretty cool?"
"Of course."
The first guy pulls out a miniature piano bench and sets it right in front of the piano.
"My goodness," says the other guy,"the craftsmanship on these pieces is amazing - so detailed."
Noticing how impressed the other guy is, the first man says," Well, would you like to see something even more amazing?"
"Of course," says the other guy enthusiastically.
The first guy reaches into the sack pulls out a 12 inch man - a real live man who is wearing a formal tuxedo. This little man promptly sits down at the piano and begins to play.
"What in the world?" says the other man in amazement, "I can't believe my eyes. How could this be. I wouldn't believe it if I weren't seeing it for myself. How did you do this? Where did you get this little man and paino?"
"Do you really want to know?" asked the first man.
"Of course, this is amazing," answered the other guy.
The first guy reached into the sack again and pulled out an old oil lamp.
"Is that a magic lamp?" asked the other guy.
"Yes, but..."
Before the guy could finish his answer, the other guy grabbed the lamp and began to rub it saying, "I wish for a million bucks."
After a few seconds they heard an enormous crash of thunder from just outside the bar followed by what kind of sounded like quacking. So the two men went to the door to what had happened. When they opened the door, they saw the streets covered in ducks - one million ducks.
"No, no, this isn't right!" exclaimed the first man, "I wished for a million bucks."
"Yeah right," said the first man," do you really think I wished for a 12 inch pianist?"
-----------------------------------------
So a guy walks into a bar carrying a brown sack and sits down next to another guy. They each enjoy a drink when the first guy says, "hey buddy, you want to see something?"
"Sure," the second guy responds.
The first guy pulls out a miniature grand piano from the sack and sets it on the bar. The paino was no larger than a basketball.
"Wow," says the other guy, "that is really a beaituful piano. I am really impressed."
"Thanks," says the first guy, "do you want to see something else that's pretty cool?"
"Of course."
The first guy pulls out a miniature piano bench and sets it right in front of the piano.
"My goodness," says the other guy,"the craftsmanship on these pieces is amazing - so detailed."
Noticing how impressed the other guy is, the first man says," Well, would you like to see something even more amazing?"
"Of course," says the other guy enthusiastically.
The first guy reaches into the sack pulls out a 12 inch man - a real live man who is wearing a formal tuxedo. This little man promptly sits down at the piano and begins to play.
"What in the world?" says the other man in amazement, "I can't believe my eyes. How could this be. I wouldn't believe it if I weren't seeing it for myself. How did you do this? Where did you get this little man and paino?"
"Do you really want to know?" asked the first man.
"Of course, this is amazing," answered the other guy.
The first guy reached into the sack again and pulled out an old oil lamp.
"Is that a magic lamp?" asked the other guy.
"Yes, but..."
Before the guy could finish his answer, the other guy grabbed the lamp and began to rub it saying, "I wish for a million bucks."
After a few seconds they heard an enormous crash of thunder from just outside the bar followed by what kind of sounded like quacking. So the two men went to the door to what had happened. When they opened the door, they saw the streets covered in ducks - one million ducks.
"No, no, this isn't right!" exclaimed the first man, "I wished for a million bucks."
"Yeah right," said the first man," do you really think I wished for a 12 inch pianist?"
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Returning To Grace
I appreciate everyone's prayers and kind words over the past week. I may occasionally post more about my father as I continue to grieve and process losing him. However, I plan on getting back to my regular kind of blogging. Thanks for being there for me. I know that it can get wearing to listen to someone hurt and grieve and there is little or nothing you can do about it. So, your presence here matters.
I learned this week that I am a member of a cult. Nancy Grace was kind enough to let me know that churches of Christ are a cult - well, she got a guest to say it and then took it as gospel truth. OK, this will be my one and only address of Nancy Grace on this blog.
Here is the place where I play the "church autonomy" card. One of my favorite things about churches of Christ is the idea of autonomy. There is no governing body that controls any congregation. I like this. Structuring congregations this way saves from widespread abuses. So, when a cult like Church of Christ emerges - and they do - its influence is limited and usually dies out.
The thing is that any church, when their "essentials" are confronted, can look cult like. In a pluralistic culture, anything absolute can appear cult-like. Too far into any direction, no matter what direction, and cultishness and cult-like behavior and expectations emerge.
What we need to do with Nancy Grace is to love her and not rag all over her. Nancy Grace is not my enemy.
I learned this week that I am a member of a cult. Nancy Grace was kind enough to let me know that churches of Christ are a cult - well, she got a guest to say it and then took it as gospel truth. OK, this will be my one and only address of Nancy Grace on this blog.
Here is the place where I play the "church autonomy" card. One of my favorite things about churches of Christ is the idea of autonomy. There is no governing body that controls any congregation. I like this. Structuring congregations this way saves from widespread abuses. So, when a cult like Church of Christ emerges - and they do - its influence is limited and usually dies out.
The thing is that any church, when their "essentials" are confronted, can look cult like. In a pluralistic culture, anything absolute can appear cult-like. Too far into any direction, no matter what direction, and cultishness and cult-like behavior and expectations emerge.
What we need to do with Nancy Grace is to love her and not rag all over her. Nancy Grace is not my enemy.
Grief, My friend
This one went into the Jonesboro Sun Saturday
Grief, My Friend
When someone you really love dies, everything changes. Grief visits without invitation and often appears like it wants to overextend its stay. People respond to this kind of loss in many ways, some healthy and some not so healthy. Let’s take a little walk into grief and see what we can find here.
Now, I know that most people reading today are not experiencing significant grief right now. That’s fine. Use today’s column as preparation for when it does pay you a visit. For those of us who are in the throes of grief, let’s work through this thing together.
When the loss of a loved one imposes itself upon you, there is often an initial sense of surreality – I don’t believe it and I can’t deny it. Incompatible feelings crammed into one heart makes one weary, confused, and even angry. Sometimes people choose not to believe that person is really gone, but reality eventually has a way of drawing us back to the facts.
There is a physical sense to grief and it is usually experienced in the chest and gut. It feels like someone reached inside your chest and pulled out almost everything that was in there. There can be physical fatigue and weariness. The need for sleep is increased, but the ability to sleep is often decreased. Appetite abandons you for a while, but there is no less need to eat. There is this pressing sense that something needs to be done, but everything you do fails to satisfy that need.
Then there are the emotional aspects of grief. Besides the wide variety and intensities of feelings that pass in and out of the heart, there is the overwhelming sense that this situation is far too big to handle. Powerlessness can cripple the heart’s hopes that perhaps this was all a terrible, awful dream. Fear sets in because there is nothing that can be done about this gaping hole in your life. Sadness floods over fear because the one thing you want is the one thing unavailable to you – the person who has passed.
On and off, as time goes by, there are moments when the feelings of immense emptiness are held at bay. However, when you catch a certain smell in the air, or when passing by that old house, or perhaps ordering pizza from THAT pizza place happens, grief bursts in out of nowhere. You might even think you’re going crazy because it’s no big deal, right? It’s just a smell.
But the way of grief is not only found in the large, gaping hole in your heart, it is also found in the million little holes that dot the rest of your life – those unexpected yet intense memories associated with the flow of your regular life. So, not only is grief overwhelming for its hugeness, it is also overwhelming for its smallness. Even when the huge hole is reduced or you learn how to live with it, there are all the little holes that surprise you.
There is good news, however. The good news is that although grief seems to enter your life as an enemy, the longer it hangs around, the more you realize it as a friend. Grief changes over time from being only sadness, confusion, and anger to positive memories, meaningful moments, and respect for the one who passed on. The longer into healthy grieving a person goes, the more that grief is depended upon to reorient the heart and mind to where it needs to be, respect and love for the one who is gone. The grief of the living, over time, is the best thing for preserving the memory of the dead.
Grief, My Friend
When someone you really love dies, everything changes. Grief visits without invitation and often appears like it wants to overextend its stay. People respond to this kind of loss in many ways, some healthy and some not so healthy. Let’s take a little walk into grief and see what we can find here.
Now, I know that most people reading today are not experiencing significant grief right now. That’s fine. Use today’s column as preparation for when it does pay you a visit. For those of us who are in the throes of grief, let’s work through this thing together.
When the loss of a loved one imposes itself upon you, there is often an initial sense of surreality – I don’t believe it and I can’t deny it. Incompatible feelings crammed into one heart makes one weary, confused, and even angry. Sometimes people choose not to believe that person is really gone, but reality eventually has a way of drawing us back to the facts.
There is a physical sense to grief and it is usually experienced in the chest and gut. It feels like someone reached inside your chest and pulled out almost everything that was in there. There can be physical fatigue and weariness. The need for sleep is increased, but the ability to sleep is often decreased. Appetite abandons you for a while, but there is no less need to eat. There is this pressing sense that something needs to be done, but everything you do fails to satisfy that need.
Then there are the emotional aspects of grief. Besides the wide variety and intensities of feelings that pass in and out of the heart, there is the overwhelming sense that this situation is far too big to handle. Powerlessness can cripple the heart’s hopes that perhaps this was all a terrible, awful dream. Fear sets in because there is nothing that can be done about this gaping hole in your life. Sadness floods over fear because the one thing you want is the one thing unavailable to you – the person who has passed.
On and off, as time goes by, there are moments when the feelings of immense emptiness are held at bay. However, when you catch a certain smell in the air, or when passing by that old house, or perhaps ordering pizza from THAT pizza place happens, grief bursts in out of nowhere. You might even think you’re going crazy because it’s no big deal, right? It’s just a smell.
But the way of grief is not only found in the large, gaping hole in your heart, it is also found in the million little holes that dot the rest of your life – those unexpected yet intense memories associated with the flow of your regular life. So, not only is grief overwhelming for its hugeness, it is also overwhelming for its smallness. Even when the huge hole is reduced or you learn how to live with it, there are all the little holes that surprise you.
There is good news, however. The good news is that although grief seems to enter your life as an enemy, the longer it hangs around, the more you realize it as a friend. Grief changes over time from being only sadness, confusion, and anger to positive memories, meaningful moments, and respect for the one who passed on. The longer into healthy grieving a person goes, the more that grief is depended upon to reorient the heart and mind to where it needs to be, respect and love for the one who is gone. The grief of the living, over time, is the best thing for preserving the memory of the dead.
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