Intense...

Last weekend, I went to a Get The Word Out intensive on Worship.  This involved some front end work but most occurred during the day (8:30 - 8:30) on Saturday.

We asked and answered questions like....

• What is Worship?  (it is not just any part or the whole Sunday Morning church service).
• What do you Worship? (The easy answer is whatever you think about most).
• How do I truly worship God?  (Read Romans 12:1-2 for an idea, especially in The Message)

If you think you have a handle on it, do some honest thinking about the middle question above.

Jubilee Years and Restoration

We sang a song by "delirious" this weekend called "Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble" this Sunday.  There is a line in the song that paints interesting symbols in my mind.

And here we see that God you're moving
A time of Jubilee is coming

Jubilee is mentioned in Leviticus 25:8-55 and is part of The Law that God gave to Israel.  

There are two special years mentioned in The Law.  The first is the sabbath year which occurs every 7th year.  The other is the year of Jubilee which is to occur every 50th year.

Every 7th year, the people were supposed to:

• forgive all debts
• release all hebrew servants
• read the law at the Feast of Tabernacles

I remember my Dad practiced his own "sabbath year" with the land by rotating crops.  I don't remember if it was exactly a 7 year rotation but it was close.  This allowed the land to renew by planting crops that didn't leach one particular mineral out of the soil and let others replace the nutrients the others need.

Every 50th year, Israel was to:

• let the land lie fallow (not plant crops)
• give back any land purchased from others.
• release all slaves

I don't remember seeing (and I have heard others say this) any record of Jubilee being celebrated in the Old Testament.   Maybe it was and not recorded but you might expect to see it once.

The year of Jubilee was to be a time of restoration.  A time which foreshadowed the coming of Christ and his restoration of the earth.  That is why I liked the lyrics above.

A test of giving and pride

A friend and fellow musician on our worship bands gave me a gift last night that has tested my pride. He had gotten a pair of headphones, then found these, then got another pair of the original as a backup pair. Last night, he offered these to me. THANKS TODD.

I struggled with the gift, offered to pay him for them (he said he'd take a Coke or something). These are the most expensive headphones I have ever used but they also happen to be the clearest sounding headphones I have ever used. As Marj said... What an expression of extravagant love.

Cultural Taboos

This is something I deal with daily. Not my taboos but others. You see, I work with several people from India. Most of the Indian's that I deal with are vegetarians who, for religious reasons, find eating meat taboo.

According to one online dictionary, taboo is defined as

1. proscribed by society as improper or unacceptable (adj)
   
2. a prohibition or interdiction of anything; exclusion from use or practice. (noun)
3. to put under a taboo; prohibit or forbid.

Many of those things we count as taboo we have good reason for. Driving while intoxicated should be taboo as it puts others in danger. The Bible has prohibitions on sex outside marriage as it is against God's ideal and as we have found, can lead to contracting an STD, pregnancy, etc.

What is disappointing to me is when we make something taboo when there is no danger to others or prohibition in the Bible. Doing this tends to put us above God.

Today, as part of my Daily Audio Bible listening (June 15th actually as I am two days behind because of some download problems previously) we heard Acts 10. This is where Peter is in a
trance, sees the sheet and is told to eat all the animals previously thought to be unclean.

It is tempting to look at these verses and just think about the pork (or some other unclean dish) we had for dinner. In fact, this is how I looked at it for years.

Looking at the context of the story, however, the trance happens as the servants of a Roman army officer is on the way to ask Peter to hear the message of Christ.

Had this happened one day earlier, Peter would not have seen the servants as they would have been unclean. There was a religious taboo against seeing these men as it was against the laws of Moses. Jesus, however, had set a different example and we assume Peter was there to see most of these examples. Jesus spoke with a Samaritan (taboo) woman (taboo) (John 4). He healed the servant of a Roman Officer (taboo) (Luke 7). He healed on the Sabbath (taboo) (Mark 3). He spent time with sinners and tax collectors (taboo) (Matt 9).

Peter was given new instructions though. It was now permissible to eat unclean animals. It was permissible to talk to the unclean people (like me?).

This brings me to the question at hand. What cultural taboos should I be breaking to better follow Christ's example of reaching those who need him? The other side of this issue is if others are breaking my taboos, do I need to give them grace in order for God to be glorified.

Bottom Feeders

Yesterday, I listened to this message from Woodland Hills titled "Leadership with a Limp". The summary is as follows:

• We are created to fill ourselves with a relationship to God.
• Anything we fill ourselves with that is not God is idolitry. We often fill ourselves with praise, judgment of others, etc.
• If we are feeding that desire with Judgment, we are bottom feeding, similar to catfish, etc.
• We need to remove that plank from our eye before trying to remove the spec from other peoples.
• In order to lead well, we can not hide our faults and sins, if we do, it can become a different form of idolatry.

If there is any question that I "limp" feel free to contact my wife.

It's a side effect

I woke up this morning thinking "It's a Side Effect". Before I explain that further let's talk about side effects.

As we hear those pharmaceutical advertisements, at the end, you will hear "Side effects include...." and a bunch of nasty things that happen.

Sometimes, however, the side effect becomes the desired thing. Let me put my techie hat on and talk amplification. The goal of audio amplification traditionally is to have a small input signal from say a guitar or microphone be amplified through the electronic circuits and come out sounding louder. Originally it was done using tube components which are very inefficient and are not very durable (they can be broken easily). Solid state transistors came along and solved those problems but there was a side effect.

As a signal is overdriven (too much input signal) inside a tube system, the experts say that the distortion (variation from the original signal) produces odd harmonics. As a signal is overdriven (too much input signal) inside a system, the experts say that the distortion (variation from the original signal) produces odd harmonics which, while not accurate, can be pleasing to the human ear. In a transistor system, that same overdriven signal produces even harmonics which is not so pleasing to the human ear. Much of the audio world is now using solid state with one exception. Guitar amplification is done primarily with tube so you can get that warm distortion that you hear in nearly all modern music. The side-effect has become the desired product.

Back to the discussion at hand. As someone seeking to follow Christ, we are given two commands in Matthew 22:37-40.

Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."

So, why no more? It's the side effect. If we do those two things, all the moral issues we face in the world go away. No, I don't mean that the world gets more moral. What I mean is that if we obey these two things, the whole 10 commandments thing goes away in our own lives. We also see that issues around giving to and loving others goes away.

The problem that I woke up thinking about is that too often, we are looking for the side effect to become the end product. In other words, we expect those around us to act morally, obeying those 10 commandments just because they are there, not because they are following the two above. We expect people to "act Christian" even if they are not following those two commands.

Matthew 6:31-33 goes right along with the passage above...

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need."

Let's quit looking at the side effects and considering them the end result... Seek after God first and let the rest take care of itself!

The blind man and the elephant

Yesterday, I had a doctors appointment so drove there, then to a Park-N-Ride to take the bus to work. As I was driving, I listened to several podcasts, including several messages.

As we were praying at worship band practice, this illustration struck me. The picture on the right is based on the story of the 6 blind man and the elephant. In the story, the men are placed around the elephant and asked to describe it...

A Jain version of the story says that six blind men were asked to determine what an elephant looked like by feeling different parts of the elephant's body.

The blind man who touches a leg says the elephant is like a pillar; the tail-toucher claims it's like a rope; the one who feels the trunk compares it to a tree branch; the man who felt the ear says the elephant is like a hand fan; the belly-toucher asserts it's like a wall; and the tusk feeler insists the elephant feels like a solid pipe.

A wise man explains to them

All of you are right. The reason every one of you is telling it differently is because each one of you touched the different part of the elephant. So, actually the elephant has all those features what you all said.[1]

As I listened to those podcasts yesterday, the people talking were certainly Godly men. They do not approach ministry or God the same and each sees the part of God they are focused on at that time. In Hebrew, the Bible -- Old Testament -- has the same perspective. You can see a list of all the names for (or attributes of) God here. Each one describes God from a different perspective.

Fund raiser!

If you haven't already heard, my friend Dave is putting on a fund raiser for Home of Refuge.

The worship should be great! If you don't live in the area and want to donate, please do!

Quite a few people I know (and know of) have participated in short term missions trips to the Home of Refuge and are looking forward to going back -- a great endorsement!

Please consider showing up and helping out!

My friend was right!

Years ago, when I was doing a lot of cycling, a friend used to tell me things like "The wind is your friend. It cools you on a hot day and teaches you to ride harder."

The same sort of thing you might hear watching Kung Fu.

Body builders know that as they lift weights, it creates small tears in the muscle that are replaced with other muscle cells.

The principle holds through a lot of things in life. A show on the Discovery Channel or one of it's affiliates that we saw called Xtreme Martial Arts tells how the process of breaking boards causes small cracks in the bone being used. The healing process of the body, like with muscles, repairs these cracks, filling them in, making them harder.

I think that many of us are so comfortable that we are afraid of challenges. In fact, we are more than willing to whine when things get tough. We forget that they do build us up.
Remember what James 1:2-4 says:

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

Scott McKnight

I have been enjoying reading Scott's blog.

I have never met but have enjoyed his writing and perspective. You can read more about him here.

I'm back...

In August, Marj made it clear that she didn't like something... my attitude.

The reason was that this summer flew by because I made myself too busy. Along with bass duties at church, I was also running sound and playing at another church.

Her answer (correct as it turned out) was to take a couple of months off. Although I fought it, almost immediately after making that decision known, my attitude got better, even making my final month of service tolerable.

I wasn't supposed to play again until December but the bass player that was scheduled to play was out of town. Since he had picked up a week for me, I volunteered to be the "ace in the pocket" so he was free to go. Nobody else offered so there I was.

What is it like to be back? My fingers got sore faster, my hand tired and I didn't know the music (we played only one familiar song -- things change fast). It was great!

What did I learn? It is well explained in this (.mp3) sermon from this church titled "The temptation of practical goodness". The short answer is, however, being busy doesn't mean a whole lot to God if you are not doing what you are supposed to be doing with your time.

The Sunday Service

Today's church service was a unique blessing.

Dave and the worship band lead off with "You are Good" and "Your Grace is Enough". Scott introduced our other worship leader Dan who gave the message on being alone and God never leaving you. His take-aways:

1. Listen to the Holy Spirit
2. Pray continually
3. Read the Bible

You can listen on line at http://www.northernhills.cc/sermons in a few days.

"Hope is like a lighthouse keeper's beam.
Hope - the master cobbler of our dreams.
For Hope believes in desert streams.
The mightiest of stars,
the microcosm in a jar -
vast or small they all revolve on Hope."

-- "Hope" - Klaatu

Years ago in college, I bought an album (yes, vinyl) from a band I had never heard about but had this wonderful album cover, Klaatu. The band had a sound that was similar to The Beatles but the lyrics were "Sci-fi rock".

I think often about the word "hope" as I go through my day and the quote above has stuck with me for many years as somewhat profound. I have many hopes and dreams. Where does that fit into my life? I Cor 13:13 says:

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

Thanks Brian

Thanks to Brian Bailey at "The Blogging Church", I have one more thing to point you at today.

Read the Ed Young article he points us to in Relevant Magazine.

The quote that blew me away?

Have you ever wondered where that phrase, "a fall from grace," comes from? Galatians 5:4, "You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace" (NKJV).

How telling that we use that particular terminology to describe an incident (usually of the high-profile variety) of moral failure. By doing so, we tip our theological hand. While we talk a lot about God's inexhaustible grace and unconditional love, when it comes right down to it, we still believe that grace is exhaustible. We know that we owe our salvation to Christ's grace-giving work on the cross. But it doesn't take long before we trade in that boundless grace for the boundaries of the law.

Sorry about the 2 link jump but I really wanted to let the original author have his credit.

Challenged again

My preconceived notions were challenged again as I listened to Scott speak about Revelation 3:14-20.

We were lead in several worship songs prior to communion and offering, among them, "I am Free", "Open the eyes of my Heart" and "Blessed be your name".

Scott read from the passage...

"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."

He then told about Laodicea which had a resort town with healing hot springs on the one side and mountains providing the water on the other. The town was wealthy because they had sheep which gave them a black wool as well as an eye salve.

The problem was that the water was sent from the mountains to the town through an aqueduct which, by the time it arrived and was stored in the water system, had turned tepid.

The things that challenged me, especially in my weekend of challenging podcast listening were...

1. It is easy to be tepid, apathetic or even distracted.
2. The "hot" and "cold" don't just talk about a spiritual temperature but that fact that the people were not spiritually refreshing or spiritually healing.
   
3. He also talked about how, while the church was well off, they didn't really have the spiritual necessities of life. The illustration here of being poor, blind and naked actually spoke in contrast to their physical situation of being well off, having easy access to the healing eye salve and having easy access to clothing made from the wool.
4. Finally, he talked about the last verse... "I stand at the door....". I suspect most of us have heard this used in evangelism but Scott pointed out that within the context given, it is actually talking to the Christ followers in Laodicea. He also mentioned that dinner was "The Meal" of the day and so being told that Christ would dine with them was quite special.

Where does that leave us? One of the challenges Scott talked about was that he felt that Northern Hills has been too "consumer oriented" but has been showing signs of more and more people within the church with an expanding desire and a love for God.

Lost in the cast space

Huh?

Ok, the last couple of days, I have been in the process of catching up. What that means for me is sitting down and listening to the podcasts that I haven't listened to yet.

It also turned out that not all were podcasts. Let me give you my inventory, at least the ones that struck me.

• Liquid Church HD - Tim Lucas and his church are being given the green light to go out on their own, creating a High Definition church. What struck me about this is how close his desires are to the desires of Northern Hills when creating Whitewater.
• An interview with Moby (in three parts). Interesting to see how this popular artist (not someone I really listened to but did know about) incorporates his faith and art and the questions they raise.
• Jim Wallis speaking on Minnesota Public Radio about faith and politics.
• Jim Wallis and Gregory Boyd debating faith and politics at Bethel University. This was an incredible debate. The questions that the students asked were insightful and ranged from "traditional" thinking to more in line with what Wallis and Boyd were speaking about.
• Melvin Bray on the Emergent Village podcast. Melvin is a story teller who tells an extended story of the adulteress and Jesus. Honestly, this is the one that really inspired me to post here. The story was touching and incredible! You can also read it on his blog with a little more of the story behind the story here.
  

Yesterday at Northern Hills

My friend Chang frequently posts his impressions of the church service the previous weekend.

I thought I would give my impression of the service I went to. For those that don't know, Northern Hills has 2 different services happening each Sunday. They are called The River and Whitewater. Whitewater is higher energy and the favorite service for my son, Kyle. Although I like the music and feel of Whitewater, I still tend to gravitate toward the River service.

Quick notes off the top! Marcy ran great sound this weekend! The music portion of the worship, lead by Dave was wonderful. Then we've got Scott who has been our speaker.

Each time I hear him speak I am overwhelmed by his passion which overflows his love for God and love for speaking about His word.

This week, we heard a message on Revelation 2:18-25. Most of the message dealt with church discipline as it related to this passage. We quickly moved to Matt 18:15-17 and how to treat those who do not change as a result of this discipline. I had always assumed that verse 17 meant excommunication like the Catholic church practices. According to Scott, "How did Jesus treat the pagans and tax collectors?" He hung out with them, trying to show them the right way through his example.

Tonight...

I listened to a podcast interview that Catylist did with Louie Giglio... WOW.

Free music and more free music

I just got the latest episode of the "Bored-again Christian" podcast. Number 45 to be exact.

A couple of interesting things are contained in the all (well mostly) music episode.

1. A new Switchfoot release was announced with a song that, according to the host "Just Pete", will not be on the release and will not be on the radio. It is good.
2. He played a song from Derek Webb who is giving away his album at his website. The song I heard was good enough that I thought I'd download it.

Now for the downside. Derek uses a form of viral marketing that I have never been comfortable with. Along with giving my name and email address, he requests the name and address of 5 others to get the download. I do, however, believe him when he says that they email addresses will not be retained.

In a way, this is my way of complying guilt free with his marketing techniques... Listen to the Bored-again Christian podcast, then pop from the website over to check out Derek Webb's free download.

iPods....

Just when my friend Carol Ann's iPod gave out (start reading the sad story here), Apple announced several new models. Just to make matters worse, I ran across these articles.

iPod Observer talks about MyVu glasses for the iPod. The price tag, however, is higher than even the top of the line iPod.

Then I read this post from Mark Battersons evotional Blog. On top of that, probably my favorite recent post is "Top-ten ways to redeem technology".

The bottom line? The web, iPods, blogs... It's all there for us to use for good (and God)!