Killer Community @ UrbanToot.com

May 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I’m a really fortunate dude.

Everyday, I discover another way that I have been completely blessed. Last Weekend, I was reminded what an amazing community I’m a part of. My son’s school is close by and is home to the only Dad’s Club I’ve ever heard of. In the 50′s, the Dads of the school got together and began to sow the seeds of a community that served the school, loved the kids and created space for Fathers to find something that, honestly, is really rare: a community.

To read more about my brush with community, check out the whole article at UrbanToot, Glendale’s Online Spotlight.

Filed Under: community, glendale Tagged With: , ,

The Paintballers Psalm

May 10, 2012 By 2 Comments

Sometimes, I can be quite mouthy.
It’s true.

A couple of weeks ago, a group of us went paint-balling at our All Church Camp. Now let’s not have that discussion right now, OK? This is about something else…sort of. Just before the first match, our videographer walked up to me to elicit some pre game smack talk. As Pastor, I felt it necessary to somehow connect the thing to scripture. Out of hand, I said that I was going to open a can of Psalm 92. At the time, I was kind of certain that its contents were remotely close to my intent.

It was only afterwards that I re-read it and found, yep…if you ignore context, history and intention, it’s a paint baller’s Psalm.

Psalm 92
A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day.

1 It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praises to your name, Most High;

We prayed before the match.

2 to proclaim your loyal love in the morning,
your faithfulness at nighttime
3 with the ten-stringed harp, with the melody of the lyre

There were no instruments with the exception of the markers.

4 because you’ve made me happy, LORD, by your acts.
I sing with joy because of your handiwork.

Our team was clearly the righteous one.

5 How awesome are your works, LORD! Your thoughts are so deep!

We, too, had a deep and inspired strategy.

6 Ignorant people don’t know— fools don’t understand this:

The other team ran around like swarming moths.

7 though the wicked spring up like grass

But, they popped up everywhere.

and all evildoers seem to blossom,

It seemed like their were a thousand of them.

they do so only to be destroyed forever.

But, they were quickly and mercilessly…painted.

8 But you, LORD, are exalted forever!
9 Look at your enemies, LORD! Look at how your enemies die,
how all evildoers are scattered abroad!
10 But you’ve made me as strong as a wild ox.
I’m soaked in precious ointment.

I did get hit once.

11 My eyes have seen my enemies’ defeat;
my ears have heard the downfall of my evil foes.

At the sound of the air horn…this is how it was.

12 The righteous will spring up like a palm tree.
They will grow strong like a cedar of Lebanon.

The righteous stayed strong and rose to victory.

13 Those who have been replanted in the LORD’s house will spring up in the courtyards of our God.
14 They will bear fruit even when old and gray; they will remain lush and fresh
15 in order to proclaim: “The LORD is righteous. He’s my rock. There’s nothing unrighteous in him.”

Amen.

** Actual events may or may not have occurred as mentioned above

Filed Under: psalms

Book Review: Unholy Night

May 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I wanted to get this review in before the craziness that is Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter makes Seth Grahame-Smith a household word: like toaster and lamp. Fom the mind that brought you the campy, slightly unnecessary, but shamelessly fun, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Grahame-Smith’s new book, Unholy Night, goes where no one has gone before…literally. Not literally as in, absolutely no one, but literally as in, literature.

Unholy Night is about redemption…sort of. It’s a quest story about a wise man named Balthazar who is either going to lose his life, or find it. Yes, that was a bible reference and it’s appropriate, because Unholy Night is set during the flight of Joseph, Mary and Jesus during the Herod’s slaughter of the innocents.
Grahame-Smith is a great story teller and Unholy Night is a fabulous yarn spun from the loom of a now seasoned writer, but what makes it marvelous, from a pastor, bible scholar, sci fi freak is the world that he is able to construct using the written language. Grahame-Smith’s first century Palestine is visceral and dreamishly vibrant.

This book is easily the best researched first century historical fiction I’ve ever read…certainly that I’m aware of. I doubt the author is aware, but he has created a wonderful teaching tool. If i were teaching a New Testament cours, I would add this to the reading list immediately. His Jerusalem is alive and tangible, teaming with Jewish tension and Roman oppression. There are magical moments where you find yourself no longer staring at a page, but are immersed in a panoramic landscape in the world of Christ. While he takes liberty with history (because who doesn’t?), he utilizes historical gaps and unknowns to create a dark, yet mysteriously redemptive tale.

For instance, Unholy Night is a story about the three wise men. There isn’t any history on them. The gospels dispute them, and tradition uphold them. Grahame-Smith brings them to life. He gives them a story that isn’t likely, but easily the most interesting since Christopher Moore’s Lamb: The Gospel According To Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal.

Unholy Night is a love story.
Unholy Night is an adventure.
Unholy Night is a Jesus story.
Unholy Night is a well written story that delivers perspective as well as fantasy.

The one thing it doesn’t live up to is its name. There is nothing Unholy about the night. While the antagonist is a wicked magus, Balthazar is on a journey of transformation that no evil can stop…

Or can it?

Filed Under: books

If my self won’t, my mind will

May 8, 2012 By 1 Comment

How is it that every time I resolve myself to lose weight, it’s while I’m eating Oreos? Or when I commit myself to a challenging regimen of exercise, I’m watching the P90X commercial on TV? There are many times when my emotional life out of control and my spirit is clearly not aligned and instead of sitting down in silence to array and reflect, I blog and get caught in the twitter whirlwind.

It’s a brain problem.

My mind is in charge of my will.

Today I saw this tweet from @Susan_Cox, “The first and foremost Victory is to Conquer self.” Plato

The self has an issue. It’s afraid that something will become more important that it. It’s afraid that it might not get what it wants. It’s afraid that today is something it may not survive.

Paul talked about this in his first letter to the Corinthians, “So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified. [9:26-27]”

The Greek word, doulagogeo, means “to carry away into slavery.” Paul is commenting on what Plato identified as the chief enemy of progress: self. The self, in matters of personal growth, needs to be shown who is boss. Strength, in this case, is a matter of spirit.

God’s spirit empowers us to train the self become a slave to the mastery of transformation. How? Community. It’s important to surround yourself with people who won’t let you get away with your stuff. Accountibility. It’s not a bad word. Accountability is the exercise regimen of transformation.

It’s the hand that slaps you as you reach for that Oreo. It’s the friend who runs P90X with you. It’s the alarm on your phone that tells you it’s time to sit in silence and reflect and pray.

It’s the list of men and women along the way who weren’t surprised when you acted like a disciple. Christ has conquered self. Victory is in him, but the work…is all yours.

Filed Under: 1 Corinthians, discipleship, exegeticalness

the meaning of the parable

May 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Last week I posted this parable.

The question that remains is, “so what does the parable mean?”

Besides the obvious, you assigning meaning as it fits your experience and context, here’s what I have to add:

Up to the very end of its lifecycle, grain and chaff are one and the same thing. The wheat is the inside and the chaff is the outside. In order to separate the useful from the useless, a winnower has to give the grain time to dry, separating the wheat from its sheath, scoop the grain up and toss it high into the air. The wind that blows through the threshing floor, the place chosen to toss wheat because of the wind, blows the dry chaff from the grain into an area where it can be collected. The grain, however, falls back down to the ground where it will be gathered for use.

In Matthew 3, John the Baptist introduces Jesus as the winnower and draws the comparison between the people and the wheat.

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:11-12

So many times, I’ve read this as a statement of judgment, like Jesus was some cosmic boogie man separating the bad people from the good people; like a predestination assembly line. But that’s not what’s going on here. This isn’t the sheep and goats (MT 25:31-46), this is a prophetic statement about the way that Jesus is going to transform people who believe in him. This is a commentary about a singular we.

It’s not unheard of for humanity to conform to an agricultural metaphor in Scripture. Look at how Paul describes us in 1 Corinthians:

“For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building [3:9].” God’s field will be harvested and Jesus will have a heavy hand in the work. But this transformative winnowing process is character shaping. This is what Paul refers to saying, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! [2 Cor 5:17]”

This parable begins with the understanding that the chief end of humanity is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. The divine intent of being is to join our lives to mission of Christ on the earth. So, the grain has a choice. For instance:

The moldy grain grew in the field (Ps 24:1), but didn’t know about the field or the farmer, and in turn didn’t want anymore than to stay put never knowing anything beyond the limits of its experience.

The high flying grain knew about the farmer and could see the winnower, but wanted to live life free from the farmer, afraid of the hand of the winnower. This grain was impulsive and lacked wisdom.

The burrowing grain went so far and no more. It bought into the program, but when the time came for transformation, to be gathered by the fork of the winnower, it laid low and thought no one would notice.

The grain that went all the way to the gathering was transformed into something useful. It fulfilled its purpose this side of the reaping and harvesting. Despite the discomfort of change, the grain gave itself over to the winnower and bread maker.

This grain, too, got to the point of transformation, but disagreed on the end result. In the spirit of the first rebellion, this one chose to redefine its being and purpose on its own. It ended up in the pile that could not be used.

To be in the hands of Jesus is to be transformed. It’s not comfortable. It’s not entirely what we have in mind for ourselves, in some cases, but (to borrows a sentiment from Mrs. Beaver) it is good.

Filed Under: contemporary hermeneutic, discipleship, jesus and the kog, matthew Tagged With: , , ,

sixteen years

May 4, 2012 By Leave a Comment

It was sixteen years ago today that Rebecca and I said, “I do,” and began a wonderful adventure together. Today we remember our vows which have defined our commitment to one another and celebrate a kind of love that I could never have imagined.

See you next week!

Filed Under: prophetsandpopstars

Identity is Everything (Part 2)

May 3, 2012 By 3 Comments

Yesterday, I began a post about identity. Story is about identity. We look to story to find our who we are, where we belong and what our purpose is. We look to the Christian story to find out who we are in Christ, who we belong with and what our story is now. When I look at the stories around me, all I see is the quest for identity…and special effects. Think about the movies and tv show, plays, books and songs you take in. How do they speak about identity?

AVATAR
This is an epic story about the identity of a native people and a soldier whose identity is wrapped up in his disability until he is given a new, healed identity. He is confronted with the truth about himself has to ask himself, “Am I blind to the needs of the innocent or complicit with the inconsiderate greed?”

HUGO
A fantastic story about a young man and old man try to figure out who they are in the wake of immense loss and pain. Nothing challenges our identity, and adds conflict to our stories, like loss. It makes us ask important questions of ourselves and the world around us…the answers to which, help us define our identity: who am I now?

LADY GAGA, “Born this Way”
Is a song about identity and acceptance. The GaGa is ultimately asking the listener to make peace with who they are, whoever they are.

GOTYE, “Someone That I Used To Know”
This song explores the identity of someone hurt by the end of relationship. We seek relationships to answer a piece of identity the identity quest, “Where Do I Belong?” This song also raises the question, “Who am I if I don’t belong there?”

KATY PERRY, “California Girls”
This is who we are, California Girls, we’ll melt your popsicles. Had to be said.

I began to look at TV Shows, Movies, Songs, Art — it is all an expression of identity. Through it, the artist asks us to consider who the characters are. The really good stuff invites us in to ask who we are as well. 


I don’t want to give too much away about my viewing habits, but a show like the new GRIMM…it’s about a man grappling with his…identity.

ONCE UPON A TIME is about a town that has Amnesia and a newcomer that has to figure out her place in it.

NCIS and other crime dramas are about the good guys discovering who they are in a chaotic, counter-intuitive world that scares us and makes us feel threatened and off kilter.

DOWNTON ABBEY pushes all of us to ask, “In a changing world, who am I now?”

MIRANDA LAMBERT, “Heart Like Mine,” is about asking the question, “does Jesus embrace who I am?” Does God like who I am? Can I still belong to him if others reject me?

TAYLOR SWIFT’S “Back To December,” repeats “You didn’t know who I was.”

U2’s “One” explores the issue of identity the whole way through, “we are one, but we’re not the same, we hurt each other, carry each other.”

QUANTUM LEAP
This is the quintessential show about identity! Every episode, Sam has to answer the enduring questions of life: Who am I, Where am I and What is my purpose?

MAGAZINES are either buying identity or selling it.

In the NEWS, the nation triumphs when a figure knows who they are, where they belong and why they do what they do. At the same time, it becomes tragic when a figure betrays their own values or the values of the people they represent, lead or cater to. It’s a form of amnesia. They have forgotten where they come from, who they are and whose they are.

One of the most unattractive qualities about friends and potential partners is when they don’t know who they are. When their motivations and mistakes come from an unwillingness to ask important questions about themselves. Conversely, a person who is confident in their identity, who they are and who they are not, inspires confidence and courage.

Identity is everything.

Got anything to add?

Filed Under: narrative theology, prophetsandpopstars

Identity Is Everything (Part 1)

May 2, 2012 By 1 Comment

“Once Upon A Time” — those are wonderfully constructed, magical and inspiring words. When you hear them, you know that you are about to hear a story. Every life begins with “Once Upon A Time”. Every day, every relationship, every moment is a “Once Upon A Time” moment.

This weekend I led a camp focused on the theme of identity.

As I looked at the stories I surround myself with, I realized that identity is at the heart of story (99.99% of the time). If you look deeply, peal back a layer, every story is about the quest for identity. The search for identity is basic to the human experience.

We are relentless in our quest to answer these questions:

  • Who Am I?
  • Where Do I Belong?
  • What Is My Purpose?

    • To answer to these questions is to understand identity.

    One of the earliest stories, The Odyssey, is about a son’s quest to find his father. This is the such a crucial statement about humanity; a “beginning” story. In order to answer “Who am I?” Telemachus had to contend with his father.

    That is the story of Israel.
    That is the story of “The Prodigal Son.”
    That is the story of the Church.

    Identity is everything.

    That’s one reason why I find Christian scripture so profound. It both articulates and illustrates the identity of the Father, so that we might understand our identity in him.

    Peter wrote to the believers in Asia Minor, who were confused about their identity — their new identity in Christ, “May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! On account of his vast mercy, he has given us new birth. You have been born anew into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead [1 Pet 1:3; CEB].”

    This is a statement about identity. Because Christ is merciful, and not vengeful, he has provided a new story, beyond the story we find ourselves stuck in. In Christ, we are invited out of the stories that hurt, confound, bore and perplex us and into his story: a story where we are found with eternal life, a story where death is no longer an active threat in the cosmos. A story where God, the King of the Universe, has no end.

    Tomorrow, I’ll funnel through a list of stories. It’s interesting to see the stories we surround ourselves with and connect them to the quest for…identity.

    Find Part 2 here.

    Filed Under: 1 Peter, narrative theology

    gpcgodspell.com is a go!

    April 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment

    for tickets and info check out GPCGODSPELL.COM

    Filed Under: GlenPresChurch

    Winnowing of the Wheat: a parable

    April 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

    There once was a field.

    In the field there was a glorious abundance of wheat stalks nearly ready for harvest. Among the wheat, their was a grain so comfortable in its covering that it refused to dry out for harvest. Holding onto its moisture, it quickly became moldy and viscous, dripping to the ground. There was another grain who saw the winnowers at work and feared the coming harvest. It forced its sheath to open, caught the wind and flew free, high above the field, only to be snatched out the sky by a young crow.

    When harvest time came, one grain, after falling to the ground, burrowed deep beneath the crop and was left unharvested. That night, it was gleaned by the poor who followed behind the workers and eaten on the spot.

    After the grain was left to dry, it was brought to the threshing floor and the workers began to winnow. As they tossed the harvest into the air, many grains flew free of their chaff, were sold, ground up and became the bread of Princes, Kings, prisoners and paupers. But other grains would not let go of the old dry chaff. They clung to it even as they were thrown into the fire.

    Filed Under: contemporary hermeneutic, discipleship, jesus and the kog, matthew Tagged With: , ,
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