Fellowship Requires Time

Fellowship. I love it. But it takes sacrifice. I feel that I don't have a lot to sacrifice. I'm already sacrificing a lot of time I could use to write, sleep, or just watch one 30-minute TV show.

Today I spent a lot of time in ministry with middle and high school students from church. I haven't had the chance to spend much time with them this summer, sadly, and it was long overdue. I really enjoyed it. But today I also realized how much time these students demand. It's not them personally, but and youth ministry requires a lot of time and energy.

This is a transition time for me. I graduate from college in just under 3 weeks, and then I am supposed to find a job and become a "real adult." I am swamped with my last class, my internship, and work as it is. I have no time for myself, no time for fellowship. I need someone on my case to pull me back and say, "slow down for 10 minutes and let's talk." I need to find someone and say, "I need to slow down for 10 minutes. Let's talk." But I have too many things on my to-do list for me to allow myself to rest.

Oh, God. How I could use some fellowship.

Christian Music

This could really be an entry in either of my blogs.  My other is a music blog, and this post is about music.  However, it has a lot to do with Christianity as well.

While listening to others scan radio stations during a car ride several days ago, someone mentioned, "Isn't it funny how you can tell something's Christian without even really listening to the song?"  Their point: Christian music just sounds different; usually light, airy, and just recorded differently.

I, personally, don't listen to much Christian music.  In general, if it's not Steven Curtis Chapman or Jars of Clay, I'm going to change the station.  Jars, especially, has addressed frustrations in the Christian life, in life in general.  I feel that Christian music too often tries to be happy - that's the way it sounds to my ears.  However, if my memory serves me right (which is usually not the case, I'm sad to admit), there are more depressing/angry psalms than there are happy ones.  Why can't more Christian music talk about real life?

Actually, I'd rather see Christians making "secular" or "real" music.  What's wrong with making good music that doesn't glorify sex outside marriage or drugs that doesn't necessarily mention God?  Maybe all the listeners won't realize that the artist is using his talents to glorify God.  What's the big deal?  I listen to music all the time, knowing many of the artists I listen to aren't out to glorify God, and I still realize it's a God-given gift they are using to make music.  Does that lessen the quality of the music?  In my opinion, no.

All this to say, I think there are too many Christians ministering to Christians.  We have segregated ourselves from the world, not allowing them in by use of religion and (good and bad) theology in every song.

I love what my pastors and music director have done on Sunday mornings.  We have two song slots that break up the sermon into three parts.  One is an offertory, and the other is a song of reflection.  These slots have been filled by everything from James Taylor to Rihanna to the Beatles to Mr. Mister.  Sure, we've done quite a few songs by Christian artists, but our leadership is not scared to play secular music either.  Our pastors are great at pointing out the truth in the lyrics - the need for a Savior and how that need manifests itself.

For a little more on this, visit my friend Billy's blog post from June 3.

God's Bigger Than Our Decisions

Several friends have made the passing comment to me recently that they hope they are doing what God wants them to do.  I tell them, "God's bigger than our decisions."  He can make good of our mess.  Whew!  What a relief.

Please try to read this without thinking too much about predestination/free will.  What I am trying to say is that we really can't know whether some decisions were right or wrong.  For instance, the last time I encountered this situation was in a conversation about deciding to go to grad school.  My friend said he hoped grad school was the right decision, rather than going out into the full-time work force.  We can't know which is the "right" decision.  However, he has made his decision, and God is going to use that for good.  Had he chosen the other path, God would have used it for his good as well.

So be encouraged!  Don't fret about whether your decision fits in with God's will - He will use your decision for your good.

I always find it challenging and uncomfortable when my RUF pastor brings up community.  He brought it up again last night, and once again I was guilty of searching out and living in communities that are not Biblical.  Not that these communities are bad, no, but they aren't the type of community God intended of which I should be a part.

Here is a lengthy quote my pastor had on his outline from Marva Dawn:

Too often the concept of community is perceived merely in terms of feeling coziness with God or compatibility with other members of the congregation.  To reduce the importance of genuine community on the part of God's people to such emotions or sentiments is terribly destructive.  Often the result is the formation of an elitist "in" group or narcissism that takes the focus off God...[C]ontemporary images of community...emphasizes "sameness, closeness, warmth, and comfort.  Difference, distance, conflict, and sacrifice are alien to this approach and therefore are to be avoided at all costs.  Modern communities maintain a facade of unity and harmony by eliminating the strange and cultivation the familiar, by suppressing dissimilarity and emphasizing agreement...Those who are strange - other than we are - are either excluded or quickly made like us."  The results are homogeneous communities of retreat where persons must be pretected from one another as well as from outsiders, and where reality is suppressed and denied due to fear and anxiety.  Community in the Biblical sense is more open to the realities of differences, more openly gracious to all, more deliberate, and act of the will.  It does not depend upon feelings of affection.  In fact, sometimes (perhaps always?) God seems to put us in a community together with people whom we don't like so that we learn the real meaning of agape - that intelligent, purposeful love directed toward another's need in which comes first from God and then flows through us to our neighbor.  To develop a community that practices Biblical principles is very difficult in this technologically efficient society.  It takes a lot of work and time, sacrifice and commitment.

I am beginning to see some relationships form with others who aren't like me, but there is a difference between relationships and community.  On the other hand, I see a lot of the false community in the youth group I volunteer with.  The high school group is growing out of it, but I have seen the last few classes to graduate with this false sense of what community should be.

Maybe it's just something that I quickly point out because I don't want to see the same that is happening in me.  However, I have had discussions with some of those graduates who express that they haven't been able to find the right church or this or that that arises from not understanding what true community should be.  In the high school group, I see groups where outsiders are either not let in or forced to change in order to get in.  The result?  A homogeneous community of retreat.  And I have seen this community fail when true community would uplift.

I think this just happens in high school.  It happens everywhere, but more prevalent in high school.  I saw it when I was in high school.  Maybe that is part of the reason I was a "floater" - I would float between groups, never hanging out with one exclusively.  I saw the groups I was floating between were each homogeneous in its own right.  I'm sure I adapted and changed to "fit in."

The college groups of which I am a part are more on track for that eclectic community that brings together different people.  With a big senior class about to move into the college group, I am worried about what will happen when one class more than doubles the college group.  They have some growing up to do (as I did at that age, and we all still do!), and I hope they don't just take over.

Enough venting and enough reading.  G'day.

Things to Think On

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JHS8adO3hM

Watch this video from Penn of Penn & Teller.  It is pretty interesting his take on evangelism.  It won't take long.

I just got back from RUF a few minutes ago (RUF is a Christian campus ministry, subscribing to reformed theology, www.ruf.org), and I am blessed to have a fantastic campus minister.  This semester we are going through the life of Moses.  I have so much I can talk about on this topic, but I am going to limit it to this one point tonight: Christianity is revealed, not discovered.

God speaks.  He doesn't just let His people run around like crazy trying to figure things out.  He speaks Truth to His people.  He reveals Himself.  I can't "discover" God.  I was dead.  Not "mostly dead," not "not dead yet," or anything like that.  (Did you catch the Princess Bride and Monty Python and the Holy Grail references, respectfully?)  I was completely and utterly dead.  He came and saved me.  Now, I still do nothing on my own.  His strength is what gets me up in the morn...afternoon.  And it is He that reveals Himself, not I who discovers Him.

That idea just hit me tonight.  It really stuck out in the outline.  If you want to hear some really good preaching, I encourage you to look up the podcast of tonight's sermon.  Hop on iTunes and search for "RUF at Belmont."  Go do it.  I dare you.

Blood Diamond

I do not watch a lot of movies.  In my spare time, I would just rather play guitar.  I especially don't like movies with blood.  I don't mind seeing my own blood - I watch the nurses stick me when I give blood or get a shot.  But there is just something about blood in movies I cannot take, and this means I have "missed out" on some great movies.

One of those movies is Blood Diamond.  It has been used as an illustration in sermons twice that I can recall.  There are two quotes that stuck out to me as I watched the movie.

The first is from the smuggler, Danny Archer, played by Leonardo DiCraprio:

"Sometimes I wonder if God will forgive us for what we've done to each other.  Then I realize God is not here."

The second is from the fisherman, Solomon Vandy, played by Djimon Hounsou:

"They made you do bad things.  You are not a bad boy.  I am your father, and I love you."

The second quote is from the scene used in the sermon illustrations I alluded to earlier.  But here is my point: we do things to each other and, more importantly, to God.  Sometimes the guilt can put the doubt Danny has into our heads.  Thankfully, we are forgiven.  The debt has been paid in full.  Now we are free to hear the words that Solomon spoke to his son - I am your Father, and I love you.  I need to hear that every day.  And I cannot wait to hear it every morning when I wake up.  I wish I could listen better to hear my Father speak it.

Narnia

I just finished watching The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  I caught something I haven't caught before.  Before I go further, let me reassure you, I have read the book, along with all the other Chronicles.  Now, back to my point.

There is a point where Aslan is talking to Peter, Susan, and Lucy about Edward's betrayal.  He says that Edward being family "only makes the betrayal all the worse.  This may be harder than you think."  It got me to thinking: we betrayed our Father, and the fact that we are His children only made it all the worse.  Lucky for us, the betrayal has been reconciled.  That's what this whole season is about, isn't it?  A Savior came to make things just.

Loves

After a long, long wait, I have finally finished C.S. Lewis' The Four Loves.  I had started it back at the end of the summer, and I was very close to finishing.  All I lacked was the last chapter.  Well now I am done, and I have a few quotes I would like to share.

"Do not let your happiness depend on something you may lose."

"To love at all is to be vulnerable.  Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken.  If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal."

"The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."

"There is something in each of us that cannot be naturally loved.  It is no one's fault if they do not so love it.  Only the lovable can be naturally loved."

"...[T]hey are receiving Charity, are loved not because they are lovable but because Love Himself is in those who love them."

"We were made for God.  Only by being in some respect like Him, only by being a manifestation of His beauty, loving-kindness, wisdom or goodness, has any earthly Beloved excited our love."

Now I am moving on to a less theological book, Eric Clapton: the Autobiography.  So far I am enjoying it.

Not Just a Baby

Christmas.  It's about presents.  Traffic.  Stress.  Lights.  Red and green.  Trees.  And the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  Until ten days ago, I never thought about all that goes along with this holiday.

I have never thought to connect the birth of the Savior to the death and resurrection.  That's the whole reason he was born.  I finally have had the opportunity to think about just what this season means.

A baby was born.  Not just a baby.  God became man.  He came to live a perfect life.  The one we were supposed to live and failed to do.  He was hung on a cross, becoming sin.  He defied death and conquered sin, raising back to life three days later.  This baby came to die.  Kinda takes the cheer out of the holy day, but death was not the end.  That brings the greatest hope.

My Style of Worship

Today I was involved in a discussion on the style of music that should be used in worship.  Being a worship leader for a junior high youth group, this was a very interesting discussion to me.  Here's what I walked away with in a nutshell:

1.  EVERY style of music has its baggage - so forget about trying to find a style that has no baggage.

2.  The music should accommodate the poor of the community.  In other words, the common person should be able to pick up on the melodies fairly easily, and also be able to understand what the lyrics are saying.  This does not mean the language has to be used everyday, but it should be understandable.  Sometimes this means explaining the text some.

3.  Folk music has generally tended to be simpler and easier to learn.  Therefore, many worship tunes are based on folk melodies and traditions.  This is no surprise in the south, but this goes for other places as well.

I have learned so much from this weekly small group, but today's discussion seemed especially relevant to what I am trying to figure out with my particular congregation of 11-14 year olds.

Hosea

Yesterday in the Sunday morning sermon, Roley encouraged the congregation to reread the book of Hosea.  I'm looking forward to refreshing my memory of how I am like the bride who keeps running away from a groom who gives me everything I need.

Passion Week

Indeed, it is passion week. I must admit that I have been a bit (actually, a lot) preoccupied with travelling home and planning a weekend of showing a friend around Nashville to be able to concentrate on His Passion enough. However, I found some of my passions re-ignited this week as well.

I got to see a friend play a concert on Saturday night, and even though he was exhausted from a long leg of touring, I got excited about music. I love music. I know that I probably will never be good enough to play on the road either by myself or as a member of a backup band, but it is still my dream and passion. I ask for you prayers in deciding where I need to be (geographically) and how to live out my passions. I do not want to be another dead person going through the motions but be alive, to paraphrase John Eldredge.

Quotes from King's Meadow

I read these quotes on one of my pastor's blogs and thought I would share them. I have heard most, if not all, of them before, but now I have a copy of them.

“A church will either multiply or divide.” Thomas Chalmers

“Discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between right and wrong; rather it is telling the difference between right and almost right.” Charles Haddon Spurgeon

“Regardless of how large, your vision is too small.” Thomas Chalmers

“The whole tendency of modern thought, one might say its whole moral impulse, is to keep the individual busy with endless induction—leaving little room for genuine change.” Richard Weaver

“With visions of redemption I walk against the crowd.” Arthur Quiller-Couch

“Knowledge is knowing; understanding is knowing what to do; wisdom is knowing what to do next; virtue is actually doing it. The three together are what we call repentance.” Tristan Gylberd

“Gargantuanism and the care of souls cannot coexist.” Thomas Chalmers

“Religion hath brought forth prosperity, and the daughter destroyed the mother—there is a danger, lest the enchantments of this world make them forget their errand into the wilderness: to build a city on a hill, an illumination for all the world.” Cotton Mather

“Now, in our large towns, we have the ministerial service without the pastoral; and we all know what a loose and precarious connection between ministers and people this has given rise to.” Thomas Chalmers

“Mercy has converted more souls than zeal, or eloquence, or learning, or all of them together.” Soren Kierkegaard

Giving It Up

Giving up our gifts to God - this has come to my attention several times in the last year or so. Many people seem worried when they hear this phrase, but I see no reason to be scared. The topic came to mind when I had the chance this afternoon, when other plans were cancelled, to do something I have not had much time for as of late. That is to play my guitar.

I got to play for hours upon hours today, and I felt...refreshed. Sure my fingers hurt from having not played for more than 30 minutes in a long time, and I was a little rusty at remembering a few chord progressions, but I feel at worship when I play. No matter what I am playing, as long as I am playing to the best of my ability, I am worshipping Him.

So now onto the real topic. God gives us special gifts. One of mine just so happens to be music. God also calls us to give up our gifts to Him, but I think too many people take this the wrong way. First, we give them back by using them to glorify His name. We don't take the credit for our abilities, but return all the thanks to above. Secondly, we need not worry that once we give our gifts back, that He is not going to let us keep using them. Our Father gave us these gifts specifically so we could use them. That means He's not going to take it away and make you do something at which you are not very good. For the most part, He will continue to work through those gifts He's already given you.

So don't worry, your abilities are in good hands, so long as they are in His.

Trusting in the Future

I have no doubt that God is taking care of things. However, I still feel overjoyed when i think of praying for my future. In an email I got yesterday, I was reminded to pray for my future wife.

I have prayed the simple prayer before, asking for protection over her, Godly men to escort her down the path, and for forgiveness for either of us if we have done something wrong. I am loving her already, even if I don't know who she is, because I am praying for her. Prayer is something I hold very dear to me, and it is one of the most intimate actions I can share with someone.

I feel like a kid at Christmas here, overjoyed, because I'm praying for...us.

I'm Loved...I Want to Love

This is diverging from the kingdom musings a bit, but this is my spot, so I'll do as I please. In my humble opinion, Valentine's day was created by girls, for girls. It's just an excuse for boys to buy flowers and candy and cards. In some ways, I'm glad I don't have a valentine. In other ways, I wish I had one to love. I have been shown love, but my earthly parents as well as my Father in heaven, and I enjoy loving others. Sure I can do that in a non-romantic way, but I am loved romantically as well.

Praise

I just wanted to thank anyone who reads this for their prayers. I was prayed over last night for these nightmares, and God gave me not one, but three good dreams last night. I don't even remember the last time I had multiple good dreams in one night. Praise the Lord! He is mighty to save.

The Devil Made Me Do It

I was reading (something, I don't remember what) that said we don't give enough credit to the devil. We try to reason things out to where we have a tangible cause for our problems. However, Satan is very real, so why can't he be the one that's trying to trip us up and run away from God? I don't know for sure, but that may be the cause for some, or all my nightmares. They have returned again, and they are picking up in severity. It's quite a scary thing, but prayer is getting me to God, and He's getting me through.

Once again, my Abba is taking care of me.

Child at Heart

Those who really know me will agree that I am a child. I don't think of it as completely bad, but rather a good thing. Most everyone wants not to grow up when they are a child. I was the same way (and I still am). Why is that? No responsibilities? Ignorance?

For guys, I must go back to Wild at Heart - we long for adventure, danger, and the unknown. Girls, I'm not so sure about, but maybe to be a princess, won over by a valiant hero, and to take part in the man's adventure. I have a desire for adventure of fantastic proportions. I'm not sure what kind of adventures I seek, but I know there are some out there for me.

Also, there is having faith like a child. Not needing long explinations or reason and logic. Believing simply for the sake of believing. In that faith is a trust that the One watching over us knows what He is doing. A child asks questions, for sure, but mostly out of curiosity and wonder, rather than hesitation, doubt, and anger.

I don't want to grow up. I want my Abba to take care of me for the rest of my days.

Someday I'll Find My Princess

I just started reading John Eldredge's "Wild at Heart" the other day. It may bring down my grades this semester, seeing as reading for class takes up most of my time. But so is my destiny.

Early in the book (I am only in the third chapter), Eldredge speaks about the want of every young man to find, and fight for, his princess. It lies deep within a man's heart to fight for his bride, to slay the dragon, and carry her home. He also says that women want a man to do this. I found it interesting because I am truly a child at heart - I love pirates and fairy tales and Christmas and knights in shining armour. The idea that I will get to take on the role of a knight fighting for the damsel in distress excites me more than most. Then He mentioned how God fights for His bride.

However, Eldredge did not mention this: that when Jesus was crucified, He fought THE dragon in hell and slayed him. What a knight. That is the greatest fairy tale ever written, only it's not a fairy tale. It's truth.