Magnificent

The new U2 is excellent. Like most new U2, it requires a few listens until you get it. The band is so amazing at recreating their sound and vibe and message with each record, and yet they keep a sound and message that is consistent. After a few listens, some favorites have emerged … however, the best? So far … Magnificent — the lyrics are really, really good.

Magnificent/Magnificent/I was born/ I was born to be with you/In this space and time/After that and ever after I haven’t had a clue/Only to break rhyme/This foolishness can leave a heart black and blue/Only love, only love can leave such a mark/But only love, only love can heal such a scar/I was born/I was born to sing for you/I don’t have a choice but to lift you up/And sing whatever song you wanted me to/I give you back my voice/From the womb to my first cry, it was a joyful noise …/Only love, only love can leave such a mark/But only love, only love can heal such a scar/Justified till we die, you and I will magnify/The Magnificent/Magnificent/ Only love, only love can leave such a mark/But only love, only love unites our hearts/ Justified till we die, you and I will magnify/The Magnificent/Magnificent/

Lyrics by Bono and The Edge

Being Stripped of All but Christ

Once you’ve seen certain things, you can never go back. When the innocence of a child is stripped away by experiencing true pain from a loved one, there is a shift – a loss. Even as adults, when our illusions are stripped away, there is a shift. It can result in entrenched denial and deeper commitment to the illusion or it can result in a freedom to pursue true life. What I’m realizing is that the freedom is not so easy. As in any loss, there seems to be stages – anger, denial, bargaining, depression, acceptance. (see Kubler-Ross’ stages of grief)

The loss of self – the destruction of believing that life can be found anywhere but Christ – is harsh. What I’ve seen is that so much of what I’ve called “pursuing Christ” has really been pursuing the “things” of Christ – a certain lifestyle, orthodox beliefs, and godly commitments. Really, all of these wonderful things are the fruit of relationship with Christ (maybe) but they are not the relationship. God is so graciously stripping me of my “pursuit of the fruit” and calling me to just walk with Him.

Thoughts on Hope

Several months ago -  a friend sent a link to a blog post about hope. It really made me rethink the way that we often define things like hope and faith in very definite, “got it all figured out” ways. Maybe process and journey really are the way we need to think about these things. Certainly, the basis of relationship with God is definite and act of grace that God works in us in a moment in time – but the rest … what a journey!

Check it out. Think deeply …

http://zondervan.typepad.com/zondervan/2008/08/stumbling-towar.html

Thoughts on Community

The following is from Life Together written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Excellent stuff —

 

“The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and to try to realize it. But God’s grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves. By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world …”

 

“Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should in God’s sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it. The sooner this shock of disillusionment comes to an individual and to a community the better for both. A community which cannot bear and cannot survive such a crisis, which insists upon keeping its illusion when it should be shattered, permanently loses in that moment the promise of Christian community. Sooner or later it will collapse. Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial. “

“The man who fashions a visionary ideal of community demands that it be realized by God, by others, and by himself. He enters the community of Christians with his demands, sets up his own law, and judges the brethren and God Himself accordingly. He stands adamant, a living reproach to all others in the circle of brethren. He acts as if he is the creator of the Christian community, as if his dream binds men together. When things do not go his way, he calls the effort a failure. When his ideal picture is destroyed, he sees the community going to smash. So he becomes, first an accuser of his brethren, then an accuser of God, and finally the despairing accuser of himself.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Father God, please allow me to walk through the disillusionment in grace so that I might see you clearly and have you alone as the motivation for my life. Thank you for graciously cleansing of my false illusions.

Layers

It has been an amazing week – I’ve been growing and learning so much about what it means to live in community and walk in the light. Most significant is remembering that life is not simple. It is complex and mysterious. One of my “favorite” sins is to view life simplistically. How is that “sin”? If sin is living independently of God, then making life simple is my attempt to make life manageable – my attempt to live life without depending upon Him. A friend used the word “layers” to describe a situation we were working through and it really affected me deeply. When I see life as having “one” layer, I wallow in self pity or walk in pride. When I see life as having “one” layer, it is suddenly something that I can explain and manage and do on my own – without God and/or others. There are indeed layers to my life and sin & God’s desire is gently peel them away – it is a journey which will only end when I step into eternity — having been rescued from sin. And then, the journey of fully knowing the layers of God will continue without hindrance. So, the journey is beautiful and mysterious & I’m grateful to be on it – even though I can’t explain it fully or quantify it or manage it. This leaves me stripped and humble and desperately dependent.

Core Identity

Over the last month, I have been quite challenged to consider what I believe to be my core identity. Who am I? What do I identify with as I think about myself? The reason that it’s so important is that it affects decisions, desires, and ultimately my actions. It affects what frustrates me and what I believe can make me truly happy. The key danger is that I can have “identities” that I take on that are not the “real me”. So, who am I really? What has become very plain to me is that “I am in a relationship with Jesus Christ.” I was created for this relationship & I was redeemed by the blood of Christ and put back into that relationship. This is really quite simple – yet, I take on other identities.

For me, I’ve realized that I take on these identities: I am a nice person, I am a pastor, I am a dad, I am deserving of respect and honor. None of these are inherently evil – yet, they are less than who I truly am & they damage me and the people I love when I identify with these things. How? If I see myself as a “good dad” – then I can orient my relationship wtih my kids around “being a good dad” rather than loving them. If I see myself as a nice person, then I will orient my relationships around people thinking I am nice which could result in lying or not interacting with someone when its hard. In community, conflicting identities between people can cause a difference in values that can hurt the relationship.

So, for me – my desire is to see myself as someone who is in a “relationship with Jesus Christ.” That is the bottom line.

Advent Reflection

As we come to the end of the Advent Season, take some time to remember the great reality that God has come “in the flesh.” This means that “everything in spiritual” – there is nothing that has not been touched by the divine. Jesus Christ (God the Son) took on human flesh and experienced everything that we do – joy, disappointment, laughter, tears, energy, fatigue, elation, and pain. People often speak of that which is “secular” and that which is “sacred” but this is not a Biblical distinction. All is sacred, or spiritual. All things can be experienced in the context of a relationship with God. In fact, nothing can be experienced fully without being in the context of relationship with God. Our joys, our hopes, our tears, and our pain should all be experienced in a dependent way — looking to the Father each moment, enjoying what He is doing.

 

In 1 Corinthians 10:31, we are told that “whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we do all things to the glory of God.” Things are done to the glory of God when they are done with our eyes on Him.

 

How do you drink something to the glory of God? How do you eat? How do you sleep or work or take a walk or drink a cappuccino or build a snowman or sing a song?

 

Ponder that with each activity and you’ll find joy in the journey!

PS – I’ve blogged each week during the Advent Season on our church’s website – http://www.trinitychapelbc.org/News-Events/TCBC-News/Advent-Reflections-2008

Crying at a Rap/Hip Hop Concert?

I must admit that I am a pretty emotional guy. I do cry on a regular basis – a few weeks ago at a wedding that I was officiating and a few weeks before that when watching an episode of Extreme Home Makeover. I’m very ok with my emotions and have no problem with tears. However, last night I teared up pretty heavily as I set next to my son at concert and I was not expecting that to happen …

We went to a TobyMac concert for his ninth birthday (with two friends he’s known since birth) – he loves TobyMac (and I do too – it was incredible, right up there with MC Hammer that I saw in the early nineties). At one point in the show, TobyMac shared a story from when he was nine years old and read a verse on his dad’s business card that said “What does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul?” He shared about the impact it had in him as a young man — the parallel with my nine year old sitting next to me began to click, and then TobyMac began singing a song called “Lose My Soul” and my son jumped up and starting singing every word. I was overcome with emotion as I saw my son’s spiritual journey being played out before me. I realized that this was something he was choosing – something that he was internalizing and making his own. Then, TobyMac began to lead into the Christmas song “O Come All Ye Faithful” and as I saw my son singing “O come let us adore Him – Christ the Lord” — the tears began streaming more forcefully. Tears of pure joy …

Next, the lights went to black for a brief moment and then the sound exploded into another heart pumping rap song about some other aspect of following Christ … and I was left with a profound sense of gratefulness.

Living Life in His Story

Part of the beauty of discovering Christ as Savior is to begin to experience a redeemed life … a life that is oriented around reality. God is the the defining reality of life and orienting our lives around Him is pure joy – even if the letting go of this world is not easy and at times painful. Orienting one’s life around Christ is a joy but requires creativity and discipline.

For centuries, followers of Christ have oriented their lives around a “Christian calendar”. A calendar that begins with the four weeks prior to Christmas (a season called Advent) and walks through Christmas, a time of preparation called Lent, the passion week, and then Easter. This is something that traditional/liturgical churches incorporate as a part of their worship experience. Other churches do not use a Christian calendar – perhaps desiring to be “free” of a constraint that is not necessary to one’s salvation or sanctification. Having been a part of such a church (often called a “free” church), I am intrigued by the use of a Christian calendar.

The goal of such a calendar is to increasingly see our lives in the context of the story of Christ which is retold each year in the following seasons: Advent (listening), Christmas (celebration), Epiphany (working), Lent (listening), Holy Week (listening), Easter (celebration), and Ordinary Time (working). A good friend has listed some background on each of the seasons on her website (http://storyformed.wordpress.com/history-of-the-seasons). The calendar provides a daily reminder, a focus, and rhythm to the year. And, it provides great context for family celebrations throughout the year.

I Am Second

A good friend just launched a website that is pretty darn amazing! It is filled with stories (video) of people’s lives being changed and transformed by the grace of God and how they live “second” — check it out … www.iamsecond.com.