Hey friends,
So I am sitting here in the dark and thinking as the year comes to a close. It's been a crazy one. Everything in my life has changed so much... none the way I would have scripted them. But through all this I still hope to find God's path for me and find myself in a position to lead others to Him. He is an amazing God and with faith in Him all things make us stronger, better Christ-followers.
The blog is going under some updating. I am adding labels so you can search just certain lines of thought. I rant for a while on art, then for a while on music. I will add an area on the sidebar for you to look back through those with ease.
The Band is going strong. We took some time off for the holidays but will be back at it next weekend. Come see us at the Bethany Barn on Sunday evening.
Grace and peace,
Bollman
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
God Space
I was very blessed on Christmas eve. I attended the greatest Christmas service I have ever seen. I laughed, I wept, I prayed, I sang, I worshipped the Living Lord.
Join Pastor Mike from Lutheran Church of Hope and his friends as they make some space for Jesus....
Click Here
This service was amazing... as an emergent it was just right. The use of video was fantastic, the drama was engaging, the message so relevant...
But just as a Christ-follower, listen to this message. Soak it up. Listen to the last five minutes real, real close. It is the essence of the Gospel. The gift is here... Open it and receive the gift of grace.
Join Pastor Mike from Lutheran Church of Hope and his friends as they make some space for Jesus....
Click Here
This service was amazing... as an emergent it was just right. The use of video was fantastic, the drama was engaging, the message so relevant...
But just as a Christ-follower, listen to this message. Soak it up. Listen to the last five minutes real, real close. It is the essence of the Gospel. The gift is here... Open it and receive the gift of grace.
Monday, December 25, 2006
Christmas Greetings
Merry Merry Christmas!!! The rescuer is coming. Unto us a child is born. He will bring light to the darkness and we shall call him King of Kings and Lord of Lords!!!!
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Pillar
I went on a trip with Joel's youth group last week. About a dozen of us went to see Pillar headline the The Days of Reckoning Tour. It was quite the night. Four bands rocked the stage of an AoG church on the south side of town.
Decyfer Down, a hard-rockin' band in the mold of Sound Garden kicked off the show. They really appealed to my 90's grunge insensitivities. They were a four pierce, a straight lead guitarist that used cool phasing and octave effects, a pure rhythm guitarist, an awesome drummer and a bass wielding front man with long hair and big vocals. Even more impressive then their musicality was their spirituality and devotion to Christ, which really shined through. They are an evangelical rock band first and foremost. Their message is not watered-down.
I hate it when I go to a Christian show and if it where for the venue or a tattoo of a cross you’d have no idea they had anything to do with the Lord. That is something we as a band must balance. We want to make music that speaks to the world in which we live like Switchfoot, Reliant K and U2 but we also don’t want to become so removed from the Gospel that you have to search our songs with a strainer to find the Lord anywhere in them. That is our goal as a band, to be true to our artistic vision and our ministry at the same time.
Luckily for us that has never been an issue. We have always placed our mission first and our music second. We are a band, yes, but we are people who serve the Living Lord and spread His Word to all that may hear.
Lord please keep us rocking the Gospel… the Good News that Your grace is free for the taking. AMEN!
Decyfer Down, a hard-rockin' band in the mold of Sound Garden kicked off the show. They really appealed to my 90's grunge insensitivities. They were a four pierce, a straight lead guitarist that used cool phasing and octave effects, a pure rhythm guitarist, an awesome drummer and a bass wielding front man with long hair and big vocals. Even more impressive then their musicality was their spirituality and devotion to Christ, which really shined through. They are an evangelical rock band first and foremost. Their message is not watered-down.
I hate it when I go to a Christian show and if it where for the venue or a tattoo of a cross you’d have no idea they had anything to do with the Lord. That is something we as a band must balance. We want to make music that speaks to the world in which we live like Switchfoot, Reliant K and U2 but we also don’t want to become so removed from the Gospel that you have to search our songs with a strainer to find the Lord anywhere in them. That is our goal as a band, to be true to our artistic vision and our ministry at the same time.
Luckily for us that has never been an issue. We have always placed our mission first and our music second. We are a band, yes, but we are people who serve the Living Lord and spread His Word to all that may hear.
Lord please keep us rocking the Gospel… the Good News that Your grace is free for the taking. AMEN!
Friday, December 22, 2006
Santa
The G-squared gang donned their santa hats, jumped into their sleigh and played santa. We wrapped our presents in the Gospel and gave them with a song.
Four horns up for Christmas!!!
Four horns up for Christmas!!!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
...Under the Trash
I have been nosing around the book of Ecclesiastes this Advent season. I have found a seeker, a man roaming through the world searching for the true meaning of life. I see a wise man exploring wealth, fame and all manners of earthly pursuits. In the end, what does he find? He finds that all things are empty without a relationship with God. All things under the sun are trivial without find what's above the sun.
It was a brief second in the Popmart set. It was a tiny moment with enormous meaning. It was a throwaway gesture in which the whole Popmart thesis is understood. Perhaps it was even the whole point of the U2 dissertation of the nineties. The band was cranking up the volume in "Mofo" when Bono came to the line "Looking for the baby Jesus under the trash." As he sang those words, he gestured his arm to the biggest TV screen in the world, that huge golden arch and the mighty lemon. It was almost just a shrug, but the illumination it threw out was as bright as every spotlight, special effect, or image Willie Williams was flashing up from the light desk. All of this paraphernalia the band had around it night after night for most of the nineties was trash. What was more important was underneath it all. The use of Baby Jesus could mean the genesis of this thought is in the commercialization of Christmas, when Jesus, the real meaning of the season, is lost beneath wrapping paper, tinsel, stuffing, and Santa Claus. But it is a picture of a general loss of meaning or hope or truth. As we glance across the horizon of the loudest and brightest culture in the history of humankind, is there any chance we might find in the midst of all the shallowness something deeper, something more precious, something more lasting? Is Jesus lost? Or can He be retrieved from the garbage?
p. 119
Steve Stockman
Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2
In the work of U2 we see the same seeking. We see the same yearning to find spiritual meaning in the world. The postmodern world is one filled with a choir of voices... none of which pause in honor of the others. It’s a mass overload of sensory overload. It’s easy to be lost… but this bewildering landscape of shopping malls, pop-up adds and sound bites also brings us to the same truth that the seeker in the book of Ecclesiastes finds… The promises of this world are hallow.
Again, it was the searching for Jesus under the trash. "Mofo," which kicked off the show, begins with that statement of intending to look for something to save hi soul and fill the God-shaped hole. The seeking will be done in a barren desert place... There are still no comfortable refuges in the life of this Dublin boy, but the search continues. The compass points have not changed even though he may be in the wilderness in some kind of Old Testament wandering. It is still that God-shaped hole that captures the thinking of his heart, soul, and mind.
p. 121
Steve Stockman
Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2
Modernism, logic, reason, invention, political truth, and rationalism all leave you empty in the chilling emotional desert of this world. We find real life, real peace, in the spiritual. Thank god, that God is a intimate god, that reaches down into this world and becomes personal. He hasn’t stopped calling out to you, even though you are lost in the barrage of holiday chaos. He is as present as ever, in the midst of the hustle and bustle, drawing you towards His truth and His light.
Merry Christmas… Make it a personal one. Do not forget the reason for the season.
It was a brief second in the Popmart set. It was a tiny moment with enormous meaning. It was a throwaway gesture in which the whole Popmart thesis is understood. Perhaps it was even the whole point of the U2 dissertation of the nineties. The band was cranking up the volume in "Mofo" when Bono came to the line "Looking for the baby Jesus under the trash." As he sang those words, he gestured his arm to the biggest TV screen in the world, that huge golden arch and the mighty lemon. It was almost just a shrug, but the illumination it threw out was as bright as every spotlight, special effect, or image Willie Williams was flashing up from the light desk. All of this paraphernalia the band had around it night after night for most of the nineties was trash. What was more important was underneath it all. The use of Baby Jesus could mean the genesis of this thought is in the commercialization of Christmas, when Jesus, the real meaning of the season, is lost beneath wrapping paper, tinsel, stuffing, and Santa Claus. But it is a picture of a general loss of meaning or hope or truth. As we glance across the horizon of the loudest and brightest culture in the history of humankind, is there any chance we might find in the midst of all the shallowness something deeper, something more precious, something more lasting? Is Jesus lost? Or can He be retrieved from the garbage?
p. 119
Steve Stockman
Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2
In the work of U2 we see the same seeking. We see the same yearning to find spiritual meaning in the world. The postmodern world is one filled with a choir of voices... none of which pause in honor of the others. It’s a mass overload of sensory overload. It’s easy to be lost… but this bewildering landscape of shopping malls, pop-up adds and sound bites also brings us to the same truth that the seeker in the book of Ecclesiastes finds… The promises of this world are hallow.
Again, it was the searching for Jesus under the trash. "Mofo," which kicked off the show, begins with that statement of intending to look for something to save hi soul and fill the God-shaped hole. The seeking will be done in a barren desert place... There are still no comfortable refuges in the life of this Dublin boy, but the search continues. The compass points have not changed even though he may be in the wilderness in some kind of Old Testament wandering. It is still that God-shaped hole that captures the thinking of his heart, soul, and mind.
p. 121
Steve Stockman
Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2
Modernism, logic, reason, invention, political truth, and rationalism all leave you empty in the chilling emotional desert of this world. We find real life, real peace, in the spiritual. Thank god, that God is a intimate god, that reaches down into this world and becomes personal. He hasn’t stopped calling out to you, even though you are lost in the barrage of holiday chaos. He is as present as ever, in the midst of the hustle and bustle, drawing you towards His truth and His light.
Merry Christmas… Make it a personal one. Do not forget the reason for the season.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Looking for Baby Jesus...
MOFO
U2
Looking for to save my save my soul
Looking in the places where no flowers grow
Looking for to fill that God shaped hole
Mother...mother sucking rock and roll
Holy dunc, spacejunk coming in for the splash
White dopes on punk staring into the flash
Looking for the baby Jesus under the trash
Bubble popping sugar dropping rock and roll
Mother...mother sucking rock and roll
Christmas time, a time when you see everyone at the stores buying last minute gifts for every person on their list. Everyone has a little religion around the holidays. Even the most stone cold heart says an occasional 'Merry Christmas.' We pack our front yards with lighted displays that stress that we are in the Christmas spirit. We have Santa's on the rooftops and we Christmas carols on the radio. But never forget during this time of tinsel string and blinking lights that underneath all the glitz and glamour of the holidays is a miracle story, the story of a child in a manger, of a king sent for poor shepherd and commoners, of a God so caring that He'd become lowly to save ordinary folks like us. That is the heart of Christmas.
It might take a moment, but this year, take a moment, if only for a moment, and look for baby Jesus amongst the holiday trash. If even at a red light, look for Him for He is all around. Christmas with out the CHRIST is just a mess!
Grace and peace this holiday season!!!
Monday, December 18, 2006
Move
Emergent Church:
The emerging or emergent church movement is a 21st century Christian movement seeking to engage people, especially the unchurched, living in postmodern or postcolonial cultures. Proponents call the movement an emerging "conversation" to emphasize its developing and decentralized nature. A common characteristic is the concept of missional living where Christians are sent out into the world to be a blessing wherever they are. Narrative presentations of faith and the Bible as well as the use of multimedia, the Internet and blogs are popular with this predominantly younger generation of Christians. An emphasis on dialogue allows for a generous openness to a plurality of biblical interpretation with an avoidance of a dogmatic approach to theology found in historical Christianity.
Wikipedia
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Change
I have an interesting vantage point. I work with the first real youth of this historical age. I see the millennial generation, and the world on the great swing blade of change as Modernism fades into memory and Postmodernism takes hold. This is the generation that will see their lives change in so many radical ways. The very way they live will be forever altered. Religion is no different. It will change too.
This is not new. The Bible has changed through the years. Scriptures were once recorded on scrolls. These holy documents were kept in temples and read and interpreted. We see Jesus many times reading from the Bible in this format.
The Bible as we know it wasn't compiled until a few centuries after Jesus' death and resurrection. The church took the holy writings, both Jewish and Christian, and developed a canon. They determined what was in and what was out. This wasn't a cut and dried thing. Different books came and left the Bible for a thousand years before the current standard was set.
This collective process has caused controversy through the years. What standards were used was often called into question. The very format of the Bible being bound into a large, hand-printed book was a radical shift from scrolls. It made the Word of God much more portable and much easier to spread. Jews kept their scrolls locked away. These new Christians wanted to spread their new bound books far and wide. That was CHANGE!!!
The next major shift came around 1500 when Guttenberg’s printing press made bibles much easier to obtain and much cheaper. The rise of literacy rates also raised demand for bibles printed in native languages. This was a major factor in the Reformation that forever altered the look of the church and they way people worshipped.
In the 1900s we saw renewed interest in the study of historical text and the creation of dozens and dozens of translations. The logic minded rational scholars of the Bible wanted to find the most accurate version they could. This created all sorts of change and conflict. There are KJ only people and NIV people and those who think the Message isn't a Bible at all. Some people believe in magic Bible Codes and others that the NRS stands for New Revised Slander. All these things came and went as the cycle of change occurred.
Change is still going on today. In the postmodern age, the Bible has gone digital. I use bible gateway more than a paper bible. Some would see this as a bad thing. It is just the Scriptures adapting with the times. But the Bible is still the Bible no matter what packaging it comes in. The Truth that it holds for our lives is still true no matter if its rolled in a tube, kept in a book or downloaded onto your PC. God is big, his arms wide, wide enough to wrap around any historical age. Those who doubt the Lord's authority in this age are limiting God's power... and that is a very silly thing to do. God is in control.
Some people fight change. Most often they are political ideologues, hard-line fundamentalists, lovers of the status quo, or people who prosper financially from the old way. Change is scary. It is a treat. But change is what keeps the church alive. Over and over again, through out the ages, movements have come that reformed the way the Church looks and works and serves the people.
I love the Church. I want to see it grow and flourish and meet the needs of the millennial generation. To do this its going to have to change. It will never lose its roots in the truth that Jesus Christ sets us free from sin by His death on the Cross. But how it is organized and how it functions will change just as it did in Luther's day and so many other times. Postmodernism wont go away even will we pretend like it isn't there or that the people who embrace it are bad guys.
And what about those people who are served well by the traditional church? Of course I wish those people the best. I pray that they may find what they need and be content. May they eat and drink there and get their fill. But for those seekers, those which I feel so drawn to, for them I will continue to investigate the Church that is emerging in this new century. And in this age of endless possibilities, let us lay down our conflicts with each other and move forward for the Kingdom. I love Jesus Christ and work every day for the cause of spreading His Gospel. I love the Church and will watch as it continues its march through time.
This is not new. The Bible has changed through the years. Scriptures were once recorded on scrolls. These holy documents were kept in temples and read and interpreted. We see Jesus many times reading from the Bible in this format.
The Bible as we know it wasn't compiled until a few centuries after Jesus' death and resurrection. The church took the holy writings, both Jewish and Christian, and developed a canon. They determined what was in and what was out. This wasn't a cut and dried thing. Different books came and left the Bible for a thousand years before the current standard was set.
This collective process has caused controversy through the years. What standards were used was often called into question. The very format of the Bible being bound into a large, hand-printed book was a radical shift from scrolls. It made the Word of God much more portable and much easier to spread. Jews kept their scrolls locked away. These new Christians wanted to spread their new bound books far and wide. That was CHANGE!!!
The next major shift came around 1500 when Guttenberg’s printing press made bibles much easier to obtain and much cheaper. The rise of literacy rates also raised demand for bibles printed in native languages. This was a major factor in the Reformation that forever altered the look of the church and they way people worshipped.
In the 1900s we saw renewed interest in the study of historical text and the creation of dozens and dozens of translations. The logic minded rational scholars of the Bible wanted to find the most accurate version they could. This created all sorts of change and conflict. There are KJ only people and NIV people and those who think the Message isn't a Bible at all. Some people believe in magic Bible Codes and others that the NRS stands for New Revised Slander. All these things came and went as the cycle of change occurred.
Change is still going on today. In the postmodern age, the Bible has gone digital. I use bible gateway more than a paper bible. Some would see this as a bad thing. It is just the Scriptures adapting with the times. But the Bible is still the Bible no matter what packaging it comes in. The Truth that it holds for our lives is still true no matter if its rolled in a tube, kept in a book or downloaded onto your PC. God is big, his arms wide, wide enough to wrap around any historical age. Those who doubt the Lord's authority in this age are limiting God's power... and that is a very silly thing to do. God is in control.
Some people fight change. Most often they are political ideologues, hard-line fundamentalists, lovers of the status quo, or people who prosper financially from the old way. Change is scary. It is a treat. But change is what keeps the church alive. Over and over again, through out the ages, movements have come that reformed the way the Church looks and works and serves the people.
I love the Church. I want to see it grow and flourish and meet the needs of the millennial generation. To do this its going to have to change. It will never lose its roots in the truth that Jesus Christ sets us free from sin by His death on the Cross. But how it is organized and how it functions will change just as it did in Luther's day and so many other times. Postmodernism wont go away even will we pretend like it isn't there or that the people who embrace it are bad guys.
And what about those people who are served well by the traditional church? Of course I wish those people the best. I pray that they may find what they need and be content. May they eat and drink there and get their fill. But for those seekers, those which I feel so drawn to, for them I will continue to investigate the Church that is emerging in this new century. And in this age of endless possibilities, let us lay down our conflicts with each other and move forward for the Kingdom. I love Jesus Christ and work every day for the cause of spreading His Gospel. I love the Church and will watch as it continues its march through time.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Life in postmodernity
I went to college at the University of Iowa in the middle and late 1990s. I studied painting and drawing and the new emerging field of digital media. My work was abstract and my subject matter was a barrage of pop images that my media-saturated brain had collected as I grew up a child of America. Sesame Street, Nintendo, Fog and Toad, Scoobie Doo, Captain Crunch, Kool-Aid Man, Super Mario Brothers, Lord of the Rings books, Star Wars, Gummie Bears and Smurfs all went into the blender of my imagination and came back out as wild, abstract things.
A focus of our studies in the BFA program was postmodern studies. Postmodernism is a cultural shift that has (and is) occuring in a world radically changed by the proliferation of new technology. As a group of young artists, a lot of our study was centered on defining how art would exist in the next era.
Just as industrialization informed Modernism, so would digitalization inform postmodernism. The computer, the Internet, flash video, mass communication, blogging, and global community are the dawning reality. Art will (it must) adapt to exist in this new world.
We made many conclusions. Some were starry-eyed and foolish, some where way out of left field, but some hit the nail right on the head. Art is changing in this new age. Just look at TV trends and YouTube and you can see this is true. There is nothing wrong with the old way, if it suits your needs that great. But know that the world is changing and that change is natural and it is inevitable.
The emergent church is the equivalent of that discussion group seeking to redefine art for the new age. Church too is changing. It always does. The church of the feudal age with its central power structure and big stone buildings changed. It didn’t look a thing like the church of the Reformation. The church of the last two hundred years was reformed by modernity and its pursuit of logic and reason. And this incarnation of the Body the Christ is also changing. It's having new life breathed into it by a new generation of pilgrims that are coming to the well and they are oh so thirsty.
More on change tomorrow.
A focus of our studies in the BFA program was postmodern studies. Postmodernism is a cultural shift that has (and is) occuring in a world radically changed by the proliferation of new technology. As a group of young artists, a lot of our study was centered on defining how art would exist in the next era.
Just as industrialization informed Modernism, so would digitalization inform postmodernism. The computer, the Internet, flash video, mass communication, blogging, and global community are the dawning reality. Art will (it must) adapt to exist in this new world.
We made many conclusions. Some were starry-eyed and foolish, some where way out of left field, but some hit the nail right on the head. Art is changing in this new age. Just look at TV trends and YouTube and you can see this is true. There is nothing wrong with the old way, if it suits your needs that great. But know that the world is changing and that change is natural and it is inevitable.
The emergent church is the equivalent of that discussion group seeking to redefine art for the new age. Church too is changing. It always does. The church of the feudal age with its central power structure and big stone buildings changed. It didn’t look a thing like the church of the Reformation. The church of the last two hundred years was reformed by modernity and its pursuit of logic and reason. And this incarnation of the Body the Christ is also changing. It's having new life breathed into it by a new generation of pilgrims that are coming to the well and they are oh so thirsty.
More on change tomorrow.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Switch
For years I was a regular at one church. I went years never missing a Sunday. I was a member, my kids were baptized there and I was an active volunteer. I held positions on a committee or two. I helped haul fabric down flights of stairs for the lady's quilting ministry. I shared space with the same group and always tried my best to cooperate and return the space to its original condition. Once a year my group of wily teens would help carry dozens and dozens of those quilts up the stairs and loaded them up into vehicles so that they could go to needy people who had no blanket. Once I was even on a Call Committee that selected a new pastor. I co-wrote a description of that church that stated all the many parts that contributed to the whole and made it an extraordinary place to worship. I was a proud member of that church. I volunteered and helped the other branches of ministry as much as I could.
I have heard a call to duty that has given my life new meaning and purpose. The Lord God has laid it on my heart to work with youth. I have poured my entire being into the cause. I read Paul’s words and know what its like to be poured out like on the ground like an offering, a sacrifice. This isn’t a job or a hobby. It’s my passion. I see other people whose hearts pound for the arts, or competitive athletics or success at other endeavors. The very passion they feel for that activity is the way I feel about reaching youth. This attitude has made kids open up to me. They come to me with problems, real life problems. We talk them out, we cry, we sometimes shout. We are always real to each other and always look to Jesus for the answers. When kids are upset they seek me out.
I have a bag in my closet of little scrap pieces of paper from my years in youth ministry. They contain little comments from the kids I have ministered to through the years. When I am down, when I am really, really down, I get them out and start reading them. That is when I remember truly why I walk this road. This is all about them… and giving them what they need.
But despite all the hard work and the blessings the Lord poured out upon our little youth movement, a time came when we weren’t needed anymore. Oh, we felt the winds of change for a while, but then the conflict came and the warm nest where our ministry was firmly planted was overturned and it was no longer a place where we could work.
When that church and I finally had a parting of the ways, my loyalties were never in doubt. I have pledged my heart and my soul to Jesus Christ. He is not the property of a single church. I have promised my life to the service of the cause of reaching youth for the glory of His precious and holy name. That can happen in many places under many different appearances. I just had to move to more fertile ground and start throwing seeds again.
A few days ago I looked at the differences between my bible and the Bible. Just as my bible can be replaced… so can my church. If my bible is damaged and no longer serves me well, I will seek out a new one. If the opportunity arises to purchase a better bible, then without tear or sweat on my brow I will do so. It is the same with my choice of churches. I can live without that church but I cannot live without fellowship and communion with believers.
Luckily I surround myself with passionate believers, most far wiser and stronger in faith then myself. They keep me focused on the Lord. Many times Joel has to shake me and say, “Don’t get wrapped up in these earthly games, brother. Our work is for the Kingdom!” Chris, the quiet monk of the group, he always shows me the way with his constant study, daily prayer, consistent conversation with the Living Lord. Cody shows me God’s sense of humor and reminds me that the Christian life is about living life to the fullest. He keeps me focused on the Gospel, that Jesus died to set us free from the chains of the old ways. Just eating pizza and throwing the Frisbee with Haner is a holy experience. The ladies in my life keep me honest, Amanda keeps me organized and in check, the guys keep me doing powerhops. Calla keeps me searching for forgiveness. And always, always there is the Holy Spirit that keeps me learning and breathing. At the moment these folks are my church. We love each other and prop each other up and in time we will unite back in a big stone building on a hill. But for now we are just a band of believers focused on Jesus and the work of His Church.
His Church IS as mighty as an army with all its banners. She marches through time feeding the poor, reaching the lost and caring for the down-and-out. I will be focused on that task. I will look for every way I can to be the Light in this world. There is a lot of work to do… it’s time to go to Church.
I have heard a call to duty that has given my life new meaning and purpose. The Lord God has laid it on my heart to work with youth. I have poured my entire being into the cause. I read Paul’s words and know what its like to be poured out like on the ground like an offering, a sacrifice. This isn’t a job or a hobby. It’s my passion. I see other people whose hearts pound for the arts, or competitive athletics or success at other endeavors. The very passion they feel for that activity is the way I feel about reaching youth. This attitude has made kids open up to me. They come to me with problems, real life problems. We talk them out, we cry, we sometimes shout. We are always real to each other and always look to Jesus for the answers. When kids are upset they seek me out.
I have a bag in my closet of little scrap pieces of paper from my years in youth ministry. They contain little comments from the kids I have ministered to through the years. When I am down, when I am really, really down, I get them out and start reading them. That is when I remember truly why I walk this road. This is all about them… and giving them what they need.
But despite all the hard work and the blessings the Lord poured out upon our little youth movement, a time came when we weren’t needed anymore. Oh, we felt the winds of change for a while, but then the conflict came and the warm nest where our ministry was firmly planted was overturned and it was no longer a place where we could work.
When that church and I finally had a parting of the ways, my loyalties were never in doubt. I have pledged my heart and my soul to Jesus Christ. He is not the property of a single church. I have promised my life to the service of the cause of reaching youth for the glory of His precious and holy name. That can happen in many places under many different appearances. I just had to move to more fertile ground and start throwing seeds again.
A few days ago I looked at the differences between my bible and the Bible. Just as my bible can be replaced… so can my church. If my bible is damaged and no longer serves me well, I will seek out a new one. If the opportunity arises to purchase a better bible, then without tear or sweat on my brow I will do so. It is the same with my choice of churches. I can live without that church but I cannot live without fellowship and communion with believers.
Luckily I surround myself with passionate believers, most far wiser and stronger in faith then myself. They keep me focused on the Lord. Many times Joel has to shake me and say, “Don’t get wrapped up in these earthly games, brother. Our work is for the Kingdom!” Chris, the quiet monk of the group, he always shows me the way with his constant study, daily prayer, consistent conversation with the Living Lord. Cody shows me God’s sense of humor and reminds me that the Christian life is about living life to the fullest. He keeps me focused on the Gospel, that Jesus died to set us free from the chains of the old ways. Just eating pizza and throwing the Frisbee with Haner is a holy experience. The ladies in my life keep me honest, Amanda keeps me organized and in check, the guys keep me doing powerhops. Calla keeps me searching for forgiveness. And always, always there is the Holy Spirit that keeps me learning and breathing. At the moment these folks are my church. We love each other and prop each other up and in time we will unite back in a big stone building on a hill. But for now we are just a band of believers focused on Jesus and the work of His Church.
His Church IS as mighty as an army with all its banners. She marches through time feeding the poor, reaching the lost and caring for the down-and-out. I will be focused on that task. I will look for every way I can to be the Light in this world. There is a lot of work to do… it’s time to go to Church.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Screwtape
I love irony. My favorite painting is the Rene Magritte Dada masterpiece This is Not a Pipe, an inconspicuous little realistic rendering of a common, brown tobacco pipe. 'Why isn't it a pipe,' you ask? Because it is merely a picture of a pipe. You can't smoke tobacco with it, which is a pipe's primary function. So the little painting succeeds in looking like a pipe, but fails miserably at working like one.
It's like when Wily Coyote paints that tunnel on the cliff face. That isn't a tunnel. It looks like one, but when you bear down at a full sprint and slam into it, the reality presents itself that it's solid rock.
C. S. Lewis does something very similar with his 1942 Christian fiction masterpiece, The Screwtape Letters. He presents a story about a devil named Screwtape, who is advising his nephew, junior tempter Wormwood, on the best tricks of the trade, how to pull people away from their faith and covert their victims (sleekly called 'patients' by the author) to the 'Father below.' Lewis uses an interesting literary tool. The story takes the form of a series of letters from the 'affectionate uncle' Screwtape, advising Wormwood on methods of securing the damnation of the patient, undermining faith and promoting sin, interspersed with observations on human nature and Christian doctrine. We do not see Wormwood's letters to Screwtape, but the contents can be inferred from Screw tape’s replies. We follow the success and failures of the junior tempter has his earthly subject goes through many phases of mortal life.
This book, at first glance, appears to be a whimsical look at faith from the perspective of the devil. But upon further inspection, it becomes a slyly crafted criticism of Christian life in the modern era.
Wikipedia states the following about the work:
The irony of the tale is that Wormwood's blundering efforts are utterly unable to prevent the soul's salvation, while Screwtape seems incapable of comprehending or acknowledging true human virtue when he sees it.
After the first letter, the Patient converts to Christianity, and Wormwood is given a severe rebuking and threatened with the "usual penalties" at the House of Correction for Incompetent Tempters. Wormwood's task is now to undermine the patient's faith as well as to tempt him to explicit sins which may result in his ultimate damnation. Screwtape explicitly tells Wormwood that the gentle, sliding slope of habitual small sins is better than any grandiose sin (presumably murder, rape, sexual immorality, etc.) for the devils' purposes in terms of damning a patient. Screwtape also notes that conventional churchgoing is so boring that the Patient will soon tire of it.
Lewis' use of this 'correspondence' is both varied and hard-hitting. With his usual unexpected mix of lenient and hard-line theology, Lewis covers areas as diverse as sex, love, pride, gluttony, and war. He depicts intellectuals as largely under Satan's influence, especially in regards to the "Historical Point of View."
Early in the book, Uncle Screwtape admonishes his nephew for allowing his patient to convert to Christianity. It is then that Lewis weaves his finest review of Christian society as he (or more accurately as Screwtape) sees it. He shows the current idea of church in the same way Magritte presents the pipe in his painting. This is not the Church. The Church is the massive, embodiment of Jesus Christ that lives and breaths and stretches through time and is constantly evolving and changing and growing. It works towards the inevitable future when the Kingdom comes.
Screwtape writes:
One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes our boldest tempters uneasy.
But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans. All your patient sees is the half-finished, sham Gothic erection on the new building estate. When he goes inside, he sees the local grocer with rather an oily expression on his face bustling up to offer him one shiny little book containing a liturgy whidh neither of them understands, and one shabby little book containing corrupt texts of a number of religious lyrics, mostly bad, and in very small print.
When he gets to his pew and looks round him he sees just that selection of his neighbors whom he has hitherto avoided. You want to lean pretty heavily on those neighbors. Make his mind flit to and fro between an expression like 'the body of Christ' and the actual faces in the next pew. It matters very little, of course, what kind of people that next pew really contains. You may know one of them to be a great warrior on the Enemy's side. No matter. Your patient, thanks to Our Father Below, is a fool. Provide that any of those neighbors sing out of tune, or have boots that squeak, or double chins, or odd clothes, the patient will quite easily believe that their religion must therefore be somehow ridiculous.
A church can be a good and wonderful place, a place where the warmth and love of Jesus Christ stretches out and pulls people in. A church can be a place of comfort, healing, refuge and shelter. But too often church becomes a freeze frame, a fragment plucked from the stream of continuum of the Gospel, the All-powerful redemptive movement of Christ Jesus, started on the Cross and finished on the Day of Judgment. People become more focused on whom to let in or out of the doors of church and never let Church into them. They are about the business of maintaining a church and never get to the business of maintaining the Church.
A church can be magnificent. Unfortunately, often times we find it in a slumber, locked in a short-sighted malaise of its own importance and own business and it misses the amazing miracle that exists all around. Jesus Christ is big and awesome and everywhere. Revival is in the air!!! (stay tuned)
It's like when Wily Coyote paints that tunnel on the cliff face. That isn't a tunnel. It looks like one, but when you bear down at a full sprint and slam into it, the reality presents itself that it's solid rock.
C. S. Lewis does something very similar with his 1942 Christian fiction masterpiece, The Screwtape Letters. He presents a story about a devil named Screwtape, who is advising his nephew, junior tempter Wormwood, on the best tricks of the trade, how to pull people away from their faith and covert their victims (sleekly called 'patients' by the author) to the 'Father below.' Lewis uses an interesting literary tool. The story takes the form of a series of letters from the 'affectionate uncle' Screwtape, advising Wormwood on methods of securing the damnation of the patient, undermining faith and promoting sin, interspersed with observations on human nature and Christian doctrine. We do not see Wormwood's letters to Screwtape, but the contents can be inferred from Screw tape’s replies. We follow the success and failures of the junior tempter has his earthly subject goes through many phases of mortal life.
This book, at first glance, appears to be a whimsical look at faith from the perspective of the devil. But upon further inspection, it becomes a slyly crafted criticism of Christian life in the modern era.
Wikipedia states the following about the work:
The irony of the tale is that Wormwood's blundering efforts are utterly unable to prevent the soul's salvation, while Screwtape seems incapable of comprehending or acknowledging true human virtue when he sees it.
After the first letter, the Patient converts to Christianity, and Wormwood is given a severe rebuking and threatened with the "usual penalties" at the House of Correction for Incompetent Tempters. Wormwood's task is now to undermine the patient's faith as well as to tempt him to explicit sins which may result in his ultimate damnation. Screwtape explicitly tells Wormwood that the gentle, sliding slope of habitual small sins is better than any grandiose sin (presumably murder, rape, sexual immorality, etc.) for the devils' purposes in terms of damning a patient. Screwtape also notes that conventional churchgoing is so boring that the Patient will soon tire of it.
Lewis' use of this 'correspondence' is both varied and hard-hitting. With his usual unexpected mix of lenient and hard-line theology, Lewis covers areas as diverse as sex, love, pride, gluttony, and war. He depicts intellectuals as largely under Satan's influence, especially in regards to the "Historical Point of View."
Early in the book, Uncle Screwtape admonishes his nephew for allowing his patient to convert to Christianity. It is then that Lewis weaves his finest review of Christian society as he (or more accurately as Screwtape) sees it. He shows the current idea of church in the same way Magritte presents the pipe in his painting. This is not the Church. The Church is the massive, embodiment of Jesus Christ that lives and breaths and stretches through time and is constantly evolving and changing and growing. It works towards the inevitable future when the Kingdom comes.
Screwtape writes:
One of our great allies at present is the Church itself. Do not misunderstand me. I do not mean the Church as we see her spread out through all time and space and rooted in eternity, terrible as an army with banners. That, I confess, is a spectacle which makes our boldest tempters uneasy.
But fortunately it is quite invisible to these humans. All your patient sees is the half-finished, sham Gothic erection on the new building estate. When he goes inside, he sees the local grocer with rather an oily expression on his face bustling up to offer him one shiny little book containing a liturgy whidh neither of them understands, and one shabby little book containing corrupt texts of a number of religious lyrics, mostly bad, and in very small print.
When he gets to his pew and looks round him he sees just that selection of his neighbors whom he has hitherto avoided. You want to lean pretty heavily on those neighbors. Make his mind flit to and fro between an expression like 'the body of Christ' and the actual faces in the next pew. It matters very little, of course, what kind of people that next pew really contains. You may know one of them to be a great warrior on the Enemy's side. No matter. Your patient, thanks to Our Father Below, is a fool. Provide that any of those neighbors sing out of tune, or have boots that squeak, or double chins, or odd clothes, the patient will quite easily believe that their religion must therefore be somehow ridiculous.
A church can be a good and wonderful place, a place where the warmth and love of Jesus Christ stretches out and pulls people in. A church can be a place of comfort, healing, refuge and shelter. But too often church becomes a freeze frame, a fragment plucked from the stream of continuum of the Gospel, the All-powerful redemptive movement of Christ Jesus, started on the Cross and finished on the Day of Judgment. People become more focused on whom to let in or out of the doors of church and never let Church into them. They are about the business of maintaining a church and never get to the business of maintaining the Church.
A church can be magnificent. Unfortunately, often times we find it in a slumber, locked in a short-sighted malaise of its own importance and own business and it misses the amazing miracle that exists all around. Jesus Christ is big and awesome and everywhere. Revival is in the air!!! (stay tuned)
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Bible
I have a bible. I like it. It's a split text NIV/MSG with a big blue hardcover. It has a cool green bible carrier with many pcokets stuffed with highlighters and sticky notes. It serves my needs oh so well. I like my bible. But I could live without it. If I lost it my life would go on. I would simply go out and get another bible.
But the Bible, Holy Scriptures, that's a different story. God's revealed Words for me to live by, the Bible, that I cannot live without. I love the Bible. I study it, chew on it, pray it, sing it, meditate on it.
The Bible is like my heartbeat. It guides my life.
But the Bible, Holy Scriptures, that's a different story. God's revealed Words for me to live by, the Bible, that I cannot live without. I love the Bible. I study it, chew on it, pray it, sing it, meditate on it.
The Bible is like my heartbeat. It guides my life.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Church and church
A lot of the confusion regarding my beliefs comes from a simple misunderstanding. I love Church. I have never once said that a post-modern revival should or could ever take place outside of Church. I have real hope in the Emergent Church that is growing in this country. But notice, Emergent doesn't mean anything without Church attached to the end.
Please note a subtle but important difference in the following statement. We as believers should never confuse the church with the Church.
I will explain this further tomorrow.
Please note a subtle but important difference in the following statement. We as believers should never confuse the church with the Church.
I will explain this further tomorrow.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Church
For the next week or so I will address a subject that means a lot to me. Some have charged me as being anti-church. Nothing can be further from the truth. I love church with every fiber of my being. Perhaps I do have a slightly different view of what Church is, can, and should be. I will take a long look at these things and try to present them here in a way that will let everyone, my supporters, friends, fellow emergents and my detractors alike, know where I stand.
About a month ago I gave up my cable television. I did this to increase my time writing music, to spend more time with my internal dialog and to focus more on reading. Literature was a passion of mine back in high school and college, but somewhere along the line I discovered Sportscenter on ESPN. Every since that smorgasbord of candy for my short attention span, my reading habits declined. But with cable gone, I have dove back into reading. I have devoured works by all the major PEEW leaders and recently a book about U2. Each book I read quoted the same source over and over again, The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. I decided it was high time to read this book by one of my favorite authors as a youth and when my friends bought it for me for my birthday I decided that God was aligning everything in order.
And yes, The Screwtape Letters is my current reading selection and is informing my current topic of 'The Church.' I will reference it frequently as well as those works that have drawn inspiration from it. It's an interesting experience to discover the music you listened to for years was so heavily inspired by such an amazing work of fiction. I hope you all take the time to read this book.
Ultimately this blog isn't about me. It's about Jesus Christ. I hope to point to Jesus, His mission and His ministry. He was God on earth. We are just warming His seat until He gets back from His extended vacation.
About a month ago I gave up my cable television. I did this to increase my time writing music, to spend more time with my internal dialog and to focus more on reading. Literature was a passion of mine back in high school and college, but somewhere along the line I discovered Sportscenter on ESPN. Every since that smorgasbord of candy for my short attention span, my reading habits declined. But with cable gone, I have dove back into reading. I have devoured works by all the major PEEW leaders and recently a book about U2. Each book I read quoted the same source over and over again, The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis. I decided it was high time to read this book by one of my favorite authors as a youth and when my friends bought it for me for my birthday I decided that God was aligning everything in order.
And yes, The Screwtape Letters is my current reading selection and is informing my current topic of 'The Church.' I will reference it frequently as well as those works that have drawn inspiration from it. It's an interesting experience to discover the music you listened to for years was so heavily inspired by such an amazing work of fiction. I hope you all take the time to read this book.
Ultimately this blog isn't about me. It's about Jesus Christ. I hope to point to Jesus, His mission and His ministry. He was God on earth. We are just warming His seat until He gets back from His extended vacation.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Praise Him With What You Got
I went to a little Christmas program at the Lutheran Church in Kimballton tonight. I was persuaded to go by some girls I teach art to. I am so glad I came. It was a sweet little show that really spoke to my heart.
One line stands out the most. At the start of the play, the lady who ran the pageant said a few words. She said something to the effect of, "Now these kids are going to praise the Lord in their own way of doing so..."
In the next hour, kids read, danced, sang, acted, beat on tambourines, did silly accents all while delivering a message that Christmas is about Christ, the King, Savior of the World. It was glorious. I am blessed to have been there and share their praise.
That's the thing about praising God. We don't need anything special to do it. Everything you need is already built into you. Praising God is taking your talents, your singing voice, your painting skills, your carpentry skills, your good listening skills, your ability to do math in your head... whatever it is that you do best, and doing it in Christ’s name... in a way that glorifies HIM!!!
Today is a great day to praise the LORD!!! USE WHAT YOU GOT!
One line stands out the most. At the start of the play, the lady who ran the pageant said a few words. She said something to the effect of, "Now these kids are going to praise the Lord in their own way of doing so..."
In the next hour, kids read, danced, sang, acted, beat on tambourines, did silly accents all while delivering a message that Christmas is about Christ, the King, Savior of the World. It was glorious. I am blessed to have been there and share their praise.
That's the thing about praising God. We don't need anything special to do it. Everything you need is already built into you. Praising God is taking your talents, your singing voice, your painting skills, your carpentry skills, your good listening skills, your ability to do math in your head... whatever it is that you do best, and doing it in Christ’s name... in a way that glorifies HIM!!!
Today is a great day to praise the LORD!!! USE WHAT YOU GOT!
Saturday, December 09, 2006
WWMD
There was a time in my life when I wasn't focused on Christ at all. I was very self-centered. I needed someone or something radical to break me out of my short sightedness. Of course, Jesus has an amazing way of doing this. It’s call flipping things upside-down.
You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.
You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.
You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom
Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
There is something amazing about the Beatitudes. Jesus over turns the status quoe, flips your expectations. Alanis Morriset sang about the irony in rainy weddings and dead men winning the lottery. I didn’t find anything in that song particularly ironic. But Jesus, now there was a man that knew how to reverse the outcome on you. He is the most ironic power ever.
He makes the weak strong. He makes the poor wealthy. In my own life, Jesus shook my out of my slumber in the most peculiar way. Jesus took the students and made them the most powerful teachers.
There is a saying around my circle of friends. WWMD. What would Megan do? Megan is a go-getter. She isn’t the type to spend a lot of time lamenting about a problem. She jumps in and starts working on solutions. She is hands on, positive and just doesn’t take no for an answer. If there were just more like her, the world would run out of problems. She has inspired me to push out of the safe borders of the known and into that uncomfortable zone where Jesus performs His magic. I learned so much from Megan. She is a blessing in my life.
Other Students have had a huge impact on my faith. I will never forget Cody Haner, a big bear of a boy, on his final mission trip. His group was waiting in line for an ice cream when they met a man just out of prison. He was had nothing not even have a pair of shoes on his feet. Cody didn’t judge him. He just saw a man in need. So he asked the man what size shoes he wore and took off his favorite pair of shoes, on the spot, and gave them to his total stranger just out of prison. That’s the type of generosity I want. That’s being like Jesus.
I also learned bravery from an unlikely source. I once saw a girl, no more than one hundred and twenty pounds, stand in from of her church and face down evil. She stared down her oppressors named gossip, rumor, and lies. She stared them down right there in the very church where she was baptized, confirmed, worshipped every Sunday, even from the same pulpit where she gave a Lenten message where she proclaimed her intentions to serve the Lord for the rest of her life as a vocation. There in the church she stood and with more courage than I could ever muster told them to leave her alone. It was the kind of moment that defines a person’s character. And she faced the force against her with bravery and love. Just like Jesus.
More and more I want to change my vision. I don't want to be a lofty person. I don’t want to sparkle and glisten in fancy robes. I want to be humble and Christ-like. I want to be like Jesus. I don’t want to be a slick televangelist. I want a quieter approach. I want my life to be a work of art for the Lord. I want to dedicate myself to helping those less fortunate than myself. I want to serve the way that Calla Johnson serves. I want to find a place in my life where I have gained wisdom from sustaining a long, patient walk with the Lord. I want to serve and lead others into service. I want my words to become quieter but my actions to become louder. I want to serve the Lord with Megan’s energy, Cody’s generosity, Amanda’s bravery and with a servant’s heart like Calla.
I am a long way from any of these things. I am not very energetic, nor particularly brave. Old Adam often jumps back in and I act selfish again. I am not very wise like my mentor-friend. But with God’s grace and my friends’ support I hope to someday have people telling tales about my escapades in radical faith. I guess I’m still a work in progress.
The Beatitudes-MSG
You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.
You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.
You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.
You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.
You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom
Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.
There is something amazing about the Beatitudes. Jesus over turns the status quoe, flips your expectations. Alanis Morriset sang about the irony in rainy weddings and dead men winning the lottery. I didn’t find anything in that song particularly ironic. But Jesus, now there was a man that knew how to reverse the outcome on you. He is the most ironic power ever.
He makes the weak strong. He makes the poor wealthy. In my own life, Jesus shook my out of my slumber in the most peculiar way. Jesus took the students and made them the most powerful teachers.
There is a saying around my circle of friends. WWMD. What would Megan do? Megan is a go-getter. She isn’t the type to spend a lot of time lamenting about a problem. She jumps in and starts working on solutions. She is hands on, positive and just doesn’t take no for an answer. If there were just more like her, the world would run out of problems. She has inspired me to push out of the safe borders of the known and into that uncomfortable zone where Jesus performs His magic. I learned so much from Megan. She is a blessing in my life.
Other Students have had a huge impact on my faith. I will never forget Cody Haner, a big bear of a boy, on his final mission trip. His group was waiting in line for an ice cream when they met a man just out of prison. He was had nothing not even have a pair of shoes on his feet. Cody didn’t judge him. He just saw a man in need. So he asked the man what size shoes he wore and took off his favorite pair of shoes, on the spot, and gave them to his total stranger just out of prison. That’s the type of generosity I want. That’s being like Jesus.
I also learned bravery from an unlikely source. I once saw a girl, no more than one hundred and twenty pounds, stand in from of her church and face down evil. She stared down her oppressors named gossip, rumor, and lies. She stared them down right there in the very church where she was baptized, confirmed, worshipped every Sunday, even from the same pulpit where she gave a Lenten message where she proclaimed her intentions to serve the Lord for the rest of her life as a vocation. There in the church she stood and with more courage than I could ever muster told them to leave her alone. It was the kind of moment that defines a person’s character. And she faced the force against her with bravery and love. Just like Jesus.
More and more I want to change my vision. I don't want to be a lofty person. I don’t want to sparkle and glisten in fancy robes. I want to be humble and Christ-like. I want to be like Jesus. I don’t want to be a slick televangelist. I want a quieter approach. I want my life to be a work of art for the Lord. I want to dedicate myself to helping those less fortunate than myself. I want to serve the way that Calla Johnson serves. I want to find a place in my life where I have gained wisdom from sustaining a long, patient walk with the Lord. I want to serve and lead others into service. I want my words to become quieter but my actions to become louder. I want to serve the Lord with Megan’s energy, Cody’s generosity, Amanda’s bravery and with a servant’s heart like Calla.
I am a long way from any of these things. I am not very energetic, nor particularly brave. Old Adam often jumps back in and I act selfish again. I am not very wise like my mentor-friend. But with God’s grace and my friends’ support I hope to someday have people telling tales about my escapades in radical faith. I guess I’m still a work in progress.
Friday, December 08, 2006
G-squared Adopt-a-family Fundraising Campaign
Hey Friends,
The bandmates, Thrown-ups and G-squared folks have decided to adopt a family for Christmas.
Yesterday a family just fell into my lap. It is a family of three, mom and two kids. The dad is not in the picture and they need a lot of help for Christmas.
I talked to the mom yesterday and she was exited that we are at their service. G-squared has taken on the task of taking care of this boy's Christmas needs. My original goal was $125 to get him a PS2. But to my suprise, just twelve hours after I sent my original e-mail, we have raised an amazing $140 dollars!!!
Praise the Lord. Let's keep this going. Let's get this kid a bike as well! If you would like to be a part of this service project, please email me your pledge ASAP. We will be buying these gifts on our way to the Skillet concert on Saturday.
Grace, peace and miracles!!!
Bollman
The bandmates, Thrown-ups and G-squared folks have decided to adopt a family for Christmas.
Yesterday a family just fell into my lap. It is a family of three, mom and two kids. The dad is not in the picture and they need a lot of help for Christmas.
I talked to the mom yesterday and she was exited that we are at their service. G-squared has taken on the task of taking care of this boy's Christmas needs. My original goal was $125 to get him a PS2. But to my suprise, just twelve hours after I sent my original e-mail, we have raised an amazing $140 dollars!!!
Praise the Lord. Let's keep this going. Let's get this kid a bike as well! If you would like to be a part of this service project, please email me your pledge ASAP. We will be buying these gifts on our way to the Skillet concert on Saturday.
Grace, peace and miracles!!!
Bollman
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Jake the Drake Update
I got the following update from our brother Jake the Drake. He is your ministry's good friend in Des Moines. He has a real servant heart and passion for evangelism. Take my word for it, he pushes you out of your comfort zone. I say a prayer of Thanksgiving everyday for he and Aldger and the wake up call they gave me on that summer trip four years ago. I am blessed to have Jake as a friend and brother in Christ.
NEWLETER
If you would like to contact Jake and donate money to his cause download the PDF at the link above. There is contact info included.
Dear Friends and Family,
Thank you so much for your prayers and/or financial support thus far.
I will keep this short because I want you to read the news letter but here are the highlights:
Prayer Request: We just had a concert and Rock vs. Paper vs. Scissors tournament at AIB. Older students at Drake from our fellowship stepped out to come and help the push. We got to meet quite a few of new students a few of whom have an interest in coming to church and getting involved. Be praying that God would use the concert/tournament to start changing hearts at AIB and that laborers would rise up out of AIB. Pray specifically that Carrie Ann, Bobbi (girl), Allan, and Allan’s fiancé could start getting involved with us and that God would raise them up to be leaders for Christ at AIB. I don’t know how many of these students know the Lord so be praying for that they would as well.
Invitation: You are all invited, if you can make it, to my graduation open house on January 7, 2007. More information is in the newsletter.
Need: I am going to be going on a mission trip to Spain for the third year in a row now to the same city I’ve been going to all this time and that is Vic, just south of Barcelona. For this I need to raise $1,300 and am asking individuals if they can donate $35, $50, or $100 for this cause.
Thank you all and I must go now to the Tournament!
Standing in Grace,
Jake Bennett
NEWLETER
If you would like to contact Jake and donate money to his cause download the PDF at the link above. There is contact info included.
Amazing Grace
Joel's Wednesday night youth group is watching The Passion of the Christ for Advent. Advent, the four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, is to me a time of reflection, preparation and meditation over the coming of Jesus. I don't think there could ever be a better time to watch this movie. It puts the Nativity in a whole new light.
When you scan the Christian landscape you see crosses everywhere. You see them on car bumpers, on skateboards, on necklaces and even on chocolate candies. Wearing a cross is like being a part of a club. The Cross has become so watered down. It is little more than a symbol, like the golden arches at McDonalds or a mascot for an NFL team. 'I'm a Christian. I'm on that team. I wear a little golden cross.'
But tPotC shines a blazing spotlight on the cross. It shows it in the true light of what it really is. The Cross was pain, anguish, humiliation, suffering, torture and execution. It isn't a safe little symbol. The cross is life or death. You either kneel before the cross or are crushed under it.
Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:
" 'The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes'?
"Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."
-Matthew 21:42-44
The Passion of Jesus Christ isn't a cute, little nursery rhyme. It's the most powerful story ever told. The Cross has the amazing ability to change people. It empowers the weak and makes them stronger. It takes the hopeless and gives them hope. The Cross can take a group of tattooed outcasts and make them leaders. It can take petite teenage girls and make them heroes. It can take those with seemingly nothing.... and give them the grace that only Jesus Christ can afford. He doesn't give you trivial things that the world offers. He gives you what you need. He offers you life, love and peace of spirit.
And why is His grace so amazing? Because it's FREE!!! The price has already been paid. The work has already been done. Jesus chose to walk down that path of pain and suffering because He loved you so much. He paid every fee, every fine, and every penalty so that you and I can become free. All we have to do is believe in Him, confess this faith with our mouths and start a new life with Him in our hearts.
Walking with Jesus is easy once you make that first step. He carries the load for you. He fills you up with a new feeling inside. You are like a detergent that is NEW and IMPROVED. And soon you see the fruit of this new relationship. Jesus gives you what you so desperately need. He has done it for me. Let Him do it for you.
Call on Him today. It’s toll-free!
When you scan the Christian landscape you see crosses everywhere. You see them on car bumpers, on skateboards, on necklaces and even on chocolate candies. Wearing a cross is like being a part of a club. The Cross has become so watered down. It is little more than a symbol, like the golden arches at McDonalds or a mascot for an NFL team. 'I'm a Christian. I'm on that team. I wear a little golden cross.'
But tPotC shines a blazing spotlight on the cross. It shows it in the true light of what it really is. The Cross was pain, anguish, humiliation, suffering, torture and execution. It isn't a safe little symbol. The cross is life or death. You either kneel before the cross or are crushed under it.
Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures:
" 'The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone;
the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes'?
"Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed."
-Matthew 21:42-44
The Passion of Jesus Christ isn't a cute, little nursery rhyme. It's the most powerful story ever told. The Cross has the amazing ability to change people. It empowers the weak and makes them stronger. It takes the hopeless and gives them hope. The Cross can take a group of tattooed outcasts and make them leaders. It can take petite teenage girls and make them heroes. It can take those with seemingly nothing.... and give them the grace that only Jesus Christ can afford. He doesn't give you trivial things that the world offers. He gives you what you need. He offers you life, love and peace of spirit.
And why is His grace so amazing? Because it's FREE!!! The price has already been paid. The work has already been done. Jesus chose to walk down that path of pain and suffering because He loved you so much. He paid every fee, every fine, and every penalty so that you and I can become free. All we have to do is believe in Him, confess this faith with our mouths and start a new life with Him in our hearts.
Walking with Jesus is easy once you make that first step. He carries the load for you. He fills you up with a new feeling inside. You are like a detergent that is NEW and IMPROVED. And soon you see the fruit of this new relationship. Jesus gives you what you so desperately need. He has done it for me. Let Him do it for you.
Call on Him today. It’s toll-free!
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
January Generation Genesis Poster
Here is the new poster for Generation Genesis. Help get the word out: January 7th at Bethany Barn, bring your friends and worship the living Lord. If there is snow on the ground we go tubing down the big hill!!!!
Grace, peace and snowboarding
Bollman
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Killing the Humbug
I have never been a superfan of Christmas. Oh sure, I love the nativity story and weep over thoughts of baby Jesus in the manger, the shepherds, the angels and three kings and all. But living in this world of Mega-Wal-Mart’s, Santa Claus and Big Gulps, Christmas just seems so lost. The epitome of this syndrome in my opinion is the jewelry advertisements ran during football games...
If you are gonna tell her that you love her... go all the way... prove your love with a diamond...
WOW! Call me unromantic if you want, but there seems something really insincere about proving someone's love by buying a thing... I guess I'm just a shepherd... I don't come with expensive gifts, but I kneel and worship.
So as usual, I have been my normal grumbley, bah, humbug self this holiday season. I even started my countdown. I would say, "Only twenty-two more days until Santa Claus's Birthday!"
But my friends are working on me. They are trying to break my old habits. One said, "It's only Santa's birthday if you let it be so!" And she forced a box full of Christmas lights, a little nativity set, and the world's smallest artificial tree into my arms. I rolled my eyes and went on home.
The next day, my four-year-old and I were playing computer games, watching the Tick on DVD and jumping on the bed. After while he grew tire of our normal routine and said, "I want to do something diddernt, daddy!"
I pulled out the box of happy, shiny, Christmassy things and we decorated my little apartment. It was so much fun. We talked about baby Jesus and why we give gifts. We talked about trees and lights and had many laughs. It was very Christmassy indeed.
It seems my friend was right. Christmas is only an advertisement for materialism if we let it be so. If we celebrate life, love and that Light sent to us on that day, we can make Christmas wonderful... So, as I stomp my humbug, I say, twenty more days until Jesus' Birthday. Merry Christmas everybody.
If you are gonna tell her that you love her... go all the way... prove your love with a diamond...
WOW! Call me unromantic if you want, but there seems something really insincere about proving someone's love by buying a thing... I guess I'm just a shepherd... I don't come with expensive gifts, but I kneel and worship.
So as usual, I have been my normal grumbley, bah, humbug self this holiday season. I even started my countdown. I would say, "Only twenty-two more days until Santa Claus's Birthday!"
But my friends are working on me. They are trying to break my old habits. One said, "It's only Santa's birthday if you let it be so!" And she forced a box full of Christmas lights, a little nativity set, and the world's smallest artificial tree into my arms. I rolled my eyes and went on home.
The next day, my four-year-old and I were playing computer games, watching the Tick on DVD and jumping on the bed. After while he grew tire of our normal routine and said, "I want to do something diddernt, daddy!"
I pulled out the box of happy, shiny, Christmassy things and we decorated my little apartment. It was so much fun. We talked about baby Jesus and why we give gifts. We talked about trees and lights and had many laughs. It was very Christmassy indeed.
It seems my friend was right. Christmas is only an advertisement for materialism if we let it be so. If we celebrate life, love and that Light sent to us on that day, we can make Christmas wonderful... So, as I stomp my humbug, I say, twenty more days until Jesus' Birthday. Merry Christmas everybody.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Bono's Advent Musing
"That there's a force of love and logic behind the universe is overwhelming to start with, if you believe it, but the idea that that same love and logic choose to describe itself as a baby born in s**t and straw and poverty is genius. And brings me literally to my knees."
-Bono, U2
Christian Today, March 2003
It's Advent time, friends. Remember that God clothed Himself in flesh and bone and came to earth as the poor child of a carpenter and his wife in order to live a life of love and service for all humanity. It's totally amazing.
Here I Am To Worship
Light of the world You stepped down into darkness
Opened my eyes let me see
Beauty that made this heart adore You,
Hope of a life spent with You
King of all days, Oh so highly exulted,
Glorious in heaven above
Humble You came to the Earth You created
All for love sake became poor
So here I am to worship, Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that You're my God
You're altogether lovely altogether worthy
Altogether wonderful to me.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Living Water
The Woman at the Well
Jesus realized that the Pharisees were keeping count of the baptisms that he and John performed (although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptizing). They had posted the score that Jesus was ahead, turning him and John into rivals in the eyes of the people. So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.
To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob's well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.
A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, "Would you give me a drink of water?" (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)
The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, "How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (Jews in those days wouldn't be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water."
The woman said, "Sir, you don't even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this 'living water'? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?"
Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life."
The woman said, "Sir, give me this water so I won't ever get thirsty, won't ever have to come back to this well again!"
John 41-15 MSG
This image of McDonalds haunts me. I have been listening to Zooropa by U2 a lot lately as well. We are saturated by the images of mass produced pop culture that have turned us into beings from the movie Tron. We live in the neon glow of the consumer world where we buy things to be happy and buy things to pacify our longings. We shop at Wal-Mart for the every day mundane things that we have convinced ourselves are essential for life... quality life... longevity.
We tell ourselves, "I must have that or I'm going to die!!!" But the truth is that as our halo of stuff grows, our happiness never increases. Happiness is an illusion. Bob Dylan said, "Happy is a yuppy word." And Switchfoot turned that quote into an amazing song.
Happy Is A Yuppie Word
Switchfoot
Looking for an orphanage
I'm looking for a bridge I can't burn down
I don't believe the emptiness
I'm looking for the kingdom coming down
Everything is meaningless
I want more than simple cash can buy
Happy is a yuppie word
Nothing in the world could fail me now
It's empty as an argument
I'm running down a life that won't cash out
Things don't make us happy. True happiness comes from finding peace in what we have. Peace is satisfaction. It is oneness with the world around us. Jesus Christ came to give us peace. His last words to us till he returns are "Peace be with you." And may we find that illusive peace that is the only thing that can truly quince the thirst that haunts our lives.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Billions and Billions Served
I was headed to Parables Christian Bookstore in Omaha when we passed a McDonalds and I noticed their big red sign with their trademark golden arches on top. Under the sign it read, "Billions and Billions Served." That is true. People around the world line up by the millions to get their hands on a Big Mac, large Coke and those all-too-delicious french fries. Billions are served at McDonalds, but my question is, how many are served well? How many feast on a nourishing meal that builds up the body? The answer is none! McDonalds is fast food. It's a quick fix, a rush of calories and fat to shock the body and temporarily silence the pains of hunger that rumbled the belly.
I am not interested in feeding the masses just to raise the numbers on a giant tote board. I am not interested in running them through the line to collect as much profit as possible... I am interested in a better kind of meal. I want them to feast on a much more nourishing food and to drink of a much better kind of water.
Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.'
But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'
Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.'
But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!'
-Luke 13:25-27
I will take a few fed for eternity over billions served for just today.
Friday, December 01, 2006
Get up off Your Knees
God the Holy Spirit has used prophets, biblical and contemporary, to separate people from the lies and illusions to which they've become accustomed... prophets train us in discerning the difference between the ways of the world and the ways of the Gospel, keeping us present to the presence of God.
Prophetic voices that challenge the people of God to live 'in accordance to scriptures,' scriptures that are especially vocal about care for the poor, the suffering, and the disreputable have never received cordial treatment from people who use religion to cocoon themselves from reality.
-Eugene Peterson, Author of The Message Bible
Two thousand years ago, the scribes and Pharisees decreed that those suffering from leprosy were cursed by God. They were run out, shut away from the world… they were seen as sinners unredeemable and untouchable.
Jesus, The Light of the World, came down in the midst of this blind hatred and did the opposite. He reached out and touched lepers. He healed them, blessed them, and restored them. He was not afraid of their ailment. He was not afraid of the social rules that prevented touching these lost souls. He went to those in need and he touched them.
For twenty-five years the church has shunned victims of AIDS/HIV. They have labeled them as sinners that were unredeemable and untouchable. Some more conservative pastors have called AIDS God’s wraith on a certain group of people.
Oh, how history repeats itself.
Today—in the next twenty-four hours—5,500 Africans will die of AIDS. Today in childbirth 1,400 African mothers will pass HIV to their newborns. If this isn’t an emergency, what is? In the Scriptures we are not advised to love our neighbors, we are commanded. The Church needs to lead the way here, not drag its heels. The government needs guidance. We discuss; we debate; we put our hands in our pockets. We are generous even.
But, I tell you, God is not looking for alms; God is looking for action. He is not looking for our loose change—He’s looking for a tighter contract with our neighbor.
I should be preaching to the converted here. There are 2,300 verses in Scripture pertaining to the poor. History will judge us on how we deal with this crisis. God will judge us even harder.
-Bono at Creation East
Be the change!
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