Church Shopping Anyone?

My friend Joe Boggs has a good post, here, on the idea of the "vow of stability" in the Benedictine tradition contrasted with the phenomenon of church shopping, i.e., people jumping from one church to the next to find one that suits their "needs." I can see both sides of the issue, and I'm curious about your thoughts, but here is what I commented to him:

"Joe, that reminds me of Luther and Wesley who, although they revolutionized the churches they were a part of, never intended to leave them. Luther was forced out, and Wesley never actually did part with the Anglicans. It seems that a lot of the positive movements have been where people sought to stay but were forced out.

Still (and I'm curious about your thoughts), what to do when the very place where we're supposed to be in relationship and receive proper teaching and encouragement, ceases to be that place?

To wit: Barb and I have visited nearly 20 different churches since we've been here in Toledo. The reality is that there are maybe 2 or 3 that we might consider staying at if God hadn't called us here to do something different. Most of it is because the communities seem more focused on themselves than on others. But there's also the felt lack of depth in worship, fellowship, and teaching. We want to be someplace where it's obvious that God's Spirit is moving and has freedom to blow where He listeth. Sadly, our experience, and the experience of many is that there aren't many places like that.

That doesn't mean the church has to be big either. We were a part of two churches in K.C. (Trinity, a.k.a. Rainbow Blvd., and Jacob's Well) that fit the bill above. Trinity was ~100 and Jacob's Well was ~450. Lima Community Nazarene in Ohio reminds me of a large church (2200) that's trying hard to do the right thing and be outwardly focused.

All that to say, I believe there's a time to stay and a time to go. Probably people leave too quickly, but sometimes they may stay too long. Not everyone has the spiritual disposition to endure years of dryness and antipathy. And if on would argue that a person should work on their own spiritual life in spite of what's going on in their church, then that discounts the primarily relational character of the Christian faith--we're never meant to live it out in isolation and with no support.

I'll end with this: If we believe that the Church is as important as we say it is--for fellowship, encouragement, spiritual teaching, service, etc.--then we need to take into account what to do when a particular church fails to provide any or even all of them."

What are you thoughts?

Where Were You Born?

Most of you were probably born in a hospital. A few might have been born at home. Maybe one of you was born roadside in the backseat of a car. Probably none of you was born in an animal's food trough. But that's where the Son of God first rested His head on our earth.

As we talked about this last night at our weekly Bible study, I was moved by the brilliance of God's plan. Consider this:

• Mary and Joseph had to travel roughly 100 miles to reach Bethlehem from Nazareth. It was at least a 3 day journey. Had not Caesar called for a census, they most likely wouldn't have traveled to Bethlehem thus leaving the prophecy in Micah 5:2-5 unfulfilled.


• The Hebrew name Bethlehem literally means "House of Bread ." Jesus, who said of himself, "I am the Bread of Life," (John 6:48-51) is born in Bethlehem--the House of Bread.


• Because of the census, the inn of Bethlehem was full. Mary found herself giving birth to the Son of God in a barn, surrounded by animals many of which were destined to become sacrifices for the sins of the people or to provide food. Jesus, the final sacrifice for human sinfulness, and the Bread of Life itself, entered the world amongst the very animals which had served in His place for so long!

If you haven't ever done so, I'd encourage you to spend some time this year really digging into the accounts of the birth of Jesus. Centuries of God's history converged on that little town in Judea in a way that's beyond imagination. There's so much there that will build your faith in God's intervention through Jesus Christ on our behalf. You won't be disappointed.

I Want to Be Honest About This Church Planting Thing

This morning at one of the churches we've visited before, a woman asked me how things were going with ERC (Emmaus Road Church). I answered her as I do nearly everyone who asks. I tell the good stories about the people we've met, about the dreams we have, about how God seems to be opening doors for us. And all of that is true, and I think people need to hear that encouragement.

But the reality is, I wonder if I'm misleading them into thinking that planting a church is easy, that things just fall into your lap, that there's little hard labor and sorrow and loneliness and disappointment and uncertainty involved. That it's something you can do in your spare time when you feel like it. That it doesn't shake you to your foundation. That, at the end of many weeks I resonate with the exasperation of Charlie Brown when he exclaims, "Good grief!"

If I'm honest with you, I will tell you that I don't have a "game plan." That I don't really know what I'm doing. That I've questioned myself and God more times than I can count. That I've looked at other churches with a mixture of envy and despair (both envying and despairing at the same exact things). That I've been laid bare and found wanting on too many occasions. That my best attempts at anything seem about as effective as stopping a hurricane with an umbrella.

I say all of this because, as those who believe in the reality of God's love manifested in Christ, I owe it to you not to put a varnish over the very real scuff marks and gouges in the wood of this thing for fear you could get the wrong idea about following God. It's not easy. We're fools if we ever think it will be.

And yet, as difficult as it is, there is good news in all of this: At least I don't have to fake desperation for God anymore.

On Gratitude

I've been reading Brennan Manning's book "Ruthless Trust" lately. Time after time, he reminds me of what God is graciously doing in my life at the present moment--and for that ,Manning's been a good companion as of late.

I wanted to pass along something from the book in light of it being Thanksgiving and all. Here's a quotation from Henri Nouwen that Manning includes in the chapter, "The Way of Gratefulness." Maybe as a way of saying thanks, you might pick up a copy of Manning's book, read it, then express to God how grateful you are for the life He's giving you.

"To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives--the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections--that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for. Let's not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God."

Happy Thankgiving.

Let's just be real for a moment . . .

. . . some days are better than others.

Our Next President--Barack Obama

For me, this day, this night, was a demonstration of all that is good about America. It was about loving our neighbor, about seeking something higher than our own self-interests, about the reality that God has created all of us brothers and sisters. The speeches by both McCain and Obama gave testimony to and called us forward into a future where we are not identified by our differences but rather known for our charity and unity.

I believe this brings us much closer to the intent for this nation of our country's forefathers. More importantly, I believe it brings us that much closer to the message of Christ and God's intent for us as His beloved creation. Of course my hope for our country and indeed our world rests firmly upon God and His mercy in Christ, but my heart cries out "Yes!" when I catch a glimpse, as I did tonight, be it ever so faint, of the image of God in humanity--of people of all colors and ages, incomes and cultures, hoping and pledging to sacrifice for each other and a better tomorrow.

I know Barack Obama will not be able to fix everything. I know I will disagree fundamentally with him on certain, if not many, issues. But I believe, and want to believe, that He will bring an end to the hatred and fear and partisanship that have divided us from one another and prohibited us from accomplishing great things. And that gives me great hope.

Hear me clearly, Christ is our Lord and King. We ought not put our complete trust in any other but Him. Nevertheless, we live in a world that needs good men and women who will call us to live for something greater than ourselves. Perhaps Barack Obama will be one of them.

May God give him wisdom and grace--and may he listen and lead justly.

Corey Threedux

Okay, so threedux isn't a work, but redux is, and I couldn't think of a word for a third repeat (other than threepeat--but that's not in the same literary category as redux), so I concocted threedux. Add it to your dictionaries folks.

You may remember a young man named Corey I met and wrote about a while back. If not, you'll find it detailed here. He's a guy I have no reason really to have a connection with other than the fact that God keeps bringing us together. We don't live near each other. We're not close in age. We don't have similar occupations. And yet, as I said in that earlier post, "God is in the details."

If you read my earlier post, you'll see that I hadn't seen Corey for several months. Again, no real reason I should have. But two days ago at the Old Orchard Elementary School movie night Barb and I stuck around afterwards to help clean up and also to meet new people. One of the people I met was Fay. She had a son in school there, but she lives in Dayton, OH. She comes up regularly to be with him. She just happened to have some family members with her. She introduced me to them and one of them happened to be her cousin Corey!

I don't know what you think about the fact that God keeps bringing us together. In a city of 300,000 people what are the odds that he would be at my son's elementary school with his cousin and nephew? (It's only a school of about 200 kids, 217 to be exact.) I was able to make a good connection with him that night--even exchanging contact info and me helping him with some job info.

I say this all the time, but when you put yourself in position where God can use you, when you open yourself up to the world outside of your comfort zone, God will do amazing things like connecting you with the people He wants you to connect with--even when it's one out of three hundred thousand.

I Was a Bookfair Chairperson

So, I'm chairing the Scholastic bookfair at Oscar's elementary school. I know--that's not really me. Anyone who knows me knows I'm about as organized as a pile of leaves. Still, we felt like it was something we should do to help out at the school and to make connections with teachers, students, and their families. It's not really an area of strength for me, but we believe the opportunity was given to us for a reason. Let me explain.

Last week, Barb and I went to a seminar at Mount Vernon Nazarene University put on by the Gallup Organization called StrengthsFinder. Backed by 30 years of research and development, it consists of a battery of 180 questions that lead you to the discovery of your strengths. Some of them may be obvious to you, others may not. There are 34 different ones and you receive a personalized list ranking them from most dominant to least. At this seminar, we received our top 5. Just in case you're curious, mine were: Adaptability, Ideation, Input, Intellection, and Connectedness. That doesn't tell you much, but you can look them up if you're a stalker and really want to know.

While I think there's a lot of good that is going to come from seeing pastors and congregations use this (think: spiritual gifts test tailored more toward personal talents and strengths), I also had to think about the Apostle Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "But [God] said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

In looking at my strengths, there are certainly some things that lend themselves to church planting--Adaptability, Connectedness (seeing things as having a purpose; understanding that all of us are created for Someone greater than ourselves)--but the others aren't quite so strong. In fact, I would think that strengths like the Achiever, Maximizer, Developer, Activator would all be more suited to what we're doing here in Toledo. Then I remembered Paul's words that in our weakness, Christ becomes our strength.

I often tell people that part of the reason I'm planting Emmaus Road is for my own salvation. I NEEDED to be in a place where my faith was challenged on a daily basis, where I was counting on Christ's strength instead of trusting in mine. I came to the point where just going through the motions and playing at being the church were leading me to a place where my Christian walk was dying. The disjunction between what I believed Christ died for and what I was experiencing was too great. It was time for a change.

In stepping out of our comfort zone, taking a leap of faith to a city where we knew noone and had no prospects, doing something we've never done before or even been trained to do, we have come to a place of complete dependence on God and His power through Christ and the Holy Spirit.

I prayed this morning, as I've prayed many times in the last 6 months, that God would do what He wants to do here. That He would fulfill in us what He's designed for us. I have to believe that the many literal "signs and wonders" that we've witnessed are testimony that He's at work in ways more awesome than we can imagine. I also prayed that I would be open and diserning enough to see exactly what it is He's calling us to do. That I would follow each day His direction. That I would work alongside Him rather than being an obstacle to Him.

So, if God wants to be in charge of the Old Orchard Elementary Bookfair, then so be it. Even with my weakness, I'm in.

17 years in 2 minutes

Here's something to pass a couple of minutes. Watch a man age 17 years in 2 minutes here. Not something you see everyday.

Emmaus Road Church Building Photos

Thought some of you might like to see the building Emmaus Road Church is going to be leasing soon. It sits on a busy street corner of Central Avenue. It's not a lot to look at yet (inside), and there's a lot of work to do, but we're excited about how God's going to use us and that building to reach our neighborhood and our community.

Jesus Loves McDonalds

The reason they call them the Golden Arches must be because Jesus works there a lot.

This is the weirdest thing, but I've had 3 significant spiritual encounters at the McDonald's on Monroe and Talmadge since we've been in Toledo. Let me share.

The first one was a week or two after we'd been here. We had a good conversation with a father there, which turned to spiritual matters after a while. Although I've not heard from the gentleman we spoke with that day, I believe it was not a fruitless discussion.

The second encounter was a rather roundabout one. One day, I was to catch a ride with a friend down at the rescue mission to go to a conference together. Well, his secretary told us both different times, so I missed him and was stranded. I ended up walking back toward home. About a fourth of the way I decided to catch a bus. I had a fiver in my pocket and thought I was set. When I boarded the bus, they only took exact change--$1 please. I was about to get off the bus when they young guy behind me offered to pay my fare. (It was a real lesson in humility for this middle-aged white dude from the innerurbs to have his $1 bus fare paid for by a kid from the hood.) We sat next to one another on the bus--he wasn't really talkative, but I thanked him and asked him where he worked. Bingo. McDonalds on the corner of Monroe and Talmadge. Two weeks later, I saw Corey sitting outside of his apartment building as I was driving downtown with the fam. We pulled a uey, and I jumped out, gave him a couple of bucks and told him he had offered me grace, and I wished to do the same. I shared with him briefly that we're starting a church and gave him an info card. I haven't heard from him since, but God's in the details.

Numero three: Today, Barb had a meeting with the Old Orchard Mom's group at our house, so I took the kids out for dinner at--drum roll, please--McDonalds on the corner of Monroe and Talmadge. While we're sitting there, I strike up a conversation with a couple of women who were there with their kids. Shortly after we start talking, one of them says, "Pastor Andy?" It was Nicole, a young mother of a student at Oscar's school with whom I had spoken and invited to our Bible study a couple of weeks ago, but hadn't seen her since. I hadn't recognized her at first because of her new weave, but the three of us struck up a conversation like we were old friends while our kids rampaged on the jungle gym. It ended with not only Nicole, but her sister planning on joining us this coming Sunday evening. You tell me, what are the chances?

I'm not sure what it is about that place, but Jesus seems to love hooking me up with people there, so I guess I'll keep going back. The food's not half-bad anyway. (did I just say that?)

WWYD?

I was driving past a church today that had one of those marquee-like signs out front filled with what they hoped would pass for wit and/or wisdom. As most of us do, I glanced over to read what trifle it contained this week. At the same time, the car in front of me had applied its brakes to turn a corner. I had to stop harder than usual to avoid a collision.

The question then occurred to me: What if someone looking at that sign actually hit the car in front of them and, God forbid, actually killed someone in the collision?

Then I thought, what if the pastor of that church could somehow know that at some point in the future, that the church's sign would divert someone's attention long enough that they would accidentally kill another person in an accident? What would that pastor do?

Of course, we'd contend he or she would remove the sign immediately.

Ah, but here's the dilemma: What if the pastor could never tell anyone what he or she knew about the sign and its effects? And what if the people of said church were irate over the sign and demanded it be put back up? What if the issue threatened to divide and destroy the church? What if the issue caused someone to lose his or her faith?

WWYD?

What would you do if you were the pastor of that church?

Relational Evangelism

Just this past week I was talking with someone about Emmaus Road Church and the fact that we're still meeting on Sunday nights with just us and one other person. That's one new person total in over 5 1/2 months of ministy here in Toledo. Not exactly stellar if you use the standards by which many church plants are measured.

Now I'm as good at justifying myself and make excuses as the next person, but I don't think what I'm about to say concerning our "numbers" at ERC is in any way a justification or excuse for our low numbers.

The conversation I had earlier turned to the subject of evangelism. The question arose about whether we might need to do more head-on evangelism to reach people. I had explained that we've made numerous significant relationships with many neighbors and have had a lot of contacts with folks in the community around us. But the question remained, are all of those contacts and the relationships really getting it done when it comes to growing a church and reaching people for Christ? Good question, and one I've asked myself a lot over the last few years.

My conversation partner brought up two examples to prod me further. First, he asked about Jesus' calling of the disciples--"Come and follow me"--which appears to indicate Jesus made a cold call to join Him, and they did. Second, he asked about the examples of the Aposlte Paul and John Wesley who preached publicly in what ostensibly was non-relational evangelism--speaking to large, unfamiliar crowds.

It was in answering these two questions that the reality that good evangelism has always been relational became apparent.

Matthew 4: 18-21 is the reference to the calling of several of the disciples. Often when we read it we take it out of context or we don't do a little common sense thinking about it (we fail to use common sense way too often when we approach the Bible--not explaining things away, but simply using common sense). Usually when I've heard people talk about Jesus calling the disciples we assume that Jesus neither knew these men nor did they know him; He just walked up, and His personal charisma and attractiveness reeled them in (pardon the pun).

I read it a different way. What makes us think that Jesus didn't know them before? As a rabbi or teacher (as Jesus is often called), He would have had contact with many people through His teachings. As a person who had to eat, He would have to have bought food from the local fishmongers and fishermen. As a carpenter, He may have even crafted fishing boats for the locals. All of these instances provided ample opportunity for Jesus to have contact with them.

And even more than that, how many of us would drop everything--family, friends, house, job (assuming we like our job)--to follow someone we know nothing about? If we wouldn't, then common sense says they wouldn't either. Moreover, why would Jesus choose men about whom He knew nothing to carry on His work after He'd returned to heaven? Doesn't it make much more sense that Jesus would have chosen persons whose character and personality He knew something about?

But beyond all of this, we have record in John's gospel that Jesus did already know these men. John 1:35-42 let's us in on this fact. You say, "Ah, but what about Nathanael? (See John 1:43-51. Some scholars think that the disciple Bartholemew is the same person as Nathanael.) It seems Jesus didn't know him ahead of time."

It helps if we understand the phrase "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree." That phrase in Jewish tradition commonly referred to one who was a student of Torah, as rabbis were often said to sit down under a fig tree to teach their students. In other words, Jesus had seen Nathanael learning about Torah and the Messiah at a previous time, perhaps when Nathanael was unaware he was being observed. And to take the relational evangelism element even further, even though Nathanael may not have known Jesus personally up to this point, he never-the-less was brought to Jesus on the strong recommendation of a close friend, Philip.

Concerning the Apostle Paul and John Wesley's preaching, I would simply point out two things: First, both Paul and Wesley (and many others I might add) utilized the public forum in a way consistent with their culture. Open air preaching or teaching was more common then than it is today. People who preach on street corners today are more often than not seen as something out of the ordinary. In Paul's and Wesley's days, it was not so. Second, both of them, although they preached (evangelized) in a public setting, in a seemingly impersonal, non-relational sort of way, were preaching to folks many of whom would join or were already part of communities of Jews or gentile Christians. For Paul is was the synagogue or house churches of his day. For Wesley, it was the bands and societies that he started in every town he visited. There existed strong relational ties in both instances.

All of that is to say that relational evangelism is a legitimate, and perhaps even superior, form of evangelism and one that we would be smart to follow.

As we've attempted to make many friendships here in Toledo, we understand that it accomplishes two things. First, it connects us to each other as humans in a way that God intended; indeed, relationship makes us more human, more like God intended. Second, it gives those whom we know, the opportunity to see and feel the incarnational love of God in Christ through us, and hopefully, they will come to know the fullness of life that is in Jesus Christ too.

Well, if you've stuck around this long, I'd love to hear your thoughts--even, and especially if, you disagree with me. I'm certainly not done learning.

God Bless America!

After watching both political parties hold conventions the last two weeks, it appears that "God Bless America" is the new black. You couldn't be blamed if you thought the candidates were wind-up dolls who, when you pulled their strings their little electronic voices proffered you a very merry "God bless you, and God bless America!"

It's a common sentiment to voice and even desire in this proud country of ours. Especially as Christians, we want God to rest His blessing on us and the place we call home. It just makes sense.

While I don't think it's wrong to ask for God's wisdom, guidance, and blessing for our nation, too often we confuse our nationality with our Christianity. Or should I say we mix our nationality with our Christianity in a dangerous way. What happens is that we implicitly begin to believe that God's special favor resides with us in a way that it doesn't with other countries--especially ones where the people wear turbans and pray five times a day (far more than many Christians, I might add).

The other day I read the Book of Amos chapter 9, and it's been stuck in my craw ever since. I'm just putting it out there for you to consider in relation to the divine invocation we so often hear and the sentiments that undergird it. Here it is. Let me know what you think.

“Are you Israelites more important to me than the Ethiopians?” asks the Lord. “I brought Israel out of Egypt, but I also brought the Philistines from Crete and led the Arameans out of Kir.
“I, the Sovereign Lord, am watching this sinful nation of Israel. I will destroy it from the face of the earth. But I will never completely destroy the family of Israel,” says the Lord. “For I will give the command and will shake Israel along with the other nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, yet not one true kernel will be lost. 10 But all the sinners will die by the sword—all those who say, ‘Nothing bad will happen to us.’" (Amos 9:7-10, NLT).

The Problem with Politics

The real problem in politics seems to me to be that when you vote for a person--you end up voting for his or her party also--and all the people that are in that party. In effect you're saying, ostensibly, that you give your approval to that party and everything it stands for. That's harsh.

Anyway, I listened to several of the RNC speeches tonight, and the fact remains that based on experience and substance, John McCain seems to have a very strong upper hand. If voting were based on charisma, Obama wins in a landslide. If voting is based on ability and experience, McCain comes out ahead. I can't wait for the debates (I'm betting we'll actually see fisticuffs at the vice presidential debate!).

I wonder how many other people are still making up their minds in this election.

DNC--Senator Obama's Speech

If you didn't get a chance to hear Barack Obama's speech tonight, do yourself a favor--find it and listen. I've rarely, if ever, heard something so inspiring.

Seeing Through the Microscope

So tonight I attended a house gathering of Barack Obama supporters. That's not to say I'm definitely voting for Mr. Obama in November. Nor is it to say I'm voting for John McCain. But as I've been searching the issues, reading what the candidates are saying, I wanted to see what was happening and being said at the local level.

I fully expected a room full of hip, urban, young people of varied backgrounds. What I discovered was that I was the youngest in the room by a good 30 years. Granted, this was a small meeting for which about 80 invitiations had been distributed door-to-door by the host, but I confess it surprised me.

Fairly quickly we got into the "Go around the room and introduce yourself" bit. The ironic thing about it was that these "liberal" folks were just as quick to disparage anyone who might be a Republican as those right-leaning folks whom they accuse of doing the same to them. I heard several times how they couldn't imagine in their wildest dreams how anyone in their right mind could ever vote for a Republican. One person even went so far as to say Republicans must have their heads buried in the sand.

So it was interesting when it got to me. In a poetic justice sort of way, I got to go last. I told them it was a good thing they were sitting down because I am a registered Republican. But then, as graciously yet honestly as I could, I proceeded to tell them precisely why I was there. In all sincerity, I'm trying to make a decision based on what the candidates have to say and what they stand for and what kind of character I perceive them to have and how they handle the issues rather than on what some political pundit or talk-radio loudmouth has to say.

I shared with them that I think the problem with out politicians today is that they simply opt for what's expedient to the exclusion of what is right or what is healthy long-term. Too often they make decisions based on what will get them re-elected or what vote will garner more money rather than what is actually good for the people and the country they represent. And we can't blame just one political party--both Democrats AND Republicans are to be held accountable for many of the problems of not just the last eight years, as many at the meeting had been quick to point out, but the last 16 years and beyond. More than that, it's not just politicians who are to blame, it's all of us--the American people. We have become a country of people obsessed with possessions, comfort, and personal "rights" to the exclusion of ever making sacrifices for the good of others and all. We demand of our leaders that they enable us to live these hedonistic and utterly selfish lives. We consume without ever thinking of how it affects our brothers and sisters here, around the world, and in the future.

I'm leaning toward Barack Obama in part because of how I see his faith in Jesus Christ informing his decisions. From what I've seen so far, he seems to be a man who is deeply engaged in wrestling with the issues we all face--and not just in a politically expedient sort of way. The way he speaks about them betrays an acknowledgement that not everything in life is simply black and white--there are many shades of gray in this world. We cannot afford to adopt pat answers because our politics or religion beg us to. Jesus never fell into the trap of giving easy answers to hard questions. In fact, He often confronted such questions with more questions. There are no easy answers.

What struck me the most about this setting, was the sad fact of how quickly we create and adhere to caricatures of others. The folks at this gathering--good people, concerned for our country and for others--so easily resorted to name calling and strawman arguments. It was an us-versus-them mentality. This was evident when I shared my views on the immoral nature of abortion and why we should have laws against it. One man stated he was a Roman Catholic and that he thought abortion was immoral, but that we can't legislate morality. I didn't respond--I simply said I disagree but that this meeting wasn't a place to get into that discussion. I knew I wasn't going to convince any of them there of my position anyway (although, he was WRONG of course--we legislate morality all the time as in such areas as murder, stealing, welfare, healthcare, and so on).

My hope about Barack Obama is that he is not a black and white, us-versus-them, pat answer, party-line kind of person. I hope that he is a person whose confessed faith in Jesus Christ engages every part of his being in a way that it informs and shapes the decisions he makes. It may not always lead him to come down on the same side of the decisions that I would, but at least I think I can trust that he is engaged in that theological, philosophical, ethical process.

Shortly before I left, one of my last comments was to reflect on what I read a delegate say at one of 2004's national conventions. He said that if we could stop looking at each other through a telescope and start viewing each other through a microscope we would be much better off. I think what he meant was that the more we start seeing each other as brothers and sisters instead of these sad caricatures we want to make of each other (whether it be political, racial, ethnic, economic, national, and so on), the sooner we'll realize how much we need each other, and how much we owe to each other as fellow human beings.

And really, isn't that what Jesus demonstrated? He came down to the personal level to rescue us from the sinful caricatures we'd become--from the hopelessly self-centered, myopic, hateful, people we are. As Athanasius (and some say Irenaeus before him) once said, "God became one of us so that we could become like Him."

I'm still not sure who I'll be voting for--I could certainly change my mind between now and November. But two things I pray for is the grace to be Christlike to others around me during this political process, and that God would guide us (and we would listen!) to elect the person who will most reflect His will.

Coincidence? I think not.

Remember the old Time Life Books commercials for "Mysteries of the Unknown"? They always ended with the phrase, "Coincidence? I think not."

Ever since we've been here in Toledo, there have been so many times where something has happened that left me saying "Coincidence? I think not!" I'm not talking paranormal experiences, or ghosts in our hallways. God has been working in our lives and circumstances in incredible ways--ways I almost wouldn't believe if I weren't experiencing them.

I've already mentioned how I met Dan Rogers here, so I won't go over that again. But in the last couple of weeks, a few more experiences have left us nearly breathless.

We were visiting Trinity Church of the Nazarene two weks ago. We walked in and were greeted warmly by several people, but then as we entered the sanctuary, a woman came up to us and asked who we were. We told her, and then, out of nowhere, she asked if I might perchance have been a worship leader or could lead worship. Of course I've led worship for over 8 years prior to this, so I told her that. She was elated, said she'd been praying and asking God to bring someone her way who could lead worship at the Toledo Christian Schools' junior/senior school retreat. Barb and I just felt like God had certainly brought us together with this woman that morning. After praying about it, I agreed to lead it. I'm still amazed; who knows what God has in store for us and Emmaus Road Church as a result of the upcoming retreat?

A second, maybe even more amazing incident happened last weekend at the Leadership Summit which was put on by the WillowCreek Association. I had heard about it when we visited a large (8,000 person) church which was hosting the Summit in Toledo via satellite connection (there were 100,000 people across the U.S. involved, btw), but for financial reasons I had decided not to attend. Then, two weeks before the Summit, Dan from the mission e-mailed and asked if I wanted to be their guest at the event--which meant everything was paid for.

So, I went, and God once again worked in an amazing way. The testimonies and teaching of the speakers continued to confirm in my heart that we're doing what God has for us. But more than that, Dan introduced me to about a dozen church leaders from across Toledo who are at the forefront of ministry and ministry ideas. Suffice it to say that I'm now set to meet with several of them in the coming months to talk about church planting, to network with other church planters and leaders, and simply to receive encouragement and wisdom from them.

One such person was Lee Powell who is the pastor of Cedar Creek, the 8,000 person church hosting the Summit. Because I've been to the Cedar Creek, Toledo campus on several occasions, I'd heard him talk about his vision for planting 12 new churches by 2015 (6 would be part of Cedar Creek and 6 would be from other traditions). On Thursday when Dan introduced me to Lee, we spoke for a minute about a shared Nazarene background (his grandmother was Nazarene and his first church experience was in a Nazarene church) and briefly about Emmaus Road Church. But even more amazing was the next day, Friday, when I was talking with another pastor friend, Bill Roman (my local spiritual mentor) from Hope Lutheran, and he once again pulled Lee aside to introduce me. Obviously we'd already met, but Lee went a step further to tell me about their 12 by 2015 initiative and asked me to e-mail him because perhaps we could be one of the churches they sponsor that would not be a part of Cedar Creek itself. I was blown away.

I'm not saying anything is a done deal, or that any of these meetings will necessarily mean huge things for us or Emmaus Road Church, but there was no way that on my own or in my own strength I could have been connected with so many people who have the potential to be friends and helpers on this journey had it not been for God working things out this way.

Finally, I want to briefly mention about the possibility of getting a building for Emmaus Road church to meet in. About 3 months ago, I met Bruce Ott, the owner of a dental lab that makes crowns and bridges. I was out visiting and praying for people in the community when I stopped by his office. I soon found out he was a believer and at the end of our conversation he said, "If you guys ever need a building for your church, let's talk because we have a space for lease next door." I told him I'd pray about it and get back with him.

Fast forward to three weeks ago. I went back and spoke with him again in further detail about the building. He showed me around the space and told me in effect that they really would like to get some good neighbors in there and would love if it was our church. He said they'd really like to work with us on a price. To make a long story short, he offered it to us at 1/3 of price they were asking through their realtor! It's 1,000 square feet down stairs and has 3/4 rooms upstairs. It really would be perfect for ERC because it would provide plenty of worship space as well as children's ministry rooms upstairs. Not only that, but it's on one of the busiest streets in Toledo and only about 5 blocks away from our house.

The last part of the story has to do with the ability of Emmaus Road Church to afford the space. Even though it's an awesome deal, the only income we have at this point is our tithe which isn't enough to cover the cost let alone the utilities and such. But God knows this already. As we were praying about this, and before we even made the need known to anyone, we got a check made out to the church from Barb's grandfather. He said he felt God laid it on his heart to begin giving this amount monthly to ERC! Of course the amount more than put us over what we need for rent and would cover utilities also. Like I said, we hadn't told anyone about the need. God placed it on his heart and provided beyond what we could even imagine.

I know this has been a long entry, but I wanted to praise God and also encourage you, wherever you are, that God works in amazing ways when you put yourself in position to see and receive whatever it is He wants to do in your life.

One of the speakers that spoke at the Summit said, "God doesn't want to make you safe. He wants to make you brave." I hope that if you're not already putting your full trust in God by getting out of your comfort zone to a place where God can use you, that perhaps this post might be the encouragement you need to begin doing so today.

Rant against Crocs

I thought this rant against Crocs was hilarious. Make. It. Stop.

More from Solzhenitsyn

So I've been reading a some more of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's writings and came across his address to students at Harvard University just over 30 years ago. It's remarkable how prescient is his analysis of our current state of society--as if he foresaw where America and much of the West would be 3 decades later. I might also argue that this address might be one of the earliest and clearest portents of postmodernism as we are experiencing it today. Finally, his prescription for the way forward preceded and yet stands perfectly in line with where many of our leading contemporary Christian thinkers believe we ought to go.

While I won't copy all of the address here, I would like to reprint his concluding remarks. If you'd like to read the address in its entirety, you can read it here.

Here are his final remarks. Tell me if they aren't spot on.

"I am not examining here the case of a world war disaster and the changes which it would produce in society. As long as we wake up every morning under a peaceful sun, we have to lead an everyday life. There is a disaster, however, which has already been under way for quite some time. I am referring to the calamity of a despiritualized and irreligious humanistic consciousness.

To such consciousness, man is the touchstone in judging and evaluating everything on earth. Imperfect man, who is never free of pride, self-interest, envy, vanity, and dozens of other defects. We are now experiencing the consequences of mistakes which had not been noticed at the beginning of the journey. On the way from the Renaissance to our days we have enriched our experience, but we have lost the concept of a Supreme Complete Entity which used to restrain our passions and our irresponsibility. We have placed too much hope in political and social reforms, only to find out that we were being deprived of our most precious possession: our spiritual life. In the East, it is destroyed by the dealings and machinations of the ruling party. In the West, commercial interests tend to suffocate it. This is the real crisis. The split in the world is less terrible than the similarity of the disease plaguing its main sections.

If humanism were right in declaring that man is born to be happy, he would not be born to die. Since his body is doomed to die, his task on earth evidently must be of a more spiritual nature. It cannot unrestrained enjoyment of everyday life. It cannot be the search for the best ways to obtain material goods and then cheerfully get the most out of them. It has to be the fulfillment of a permanent, earnest duty so that one's life journey may become an experience of moral growth, so that one may leave life a better human being than one started it. It is imperative to review the table of widespread human values. Its present incorrectness is astounding. It is not possible that assessment of the President's performance be reduced to the question of how much money one makes or of unlimited availability of gasoline. Only voluntary, inspired self-restraint can raise man above the world stream of materialism.

It would be retrogression to attach oneself today to the ossified formulas of the Enlightenment. Social dogmatism leaves us completely helpless in front of the trials of our times.

Even if we are spared destruction by war, our lives will have to change if we want to save life from self-destruction. We cannot avoid revising the fundamental definitions of human life and human society. Is it true that man is above everything? Is there no Superior Spirit above him? Is it right that man's life and society's activities have to be determined by material expansion in the first place? Is it permissible to promote such expansion to the detriment of our spiritual integrity?

If the world has not come to its end, it has approached a major turn in history, equal in importance to the turn from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. It will exact from us a spiritual upsurge, we shall have to rise to a new height of vision, to a new level of life where our physical nature will not be cursed as in the Middle Ages, but, even more importantly, our spiritual being will not be trampled upon as in the Modern era.

This ascension will be similar to climbing onto the next anthropologic stage. No one on earth has any other way left but -- upward."

Goodbye Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Alexander Solzhenitsyn died today. God be praised for the life and work of this man. Peace be with you.

Night at the Mission

It's been two weeks now since I spent a night at a local rescue mission in cognito. I wanted to write about it before the experience is too far past.

I chose to go there because I hoped to come away from the experience with a little more understanding and sympathy for those living life on the streets. I also hoped to get a better grip on the stratification that exists in our society between the haves and the have-nots. I defintely got both.

The whole idea was sparked by the girl who presented at the orientation I attended for those interested in volunteering at the mission. At one point she noted that prior to them hiring a new person, they used to ask him or her to actually spend a night living with the men or women at the mission. They no longer require this, but the idea stuck with me.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how far from that lifestyle I really am--not that I couldn't end up there in a heartbeat--but all of us so insulate ourselves from the struggles of the thousands of homeless and millions of poverty-stricken people in our society that we cannot fathom what their lives must be like. Consequently we often lack any real compassion for them.

After this experience, I don't profess to "understand" homelessness and its many causes. Nor do I have any real answers to propose. Instead, I believe I simply grasp a little better what it is to spend a night there and the lives of the individuals who call it home.

Check in was at 7:00. After dressing in some fairly normal, perhaps slightly worn-looking clothes and a baseball cap, Barb and the kids dropped me off at 6:30, 6 blocks from the mission.
I got there early and, like the others, I loitered around the front of the building until the doors opened. A lot of cars traveled that street and would stop at the intersection in front of the mission. For the first time in my life, I felt the humiliation of being eyed with contempt or completely ignored by passersby simply for being homeless--judged and labeled, even though they didn't know me at all.

Once we got inside the building, we all stood in a waiting area. In the corner was a man lying half-dressed on a dirty sleeping bag. Another man in a Reds baseball cap sat nearby rocking and mumbling to himself. There were your typical homeless-looking men, bearded, disheveled, hardened, but there were also many others who, had they not been standing in line with me, you wouldn't be able to identify them as anything but ordinary citizens with homes in the 'burbs. And that was one of the things that stood out so starkly to me--many of these men are simply there because they need a place of transition between their former life and their new, and hopefully different, one.

During check in I observed how the staff treated the men. It was obvious that they were professionals as they proceeded in the difficult task with ease. At one point, after having his bag checked through, a man was told to leave and not return until he had gotten rid of the liquer and pornography he'd hidden in his bag. The staff person was firm and straight faced, but he remained friendly throughout. Never once did I witness anyone being treated poorly or with disrespect.

As my turn came to check in, they patted me down for weapons, checked my bag, took my name, and sent me in to find my way around. If there was any apprehension on my part that night, it was then. I didn't really know where to go or what to do. As I was wondering the halls, one of those "homeless-looking" men came up and gave me some direction as to what I should do. When I said thanks, he responded, "Hey, we've all had our first time here before." I'm not saying that the mission is a place you'd want to spend the rest of your life it, or that it's heaven on earth, but inspite of their living conditions and the daily grind of life on the street, kindness still existed in the hearts of some of these men.

Following his advice, I found my way to where they kept the sleeping mats. Since it was my first night, I got to spend the night on the floor. I entered a large room containing about 25 bunk beds. Each one had a fairly clean looking mattress which the men covered with the clean sheets the staff gave to each of us. I found a place on the floor that was as out of the way as I could get and made my bed. I pretty much spent the rest of the evening from 7:45 until midnight lying there listening to the conversations around me.

Many of the men there were just out of prison and trying to get back on their feet. It surpised me how many of them had cell phones and spent a lot of time talking on them. The banter was friendly and you could tell many of them knew each other pretty well. Certain men seemed to have more authority in the place that others. There was some friendly bickering over which direction the large industrial fan in the corner would face as it was hot in there. Gradually the men continued to file in until most of the beds were full.

Sleep was hard to come by. Like I said, it was nearly midnight before I could fall asleep. Part of it was because my mind was processing the experience, but part of it was the discomfort of the floor, the heat, the noise, the talking, and the turning on and off of lights (to much protest) as someone had to look for something. I had slept for a couple of hours when loud sirens passed by and woke many of us up again. This happened again at about 4:30 a.m. I'd finally gotten back to sleep when at 5:30, the lights came on and we all received the morning wake up call. It was back to the streets.

I folded my bed and made my way back out the front door. By now, the floors were crowded with men lying all around. I could tell that the men I had come in with at 7:00 the night before were probably some of the onse who had some hope of getting out of this cycle. But the men I saw on the floors, meaning they were first-timers like me or they were too late to get a bed, looked much harder, much more abused and wasted. I guess many were probably drug addicts who stumbled in after their stash or their money ran out and the high started to wear off. To see human beings in such a state left me deeply saddened.

Once outside, it was strange how the men simply faded into the background of the city. Like grains of sand they sifted along the streets, between the buildings, until they came to their resting place for the day. Some certainly went to jobs, but many others would sink to the sewers of society until evening came once again.

The message of the mission is this: "Rescuing the downtrodden. Restoring hope to the hopeless. Releasing God's greatness to our communities." In some sense, I witnessed that first hand as men found food, shelter, and a sense of dignity in that building and through the staff. At the same time, I left feeling discouraged because homelessness and its deeper causes will, as Jesus said, always be among us. What keeps driving us, and even more, the staff of the mission, to continue to care for these men when there's little outward sign of appreciation and perhaps even contempt? I concluded that it could only be the work of Christ in our hearts and the understanding that when we serve the least of these, we are serving Jesus himself. God, help me never to forget it.

Happy Birthday and the Problem of Evil

So I turn 34 today (I've outlived Jesus--I don't know if that's good or bad), and I spent the morning (well, 6:30-8:00) unlike any birthday I can remember--walking, jogging, and praying.

I say I was praying, but it was a bit of a one-way conversation with me doing most of the talking . . . er, complaining. I get that way sometimes, and I've found that long walks in places of solitude and silence lend themselves better to really getting at the heart of the issue. If we're truly honest, a lot of our praying closely resembles someone feeding a dog table scraps: We're occupied with whatever it is we're doing, not wanting to be bothered, but we feel guilty enough to toss a bone or two God's way every now and then. That's where I started off this morning, but with time (and the opportunity to pray aloud) what's gnawing at my gut usually makes it's way into the dialogue (or is it diatribe?).

I usually pray for my family at some point, for physical safety and spiritual protection, and that's when the "Problem of Evil" reared it's head again. I may pray that my children and wife will never have to experience some horrific act of violence and evil, and, although God may indeed protect my family, what about the thousands, perhaps millions of others who do suffer such atrocities? What about those who suffered in the genocide in Rwanda, or who languish in North Korean prison camps, or the children and women in brothels like those in Svey Pak, Cambodia that I read about recently in Christianity Today or even in those right here in Toledo? Why do they have to suffer when we pray for an end to evil? As a parent who loves my children immensely, and would never knowingly allow them to experience something so terrible, how can God, who is supposed to be "Love" itself, let people suffer the way they do?

The answer usually given is that in order for real love to exist, humans must have free will; we need the freedom to chose to love or not to love God. Well, this morning I said a big fat "Screw You!" to free will. Why not just give us limited free will--I think we could still love God just as much if the only things we weren't free to do were those sickening acts of violence toward others, particularly children, which we too often hear about. I mean, if you think about it, we already have limited free will anyway. I may wish to, but I can't just jump out of my window and fly away. There are physical laws in place that limit my freedom. More to the point, according to the Bible, I don't even have the freedom to reject God and ever truly be happy. So what would be the dectraction to free will if we added one more limiting factor: No violence toward others, or at least children?

So then, I began to question God's existence, as I think all of us must do from time to time if we're to be honest with ourselves and our experience of life. The "Problem of Evil" summed up states the following: We say God is all loving and all powerful. Yet if evil continues to exist, then God must either not be all loving--else how could He allow it to continue--or He's not all powerful, because if He were all loving and all powerful then He certainly would do something about it.

Now, sorry to disappoint you here, but I don't claim to have an answer to this--I don't think anyone does. Still, as I was having it out with God this morning, a thought occured to me which is helping me make some peace with it--at least for now.

I began to realize that rather than turn me away from God, the problem of evil actually ought to strengthen my belief in Him. Evil in the world does at least one thing well--it proves how truly messed up we human beings are when left to our own devices, when we do what we want to do instead of what God desires for us. Evil highlights our deep, infinite need for God. It demonstrates in visceral ways our utter lostness apart from Him and His laws.

Even more, as my former philosophy professor, Dr. Truesdale once wrote, "The Christian faith has no adequate rational "justification" or "solution" for the problem of evil. But it does have a more-than-adequate response." (If God is God, Then Why?, p. 107).

He goes on:
What sort of God do we meet in the Cross? None other than the God who suffers with us. The Cross guarantees that God is present with us. He doesn't stand safely aloof. In Christ we meet the eternal God, who so radically identifies with a suffering world that He takes the world's evil upon himself. Not just the sins of the world, but the unfathomable abyss of evil. In Christ, God radically identifies with human brokenness. He suffers the heinous death of His only begotten Son (p. 108).

I think I understand how the problem of evil could turn people away from God, but I think it only can when people fail to recognize that evil results from people choosing to do whatever it is they want to do and fail to yeild to the will of God.

Like I said, it still doesn't explain how evil can exist when we believe that God is all loving and all powerful, but it does at least point us to the One who ultimately has the answer to that question.

Well, here's to my 34th.

Getting Outside the Four Walls

Since Barb and I have been in Toledo (nearly 4 months now) we've had the great opportunity to visit a lot of different churches on Sunday mornings. As a pastor for the last 10 years, I've always been tied to a particular congregation on a Sunday morning, but since we don't have a congregation right now we have the freedom to check out other places to see what God's up to.

So far we've been to the following churches:
--Cedar Creek Church (non-denominational)
--First Alliance Church (Christian Missionary Alliance)
--Westgate Chapel (Christian Missionary Alliance)
--Hope Lutheran (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
--Hope Community (Nazarene)
--The Source (Nazarene)
--Upper Valley Community (Nazarene)
--Bedford Church of the Nazarene
--Vineyard Toledo (Vineyard)
--North Point Church (Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA)
--Joshua Generation (non-denominational)

Each one has been surprisingly different, a fact that certainly points to the creative diversity of God's Spirit moving among His people. It also points to the diversity of human beings and the ways in which we connect with God. I can't recommend enough to you that you take opportunities to visit other churches in your area. It will expand your vision of God's kingdom in ways that few other things can. And it will either increase your love and understanding of your own church or your dissatisfaction with the current state of things. Either way, you'll grow.

In visiting all of these churches, it wasn't until this last week that I felt like I was really sitting amongst "the least of these". Without exception, every church we worshiped in was well organized, well behaved, fairly monochromatic (meaning: predominantly white), and comfortble. Joshua Generation could not have stood in sharper contrast to them all.

Joshua Generation is a new church whose nascency is in a local rescue mission. It began about 10 months or so ago at the building where they feed the homeless on Sunday mornings. Recently, the president of the mission asked the pastor if he'd consider taking the church to the streets in south Toledo, and he agreed.

My first meeting with pastor Chris both impressed and surprised me. Chris stands about 6'2" and is a big African American man. Looks like he played football or something. His arms sported tattoos and gold jewelry. The white baseball cap on his head was cocked slightly to the side. MC Hammer would have been proud of his sunglasses. He immediately welcomed me and said, "We just trying to get out the four walls. We takin' God's love to the streets!"

"To the streets" was right. They'd blocked off the old brick-paved road next to their building which stood next to a boarded up, weed-overgrown Rally's (btw, how does Rally's go out of business in the hood?). A dj blared Christian gangsta rap through the sound system. On a small platform sat three shiny, new bicycles and 3 microphones. I soon found out they were raffling the bikes off as well gift certificates to WalMart (free raffle, of course). 50 or so metal chairs sat in about 10 rows between the crumbling curbs.

The people gathered were a true cross section of the hood: black/white/latino; poor; homeless; drug addicts, prostitutes, old, young, and inbetween; clean/dirty; sober/hungover; and a few of us middleclass urban types sprinkled throughout. To be honest, we felt a bit out of our element.

We arrived at 10:15 for the 10:30 start which turned out to be more like 10:50. Preceding the worship time was JJ's Express Drill and Drum Corps, which, if you've ever been to a parade in an large urban environment, then you know what I'm talking about. It's about loud drums and booty shakin'. (But I think it's also about a lot more--the backs of their uniform/tshirts stated "We all we got!" For some of the kids that was probably true. I praise organizations like JJ's for that.) I doubt that it would have gone over in many other churches, mine included.

Then pastor Chris stood up and with all the aplomb of a ghetto MC began to tell us about himself--from the hood, grew up in church, made some bad decisions, got into gangs and drugs, God got a hold of his life, and now he's trying to help others find the Savior. Powerful.

After that, a couple of guys moseyed over to a drums set and keyboard sitting next to the curb while 4 women and a teen took the stage. Pastor Chris and the singers began to lead us in a few shouts-out to the neighborhood and then moved into the R&B edition of "This is the Day" and a few other songs I didn't know. When this was over it was 11:45. We'd been there and hour and a half and we'd just started.

I confess to you that we had to leave at that point. The loud music, blazing sun, and general bedlam had taken its toll on our 16 month old to the point that she was inconsolable. The other two were content playing in the dirt on the street (sorry mom) and pulling the leaves and flowers off the weeds, but we decided it was time to make our exit.

Since yesterday, I've been thinking about and praying for Joshua Generation and pastor Chris. I'm not trying to say one church is better than another just because it's out on the street, but I can't help but read the Bible and see what kinds of people it mentions as being around Jesus and wonder: Are we missing something?

In a moment both comical and lamentable, the catholic church, which sat on the corner opposite our little street scene, let out their services just at the time JJ's drummers were banging away and the dancers were shakin' it. To quote a popular syrupy Christian song: "I can only imagine" what those people thought. Were they disgusted, amused, dismayed, confused, angered, joyful?
Did they recognized God at work there? Did it make them grieve that they'd missed out on such a large segment of the population around them?

What about me? Did I really care for these people like pastor Chris did? Like those serving did? Like Jesus did? Were many of us there simply out of shame--like we should be doing something? Out of fear--"whatever you've done unto the least of these you've done unto me"? Out of guilt or sense of duty--I ought to do something because I'm white and privileged? Out of hubris and pride--I can fix these people? My guess is that it's a little bit of everything all mixed up together.

I don't know if we'll be back. I would guess we will, but I don't know. I can't guess what's going to happen to that little church, but I believe God's in it.

Still, I know two things: many of the people gathered there wouldn't have been in another church that day if it weren't for Joshua Generation, and, if He could have only chosen one church in Toledo to be, I doubt you would have found Jesus anyplace else either.

Deep Fried Ambrosia--All Hail the Donut!

Okay, so maybe most people wouldn't equate donuts with the food of the gods, but I'm not one to shy away from such a claim.

Donuts, or doughnuts, aren't for everyone. I'll admit it. People who count calories shouldn't eat them; denizens of Weight Watchers, Jenni Craig, Jazzercize, and Overeaters Anonymous need not apply; self-abasing ascetics who eschew all earthly pleasures will run from them like a vegan from a Waffle House.

Yet, for those courageous enough, indeed brazen enough, to admit to their inner, hedonistic urges for all things doughy, to 'fess up to their wanton lack of self-control, yea even self-concern, the donut stands supreme in its ability to separate them from the rabble of wannabes and poseurs.

I've lived and traveled in my share of towns, villages, cities, and boroughs. I'd like to share a few of the outposts of deep-fried opulence in which I've had the privilege, nay, the pleasure, of procuring the portly, round pastry called the donut.

Kansas City, MO--Johnny D's (chocolate, iced cake donut), Fluffy Fresh (holland creme filled long john), and Lamar's (old fashioned).
Gatlinburg, TN--The Donut Friar's (bizmarks.)
Lafayette, IN--The Donut Company (Long John's)
Toledo, OH--Mama C's (bizmarks), Cafe Donut (glazed)

I'd like to know where the best donuts you've ever had are from. Who knows, I might be in that neck of the woods someday and get a hankerin' for some cholesterol.

I want to live in a Coldplay coccoon

New album's out. I've been wallowing in Chris, Jonny, Guy, and Will's sonic sweetness for a week. They're like salve for a wound.

Garage Sale Providence

So, the amazing God-moments continue to happen.

Recently, Barb and I were at the Old West End Festival here in Toledo. It's sort of like a mini Mardi Gras sans the nudity and general drunken stupidity. The neighborhood's comprised of beautiful old homes (some you might call manions) nestled blocks from the downtown and surrounded by the ubiquitious urban blight. Still, this small section continues to shine. The makeup of the people is as complex as the architecture they reside in--white/black, gay/straight, rich/poor, religious/secular. Barb and I felt like we were back home in Kansas City. We loved it.

Besides the live music venues, food vendors, artists' tents, and Mardi Gras-esque parade (complete, I might add, with strands of beads tossed to passersby) the neighborhood sported dozens of garage sales!

Now if you know Barb and me, probably half of what's in our house at the moment is from garage sales. We loved a good garage sale. We figure, why pay full price when you can pay 10%. Pluse the stuff is a lot more interesting than what you will find at a box retailer. Indeed, it's a bit like a treasure hunt because you never know what you'll run across.

Such was the case this day. But I'm not talking about items we purchased (although we did pick up some Sango Japan china for $30 valued online at 10x that amount, two new Bombay Company lamps for $22 originally $90 each, and an antique prayer kneeling bench in great shape for $30). Instead we came across yet another gift from God.

As we were getting ready to leave, Edie was yelling that she had to go to the potty, loudly enough to be heard half a block away. Just as I was about to tell her to just get in the car, a man on the porch of the house we had parked in front of said she could use their facilities. So Barb took here up to do her thing. In the meantime, I thought I would just go up and be neighborly and talk to him. As we talked, I got around to the point that we are in Toledo planting a church. When I finished telling him our story, he looked at me somewhat astonished and said that was exactly the same thing him and his wife had done 25 years ago! As a matter of fact, they had planted 6 churches in 23 years. I couldn't believe how God had brought us together. After he shared his story, I asked him what he did now since he had stepped down from the churches he had planted. Currently he is the President and CEO of the Cherry Street Mission in downtown Toledo.

God has really placed it on my heart that Emmaus Road Church is to be an outward focused church and Cherry Street Mission had been one of the places I intended to connect with in the coming months. Now, instead of me looking him up and going through the loops, he's already contacted me about when we can meet and wants to connect us with 6-8 others who are interested in the same kinds of things we discussed that day.

There are so many other stories I could share, likethe one about the evangelical Lutheran pastor I had lunch with yesterday who promised to help us any way he can, or the owner of a dental lab I met when I was out calling who offered us a place to meet in the building he owns, or the owner of the tattoo parlor who thanked me with tears in her eyes for my prayers when I stopped in her shop to talk to her.

The reality continues to be that God is already at work all around us. We simply need to ask Him for the vision to see where that is and then join in. It's when we put ourselves in a position where He can use us that things like garage sale providence happen. (A friend of mine is in a similar situation in Bolivia. You can read about it here.)

My prayer for you is that you will seek God's vision for where you are and then get involved in the work He's already doing.

Prayer of St. Anselm

O Lord our God, give us grace to desire you with a whole heart,
that so desiring you we may seek you and find you;
and so finding you, may love you;

and loving you, may hate those sins from which you have redeemed us,

for Jesus Christ’s sake.
Amen.

--St. Anselm, 1033-1109

Insurmountable Obstacles

How often do we in the Church put up obstacles to God's Spirit?

Just dwell on that question for a minute . . . perhaps make it first person.

Last Sunday we visited a local church. Probably 2,000 people, give or take, go in and out of its doors on a typical Sunday morning. I'm tempted to offer description and commentary, but I'll just cut straight to the point.

As we were walking in the choir was singing a patriotic medley since it was Memorial Day--It was something like "God Bless America/My Country, 'Tis of Thee/God Keep Our Troops Safe While They Kill the Arabs". Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit; I don't think they sang "God Bless America". No joke, a cross in the background was literally draped in red, white, and blue banners.

Then they moved on to singing a song called "Revival Fire Fall" with such highly crafted lyrics as Revival fire, fall
Revival fire, fall;
Let the flame consume us
With hearts ablaze for Jesus,
Father, let revival fire fall.

Whatever happened to slant rhyme?

Now in all seriousness, I'm only criticizing (and perhaps mocking) in order to strengthen, not to tear down. Nevertheless, there exists a serious lack of artistic labor in much of our (contemporary evangelical) liturgy these days, and we may be paying a dearer price for it than we realize. Still, that's not my main point.

What struck me as I was standing there with 1,100 other people (they have two services) singing "Revival fire, fall" was the reality that if God really did, as one of the lines suggests, "fall on us here with the power of Your Spirit," the place would be rocked to its foundation. We simply cannot imagine the mind shattering impact God's Spirit would deliver if He really "fell on us here." And yet we sing such words with great aplomb, acting as though if we sing it, He will come. And there's the rub. As much as we'd like it to, just singing the words doesn't make it so.

I was genuinely sad and angry at the same time. I so long to be somewhere where our faith matters, where we believe in God and love Him so much that we literally fall on our faces in His presence. Instead, I sit in a church service that is ostensibly more focused on American military might than on God's omnipotence. I stand and sing with scores of others when none of us really grasp the levity of what it is we're singing about. And I'm just as complicit in all of it as anyone else is.

As I stood there thinking about it all, I realized that revival fire never will fall because we aren't meeting the prerequisites (the first of which is true repentance--I promise to discuss this in a future post)! We've constucted so many obstacles to God's Spirit actually having any sort of sway among us that we're as close to revival as we are to the Crab Nebula. Too many of our churches simply are not in any posture spiritually to receive the fullness of God's Spirit. If I may wax pessemistic--our spiritual glasses aren't even half-full.

To my relief, the pastor followed all this up with a word from God the likes of which I too rarely have heard. It was a passionate and crystal clear explanation and invitation to enter into the fullness that God has for us by His Spirit, and as the service concluded, I realized one thing. Just as that message stood at the center of that service like a fine jewel caked in mud and dirt, so too we in the church have too often mired the jewel of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the mud and dirt of our own ignorance and selfishness. Week after week, we erect myriad obstacles which keep at arms' length our loving Father who, because He limits His own limitlessness in order to give us the freedom to truly love and worship Him, finds those obstacles insurmountable. In the end, it simply may be that our worship gatherings, indeed our churches, are more about us and less about the One that we claim them to be.

God forgive us.

J.S. Bach

There is no doubt in my mind that Johann Bach was the greatest composer of all time. For those of you into baroque music (or just classical, for that matter), Slate magazine has a good read called "Bach on Top" by Jan Swafford. You can read it here.

Wind Energy

I'm a big proponent of conservation and alternative renewable energies. I think the United States ought to be leading the world in research and development in this area. But that's for another blog entry.

I just wanted to give everyone a good laugh, so check out this commercial for wind power.

Thanks, President and Mrs. Roosevelt

I watched the story of President and Mrs. Roosevelt's life last night on the American Experience on PBS. I don't want to call myself a history buff (because I'm not), but the lives of those who lead or become leaders during difficult times always give me pause to think.

I believe that there exists an element of sacrifice of one's person to become a leader at that level, particularly when it comes to leading other people. From my observations, such people often end up being completely spent, washed up and worn out at the end of their task. It often takes a heavy toll on their health and their family. I would be hard-pressed to find many exceptions.

However, that's not what stood out to me the most.

President Roosevelt came to power just during the start of the Great Depression. Nearly a third of all able-bodied people were out of work. Families lived in shanty towns. Children went hungry and lacked any medical care. Millions lost their life savings. We've known nothing like it before or since.

Into this milieu comes Teddy, and with him comes the New Deal. In his first 100 days in office he introduced dozens of new policies providing instant economic, material, social, employment, and medical relief to millions. He dared to dream big, to believe that He could use his office to do something to help those who were hurting. And he did.

What stood out most to me, however, was the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt. Propelled into a spotlight she never wanted, she nevertheless embraced it wholeheartedly. She began to travel the country extensively, to meet with the poor and destitute, to champion the cause of racial, economic, and gender equality. She became the personal face of the New Deal, and she relayed to her husband the harsh realities experienced by many Americans.

Observing this, it struck me how Kingdom-like this was. Here was a woman born into affluence, who resided in wealth and high culture her entire life, who now chose to move among society's dregs. She travelled tens of thousands of miles to be with hurting and lost people, to give them hope, to hear their stories--to show them love and compassion. Photos of her dining with poor families in shanty houses, talking with factory workers, and serving in soup kitchens, gave hope to and inspired millions of her countrymen and women. It reminds me of the kind of company Jesus kept during His earthly ministry.

I so long for a church like that--a church that actually reflects the racial, economic, and culturual realities of our society. Instead of a milquetoast whitebread church, I want to worship in an environment of human diversity, of fearlessness, of hopefullness, of active love. Call it utopian, call it idealistic, call it a pipe dream--I call it the Kingdom of God.

So, each day, I'm praying and asking God to help me to know how to grow this church. President and Eleanor Roosevelt's story inspired me and put into images and words the longings within my own spirit. My greatest challenge at this point now is making reality those longings and inspiring others to join.

Upon his death, President Roosevelt's body travelled by train from Georgia to Washington to New York for burial. The images captured on film show millions of people lining the tracks as his railcar passed by. Men and women wept, children clung to their mother's skirt, and all mourned the loss of a man (and woman) who had given them hope in a time of hopelessness.

I believe that when someone lives in a way reflective of God's Kingdom, that countless persons will be drawn to the hope and love they find there.

Lord, help my life and church exemplify your Kingdom. Amen.

To All the Skeptics

Many of you who know me at least somewhat well, know that I believe it is highly probably that a North American ape (a.k.a. sasquatch, a.k.a. bigfoot) actually exists. (For some interesting reading on the subject, you can check out the BFRO, especially the FAQ section.) Not more than a few of you have expressed great incredulity about the subject.

Well, it seems our neighbors to the north may know something you don't. Recently, the fine people of the Vancouver British Columbia 2010 Winter Games announced that they have adopted the sasquatch, affectionately known as Quatchi, as one of their mascots for the Olympics.

And so I say to all you doubters: Now who's the joke on?

More proof that God loves us . . .

. . . Coldplay's new single.

Reap What You Sow

I read an article on Slate magazine today called "Pop Goes Christianity" by Hanna Rosin. Reading it would probably throw at least 50% of American evangelical Christians into a tailspin. Read it here and enjoy the ride.

I've lived in a Christian bubble most of my life. When I tell someone about my religious upbringing I feel a bit like the apostle Paul when he called himself a "Pharisee of Pharisees." I've graduated from a Christian college, seminary and post-grad university, worked for a Christian denominational headquarters as an editor of Sunday School curriculum, served as a youth and worship arts pastor, and on and on.

And it's not that I think that's all wrong, or wrong at all. I'm glad for those experiences and certainly don't take them for granted or fail to recognize that God opened the doors for me to those places throughout my life's journey.

Still, Ms. Rosin's article feels like a splinter in my religious finger, and I thank her for pricking me there. There's no denying that her observations and critiques are fairly accurate; she's not caricaturing modern American evangelical Christians. Rather, she paints a disturbingly life-like portrait of us albeit from a particular angle--that of our Christian sub-culture or Christian pop-culture. (To glimpse at the subject she's questioning, simply walk into any Christian bookstore and take a good gander.) This subculture we've created for ourselves she aptly describes as "like coming across another planet hidden somewhere on Earth where everything is just exactly like it is here except blue or made out of plastic."

And here's where I think she's spot on: She asks, "Isn't there something so thoroughly wrong with commercializing all aspects of faith? . . . What does commercializing do to the substance of belief?"

What does it do indeed?

I preached a sermon once in which I poked fun at just the sort of thing she's decrying. I asked how the heck a box of test-a-mints or a Thomas Kincaid bible (or some of my favorite pieces of Christian kitsch--You go Jesus!) bring us any closer to God (let alone aid us in sharing our faith). There was consternation on the part of more than a few to be sure. Yet the question still remains: If we as Christians have so cocooned ourselves in our own synthetic universe, how are we to reach out and touch the real (albeit fallen) world with the reality of Jesus Christ? And let me be the first to admit, I'm a lot better talker than I am doer.

Jesus employed the metaphor of salt to describe those of His kingdom--the Kingdom of God (Matt. 5:13). Salt alone on your tongue stings, it bites, it's that strong. It makes bland food desireable. It preserves meats left to cure in it. It heals wounds. The kind of crap our Christian pop-culture produces is more akin to sugar than salt. It's sweet on the tongue. Satisfies temporarily. Eventually it leads to corpulence and decay.

Sometimes I think we're (myself included) living so far from the Kingdom of God that we're not going to be able to find our way back when we wake up and come to our senses. We look and taste and behave nothing like salt. We have become high fructose corn syrup!

Forgive my french, but why in the frick would anyone want to be a Christian when they look at the sanitized culture, our ersatz faith? Seriously. Or closer to home, what about it makes me want to continue on my journey with Jesus? Why have so many of us verged on giving up on our faith or even walked away altogether?

In his letter to the Christians in Galatia, Paul warned (in the good ol' KJV), "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting" (6:7-8).

What in God's name are we sowing these days?

Kyrie Eleison. Have mercy, Lord.

Watching the Sunset

Ever had one of those moments? It may have been a stunning sunset, or the view from a mountaintop, or the cry of a newborn baby. Something about that moment took your breath away. You were caught up in wonder at the sheer beauty of whatever it was that had captivated your attention.

Right now for me it's watching God at work in our lives and in Emmaus Road, our new church. When I simply sit back and consider what it going on all around us--things way beyond ourselves or our ability to create--I have to shake my head. Wha? How? Can it be?

When we were looking for a house in Toledo, we were praying for and seeking an area that fit with our experiences and giftedness in ministry. So we focused on an area near the University of Toledo and in an older and more heavily populated part of town. We're simply not suburban folk. And more than that, we feel like much of the church has abandoned the city in favor of the everyone's-the-same McSuburbs. We believe God cares about lost people in the city as much as He cares about the folks in the burbs.

In the end, God blessed us with an awesome house complete with avocado green 40-year-old appliances and orange shag carpet (don't worry, we're replacing the appliances and pulling up the carpet). The house is great, but what's beyond belief is the neighborhood. While it's not nearly as diverse as our Longfellow neighborhood in Kansas City, we continue to sense God affirming that it was the right place through a variety of circumstances.

First, I've never lived somewhere where so many people go for walks in the evening. We've met literally dozens of people already just out walking. Many of them have actually come up to us and introduced themselves while we're out in the yard with the kids.

Second, Barb is already starting a playgroup for mothers with young children. Many of the people living in this area are young families with young children. Already, one of the lady's has expressed a lot of interest in Emmaus Road.

Third, just last week, we found out that our neighbor across the street is the director of the International Ministries branch of Campus Crusade at UT (Uni. of Toledo)! Turned out that there just happened to be a dinner coming up later in the week at which all the directors would be in attendance. And just like that she got us in to it with a seat at her table and a personal introduction to the directors of Campus Crusade and Athletes in Action. What I had figured would take a lot of running around and making phone calls to do (getting to know some of these leaders on campus) happened at one dinner through this lady that God brought across our path. Now we have an instant connection to all that's going on in those ministries on campus.

There's so much more I could describe, like the connection I made with another youth pastor who happens to do web design for non-profits, or the electrician we met who is doing a little updating at our house for free, or the worship arts pastor at a local mega church who I had coffee with who offered to help us out with any resources they have available, or the treasurer from a large church on our district who wants to help us be sure we get everything set up right from the beginning, or the another pastor who wants to donate Alpha Course materials and videos to us. Each encounter, each connection, looks more and more like the hand of God.

I've sung in a lot of choirs in my life. Every once in a while you have that feeling that you're part of something bigger than just a collection of individuals who happen to be singing the same song. Something larger is happening--there's a collective harmony that is created that cannot happen in isolation from one another. All the elements come together: the composer's vision and creation, the conductor's guidance, melody and counter melody, the harmony, the acoustics, the aesthetics, the audience--each join forces to create something much larger than any single part. It's sometimes during those moments that you find yourself caught up in it all, simply watching it take place around you and boggling at its beauty.

That's like the feeling I get working in concert with God starting Emmaus Road here in Toledo. It's like a work of art, like a brilliant sunset.

And right now, I'm loving the view.

Active Waiting

How do you "Wait on God"?

Is it like waiting on a train? Does it imply sitting around listening for a heavenly phone to ring with God on the other line telling us what to do? Are we to wait patiently or impatiently? Are we allowed to be frustrated in the waiting process? And while we're at it, how do we know we're not missing the very thing we've been waiting for?

The Old Testament prophet Isaiah said, "the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!" (30:18).

The enitre context of chapter 30 is a declaration of suffering which has come upon the Israelites, God's own people, for their disobedience in forging their own path. "They say to the seers, 'See no more visions!' and to the prophets, 'Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!' (vv. 10-11). As one reads through the implacations against them in Isaiah, it becomes apparent that they concerned themselves more with short term prosperity than with longterm integrity. They demonstrated the antithesis of waiting on God.

The Hebrew word for "wait" most often used in the scriptures has an active meaning. It typically connotes endurance: "In waiting for God the Hebrew was in tense anticipation, full of hope, and willing to endure till God should come" (The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, 796). One waits in trouble. One waits through suffering. One waits even in prosperity. But all the while, one waits actively.

How then should we wait?

This question weighs on my mind these days. I'm in a position where there is a lot of freedom, a lot of free time with which I can do what I want. Planting a new church that is a month along and as of yet has no gathering body, means that there are few immediate or pressing tasks which require my time. If I wanted, I could likely spend my days sitting here at my desk reading the news, organizing things, or doing any number of trivialities, and I could blame it on the fact that I'm "waiting on God" to build His church here through us.

But if I take the Biblical meaning of waiting on God, that is I wait actively, then I can't just sit in my office and do nothing and expect a church to miraculously appear. No, I must be involved in doing.

Now that doing doesn't mean I do my own thing, which is precisely what the Israelites were guilty of. Instead, I get busy doing God's work--reaching out to people with love and hope, meeting them where they are, utilizing the resources and gifts God's given me and my family for His purposes and Kingdom here on earth.

Just before He ascended to heaven, Jesus told His disciples to wait for Him in Jerusalem. Had they chosen to wait like the Israelites or like I often do, they probably would have just returned to Jerusalem, returned to their jobs and families and tucked Jesus' command away in the corner of their minds. That's not what they did.

"Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God" (Luke 24:53). It is likely that this is the place where they were when the Holy Spirit descended upon them with power 50 days later during Pentecost. They were actively waiting on God. Had they not waited in this way, how might things have been different?

And so I'm trying to learn how to wait on God by doing what I sense He's leading me to do. As I read His word and pray, as I listen throughout the day, as I keep my spiritual antenna tuned to His voice and leading, I'm trying simply to follow what I believe He's saying. I'm using my best judgment in discerning what He'd have me to do. Some of these efforts may be met with little success. Others may produce outward fruit. All of them lead to a heart willing to do whatever it is He asks of me.

It's not easy. It's not always clear or simple. In fact, sometimes I may not much feel like waiting on God at all. I certainly don't profess to be perfect at this waiting thing. But by I believe that waiting is the only faithful response to what God has shown us through His word and through the accumulative experiences of Christians throughout history.

So, I'll wait.

Can you hear me now?

So, I'm in my office the other day(at my house, of course) , and I hear the kids down the hall asking Barb where I am. They're looking all around, but fail to check in here for some reason. Nothing too unusual.

But then I got to thinking about it. All they had to do was call my name, and I would have answered them.

How much is that like our God? How often do we run all over looking for Him, trying to find Him or His will, and all the while, He's just waiting for us to call His name? Jesus said that unless we become like little children in our faith, we can't enter the kingdom of heaven (Mark 10:13-16).

I've spent some time considering this, especially now that I have children of my own and I learn so much from them. My kids are completely dependent and trusting of me and my wife. Everything they have and need comes from us. They inherently come to us if and when they need anything--or even, rather especially, if they WANT something. They don't even stop to consider whether they should be asking for these things or not. They simply come and ask, trusting we will answer. We are their providers; they know to whom to come for everything.

What's more, they never question our love. Even when they've been disciplined for something, they recognize they're still completely and wholly loved. We love them, and there's nothing they can do to change that. We work hard at being sure they know that we love them beyond any shadow of a doubt.

When it comes to our faith, I'm wrestling with how we apply Christ's words. For one I think it must mean what I said above. When we need Him, when we're looking for Him--He's waiting to be found. We simply need to call out His name--He will answer.

It also means His love for us is infinite and all encompassing. Psalm 139 says there's no place we can go to escape it.

But it also must mean that we accept what comes our way as a child accepts what a parent sends its way. We must embrace God's law, His will, His ways without question. Not that we don't struggle mightily to make sense of it all, or even act like we have it, any of it, figured out at all. Never-the-less, we recognize that we're the created ones, and He's the Creator.

I heard a pastor recently preaching about the story of Job. What he said at the end caught my attention. (Forgive me ahead of time for having to leave so much out.) He said that Job suffered precisely because He did the right thing. His pain was the result of his being a righteous and good person. Had he not been faithful, he wouldn't have suffered.

And so the preacher concluded this: Job suffered because He was good. But Job was blessed because God is good.

Simply because we're good, or faithful, or honest, or righteous--or whatever adjective you want to use to describe it--doesn't mean we'll never experience pain, personal loss, confusion, sickness, mental illness, or any myriad of calamities. In fact, if Job's story teaches anything it's that we're more likely than not to experience them simply because we are good and faithful.

Yet, whenever we do experience something good, or blessed, or lovely, we, like children, must recognize it as coming from the hand of a good God. Blessing and God's goodness are inextricably bound together.

In starting out in this new endeavor, I've had a lot of questions. There's so much uncertainty with planting a new church from scratch. But this is the place I want to be--right in the place where my very life and future depend on the blessing and direction that comes from the hand of God.

I hope that I'm learning more and more each day to call on God's name, to depend on Him for everything, and to accept what He sends my way--in essence, to become like a child in my faith and trust in Him.

I hope you are too.