February newsletter

A devotional, an invitation, a contest and an update - here are highlights of my recent newsletter:

Home again?

        If you’ve ever returned to your home town after a being away for a few years, you'll discover that there's truth in the old adage "You can’t go home again". It's not just that someone built a Walgreens where your favorite old health-code violating dive of a burger joint once stood. Your life experiences while away from home have changed you, too. 
        Jesus understood this. After forty days of privation and testing in the in the sun-baked desert after his joyous initiation into ministry, Jesus made a surprising turn northward into new territory. He could have easily headed back to Nazareth to rest, relax and dine on some of his mom’s home cooking. But He knew he couldn’t go home again.
        His home was the opposite direction.

         Jesus’ decision to head away from the comfort of his childhood home after time in the desert was a curious one. Returning to Nazareth would have given him a place to rest and relax in the bosom of his family. But it also would mean that his homies would expect him to pick up his hammer and awl and return to the carpenter’s work he’d done throughout his life.

         His decision to head northward into a region in which he may not have known a single person might appear to be a kind of flight, an exile from his early life. It was anything but exile, however. It had all the earmarks of pilgrimmage - a purposeful quest toward a sacred destination.
          In fact, when he returned to his hometown synagoge in Nazareth for a visit some months later, he was met with great hostility from his former neighbors and friends: "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?" they asked. "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" And they took offense at him.
        But Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor." And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. – Matthew 13:53-58

        A good friend of mine moved back to her southern hometown after living for half a decade above the Mason-Dixon line. She cherished living near family and life-long friends once more, but confessed that she never quite felt like she was "home" ever again. It was a bittersweet revelation when she realized she'd grown emotionally and spiritually beyond the snug space she'd vacated when she left town.
        "Even though I'm home, I'm homesick," she said. She realized her condition was in fact a gift, a spiritual GPS designed to keep her a pilgrim, moving forward, step by step, as she strives to follow Jesus all the way home.

Have you ever had the experience of returning to to a former home town after living somewhere else for a time? 

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The sound of your Shepherd's voice: A (mostly) silent retreat

   If you're a woman living in the Chicago-Milwaukee area, please carve out a slice of your prime time to join worship leader Meg Kausalik and I for a guided silent retreat. A silent retreat is a rich time to rest, reflect, meditate deeply on God's Word, worship, and follow the example of Christ communing alone with his Father.

   During our retreat, I'll serve as facilitator, introducing a topic for you to consider and offer some passages of Scripture for you to use (if you choose) for meditation and prayer. After each short session, you can return to your room or find another place of solitude on the grounds of the retreat center for a period of silent reflection. The retreat will begin and end with musical worship and prayer.

When: 5:00 PM Friday evening, April 8 - 5:00 PM Saturday, April 9

Where: The Siena Center, Racine, WI. Each retreat participant will be housed in a simple single room that includes a twin bed, rocking chair and desk. Shared bathrooms/showers are located just steps away from the rooms. Siena Center provides bedding and towels.

Cost: $75 includes your room, three meals and snacks.

To reserve your spot: Send an e-mail to mishvlATyahooDOTcom to let me know if you'd like registration information, have questions or if you'd like to receive a .pdf of an informational flyer you can pass on to others who might be interested in joining us.

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A lil' contest + more

   Do you know someone who could use some encouragement? Two winners will receive a copy of the gift book at right. Entitled Take My Heart, Oh God: Riches From The Greatest Christian Women Writers Of All Times, this lovely book is a years' worth of inspiring, Bible-based devotional thoughts. I was on the team of writers the publisher used for the project. (No, I'm not one of the Greatest Christian Women Writers Of All Times, but it was a privilege to work with their words!)

I will draw two names at random from all e-mail entries received by 3/7. Send your e-mail to mishvlATyahooDOTcom .

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• My current writing projects include some additional work on a ghostwriting project for an inspirational celebrity, and reporting on local church events for www.christtogether.com. I'm also putting the finishing touches of a book proposal for a project of my own. (Stay tuned!)

• I'm still healing from December shoulder surgery. A number of people warned me that shoulder surgery is NO FUN. They were right! I'm working hard on my rehab in order to be ready for a May trip to Israel with my husband, Lord willing. Bill will be involved in his board duties for the Caspari Center, and I am looking forward to serving in the ministry's offices. The entire Middle East is undergoing intense transition right now, and if the Lord allows us to make the journey, we want to be a blessing to every person with whom we interact, and worship the Lord as we go. Pray for us as the Lord brings us to mind.

Saturday afternoon time travel

A fun but surreal moment:

I took my seven-year old grandson to Mickey D's yesterday. It's kind of a tradition for us. Cold, damp late February days mean that the indoor playground is the hottest ticket in town. There wasn't an empty table in the joint. Gabriel and I stood in the center of the room for a moment, he chomping at the bit to hit the slide, me hoping that someone was about to vacate a seat.

"Hey, you can sit here if you want." The man moved the empty wrappers and cups of pop over to one side and nodded at the vacant spots he created. "I know what it's like to try to find a seat in here at this time of day."

"Thanks so much," I said. Gabriel snarfed a few Chicken McPellets, and then ran to join the thundering herd of running, jumping, climbing kids. The man who'd offered us a seat asked what grade Gabriel was in, and we chatted a bit about the weather. 

One of his kids ran up and breathlessly complained about the rude behavior of another kid in the video game area. "Just ignore him, son. Find something else to do for a while."

The man asked me what school my son went to, and I said, "Oh, he's my grandson."

"What?" He did a double-take. "You're a grandmother?"

I nodded.

"How old are you?" The question tumbled out of his mouth before he had a chance to think, and he turned red as he realized that he'd just asked a perfect stranger her age. "Oh...I'm sorry...that was rude..."

"No problem," I grinned. "I'm fifty-one."

His red face blanched white. "You're fifty-one?"

"Yep. I'm kind of a young grandma, but it just means that I have the energy to do stuff like this. I actually have two grandsons..."

He paused for a second, trying to make sense of this data before he said, "Your grandson over there is the same age as my son," he said.

"That's cool," I said.

"Yeah. But I'm fifty-three," he said. "You're fifty-one? And you're a grandmother?"

There was an awkward pause as the fact registered that though we are contemporaries, our children are a generation removed from one another. My grandson is the same age as his second-grade son. 

Time folded on itself for a moment as the surreal nature of these out-of-sync life cycles intersected for just a moment.

Have you ever had an experience like this?

You know it's gonna be a bad sermon when...

I've written about my sermon fatigue before. Honestly, I'd rather just have the preacher hand out copies of the text of his or her message and let me just read (or skim) them. I'm a terrible auditory learner, and retain only a small portion of what I hear - just like most of the rest of you. 

I attend church primarily to connect and worship with others, and usually do my best to hang in there and focus through the sermons. I appreciate the fact that we're currently hearing someone actually preach most Sundays (instead of lecture, hector, opine or showboat). It makes the passivity of sitting and listening in a large group a little less passive for me when the person with the mic is pointing us all toward Jesus instead of a to-do list, a vat of shame or a giant stack of information. Lots of people far smarter than I have blogged or authored books about the inefficiency and ineffectiveness of most sermons, so I won't go there now. 
 

Hearing some good, challenging sermons in recent weeks has reminded me of how fast a sermon can head south. (Sometimes the good can highlight just how bad bad can get.) With that in mind, here's a list of a few neon verbal cues that tell me there's gonna be a bad sermon ahead:

(1) The words, "I am really nervous." This means I am now going to be focused on the speaker's "performance".

(2) After ten or fifteen minutes rambling about whatever pops into her head, she cracks open her Bible and says something like, "Let's pray and start the message." Hello - I thought the rambling was your message, not your own personal warm-up act. 

(3) The words "My hot wife". It is usually a PG-13 reference to something intimate, and is designed to model to his congregation that he's got a great sex life and a bonus - no hidden porn addiction. Wayyy. Too. much. information.

(4) A stack of word studies. "The Koine Greek word for chewing gum is..." A little of this goes a long way. It's good to make connections and tell the story of the why behind the word when it is necessary. It is not good to do too much of this because then your congregation thinks that the only way they can read their Bibles is to enroll in seminary.

(5) A corny story or joke they got from an e-mail forward or a sermon website. Always excruciating, but fatal when the speaker has absolutely no sense of comic timing or delivery. 

(6) The word "Girlfriend" from a female speaker, as if she is my friend. She most likely is not. My actual girlfriends don't call me "Girlfriend".

(7) "The Lord spoke to me while I was driving to church this morning, and I'm going to throw out my prepared message." I should put an asterisk next to this one. Because sometimes this sermon strategy is awesome. The Holy Spirit is moving the congregation in a fresh direction. Aaaannnd a lot of times these words mean that the "sermon" is a train wreck. It might be better to brood over that word for a few days instead of speaking on the fly.

(8) The words "Let us" - as in "Let us engage with the text". Real people do not talk like this.

What would you add to this list?

For God's eyes only

I've spent much of the last 2-1/2 months sequestered in the house due to illness and recovery from my recent shoulder surgery. I'm now feeling well enough to do something besides drive myself to physical therapy, so yesterday I treated myself to a quick trip north to St. Francis, WI. My long-time prayer partner and dear friend Meg was slated to sing to the residents of the St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care. I simply wanted to tuck myself into a corner in the back of the room and listen for a while.

Meg is an gifted songwriter and acoustic guitarist with a voice as sweet and pure as a lark's. One nurse at St. Ann's remarked, "Listening to her sing is like going on a retreat." Meg is talented enough to be leading worship or performing for big crowds. She's done some of that in the past, but her present ministry is primarily at facilities like St. Ann's or at the bedsides of dying people.  Her favorite "stage" of all is sitting alone in a room with a guitar and an open Bible, singing to her Savior.

She sang a mix of her own music and classics like "I'll Fly Away" and "Little Brown Church in the Vale" to an enthusiastic mix of developmentally disabled and elderly patients. While she was singing, the Lord gently reminded me of something I used to do when I was a child. At 7 or 8, I loved doing one kind thing each day in secret for someone else as an offering to God. Before my childlike faith shriveled, those small acts - picking up litter in someone's yard, helping a lost dog find its way home - were the moments when I sensed God's nearness. I wasn't doing those things to earn his favor or to perform for others. I simply enjoyed the sweetness of relationship with my Creator. 

I think Meg's ministry was used by God to excavate those memories because she was doing the same sort of thing. Her nursing home ministry is miles away from a stage and a mic, but the humility with which she gives away the best she has is near to the heart of God:

“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." - Matthew 6:2-4

This passage usually paints images of material/financial giving for me, but yesterday's activity room concert reminded me that there are lots of ways to give away my best on the D.L. For God's eyes only.

What can you give to someone in need as your secret offering to the Lord? (Please don't reply here, because then it wouldn't be secret anymore!)  

Spiritual "branding"?

What do these Christians have in common?

• A certain super-sized home schooling brood of the ATI variety who are the subject of a TV show on basic cable regularly emphasizes that family is the central calling for life.
• A certain mega-church pastor writes and speaks extensively on leadership. He is convinced that strong, courageous leadership is the single greatest need facing not only the church, but society. 
• A certain nationally-known apologetics expert has a ministry dedicated to "equipping the saints to give an answer for the hope that lies within them". He believes that people are spiritually perishing because they lack the winning combination of information and good debate skills.

There are some valid branding/platform reasons why these people are associated with their "thing". If you can establish yourself as the expert in a particular area, then you chisel out a niche for yourself in the overstuffed marketplace and become the go-to guy or gal on the subject of big families, leadership, apologetics or countless other "things".

I understand this from a professional perspective. I'm a writer, and I know that establishing my brand identity is a necessary part of communicating what I can and can't do to my potential audience. (I'm obviously well on my way to that goal since no one has asked me to write a book on accounting or brain surgery lately.)

I also understand this from a spiritual perspective.  Each one of us has a specialized ministry to both the body of Christ and the world He loves. Each of us has unique message and identity; each one of us has a sphere of influence.

There are a number of obvious personal temptations built into this system (pride, false humility, and shameless self-promotion to advance yourself come to mind). And there are temptations for our relationships as well, as we claim tribal membership to distinguish ourselves: "One of you says, 'I follow Paul'; another, 'I follow Apollos'; another, 'I follow Cephas'; still another, 'I follow Christ.'" (1 Cor. 1:12) To put it in popular vernacular, "One of you says, 'I follow Bill Gothard'; another 'I follow Rick Warren'; another, 'I follow Brian McClaren or Nancy Leigh DeMoss or Mark Driscoll'; still another, 'I follow Christ'." It's interesting to note that Paul is an equal-opportunity chastiser to each person who claimed a tribal identity. The subtle deception here is that even the people who insist they are following only Christ and use this as their "brand identity" can manage to create sinful, unnecessary division, according to Paul. 

When we in the church subdivide ourselves in order to cluster under the umbrella of a particular spiritual movement, denomination, personality or idea, we are making an aspirational statement about who we want to be. Paul's ironic antidote to this thinking? He tells us not to let our aspirations define our identity in the body of Christ, but instead remember who we were (not who we wish we were) when our Savior invited us to follow him. He closes his loving rebuke with the words that are meant to call us out of our tribes and into our identity as members of the body of Christ:

...You are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” - 1 Cor. 1:30-31

Learn from those with areas of expertise and wisdom. Learn from those with whom you agree, and learn from those you don't. Trust the Holy Spirit to filter out the garbage that both kinds of teachers will present to you. Let's all of us spur one another on to boast in the Lord: How have you encountered him this week? What have you learned from him? How has he been at work in your life or the lives of those in your sphere of influence? 

As we boast in him, we just might find that this sort of branding looks suspiciously similar to worship.

Review: The Sacred Journey

Charles Foster tells us one of his purposes in penning The Sacred Journey, part of the Ancient Practices series  (Thomas Nelson, 2010), is to offer readers a theology of pilgrimage. He does so with verve and a delightfully unpredictable take on a topic begging for a thoughtful, modern exploration from a low church/evangelical perspective. But he does much more than that in this 230-page addition to the series. Foster invites challenges, provokes, prods, woos, refutes, affirms and, in each one of the book's fourteen chapters, reminds us who we were created to be: pilgrims.

Foster noted that the idea of pilgrimage is embedded in many religious cultures: "Without indicating the source, I wrote down several dozen quotations on the subject of pilgrimage culled from most of the main religions. I asked the theologically sophisticated Christian audience to identify the 'Christian' ones. They couldn't. They were hopeless. When I told them which was which, they were amused and horrified." 

However, Foster differentiates Christian pilgrimage as something that helps us disengage from the toxic tendencies found in some of our modern expressions of faith: "Physical pilgrimage involves bodies, blisters, hunger, and diarrhea. And it's a kingdom activity. It is accordingly one of the best prophylactics against, and cures for, one of the the deadliest and most prevalent diseases crippling the church: gnosticism. It is also effective against bigotry, self-righteousness and angst." Foster addresses topics including God's "bias" on behalf of wanderers and edge-dwellers, offers some compelling reasons about why (and where) we should go, how to travel, the community found on the road, the journey home, and a look at the Debbie Downer settlers who oppose the idea of pilgrimage. Anecdotes from his own journeys, stories and quotes from pilgrims through time, and a solid, thoughtful approach to the material are designed to rattle you - and move you.

This is not a guidebook or a how-to manual. There are no packing lists, pilgrimage destination ideas or insider tips. This book is about why pilgrimage matters. By the time you finish reading The Sacred Journey, you will likely realize that it matters far more than you ever realized. Recommended. 

It's not a small world after all

I almost always experience an awkward moment or two when a roomful of people is asked to break into small groups. Do I follow the person sitting next to me into a group? Do I intentionally drag my chair across the room to join a too-small circle?

Last night I attended a prayer meeting where we were asked to do the self-selection dance. I didn't know many people there, so I headed toward the nearest, largest group. I didn't have time to look around at the others in the group before we began praying. I closed my eyes and listened intently to the voices of the others around me so I could join my soul's yes to their words of intercession.

As I did, I heard the soft, lyrical lilt of an African accent. Then the British-tinged English of an Indian couple. The carefully-selected syllables of an Asian gentleman. The different colors of American English spoken by people who'd grown up in places other than Chicago.

Ribboned throughout the book of Revelation, there are mentions of multitudes from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before God. All see him for who he really is; all bow the knee; and a song of gratitude rises from those he is redeeming. When I pray with a group like the one I prayed with last night, it brings the unspeakable beauty of God into time and space. 

No, I'm not being idealistic here. I think we experience the Eternal with us any time we pray with another person, even if it is someone as familiar as a spouse or old friend. We are all different enough that those who are most like us are still worlds apart from us. The act of corporate prayer is an immigrant act that moves us beyond our own little fiefdoms and self-boundaries in order to breathe the air of a kingdom without borders. The pain of Babel and the promise of Pentecost are our passport. Jesus Christ is himself the visa into his Kingdom. When we pray, we are, for an eternal moment, home at last together.

But I always experience this reality most deeply when I am in an international prayer group like the one I was in last night. The people in my group last night would never find ourselves in a room in a clumsy circle crossing our own personal borders if left to our own devices. Never! But because of God, we were, for an eternal moment, home together.

How about you? When have you most acutely sensed the eternal breaking into time and space?

Review: One.Life

"Every time the single-moment act of accepting Christ becomes the goal instead of the portal, we get superficial Christians. And every time personal practices of piety wiggle away from the big picture Jesus sketches before his followers, it becomes legalism."

In his newest book, Dr. Scot McKnight wants to help us move away from these shallow ideas of what it means to follow Jesus. One.life: Jesus calls, we follow (Zondervan, 2010) could easily be called, "Your idea of discipleship is too small. Wayyyy too small."

McKnight is the rare Biblical scholar who is as adept as communicating with popular audiences as he is writing for his ivory tower'd academic peers. His Jesus Creed blog has long been a mainstay of my online spiritual diet - this site's wide-ranging, intelligent and wholly civil discourse about everything from theology to Crocs is a model of what it can look like to have a thoughtful, gracious online conversation. In fact, I won my copy of One.life by participating in a contest on his blog. (Yes, the cranberry-chocolate chip ribbon cookies did it for me once again!)

But I would have probably purchased this book. It is that good - and is desperately needed. The premise sounds simple, but the ideas in One.life are anything but simple. McKnight explores what it means to follow Jesus - and shows us that the call to discipleship will require a "yes" from every area of our lives - heart, soul, mind and strength. There are 14 chapters in this 200-page book covering themes including committment, justice, church, sex, vocation, eternity and more. Instead of creating a rah-rah, you-can-do-it, go-team call to discipleship, McKnight instead builds his case the way that Jesus did - by inviting people to experience his kingdom, insisting that the usual definitions of kingdom used in most corners of evangelicalism these days are selfish, small copies of the real thing. He notes, "This word kingdom is being used so often today it's getting muddled and fuzzy. It has been internalized by some into an inner experience, it has been socialized by others into a program for ending poverty and creating better laws and saving the planet, and it has been downsized by yet others into little more than a personal spirituality."

The truth is that few of us want to give our lives to something smaller than us - and these ways of presenting the kingdom have attempted to shrink it into something we can carry and manage. Each chapter in One.life attempts to unhook our popular notions about how the kingdom works in order to show us that the kingdom is so much bigger than any of these wee components. McKnight closes each of the first few chapters of the book by developing a working definition for the kingdom invitation that is firmly rooted in the words and works of Jesus. Between each chapter is a one-page "interlude" section designed to do kingdom work by busting the invitation out of the pages and into our heart, soul, mind and strength. 

Though this book would be an ideal gift for someone in their twenties or thirties, I believe readers of all ages will benefit from possibly having a few of their own sacred ideas challenged about what kingdom life is. This would be a great book for a study group to tackle as well. Recommended.

Of Sarah and shoddy semantics

I rarely post anything of a political nature, but I couldn't let this pass without exercising my First Amendment rights:

In the wake of Jared Loughner's evil attack on Arizona Congresswoman Giffords and the crowd who'd gathered for a Saturday morning meet `n greet at a grocery store, Sarah Palin and her media team produced a statement designed to redirect attention onto the event and away from the charges that overheated conservative hyperbole somehow contributed to the tragedy. Unfortunately, ex-govenor Palin chose to use one of the most loaded pieces of hyperbole in the English language in order to try to ensure that her audience would remember that she, too, is a victim - of the media:

"But, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible."

For those who aren't quite sure what "blood libel" means, click here to learn more about it. This heinous phrase has been used to justify two millenia of anti-Semitism, though it has dropped out of common usage (except in White Supremacist circles) until Ms. Palin's usage of it brought it back into the limelight. What made her usage particularly offensive is the fact that Rep. Giffords has been a member of a Reformed synagogue since 2001. I have a hard time believing that no one on Palin's communications team realized that her usage of this loaded phrase wouldn't be...well, so reprehensible.

Since my audience is mostly Christians, let me apply this to our context. Palin, who has been quite vocal about her faith in Christ, communicated afresh to Jewish people that Christians aren't necessarily safe or sensitive people.

I know this isn't true. Some people who wear the banner "Christian" aren't safe or sensitive, and it doesn't take a dunderheaded remark by a spotlight-lovin' politician to demonstrate this. However, many others who love Jesus live their love for him and others in countless, selfless kingdom ways. I am praying that those who live in this narrow way lives rub up against those who've been reminded this week that a lot of hurt has been heaped on Jewish people by spiritual pretenders and believers who've flat-out ignored their calling and ministry.

When a church baseball team is named "The Crusaders", when a pastor calls the temple or a synagogue "a church" in a sermon, when someone tries to buddy up to a Jewish visitor using a line like "My accountant/doctor/neighbor/fill-in-the-blank is Jewish", the words sprinkle salt into old, old wounds. Let Ms. Palin's icky word choice give all of us an opportunity to think about how to choose gracious words that honor our Jewish Savior and Lord and demonstrate love to his beloved children.

Review | The Gospel of John: When Loves Comes To Town

When I worked at Trinity International University's bookstore, we stocked shelves and shelves of Bible commentaries. At the beginning of each new semester, a few gung-ho young seminarians would come in to the store and browse the commentaries in order to debate the the academic and theological street cred of various authors. Most seminarians couldn't afford to buy many commentaries, but they sure did like to window shop! I browsed my fair share of commentaries as well, and borrowed armloads of them when I was working on my own books about the parables of Christ. As a result, I developed a few opinions about commentaries:

• I enjoyed the work of commentators who could give me accessible historical, cultural or linguistic background. Key word here: accessible.
• I valued the authors who tried to let the text speak for itself, instead of insisting it serve their own theological or political agenda.
• I was challenged by the work of commentators who wrote with a pastor's heart - those willing to apply the text to their own lives as well as the lives of their readers.
• I appreciated the writing of commentators who could contextualize their words for their particular culture and time while simultaneously affirming the timelessness of God's story. 
• I gave bonus points to commentators who could actually write, versus spewing breadcrumb-dry academic-speak.

If Paul Louis Metzger's The Gospel Of John: When Love Comes To Town (InterVarsity Press, 2010) had been available during the years I worked at the bookstore, I would have interrupted a few of those students browsing the commentary aisle in order to direct their attention to this readable volume, the first of the new "Resonate" series which will be edited by Metzger. When Love Comes To Town is exactly the kind of volume I can sink my teeth into. 

Metzger, a professor of theology at Multnomah Biblical Seminary, explains the "why" behind this series:

     Our aim with this distinctive new genre or approach is to have one finger in the ancient Scriptures, another in the daily newspaper, and another finger touching the heart, all while pointing to Jesus Christ...Each contributor to Resonate seeks to bear witness to Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, through the written Word in and through their own life story and the broader cultural context. So often we go around Scripture to Jesus or stop short at Scripture, not penetrating it to get to Jesus' heart - which is the Father's heart too.

When Love Comes To Town is divided into six main sections following the chronology of the Gospel. Each of those sections is subdivided into smaller slices that allow Metzger to invite readers to taste the wonders of each recorded moment of Jesus' ministry. For instance, here's what he had to say about the way Jesus chose to heal the blind man in John 9:

     ...the very means Jesus uses to heal the man of his blindness should tell you that his life is about to get messier...Jesus spits on the ground to make mud, places the mud on the blind man's eyes and has his go to a pool to wash (John 9:6-7). Couldn't Jesus have chosen some other means? Knowing Jesus, however, he wouldn't chose some other means. Why would he, given how he and his Father tend to operate? Just think for a minute. Jesus' whole life is a bit messy, from beginning to end - from being a baby thought by many to be born out of wedlock on a not-so-silent night, to being a supposed messianic pretender dying a criminal's death on an old rugged cross.
     Life was so much easier for the man born blind before meeting Jesus. He depended on his parents from birth, and on the Jewish welfare system too. He didn't have to do much, just as he didn't have much to do. But now his life changes drastically, suddenly. It gets messy.

This commentary drew me into the dust and heat of conflict while at the same time inviting me to follow Jesus away from the poppy field lure of a comfort-seeking life. Metzger blends voices and references from contemporary culture (Will Ferrell!) with the words of scholars like D.A. Carson and Craig Keener, all with a single goal - to help each one of us move off the La-Z-Boy and into the way of Jesus. Highly recommended.

* I received a comp copy of this volume from the publisher.

Ted dreamed a dream...

Three days ago, Ted Williams was a homeless guy panhandling along a freeway. Now he's the latest media sensation in a you tube genre first clicked into life by viral viewings of the never-been-kissed middle-aged Susan Boyle. When Ted opened his mouth and a velvety FM baritone came out, the world stopped for a moment to listen - and then forwarded Ted's feel-good story on to their friends.

Everyone loves a happy ending, and as the offers and media appearances are now piling on for Ted as they did for Susan, I pray he gets his. The demands of life in the spotlight can shatter an emotionally-fragile person. Boyle has had mental health issues in the wake of her meteoric rise to fame. Ted is now in the spotlight on the back end of years of addiction and a decade of homelessness. Happy endings at mid-life don't come without reckoning with the large assortment of second-hand Samsonite baggage these folks (and most of the rest of us) carry.

I am grateful that occasionally our gaze turns from the manufactured beauty of most celebrities to embrace talent in battered packaging. Ted and Susan serve as pieced-together icons of hope for the rest of us - all of the un-pretty, battle-scarred rest of us. Buried just beneath Ted or Susan's mangy, pre-celebrity exteriors was the shock and awe of their stunning, incongruous talent.

But maybe the best use of the little jolt of hope we get from these Star Is Born you tube stories is to remind us tune our ears to those around us for a moment so we can hear the beautiful music coming from a neglected, broken, un-pretty neighbor, coworker or friend.

Update from Pillow Mountain

Hello, 2011! Though recovery from shoulder surgery is no fun, I am happy to be typing with two hands today thanks to my new friend Mr. Vicodin and a big pillow propping my right forearm. Many people have been praying for me, and that prayer support has translated into a different kind of big pillow during the last few days.

Here's a brief photo update:

Years ago, I had a friend who worked at a trophy factory. She made me this bowling trophy look-a-like plaque that reads: "The Eternal God is your refuge and underneath are the Everlasting Arms - Deut. 33:27". I shot a picture of it on top of the icing machine I am using several times a day. I have sensed God's strong arms carrying me through some long, hard days, thanks to the prayers of many. I know I can trust him as I continue to move through the weeks of recovery still ahead.

I call this Pillow Mountain. Because I need to sleep and rest in a mostly-upright position, this is where I've been hanging out. The cat staked out her turf on the hillside as soon as I stood up.

The doctor gave me three pages of pictures from the surgery so he could show me what they did. It turns out that I did not have a rotator cuff tear after all. When I asked why I'd been in so much pain all these months, the Physician's Assistant said, "Just because there was no tear doesn't mean you weren't in a lot of pain." The pictures showed some serious arthritis, geode-like bone spurs and a lot of inflammation. (The biceps shot above is a good example. The tissue is not supposed to be bright red, but white.) They assured me that surgery was absolutely the right decision in this case. 

The day before the surgery, I just so happened to read Hebrews 4:12-13 ("For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.") Even though I have watched a record amount of TV, I have simultaneously found myself returning to these sobering words over the last few days. Just as the surgeon's arthroscopic tools were used to clean, scrape and re-engineer my unhealthy shoulder joint, so is God's living scalpel meant to expose and heal me so I can love him with my heart, soul, mind and strength. 

Blessings!

Away, but no vacation

This is not my torn rotator cuff

I'll be on a bit of a blogging hiatus as I'm scheduled for rotator cuff surgery tomorrow morning. Blessings to you as you celebrate the rest of this Christmas/New Year's season.

I'd appreciate your prayers for rapid rehab and healing. See you soon.

Christmas blessing

First century manger

 

 

 

"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.  (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them." (Luke 2:1-7)

If you were planning a rescue mission to save the world from itself, would you launch your army of One from a womb and a feeding trough?  

And yet, that is the Father's strategy. "For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." (1 Cor. 1:25) His "weak, foolish" strategy - an infant born far from the Galilean homes of his human parents. One Child. Savior of the world.

May the all gifts that come with surrender to Him be yours this Christmas. Shalom.

 

If it's good enough for Oprah...

        An energetic blogger I follow put together a list of favorite things, a la The First Lady Of All Media, Oprah. Both women's lists got me thinking about what I might include in my imaginary Michelle's Swag Bag, 2010 version.

Leonard Sweet's book will change the way you think about symbols and stories - your life and God's message. Every sentence is a revelation.

Purple Birkenstocks! How fun is this?

Though I don't read much fiction, this book stayed with me for days after I read it. Bravo, Kathryn Stockett!

Mary Kay Berry Tinted Lip Balm. It's the one on the right. Perfect color, and if you click the Mary Kay link, my awesome daughter-in-law will hook you up.

Wissotsky Magic Tea Chest. Pretty presentation of really nice bag teas. The number one tea brand in Israel for good reason. My favorite is the Nana Lemon.

Well, everyone wants one, so even though I don't have one, I should throw an iPad into your Swag Bag. Here you go.

 

 

 

 

The most delicious coffee ever. Trader Joe's sells it, and whenever I shop there, I always toss several cans in my cart. The pine nuts roasted with the beans give this java a warm flavor that balances the acid bitterness of the coffee.

 

 

 

 

 

Jerusalem! Visiting there really, truly will change the way you read your Bible and your news. 

A warm purple pashmina, to go with your purple Birkenstocks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm putting some chickens in your bag, in honor of the chickens we raised in our Waukesha, WI garage. These chickens, however, are for you to re-gift to a needy family in another part of the world. Your re-gift will help that family become a little more self-sufficient. 

 

 

What are some of your favorite things this year?

God's man for the job?

Tony* was building a career he really enjoyed when a leadership crisis at his church erupted. His steady, calm, servant-hearted personality and peacemaking gifts played a huge role in helping to settle the chaos. The elders at the mid-sized congregation invited him to join the church staff. "You'll be able to use your skill set for kingdom purposes," they told Tony. "We believe you're God's man for the job." 

What a vote of confidence! The request was both surprising and flattering to Tony. He'd never considered a religious vocation for himself, but Tony assessed the way he was spending his time, and realized that he was involved in church matters another 30-40 hours a week on top of his day job. After a long hard look at the finances (the position would mean a small pay cut) and a lot of agonized prayer, Tony said yes. 

Tony loved his new job at the church at first, but the effects of the leadership crisis that had occurred a year earlier meant that there were a lot of other responsibilities that slowly began to be spooned onto Tony's already-full plate. He was a team player and loved the church, so he pitched in and did what he could to help out. What were a few more meetings if it meant helping the church find stability and encourage congregation members to grow spiritually? 

Tony found himself doing less and less work in the ministry area for which he'd been hired, and more and more church administration and preaching. When the embattled senior pastor resigned, the elder board came to Tony and said, "We believe you're God's man for the job." When he told them he wasn't sure he was qualified or gifted for the position, they told him to stop being so modest. "God equips those he calls, and we believe he is calling you." 

Tony was right. The new job required gifts that God had not given him. His young family was depending on his paycheck, so after begging God to help him serve well, Tony quietly set about trying to learn the skills he knew he was lacking. He couldn't duplicate spiritual gifting, but he decided he could apply himself to become a master craftsman, studying other pastors' sermons and attending leadership conferences. Maybe that would be enough to carry the church through this unsettling season. 

Tony also knew that doing a job he wasn't gifted, skilled or qualified for was usually a recipe for burnout. He banked on the "usually" and kept marching forward like the good soldier he was. He found the role alternately flattering ("They need me!") and draining ("I can't possibly do this job!"), but the press of responsibilities didn't allow him much time for reflection. When he did get away for personal retreat time or vacation, he mostly fantasized about running as far away from the church as he could get. He knew that wasn't a good sign, but as soon as he got back in the office, he shoved down his doubts, put his nose to the grindstone and kept doing his job. You could almost smell the smoke as he burned out.

Tony stayed in the position for several years. He had a slow transition from being a problem-solver to being a problem. He had become someone he didn't recognize in his oversized lead pastor role: harsh, unforgiving, cold.

But the church's leadership team, still smarting from the mess of a few years earlier, had no stomach for doing the hard thing and relieving Tony of his position. Instead, they all kept insisting that he was God's man for the job, and they were very aggressive in their policing of their belief in the congregation, particularly among some of the congregants who'd begun to voice complaints about Tony's harsh style. His leadership team buttressed their support of Tony using a variation of the old favorite "Touch not God's anointed". If someone complained, the person was labeled a problem. It was a short-cut way to maintain unity, but the strategy backfired in slow motion over several years.

The church's numbers eroded during Tony's tenure, and the church went through one band-aid program after another trying to pull Tony and themselves through. Finally, the recent economic crisis meant that Tony was going to have to take a significant salary cut. After nearly a decade, he resigned. After all, he has a family to feed. And the truth is, Tony isn't even sure who he is or what he believes anymore. He is trying to figure it out - and my prayers are with him as he does. 

*******

If you've been involved in church life, you may know a similar story: a pastor who shouldn't be pastoring, a ministry head who is a little intoxicated with her own power, a leader who brings his own agenda into the role, another who manipulated and politicked her way into her position. Last night, at dinner with some friends, we were talking about a dynamic similar to Tony's story above. One person at the table said, "God puts leaders in their positions." 

I chafed a bit. This is often the handle of the "Touch not God's anointed" club used to silence question-askers in dysfunctional churches. It's true, I suppose, that if God really wanted these toxic characters out of the way, he'd get them out of the way. And a quick skim through Scripture shows that God is indeed willing to leave all sorts of really evil leaders in place, even though the only thing they do well is lead people into sin and rebellion. I agree that there is a larger purpose at work as a redemptive story is written across history.

But I can't lie. I struggle with this issue. I see the short-sighted, political decision-making of a congregational leadership team (and then years of terrible attempts to buttress their decisions) and I can't see the connection. 

How exactly was God responsible for putting (and keeping) a guy like Tony in his position?

And how should I respond (in addition to prayer) to leaders who perhaps got dragged or manipulated their way into their role? Am I to "touch not God's anointed"? 

Your thoughts?



*not his real name