Potatoes!

An old man lived alone in the country. He wanted to dig his potato garden but it was very hard work as the ground was hard. His only son Fred, who used to help him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and described his predicament.

Dear Fred,
I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my potato garden this year. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be over I know you would dig the plot for me.
Love,
Dad

A few days later he received a letter from his son.

Dear Dad,
For heaven's sake, don't dig up that garden! That's where I buried the BODIES!
Love,
Fred

At 4am the next morning, FBI agents and local police arrived and dug up the entire area without finding any bodies. They apologized to the old man and left. That same day the old man received another letter from his son.

Dear Dad,
Go ahead and plant the potatoes now. That's the best I could do under the circumstances.
Love,
Fred

(From http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~zeigleem/potatoes.htm)

Viking Wisdom

The Havamal is an ancient Nordic book of wisdom often used by pagans. But, as you and I know, truth is truth. Here are three passages:

If you find a friend you fully trust
And wish for his good-will,
exchange thoughts, exchange gifts,
Go often to his house.

To a false friend the footpath winds
Though his house be on the highway.
To a sure friend there is a short cut,
Though he live a long way off.

If you know a friend you can fully trust,
Go often to his house
Grass and brambles grow quickly
Upon the untrodden track.

From http://qdb.us/118151:

I rear-ended a car this morning. So there we are alongside the road and slowly the driver gets out of the car . . . and you know how you just get sooo stressed and life seems to get funny? Well, I could NOT believe it . . .he was a DWARF! He storms over to my car, looks up at me and says, "I AM NOT HAPPY!"

So, I look down at him and say, "Well, which one are you then?"... and THAT'S when the fight started . ..

All Hail!

After a victory over the enemy, when a Roman general was enjoying the triumphal parade around the city, a slave was assigned to crouch in the warrior’s chariot. As the victor basked in the cheering of the adoring crowds, the slave would whisper: “Remember thou art mortal.”

It is easy for us to see our time as the most important era. We, naturally, see things from our perspective. But time is a river that flows. Our time on earth is important, but it is only one frame in a much bigger film.

We cannot change the past, but by faithfulness we can shape the present and the future. We cannot change the world, but we can change our little piece of it. We will not live here forever, but we can change the time we have been given.

A Fearful Excerpt

Religion attempts to take something as organic as relationship and force it into regulations and rules. It simply does not work. In A Heretics Guide to Eternity, Spencer Burke and Barry Taylor wrote:

For years, preachers have appealed to people to join the church and experience Christian salvation using this phrase, “It’s about relationship, not religion.” The only problem is that it’s seldom true. In actuality, the relationship promised by religion is usually predicated on commitment to the institution as much as it is to God. You don’t have to be in a church for long to figure out what the expectations are—whether it’s tithing, teaching Sunday school, praying, or going to confession—and what they expect you to believe becomes even more apparent.

They continue,

Rather than facilitating a dialogue between followers and God, the church has a tendency to interpret individuals’ relationships with God for them. Rather than responding to the call of God on their life directly, individuals often find themselves responding to the call of the church. What seems like obedience to the teachings of Christ is often adherence to external and dogmatic belief systems. This “false advertising” of sorts has no doubt also contributed to the interest in new spiritual paths. [i]

Relationships are as unique as the individuals involved. While there are certain foundational principles for genuine relationship – truth, grace, honesty, authenticity, patience, acceptance, etc. – there is no one pattern that will fit everyone. Religion can become a hammer that will drive any shaped peg into a square doctrinal hole.

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[i] Spencer Burke and Barry Taylor, A Heretics Guide to Eternity (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2006), p. 9.

True Freedom

"Man is free for God and his brothers. He becomes aware that there is a God who loves him; that a brother is standing at his side, whom God loves as he loves himself and that there is a future with the triune God, together with His Church. He believes. He loves. He hopes. The past and the future of his whole life are merged in one in the presence of God. The whole of his past is comprised in the word forgiveness. The whole of the future is safe in keeping in the faithfulness of God. Past sin is swallowed up in the abyss of the love of God in Jesus Christ. The future will be without sin, a life which proceeds from God." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The accompanying illustration is a painting by Rick Kelley entitled "Reflections on Freedom."

True or False?

"Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There's a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning."

Bill Gates, Time, January 13, 1997


"In terms of doing things I take a fairly scientific approach to why things happen and how they happen. I don't know if there's a god or not, but I think religious principles are quite valid."
Bill Gates, PBS interview with David Frost (November 1995).

Laughter

Just to make you smile, a few true embarrassing stories from doctors.

• A man comes into the ER and yells, "My wife's going to have her baby in the cab!" I grabbed my stuff, rushed out to the cab, lifted the lady's dress, and began to take off her underwear. Suddenly I noticed that there were several cabs -and I was in the wrong one. Submitted by Dr. Mark MacDonald

• At the beginning of my shift I placed a stethoscope on an elderly and slightly deaf female patient's anterior chest wall. "Big breaths," I instructed. "Yes, they used to be," replied the patient. Submitted by Dr. Richard Byrnes

For more, go to http://www.bubblejive.com/funny-moments-for-doctors!

Their secret discovered, they burned with shame...

Burnout

According to a November 15, 2997 Reuters report, two leading religion journalist have quit in recent months “saying they had acquired such a close look at such scandalous behavior by Christians that they lost their faith and had to leave.” Stephen Bates, formerly of the London Guardian and William Lobdell, formerly of the Los Angeles Times, related that what they witnessed weakened their faith.

Bates covered an Episcopal Church meeting and what he saw was more than he could take. The article relates:

“Writing this story has been too corrosive of what faith I had left: indeed watching the way the gay row has played out in the Anglican Communion has cost me my belief in the essential benignity of too many Christians. For the good of my soul, I need to do something else.” Bates, who says he still regards himself as a Catholic, said he was turned off by the intolerance he saw towards gays and the self-righteousness of Christians who “pick and choose the sins that are acceptable and condemn those – always committed by other, lesser people – that are not.”

Bates continues,

“Now I am moving on. It was time to go. What faith I had, I’ve lost, I am afraid – I’ve seen too much, too close. A young Methodist press officer once asked me earnestly whether I saw it as my job to spread the Good News of Jesus. No, I said, that’s the last thing I am here to do.”

Jesus said:

“By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

The link for this article is:

http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2007/11/15/burnout-on-the-god-beat-second-top-religion-writer-calls-it-quits/

All the Time. Everywhere. Everything.

Jesus lived with his disciples for three and a half years. In addition to teaching the twelve, he ate with them, slept next to them, shopped with them and walked with them from town to town. They were together a lot. His schedule for building disciples was not limited to a one hour morning meeting at the Jerusalem Denny’s. Jesus knew, as we must learn, that discipleship is about the whole person because following Jesus involves the whole person. Discipleship is more than meeting once a week for a time of prayer and accountability. Discipling someone does not mean that our purpose is to help them memorize several verses and develop a regular quiet time. If we confine our understanding to this narrow characterization, then we are missing both the reality and the necessity of walking together.

Perhaps this misunderstanding of discipleship stems from our inaccurate view of spirituality as just one of many dimensions of our lives. We have our social life, our school or career life, our hobbies and our spiritual life. We view ourselves as segmented individuals. The truth, however, is that everything we do is touched by our spiritual lives. Our Heavenly Father cannot be confined to one room in our soul’s house. Everywhere there is truth, the Father is speaking. Everywhere there is brokenness, the Father is there to offer hope and healing. Consequently, when we confine discipleship to merely one piece of our lives, then we are already missing the point. Our intellect, our relationships, our interests, our sexual urges – everything we are is affected and informed by our understanding of the spiritual.

Overcoming Hypocrisy

Since we have identified several of the problems we face as followers of Jesus, I thought it would be a good idea to actually go through them and look for answers. As I mentioned yesterday, one of the perceptions nonbelievers have of us is that we are hypocrites. So, how can we live in such a way as to not be hypocritical? I think I’ve discovered a few answers.

In Matthew 23, Jesus is pronouncing misery upon the religious elite. When Jesus is speaking to the crowds about the Pharisees, he says in verse 3 that they “do not practice what they preach.” He goes further by saying in verse 4 that they “tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” If we just take these two statements, we can gather two life lessons.

The first step for us is to not preach what we do not practice. In other words, it is not enough to “say” we believe something; the real proof is in how we live. How often do we quote the words of Jesus to others without first examining whether we do those things ourselves? If I do not want to be a hypocrite, then I must first let my life do my preaching.

The second step is in Jesus condemnation of the burdens that the Pharisees place on the shoulders of others. Love desires what is best for those it loves. If I love someone, I want what is best for them – not what is best for me. The Pharisees would make grand pronouncements about the sinfulness of others, but they were not willing to involve themselves in helping them to change. If we are going to live honestly, then we must be willing to help others to become more like Christ – not just tell them that they should.

There is more to say about this, but again, we are looking for truths to live. Today (and for the rest of life) our challenge is let our lives declare what we believe (and they already do) and to involve ourselves in the lives of others. These are the first steps to overcoming hypocrisy.

Raspberry Ice Cream and the Meaning of Life

I have long believed that it is fortunate for the more plebeian lovers of vanilla, chocolate or strawberry ice cream that raspberry ice cream was not the first flavor of ice cream developed. For if raspberry ice cream would have been the first, there would have been no need for additional flavors. The reason is obvious; you cannot improve on perfection. There is no epicurean delight to compare with the experience of raspberry ice cream. It makes my taste buds dance like happy little bunnies celebrating the dawning of a spring morning. To me it is the perfect food; faultless in texture, pleasing in color and magnificent in taste. I like raspberry ice cream.

In addition to their use ice cream, raspberries have given pleasure to the human palate since prehistoric times. They are used in pastries, soups, salads, jellies, sauces and mousses. The ancient Romans enjoyed this fruit while watching contests in The Coliseum. While on their quests to the Middle East, the Crusaders stumbled across these delightful berries and were so taken by them that they brought them back to Europe. There are over 200 varieties of raspberry. Red raspberries originated in Asia Minor and black raspberries are native to North America. The English took seriously the improvement of the raspberry and eventually exported the plants to the United States. Some cultures consider raspberries aphrodisiacs and other civilizations use raspberry tea to calm upset stomachs.

Raspberries also have a place in popular American culture. Fans of comedy are familiar with the sound of the “raspberry tart.” Referring to the verbal taunt, the Merriam Webster Dictionary delicately defines a raspberry tart “as a sound of contempt made by protruding the tongue between the lips and expelling air forcibly to produce a vibration.” Each year The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation bestows The Razzie awards. According to their website,

Starting with an Oscar Night ceremony so small it was actually staged in a living room alcove, The Golden Raspberry (RAZZIE) Awards have grown into what E! On-Line recently called, "the foremost authority on all things that suck on the big screen." Annually presenting Dis-Honors for Worst Achievements in Film since 1980 in categories ranging from the obvious (Worst Picture, Actor and Actress) to the obtuse (Worst Remake or Sequel and Worst Screen Couple) The RAZZIES today receive television, radio and newspaper coverage around the world.[1]

In the 1970’s, The Raspberries, with most notable member Eric Carmen, scored hits with “Go All The Way (1972)” and “Overnight Sensation (1974).” Finally, a first degree abrasion, the kind that happens from a scrape or fall, is often referred to as “a raspberry.” In more ways than one, raspberries are all around us. Beyond the gastronomical delights and practical uses of raspberries, they also serve well as a lesson for life. The excellence of the “berry of the gods” is allegorical to our struggle in this life.

Many people settle for second best because they are not aware that anything better is possible. They live lives of quiet resignation, settling for strawberry because raspberry is not available at their local ice cream parlor. They live in bondage to their pain because they have not heard of the one who has come “to proclaim freedom for the prisoners.”[2] They settle for superficial relationships because they do not understand the depth of commitment than can exist between two friends who center their relationship in the Father’s love.[3] These poor souls marginalize their own significance because they compare themselves with others instead of embracing their identity as a child who the Heavenly Father loves. Some even try to earn a salvation that has already been secured by the redemptive work of Christ. They live what they know because another option has never been offered.

Not all tragedy stems from ignorance. While many can be no more than they know, others will be no more than their resignation allows. Theirs is not a lack of knowledge; theirs is a lack of motivation. Raspberry ice cream is a freezer staple in the Northeast; here in Kansas it is as foreign as a day without wind. To be a devotee of a locally nonexistent flavor is a hard thing. To live differently in this world is to follow a hard path. To reject the cynicism and self-absorption of our culture is to walk apart from the mainstream. It requires a certain amount of character to be the only one in line who does not order a chocolate cone. Jesus encourages his followers to count the cost because following him is costly.[4] As Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes in his masterwork The Cost of Discipleship, “When Christ calls a man he bids him ‘Come and die.” Christ calls us to die to the status quo and to instead live for something better.

So what is a raspberry lover to do in a vanilla world? How do we live in the abundant love of a caring Heavenly Father in a cruel, cold world? That’s easy: share the wealth. Just a Paul shared with the Corinthian Church, we have the privilege to pass on to others what we have received from the Father. To those who are poor in spirit, we can share the love the Father lavishes on us. To those imprisoned by their past, we can proclaim the true freedom of a life redeemed. When we meet those who are blind to themselves and to others, we can witness to the truth of the Father’s perspective on their lives. To those who are oppressed by sin, we can declare the immediacy of the Lord’s favor. There is a reason that it is called “Good News.” At the ice cream counter of life, the Father does not offer us a small scoop of vanilla in a paper cup. He offers us a triple scoop of raspberry ice cream in a waffle cone.

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[1] http://razzies.com/asp/content/XcNewsPlus.asp?cmd=view&articleid=8 accessed February 20, 2004.

[2] Luke 4:18.

[3] I Samuel 20:42.

[4] Luke 14:25-33.

Leadership and Intimacy

My Friend Joel sent me the following quote from Henri Nouwen. It is worth think about:

“One thing is clear to me: The temptation of power is greatest when intimacy is a threat. Much Christian leadership is exercised by people who do not know how to develop healthy, intimate relationships and have opted for power and control instead. Many Christian empire-builders have been people unable to give and receive love.”

How Do I Become A Follower of Jesus?

We speak often of the need to reach others for Christ. Many desire that the new converts pray a particular prayer which, they are told, makes them converts. But, what does it really mean to become a follower of Jesus?

The initial commitment to follow Christ is a renunciation of the life alone and an invitation to walk in relationship. To receive Christ is to receive hope for genuine change and to begin the process of transformation in which we will “work out”[1] our salvation over the course of our lives. “A proper sermon should be like holding out to a child a shining red apple or to a thirsty man a glass of fresh water and asking: Wouldn’t you like it?”[2] To meet Christ is to meet someone who offers complete acceptance. Jesus looks at us with love, just as he gazed at the rich young ruler who came to him seeking the way to eternal life.[3] This love is not a sappy, overemotional feeling. Love is the perfect balance of grace and truth. Love without truth is sentimentalism. Love without grace is damning. The love that Jesus has, the love that is a reflection of the Father’s very essence, is perfect love that is equally truthful and equally gracious. It is a love that is the embodiment of Micah 6:8 – a love that does justice and loves mercy. It is the love that caused the Father to give “his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”[4] It is the love that reminds us that the Father “did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”[5] Jesus gazes at our lives with unflinching realism. He knows our sins and our brokenness. He is aware of our pride, our arrogance, our lust, our addictions, our hypocrisy, our lies and each of our secret sins. But in spite of our shame and in spite of our humiliation, he looks at us with love and offers to us the grace to accept his complete forgiveness and to walk in relationship with him and with others.

A new life in Christ is a new life together. It is the beginning of a great dance of love. It is more than a quick prayer, it is the beginning of life eternal.

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[1] Philippians 2:12.

[2] Bonhoeffer, Worldly Preaching, p. 88.

[3] Mark 10:17-22.

[4] John 3:16.

[5] John 3:17.

Subversive Christianity

Subversive: a systematic attempt to overthrow or undermine a government or political system by persons working secretly from within. Root word "Subvert": Middle English, from Anglo-French subvertir, from Latin subvertere, literally, to turn from beneath, from sub- + vertere to turn.

Christianity: the religion derived from Jesus Christ , based on the Bible as sacred scripture, and professed by Eastern, Roman Catholic, and Protestant bodies.

Subversive Christianity: To work secretly within existing systems to undermine religion and restore the focus to Jesus.

A Year To Heal

People say I'm crazy doing what I'm doing,
Well they give me all kinds of warnings to save me from ruin,
When I say that I'm o.k. they look at me kind of strange,
Surely your not happy now you no longer play the game,

People say I'm lazy dreaming my life away,
Well they give me all kinds of advice designed to enlighten me,
When I tell that I'm doing fine watching shadows on the wall,
Don't you miss the big time boy you're no longer on the ball?

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round,
I really love to watch them roll,
No longer riding on the merry-go-round,
I just had to let it go,
- John Lennon

And I won't break and I won't bend
And with the last breath we ever take
We're gonna get back to the simple life again
- Bernie Taupin

Then he pulled that old Houdini, like we always knew he would.
-Tony Carey

After years of frantic activity, I hit a wall. Granted, my life probably wouldn’t have appeared hectic through Type-A eyes, but, as an introvert, it was too much. In the absence of building a life, I built a list of accomplishments. Instead of concentrating on becoming the man the Father created me to be, I invested in helping others discover the truth. Instead of dealing with my own issues (attachment, boundaries, depression, anxiety, megalomania – I just put that last one in to see if you were paying attention), I was trying to help others. Finally, when an 18 year relationship ended and I stood at the verge of a new calling, my gas gauge registered "empty." You can call it a “mid-life crisis,” “burnout” or whatever you choose, but it was big, sudden and profound. I realized that I could either do the same things again and inflict the same wounds on myself or I could choose instead the much more difficult better path. In the Father’s love, which I absolutely do not deserve, he has given me the chance and the grace to take a year to heal.

A year sounds like a long time – and it is. But, it is less than 2% of a normal life span. And it is this year that will shape the next few years. I have been so busy trying to see things from other people’s viewpoint that I have neglected to see them for myself. For twelve months I want to listen to the still small voice. For 365 days, I want to try to live differently. And I am already seven months into that year…so far, so good. But, some of this stuff is hard...really hard.

So, does this mean that I am checking out…perhaps becoming a hermit? Yes and no. It does not mean that I am quitting my current job working with a group of followers of Jesus. I've got several projects with them that I am jazzed about. It does not mean that I am moving or that I will become a recluse. But, it does mean that I must step back from doing and step into being. It means that I must step back in order to ever have a chance to step forward again. Some concrete steps include:

1. Investing my time more strategically and in a more focused way. For this year, instead of putting down roots, I am clearing trees. Instead of building castles, I’m laying a foundation.

2. Deliberately not repaying evil for evil, but instead trying to overcome evil with good.

3. Spending more time reading and, as my friend Steve says, “Pondering.”

4. Directly addressing my issues, including attachment, boundaries, depression, anxiety and, of course, megalomania.

5. Learning to eat normally.

6. Exercising every day.

7. Only checking my phone messages once a day and my email twice.

8. Not responding to every comment, criticism, rumor, challenge or opportunity.

9. Having a cup of chamomile tea with honey and lemon before I go to bed.

Several of these I have been doing for the past few months; others I am developing more recently. But, without exception, these are all having a profound impact on how I see life and ministry.

So why am I sharing this with you? Well, part of it is because you are someone who decided to read these words. You may be reading them because I asked you to or you may be reading them because you stumbled upon them. For those of you who know me, these words may be an explanation of why you have not heard from me as much as you wished. For others, it may be a confirmation of what you already knew. For all of you, whether you know me or not, it is a request that you pray for me on this journey.

When freighters make the weeks-long crossing across the oceans, they often allow passengers to ride along. These are not cruise vacations, but instead are small-scale exiles. For years I have thought how nice it would be go get away for a few months, but at the same time realizing that such a voyage would be the worst thing for me. Whenever you run away, you always take yourself along. These months, however, are the best of both worlds. I am away and still present. I really do not know what is on the other side of this. Maybe in July I will come full circle and be in familiar territory. Then again, maybe not. But I know that this journey is long overdue. Pray for me.