What goes around comes around...

I have been involved in several conversations lately which have been about the deconstruction of, redefinition of, or lament about the word "evangelical." It seems to have picked up some baggage along the way, as all words do, really, and it is not always seen as a positive label, even among Christians.

Once upon a time, declaring yourself an "evangelical Christian" was a way to say that you were about a faith that was your own, that wasn't just your family heritage, and that being a Christian was more to you than going to church on Sunday. Keith Green's thing about the fact that "going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to McDonald's makes you a hamburger" was part of the idea of "evangelicalism." It meant that you took the Bible seriously.

To many of us twenty-five or thirty years ago, the "evangelical movement" was the answer to the "problem" of being what one might call a "cultural" Christian, where you were considered a Christian if you went to church on Sunday.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, that word gained all kinds of subtext, much of which was a result, or maybe a cause, for it being usurped by a political agenda. Now, when someone uses the word "evangelical" it means "pro-life, pro-capital punishment, anti-welfare-loving, Republican." It means you are part of some weird churchy subculture, full of people that thought life was better in the 50's and wouldn't it be great if we could go back there. It means that your faith is little more than the answer to the question, "Do you know for sure you'll go to heaven when you die," a form of eternal fire insurance.

Too bad, because etymologically doesn't it actually mean something about bring a message of good news?

I think the original point of the evangelical movement was that our faith is supposed to permeate all areas of our lives. And that we are supposed to try to live like we are citizens of the kingdom, thereby doing something to bring a little of the kingdom of God to this earth. Now.

So what went around once is coming around again.

I go back and forth on this. I, too, am frustrated with the reputation which the "evangelical movement" has gained in the world. But I am equally frustrated by those that seem to want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, and sit back criticizing "the church" and taking pot shots at "the church" instead of becoming part of the solution for the church.

There is a balance to be had. I believe I am in a place that has achieved some measure of that balance.

But the best thing would be if we would all stop looking at what's wrong and just focus on moving forward into what's right, learning from what's gone before but pressing on into what's ahead, exchanging small minds for big hearts.

Life is Fragile

Keep short accounts.

Tell the people you love.

Pray. Hard.

Contextualization

We are fond of "culturally contextualizing" the tougher teachings of Jesus.

But what if He really did mean we should sell all of our possessions and give to the poor?

Post Summit Redux

Interesting is the word I would use for this year's Summit. Thursday night and Friday were normal. We started with the whole needing to unwind thing, and then Friday had some great small group time.

Then I went to the emergency room after dinner Friday night. And they admitted me and I was there all day Saturday, as well. So I was gone for this big chunk of the Summit.

God answered the prayers of the group, and me, and I was back for Saturday night. But it was weird not having been there the whole time.

I led worship Sunday, and that was good. And the great thing is that I heard from God, and it confirmed what I had been hearing all along. Simplify, live more generously, and live more communally. Thank God I have friends who will help with the latter.

The clear message I have been hearing since we started talking about planning the Summit was "Rise, take up your mat, and go." As in, how often do we know the path we are to take, and we stand there looking at it instead of walking it?

Jeremiah 6:16, "This is what the Lord says: Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient path; ask where the good way is, and walk in it; and you will find rest for your souls."

It is when we start walking, that we find rest for our souls.

Prayer Summit

This weekend I am going away with my church worship team for a prayer summit. This will be our sixth. Each one has been a unique experience, and God is so faithful to always meet us there.

I am going this year in a pretty good place, but with some things on which I have been challenged by God in the last year or so. A friend commented on one of my earlier posts and mentioned that she is discussing some of the same things I have been thinking about. Her group's discussion questions are great:

1)What if a fragile world is more attracted to God's vision of interdependence and sacrificial sharing than to the mirage of independence and materialism?

2)What does it mean to live incarnationally?

These are probing questions. Between this and the recent "Calling all Peacemakers" series by Rob Bell from Mars Hill, there is much to consider. What if America just up and gave clean water and sanitation to the entire underdeveloped world? We could do it for somewhere between 16 and 23 billion dollars. For a country as rich as ours, that isn't so much, I think, considering we spent 9 billion on Christmas gifts in one day - Black Friday.

Anyway, for me there are two questions. One is, "Am I living simply enough to give enough away?" And the other is, "How can I live more communally?"

I'll be thinking about it at Summit '07.

Belated Friday Five

How appropriate that this belated Friday Five is about birthdays. I always seem to be the one wishing belated wishes! On with it now...

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1. "It's my party and I'll [blank] if I want to..."Favorite way to celebrate your birthday (dinner with family? party with friends? a day in solitude?)

I love dinner with friends and something musical of which I am not in charge. Several years in a row the friends and I have done this very thing.

2. "You say it's your birthday... it's my birthday too, yeah..." Do you share your birthday with someone famous? (Click here to find out!)

Drew Bledsoe, Florence Henderson, and Jack Benny, among others.

3. "Lordy Lordy look who's forty..."Milestone birthdays: a) just like any other birthday--they're just numbers, people; b) a good opportunity to look back/take stock; c) enjoy the black balloons--I'll be hiding under a pile of coats until the day is over; d) some combination of the above, or something else entirely.

Definitely b, but also d - an excuse to have an entire "birthday season." If the "holidays" can be a month, why can't I have at least two weeks? And, last year when I turned 40, I did. Three parties, six cakes, flowers, dinner, a pub, and a limo. Whoo-hooo! Let's be 40 every year.

4. "Happy birthday, dear... Customer..."Have you ever been sung to in a restaurant? Fun or cringe-worthy?

Well, I am the wrong person to ask. I am not the least embarrassed, but I usually cringe at the...er....terrible singing. Especially since when my high school band sings it is beautiful four part harmony.

5. "Take my birthday--please"Tell me one advantage and one disadvantage about your particular birthday (e.g. birthday in the summer--never had to go to school; birthday near Christmas--the dreaded joint presents)EDITED TO ADD: This could also simply be something you like/dislike about your birthday (e.g. I like sharing a birthday with my best friend, etc.).

It's Valentine's Day. So people steal my thunder. Plus I am not all that fond of Valentine's Day.

Wired for Community

I am listening to the most fascinating book on my iPod right now. It's called Blink, and it is by Malcolm Gladwell. You could check it out here on Amazon. The book explores that thing that we do when we "thin slice" input and come to decisions that we would call "going with our gut."

One of the studies Gladwell mentions is about autism. Studying the brain through focused magnetic resonance imaging shows that we use a very sophisticated part of our brain when we are recognizing faces, as compared to a much less sophisticated part of the brain which engages when we are recognizing object. This is why we remember the faces of our friends many years later, but will spend half an hour searching for our luggage at the baggage claim.

Later, I was reading an article in a magazine. Did you know there is actually a special hormone that gets released when we are around people that gives us the "warm fuzzy" about being with our friends? This same hormone turns down the hunger message. It's almost like when we are hungry, part of that hunger is not for food but for family. Think about that feeling you get when you spend time around the table with your friends or your family. That feeling is hardwired to your physiology. Cool, huh?

All of this should not be the least bit surprising to a Christian. God created humans to be in fellowship - with Him and with each other. We are meant to live our lives in community - we are wired for it, specifically.

The next time you feel yourself becoming isolated, make an effort to connect with someone. It's what our Creator intended.

He wired us for community.

Happy New Year!

The beginning of a new year always feels hopeful to me. I look forward to what good things will happen, have that sense of expectation, always make a couple of private resolutions.

This year I have no resolutions, actually, because I had already started making some changes in my life. I really feel like 2007 is going to be a good year. And I know that whatever happens, God has it all in hand and "all things will work out for the good." So I guess in a sense, it is almost impossible for any year to be anything but good when you can depend on the sovereignty of God.

What the World Needs Now...

...is grace, grace, grace.

Bigtime.

Not only do we need grace for ourselves, we need to extend grace to others. I was shocked at the undercurrent of frustration and anger as I shopped this holiday season. It seems like people went shopping mad and only got madder if things weren't moving fast enough, or if they couldn't get exactly what they wanted right away, or if the clerk was new and made mistakes.

In fact, it isn't just shopping. It's everywhere. An undercurrent of anger, lurking just below the surface. Look around on your morning commute - road rage waiting to happen. And I am not immune to it, either, I am afraid.

We have got to slow down and get gracious.

Advent

I am leading worship this week at my church. I am doing some fun stuff with the "prepare" theme - Prepare ye the Way of the Lord; O Come, O Come, Emmanuel; My Hope is You; Rescue; I Know My Redeemer Lives; Joy to the World. It is a list meant to make the progression from expectation and preparation to the fact that Jesus has come, and will return. I enjoy linking Christmas and Easter songs together, because even while we celebrate the Child in the manger, we celebrate the eternal, risen, and returning King.

I think it will be fun.

Distinct Roar

Saturday afternoon I found myself sitting where even a week ago I would not have bothered to go. On a log, by a river, after a little walk in the woods. It was beautiful.

A friend had mentioned hearing this generic roar, and following it to the river that was creating it. He found that where he expected a single, generic roar, there were actually a few distinct sounds combining to make that roar. Here the gentle whoosh of water rushing over the rocks. There a tiny trickle persevering to flow. Over there, a deeper pool with a deeper, more hushed swishing sound. All combined so that from a distance all one hears is a roar, but when one moves closer one discovers there is more there than originally met the ear.

In the constant rush of humanity, and the loud noise of life, one wonders how in the world God can hear all our prayers at once. But He hears every disctinct sound we make - be it the enthusiastic new believer praying like crazy, or the beaten down person fighting to hold on.

As I sat on that log, I found myself glad that God's hearing is so much better than mine.

My Accent

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Boston You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't. Of course, that doesn't mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine.
The West
The Midland
North Central
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The South
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Is disagreement automatically intolerance?

That's my question today. Is disagreement automatically intolerance? How about hatred? Is disagreement automatically hatred?

Is it possible to be friends with someone who has chosen to live in a manner which might be considered to be outside of God's values?

Well, do you have any friends who are gossips? Who speed? Who have sex outside of marriage? (Ooohh - touchy one there...)

I think it is possible to love and respect people even while they choose to live a different way that you.

So why is it that if I think someone is wrong, I might get called a "-hater" or a "-phobe" or any number of things?

Just thinking.

Toothy Friday Five

Friday once again, and the Friday Fivers ask us to consider our dental tools...

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Friday Five: Nothing But the Tooth


We are in the throes of what will (hopefully) be the final set of braces in this family, and so my mind is on the tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth.

Please share your thoughts on the following:

1) The Tooth Fairy

Caught in the act when I was young! And she is conscious of inflation apparently, because my niece got four quarters recently...

2) Flossing

Painful sometimes, but necessary. Minty floss is my favorite.

3) Toothpaste Brands

Grew up on Colgate. Now I use Crest. I rememeber seeing Crest commercials on TV as a kid. Guess they worked.

4) Orthodontia for Adults

If adults want to go through that, they should go a head. I had braces as a kid, teeth pulled to make room, bands shoved between my back teeth...Ugh. But I appreciate not having impacted wisdom teeth.

5) Whitening products

Don't use them myself, but I've been thinking about trying them. At first I thought they were only for vain Barbie types, but I see the point. My teeth are naturally not white like magazine teeth. Of course, magazine teeth aren't either. Thank you, Photoshop and other like programs, for making us all think we need to look a certain way...

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Choices...

OK - not the right word for the song reference - should be Changes. You know - David Bowie.

Anyhow, I was thinking about choices today. Mostly how we choose to respond to circumstances and situations. I had a big decision to make - choosing Drum Majors and Color Guard Captains for next season's marching band. We hold auditions and interviews, the staff and I confer, and I make the final decision. I am happy with my choices - I think the individuals who will serve in these positions next season will be great.

When I told the parties involved, they had a choice. They could accept or reject their appointments and the associated conditions. Or not.

They chose to accept.

Then I had to tell all the candidates - some of whom would be disappointed. They could then choose how to respond. We will see tomorrow how they did respond. One has already emailed me to find out why. I appreciate the question, and hope it comes with a teachable spirit.

Then I thought about how I responded in class today to the fourth, fifth, sixth, twentieth time a couple of kids made the same mistake - and were laughing about it. I chose...not exactly well. I went on too long, and I wish I had not. But I did get my point across, and they then hunkered down and succeeded three times in a row and I got to say good job. Liked that!

We have choices to make all day every day. Do we say something, so we remain silent, do we take that second brownie in the cafeteria line...all sorts of things.

Lord, give us the wisdom and will to choose Wisely.

Proverbs 10:17

I have been thinking about Proverbs 10:17, because I will be speaking on it at one of the meetings of our youth group next month. I always enjoy speaking to the youth - maybe because I teach high school, and feel a natural affinity for them.

Anyhow, the verse is "He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but he who ignores instruction leads others astray." There is a lot to say here.

First, we are to be people who heed discipline. But it is more than just listening to someone who is correcting or rebuking us. It is also about living a disciplined life in general. If we do that, we are not only on the way to life, we are setting a good example. If we ignore instruction, we are not only on the wrong path, we are leading others astray. We never know when someone is watching us as a role model.

So this is not just about living in a godly way. It is about standing up for the godly way, living it "out loud," as Steven Curtis Chapman says. This is a really important message for high school students to hear, because to many of them standing out is a bad thing.

I hope I can help to bring the word that convinces them otherwise. Our society is starved for people who will stand and live right.

Renovations

You are in the right place. I have just jumped onto the renovation band wagon - a la Julie over at onehandclapping. She had this cool looking blog, and she gave the link to PannasMontata, where there are several formats for download. This girl does some great work! Check them out!

Halloween Friday Five

Greetings, all who drop by, and Happy Friday. I must say I am pretty wiped out this particular week. Marching season is winding down, and I am looking forward to recapturing some of my time. Even so, with the group we had this season, I actually find myself wishing for one more week. What a time we have had!

And now, on to the Halloween Friday Five...
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Reverendmother here...

I checked out last year's Halloween Friday Five, which dealt with candy and costumes. Great questions, supplied by Songbird. If you weren't around last year or didn't play then, feel free to do so now. Mmm. Candy.

Or...
You wanna see something *really* scary?...

1. Do you enjoy a good fright?

Nope. Hate it. A lot.

2. Scariest movie you've ever seen

Nightmare on Elm Street. Didn't want to drive home afterwards. It was the last scary movie I saw.

3. Bobbing for apples: choose one and discuss:
a) Nothing scary about that! Good wholesome fun.
b) Are you *kidding* me?!? The germs, the germs!

Well, as a kid I didn't mind. But as I get older, I am less and less attracted to the idea of putting my head in cold water to retrieve apples I could just as easily get off of a tree. And people's hair in the water first...Ugh.

4. Real-life phobia

Heights. And the dentist.

5. Favorite "ghost story"

Amityville Horror. I have not read it in a long time, but I was fascinated by this supposedly true story when I was a teen.

A powerful - yet somewhat hopeless - story

I have finally seen Rent. The movie version, not the show. I enjoyed the music, particularly the opening song, Seasons of Love. I cared about the characters. I was captured by the powerful story of these young people, several of whom were basically making the most of life until they died. And I was deeply moved when I called to mind that there are people who really live like this.

The message in the story was that we must make the most of each moment, because any moment could be our last. For these Bohemians, that meant the pursuit of whatever carnal pleasures they desired. There was some reference to trying to help others less fortunate, and the plot device about the young man, Benny, who "got out" and got married and got a good job from his rich father-in-law was interesting. Benny was now trying to take over part of the old neighborhood to build a cyber-cafe. This was seen as "selling out." The Bohemians saw themselves as the less fortunate that others should be helping, I think, to some extent.

But aside from one event toward the end of the movie, there was not much hope to be found. Nothing about the reason that we should help others, nothing about faith in anything beyond the now. "There's only us, there's only this..."

Seems to me that for us there should be more to making the most of each moment than the selfish pursuit of whatever carnal pleasure presents itself. We have our mandate - to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.

Maybe instead of watching movies about it, we should try to help. Walking humbly requires getting off of our couches.

Wise in Our Own Eyes

As the wind blew Friday night, gusting to 50 miles per hour, I found myself thinking that no matter how great our technology gets, how strong our buildings become, God always wins in the end. We cannot "out-power" God.

How often we go about our business, making choices, doing our thing, without consulting the One who knows all. How often we live as if our wisdom - human knowledge - were all we needed.

But if we are to live the lives we were meant to live, we are going to have to trust in God rather than ourselves. To live a Kingdom life requires Kingdom vision, Kingdom will, Kingdom courage.

The only place to get that is to consult the King.