A Blog Worth Reading…

Every once in a while my friends ask me who I read, which blogs I follow, and what movements / organizations I support.  Well, today I want to share one blog in particular that is full of great reading and thoughtful insights about church, culture, and the person of Jesus.

 Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight is one blog worth reading. 

If you’re one who enjoys reading about the historical Jesus and what the Kingdom of God may be all about today, this is for you.  McKnight has authored many books, and is considered one of the leading voices in the Emergent movement.  I encourage you to take a few minutes to check him out.

Peace and Love.

Coming out with it…

Okay…this is not going to be easy for me.  I have a secret that must be told about myself.  Some of my friends who read this will be shocked…others will laugh their asses off.  But laugh and scoff all you like…you know there is a secret inside you too that needs to come out!

 Here you go…I am a huge fan of Michael McDonald!  That’s right…the former Doobie Brother, now soul singer.  I know I’m probably too young to follow a singer like McDonald, but ever since I was a little kid, I’ve loved his vocal abilities and his dynamics behind a piano.

McDonald has a new album called “Soul Speak” featuring covers from artists like Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Van Morrison and Bob Marley.  I love it!!!  There is one particular song called “Hallelujah” which has some of the most amazing Hammond organ music I’ve ever heard.  If you’re a fan of soul music…this is a can’t miss record.

So there you go…I’ve come out with the truth.  Yes, I love indie music…punk rock…Pearl Jam and Bluegrass.  But I also love the deep and raspy voice of one Michael McDonald. 

This leaves me with one question.  Which band or artist do you keep in your closet?  Remember…the truth shall set you free!

Ordinary People and the Influence of Pastors

Rob the bartender…Ian the real-estate agent…Jenny the Nurse…Parker the pub crawler…John the PhD hiding pastor…Daniel the painter…

These are just a few of the people who I call friends and people of great influence.  Rob the bartender works at a local pub here and hates the church.  He’s been very open with me about his reasoning and to be honest, I would feel the same if I gone through what he did.  Rob continually reminds me that while church is important, it’s loving Jesus is most important. 

Jenny the nurse works at Harborview hospital in Seattle and has very genuine friendships among gay staff.  Jenny is one of the rare ones to know what she believes, but refuses to live the “love the sinner, hate the sin” life.  It doesn’t work!  She loves them without labels or agenda.

Daniel, my “mexican brother” has taught me that appreciating the smallest of things is one of the great keys to peaceful living.  He has been a walking example of contentment in my life.

 I could go on and on about these great people.  In a world where pastors almost worship the big names and leaders like Rob Bell, Driscoll, McLaren, etc…it’s the ordinary people who really have the most influence to offer.  I too read and admire these big name pastors, but it’s scary how some pastors eat / sleep / breathe these dudes.  Something tells me they never wanted all the attention their getting…

You want to know culture?  Hang out with bartenders…dialogue with the pub crawlers…journey with the pastors who could easily be rich and famous yet choose simplicity.  The question we all wonder is “What is God doing in our world?”…books, magazine articles, podcasts can’t tell us everything we need to know.  We need to purposefully dialogue with everyday community people, who don’t have their lives together, who maybe aren’t model parents, spouses or citizens…but know a thing or two about messy spirituality, grace, and redemption.

I love these friends.  I see Jesus in them.  I’m a better person and pastor for knowing them.

Peace and Love.

Music worth Worshiping to?

Worship music in the world of Christianity is a funny thing.  I say that because if you take 10 people who profess to be Christians and ask them what they consider to be worship music, you’ll most likely get 9 of them to give a similar answer.  They will worship to what they hear on the radio.  Michael W. Smith, Third Day, Hillsong, etc…

Now, there’ nothing wrong with these artist.  They each have talent and have prooven to be successful in a very fickle market.  But worship music?  Really?  Before I go any farther, I must admit that I too am guilty of listening to Hillsong and getting all hyped up about God and thinking that was a worship experience.  I don’t know…maybe it is, but probably not.

Every once in a while I come across an artist or group that I just can’t seem to get enough of.  A couple years ago, I discovered Derek Webb (Listen to this song), a christian artist / activist who sings about the church in such honest and beautiful ways.  If you’ve never heard of him, it’s because Christian radio won’t play him.  He’s too honest.  Or Brie Stoner, whose voice is almost haunting.  Again, you won’t hear her music of Christian radio…she’s too real.

You know what you can hear on Christian radio?  Daughtry!  That’s right…they have a song which speaks of “going home” and the Christian music scene just loves to twist songs and say things like…”Oh, he’s speaking of Heaven”.  Whatever…

Well, a couple weeks ago I stumbled across a band called The Cobalt Season.  They are out of the Bay area and for the past few days, they are all I’ve listened to.  They speak of Justice, the struggles of serving, the sins of greed and silence, and the journey that is being a Christ-follower.  It’s such raw and emotional music that to be honest speaks to many of my struggles and fears right now.  Their song “A Lullaby for Ms. Harris ” really resonates with me as I struggle with seeing so much hurt in our community and just don’t know what I can or should do.  Here are the lyrics to the “A Lullaby…”.  On their site you can read all their songs as well as listen to their recordings to get a feel for their message.

A Lullaby for Ms. Harris

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February 26th, 2007 by The Cobalt Season

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Hush now baby don’t you cry
Mama’s gonna take you down to the riverside
Oh your daddy’s gone, but do not cry
We’ll find our way to the riversideSon, did you forget your coat this time?
Mom, you promised that we’d all be fine
But the wood beneath my feet is wet
Where are we going? Are we there yet?

You see, I saw it from the cliff above
This desperate act disguised as love
First one by one, then three by three
But what did it have to do with me?

And so I sat and watched all through the night
Felt too powerless to put up a fight
It might be her fault, but it might be me
Seems we all had some better place to be

This is music I feel I can worship God to.  It’s honest…without hype…culturally relevant…hopeful.  It makes me think that this is how many of David’s (see the book of Psalms) worship experiences were while sitting alone in a field or a cave trying to make sense of his life.  Maybe this makes no sense to anyone who reads this.  If you’re worship music is Hillsong…that’s ok.  Just please, make it honest worship to a God who desires our pain and fear as much as our gratitude and excitement. 

May we honor him with our authenticity…not our radio friendly music.

Peace and Love.

What?!?!

Who new cereal could be so valuable?  Who new people collect things like this for their travelling museums?  Well, apparently cereal is valuable and people do pay large amounts of money for their museums.   You can read more here…http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23756725/

I’m reaching into a box of Trix right now…the round morsels look just like planet earth!  That should be worth something…right?

Good Friday…

I could not have said this any better!  Please read this post and allow the time needed to think about this very important day.  This is written by Pastor Eugene Cho from Quest Church in Seattle.  His blog can be found on Beauty and Depravity.

• In a culture that is ever so quick to get to the product
• In a culture that is ever so quick to avoid suffering and pain and seek ways to medicate ourselves to avoid pain
• In a culture that is ever so quick to jump to the bunnies and eggs
• In a culture that is ever so quick to commercialize, capitalize, and consumerize
• In a culture that is ever so quick to jump to the good news of Easter Sunday and Resurrection
• In a culture that is ever so quick to minimize the extent of Jesus’ suffering and crucifixion
• In a culture that is ever so quick to ‘disneyize’ the events of the brutal death of a man
• In a culture that is ever so quick to grab hold of grace as if we are entitled to it

Today matters.  This Friday matters.  His death matters.  So, let’s not be so quick to bypass this day.  There’s a reason why in the Christian traditio – this day and service is considering the longest and darkest day/event of the year.

While the good news of our beauty is clearly exemplified in the glorious news of the Resurrection…the depths of our darkness and depravityis also exposed in the last days of Jesus’ life and crucifixion.

And once we understand, if even for a glimpse, the depths of our depravity and brokenness, the amazing depth of God’s grace and mercy is that much more understood and experienced. We understand that our broken image can be restored by the Creator of that original beauty.

Thank you Jesus for this day.  For Dark Friday.  For Holy Friday.  For the cross, sacrifice, and atonement.  Thank you God that you have redeemed this day to be good.

Good Friday.

The high priests, along with the religion scholars and leaders, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: “He saved others—he can’t save himself! King of Israel, is he? Then let him get down from that cross. We’ll all become believers then! He was so sure of God—well, let him rescue his ‘Son’ now—if he wants him! He did claim to be God’s Son, didn’t he?”…From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around mid-afternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

Matthew 27:41-46

A Speech for the Ages?

As you surely know by now, and have read or heard via blogs, newspapers or TV media…Senator Barack Obama gave a truly historical speech yesterday.  If you have not seen it, please take the time to do so.  You can view it here…

Rather than voice my opinion like everyone else, I thought I’d share a very insighful blog posted by a pastor/activist named Brian McLaren.  My close friends know just how much respect I have for this man,  It was his book “A New Kind of Christian” that played a major role in me not quitting the ministry 4 years ago.  I’ve had a couple chances to sit with Brian and share my story and just pick his brain…he is very humble, provocative, and loves Jesus very much.  His posting today I thought was very wise…It’s a fresh response to Obama’s speech.

What heve been some of your thoughts to Senator Obama’s speech?  What are your feelings about race in America today? 

Peace and Love.

We have a Good Life, Don’t we?

Have you seen the recent movie, “Gone, Baby Gone“?  If you have, then you know the power and conflict of this film when it comes to ethics.  If you have not seen it, then I highly suggest you do.  It deals with the subject of child neglect / abuse and whether or not children belong with their parents.  The story begins with a private investigator (played by Casey Affleck) who is contemplating taking on a kidnapping case.  His girlfriend feels it is beyond their limits and experiences and really wishes they would leave the case for the police.  There is a very important scene where his girlfriend standing next to him asks…”we have a good life, don’t we?”.  It’s obvious she battles with taking on something like kidnapping for fear of discovering a dead or tortured girl.  She struggles with the risk of doing something that may forever change her.

The question moved me.  For me it’s one of the key scenes of the entire film and was one of those moments where a film just sticks with me. 

The reality is that while it’s just a movie, we all have to struggle with this question.  We’ve all been faced with risk and the choice of stepping into something that may forever change our life, beliefs, and future actions.  For me, it was leaving my previous church where I had a very good and comfortable life, and stepped into financial uncertainty with a small church reaching un-churched people.  It was getting on a plane and leaving my good American life for a couple weeks and landing in Swaziland where poverty, greed and AIDS are putting an entire nation at the brink of extinction.  It is creating a new non-profit to commit to serving these people and teach them how to depend less upon a greedy government and more on their families, villages, and churches.

These times in my life have without a doubt been difficult and life-changing.  I’m not the same person now.  My good little life is gone…

Have you found yourself asking this question?  What has your response been?  How is your life different?  What do you think the future holds?  It’s a conversation worth entering…

Peace and Love.

Holy Week and Other Thoughts…

Now that Holy week has begun, I continue to be prayerful for Easter Sunday as well as a bit restless.  For so many years, Easter for me was about the numbers.  Working in a mega-church, we were guaranteed to have record crowds with a mass of people sitting in over-flow.  They were fun Sundays, but I can’t really say they had much depth or spiritual meaning.  I mean, how could they when we would have 3 one hour long services with maybe 30 minutes in between.  Just enough time to take down the overflow chairs and then set them up again! 

I am finding myself praying for a crowd this Sunday.  Not because it’s about the numbers, but because of the message.  I pray that many will hear this life-changing message of resurrection!  More importantly for me this year, is the change I’m finding in my own heart.  I am trying to look at Easter as not just a day, but as a week.  This is Holy week and there is much to ponder and reflect upon.  The triumphal entry into Jerusalem…the Last Supper…Jesus’ prayer in the garden…the betrayal and the crucifixion.  So much in one week that each have great significance in history and the existence of the church!

I guess, what I’m hoping the people of Redwood Hills will experience this week, is something much deeper and slower than what we normally experience on Easter.  Reflection, prayer, scripture, and solitude are all things we should attempt to give our time and attention to this week.  I encourage you to find a church near you that not only has an Easter service, but also a Good Friday service, or a passover dinner experience.  They will surely help you in your understanding of the week, and also help you in the experience of solitude and prayer. 

Peace and Love.

Enjoying a Post-Professional Christian Life…

I am a recovering professional christian.  Some days are better than others…lately they have not been so good.  Too many times I find myself whining about being a bi-vocational pastor. The reality is my “other” business has allowed me to connect with people outside the church in ways I never could as a full time pastor.  Lately, I have also tried way too hard to force things to happen with Redwood Hills.  I’ve made church more about me.  I know I’m still detoxing from the mega church where for so many years I gauged all my success from our services.  How many people came?  How many raised their hands?  Who came to me and said they liked my sermon?  I still find myself after two years removed, fighting with these questions.  It burdens me…

I’ve found myself this week being very repentive for my selfish leadership.  It’s been hard, but there is a sense of renewed freedom and humility beginning to rise up within me.  I’m pretty sure this is exactly where God wants me…:)

I’m enjoying my post-professional christian life where numbers are no longer dominating my thinking.  Where true success is found in things like conversation, collaboration, and slow conversion…not butts, budgets and buildings.  I’m done with agendas, “running fast to stand still” leadership, and bait and hook serving.  I want nothing more than to be in genuine community, to be vulnerable, and to not have it all together for my church. 

It’s been a long and tough journey.  I sense God in ways I never did when I was too busy doing church.  This has to be the best part of it all…after 10 years in the ministry I feel I finally have something genuine with my God.  Still not even close to perfect, but it’s genuine.  It’s sad…but true. 

Peace and Love.

Rex