Hey, mom and dad…think twice before telling your kid to put their phone away!

In case you weren’t completely sure we’re living in a rapidly changing world, here’s a story that should help you understand. 

Just a few short weeks ago the National Spelling Bee took place and we all know about spelling bees.  But did you know that there are also the National Texting Championships?  That’s right all you text-crazed teenagers and college students…the very thing your parents and teachers have told you to stop doing in class and at the dinner table can now pay you some serious money!

Here’s the story of the 15 year old Iowa girl who out texted 250,000 other contestants…

NEW YORK (CNN)– A 15-year-old girl with a 500-texts-a-day texting habit thumbed her way to the $50,000 grand prize at the L.G. National Texting Championship in New York on Tuesday.

Kate Moore, 15, of Des Moines, Iowa, out-texted more than 250,000 participants for the texting title in New York.

Over 250,000 participants of all ages entered the competition, whose championship rounds were held in New York on Monday and Tuesday. Some challenges were straightforward tests of speed and accuracy, but others required a little extra texting savvy.

In one round, texters had to send texts while blindfolded. Another round quizzed contestants’ knowledge of texting acronyms.

The only acronym to stump every texter was PAW — parents are watching.

The fourth-place finisher, 21-year-old Jordan Rowe, saw her dreams of texting glory vanish in the “pressure cooker” round, where actors dressed as emoticons attempted to distract contestants tasked with texting tongue-twisters. Rowe failed to accurately text “Which wicked witch wished which more wicked witch in the well?” while a human emoticon talked trash about her sister.

Riffing off texters’ sometimes dangerous tendency to text while performing other tasks, another round required contestants to complete an obstacle course while firing off difficult-to-type texts.

“I felt like I was gonna die,” the eventual champion said of the texting gantlet, getting a big LOL from the audience.

The finals on Tuesday afternoon pitted Dynda Morgan, 14, of Savannah, Georgia, against Kate Moore, 15, of Des Moines, Iowa. The two went head to head in a best-of-three showdown to see who could most quickly pound out lengthy texts predetermined by the judges — with no errors.

Morgan, whose stepsister also made it to the championships, took the first round.

Faced with a do-or-die situation in the second round, Moore seemed to bet on accuracy over speed, finishing well behind her opponent but winning the round.

In the tiebreaker, the two girls furiously raced to thumb the final text: “Zippity Dooo Dahh Zippity Ayy…MY oh MY, what a wonderful day! Plenty of sunshine Comin’ my way….Zippitty Do Dah Zippity Aay! WondeRful Feeling Wonderful day!”

The pregnant pause before the winner was announced stretched into a seeming eternity because Moore apparently forgot to hit send after finishing her text.

But then Moore’s phone began to vibrate, signaling that she was the grand champion.

Kate’s beaming mother, Claire, acknowledged that she has confiscated her daughter’s phone on occasion, but said she appreciates that her daughter’s texting habit means she’s in constant touch. “I can get ahold of [her] at all times,” she said.

Nor does Moore’s mother have to foot an appallingly large phone bill each month, because her daughter is on an unlimited texting plan. She did concede that the texting portion of one of Moore’s recent phone bills stretched to 294 pages.

Moore’s victory was all the more awe-inspiring because she got a phone with text capability less than a year ago.

Moments after her victory, Moore agreed to an exclusive text message interview with CNN.

CNN: OMG U r ltrlly the wrld’s bst txter. How does it feel?

Moore: It feels the best! Im so prd of myself & it feels aswm that ive gottn so far!

CNN: How mny txts do u snd a day? A month?

Moore: Uhhh about lyk 400-500 in a day, an avrg of 12014 thousand a month?

CNN: Wht r u going to do w the 50 k?

Moore: Idk yet! Prlly spend a good amount of the $$$……but ya gotta save some 2 b smart of course!

CNN: Do u ever get in trubl in skwl 4 txting 2 much?

Moore: haah just once or 2ce, teachers hv seen it and taken it away…lol that sux when that happens tho.

CNN: What’s ur crzst txting story?

Moore: Haha I actually have a scar on my hand from txtingg….i was txting on the top bunk and I sat up cuz it was a cool txt and then I hit it in the ceiling fan

CNN. Do ur thumbs hurt?

Moore: Hahah not at all! Ud b surprised they don’t get stressed out.

CNN: Kthxbi.

Moore: cya!

Now, if I could just find where to enter my name for the “National Mediocre & Rarely Read Blog” awards I just might have a chance at winning some much needed cash!

Love and Peace.

Sometimes life makes no sense…

We all know by now the tragic story of the Air France flight going down in the Atlantic killing all 228 aboard. 

Yesterday the story of a woman who was supposed to be on that flight, but missed it, began to spread.  For all the efforts given by man to make sense of our world, this is one of those stories that makes me shake my head and just ask God to help me trust that He’s working behind the scenes in the lives of her friends and family.

My friend over at The Last Astronaut wrote a thoughtful post about her story and on the idea of being “found and lost”.  You can read it here.

Sometimes life makes no sense, but there is comfort in having Faith…Hope…and Love.

Love and Peace.

Being the church, or chasing cool?

In the last week there have been two blogs that seemed to have made their way into my stream of thought.  One is by my friend over at Spiritfarmer who provides a thoughtful, funny and provocative rant about churches who have subtle ways of saying all other churches suck, but theirs. 

It’s a post (Read Here) worth your time.

The other is a video blog from pastor Ed Young who leads the Fellowship Church in Dallas.  Fellowship is a huge church known for it’s creative talks which deal with topical issues such as sex, parenting, money, and marriage.  Last year I wrote a blog about Pastor Young and his message to the Fellowhip staff about not ever planting churches within the area of Fellowship church.  He claimed then that those who do that are “church pirates”.  It remains the most read post of my short blogging career for some reason…

Recently, Young decided to video himself while driving to illustrate a point about pastors “chasing cool” by swearing and talking crudely.  While I understand what he’s getting at and believe he makes some good points.  I find it very funny that the master of creating a church service which delivers “cool” to the people each Sunday would warn against such a thing.  Here’s the video…

Let’s be honest here.  The fact that pastors are being included into the discussion of “chasing cool” in terms of how they lead and shepherd their churches is not a good thing.  Both these blogs have forced me to look at my leadership, pray for pure motives, and make some changes about the way I think and approach my church.  It’s an easy trap to fall into these days…especially in my Seattle / Eastside culture defined by it’s high achievments. 

I find myself thinking today not about what is cool, but rather what is relevant.  I believe media and creative teaching series’ have there place in today’s church, but the reality is that there is nothing more relevant in all the universe than Jesus and the Gospel. 

It’s with that thought that I also challenge the person who’s seeking a church to attend…a faith community to journey with…or maybe even an intentional community to live with.  Stop gauging your attendance or ability to commit on how cool the church or pastor is.  These things will certainly catch your eye and draw you in, but if many of us are honest about why we’re desiring church…it’s because we want to know how to contextualize God’s word into our everyday living. 

We want more than happiness…we want to be whole.  We don’t really want entertainment…we want to know how to cultivate true contentment.  We want more than priciples…we want to Truth.

But in order for this to happen, those of us who pastor have to stop thinking about how to make empty seats full, and lead those who are commited to the church into authentic disciple-oriented lives.  They will then be the ones to “build” the church by “being the church” within their workplace and neighborhoods.  As well, the people who come each week should stop with their demands to be entertained and stroked.  Stop the mental church shopping where visions of bigger kids programs, sermon props, and state of the art media convince you to “chase cool”.

I guess the last thing I should say is that I can see how this might seem like a small church guy ranting against the big churches who have the resources to afford certain things we don’t.  That’s not it.  I know of plenty of big churches who have a missional approach to their existence, and small churches who emphasize cool more than being the church.  Size doesn’t matter when it comes to being the church, or chasing cool.  The point of the blog is to encourage every pastor or church goer who reads this, to be thoughtful about what their true hopes and intentions are for leading and attending church.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.  Am I making too much out of this idea of chasing cool?

Love and Peace.

prayer and compassion

The title of this post tells you of my heart for the church.  I’ve been fairly silent in the blogosphere lately…partly because of some vacation and then a mission to the St. Bernard Parish, but also because I’ve been a bit discouraged lately with church leadership and taking time to understandGod’s direction for the Redwood Hillls community.  When I get this way I tend to unplug a bit and try to listen more than I talk. 

Prayer and compassion.  Switch the two and the church is nothing more than a non-profit.  Replace compassion with outreach programs and we often find ourselves busy “doing” church rather than having a true sense of corporate and individual mission.  It’s a fine line that requires constant examination.

I suggest that there is nothing more important for the church to both engage in and display, than prayer and compassion.  By prayer, I mean  the corporate sense.  People coming together in homes, sanctuaries, chapels, and church classrooms to pray together for the protection and mission of their church.  It’s something that I’m imagining for my church and praying that people will soon respond to my call for a community that prays together.

If I were to ask my friends who aren’t a part of a church community to “list several words that come to your mind when I say Church”…they would likely list things such as “anti-gay, anti-abortion, exclusive, money-hungry, consumed with their own buildings, and irrelevant“.  Just today, a friend told me I was crazy for believing that God loves me!  It breaks my heart knowing that people have so rarely seen God’s love, that they assume there can be no divine love given for their own lives! 

Compassion is essential to the life of every Christian and church vision!  Outreaches which attempt to draw people to an event won’t cut it, unless we are also willing to come to them in genuine relationship.  Talking “love” is pointless unless the church is willing to explore the implications of God’s grace.  Compassion is no small thing…it takes constant consideration and sacrifice.  The church can’t control what they deem to be true compassion…we must promote and allow people to practice it on their own, while making corporate prayer the driving force behind our actions.

Prayer and compassion…two very difficult disciplines ,but so important to the life and future of the church.  Question is…are we willing to engage in both of them?

Love and Peace.

Are we reading the Bible, or just being “biblical”?

Not too long ago I read a great blog post from a leading thinker and theologian, Scot McKnight over at Jesus Creed.  In this particular post, Scot address the long battled issue of Christianity and drinking alcahol.  His argument was different than most when it comes to this issue.  The jist of it was that there are far too many churches and Christians who promote a “biblical” way of living, while not understanding or acknowledging what the Bible really says.

This morning I was sickened by both the online GQ article and slideshow I saw which reveals how Donald Rumsfield used to attach scriptures to pictures of the Iraq war in his reports to President Bush.  I’ve attached the article below, followed by a link to the actual pictures should you decide to view them.

on the morning of Thursday, April 10, 2003, Donald Rumsfeld’s Pentagon prepared a top-secret briefing for George W. Bush. This document, known as the Worldwide Intelligence Update, was a daily digest of critical military intelligence so classified that it circulated among only a handful of Pentagon leaders and the president; Rumsfeld himself often delivered it, by hand, to the White House. The briefing’s cover sheet generally featured triumphant, color images from the previous days’ war efforts: On this particular morning, it showed the statue of Saddam Hussein being pulled down in Firdos Square, a grateful Iraqi child kissing an American soldier, and jubilant crowds thronging the streets of newly liberated Baghdad. And above these images, and just below the headline secretary of defense, was a quote that may have raised some eyebrows. It came from the Bible, from the book of Psalms: “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him…To deliver their soul from death.”

This mixing of Crusades-like messaging with war imagery, which until now has not been revealed, had become routine. On March 31, a U.S. tank roared through the desert beneath a quote from Ephesians: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” On April 7, Saddam Hussein struck a dictatorial pose, under this passage from the First Epistle of Peter: “It is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.”

View photos here.

I have always struggled with the idea of patriotism.  I love my country and my freedom, but always struggle with reconciling being a Christ-follower with being an american citizen.  I support our troops, but never war.  I vote, but hate politics.  You get the idea…

I’m angry at the sight of these pictures!  I’m sickened when violence of any kind is justified as being biblical!  

Those of us who claim to be Christian must understand that what we sometimes do, or not do, in the name of being biblical isn’t neccassarily what the Bible really says.  War may seem biblical to some, but the Bible claims God and His Kingdom are one of peace.  I understand the occurence of violence and wars in the Old Testament, and it’s difficult to understand why God allowed Israel to battle so often with other nations, but when the Scriptures speak much more to justice, peace, and restoration…it’s foolish to claim violence as biblical!

As a pastor I find it more important than ever to teach the importance of context in scripture.  There seems to be so many divisions within the body of Christ today and many of them happen simply because context is removed from our interpretation of the Bible.  Today as I viewed the images of weaponry, and soldiers-in-action being tied to ancient (yet still God inspired) writings and prayers, I was reminded of this importance.  Context matters!

We can talk Just War Theory all day long, but what our past administration has done is wrong.  It’s a disprespect to our soldiers, and an abuse of the scriptures from these men who won millions of votes based on their claim of being born-again. 

I hope this post is more constructive than deconstructive.  I’m fairly passinate about this subject and can only hope that my little voice makes a difference by challenging readers to be thoughtful, prayerful and open-minded towards our faith in a just and merciful God.

In an age where wars are too often brought into the conversation of the end times, or “last days”…let us consider the prophecy of Isaiah as he envisioned to coming of the Kingdom of Heaven.

In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house
      will be the highest of all—
      the most important place on earth.
   It will be raised above the other hills,
      and people from all over the world will stream there to worship.
  People from many nations will come and say,
   “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
      to the house of Jacob’s God.
   There he will teach us his ways,
      and we will walk in his paths.”
   For the Lord’s teaching will go out from Zion;
      his word will go out from Jerusalem.
 The Lord will mediate between nations
      and will settle international disputes.
   They will hammer their swords into plowshares
      and their spears into pruning hooks.
   Nation will no longer fight against nation,
      nor train for war anymore.Come, descendants of Jacob,
      let us walk in the light of the Lord!

 

Love and Peace.

My own personal Jesus

I wanted to share with you a great post by Richard Dahlstrom.  Richard is a pastor in Seattle and blogs at Pastoral Musings from Rain City.  I strongly encourage you to read his stuff from time to time!  Anyway, today he shared some thoughts about something that I have struggled with for several years now. 

The notion of “inviting Jesus into our hearts to be our personal Savior”, became something I could no longer completely embrace, but at the same time, I knew not to just throw out my belief of a personal savior.  I’ve shared this struggle from time to time in my teachings at Redwood Hills, but never with the clarity that Dahlstrom does in this post.  I hope that you’ll take a minute to thoughtfully read this and then feel free to share your thoughts and questions about it.

I know you’ve heard it a thousand times if you’ve anywhere near the church over the past 50 years. “Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior”. The phrase personal savior didn’t appear out of thin air. There are countless encounters in the Bible between God and individuals. God meets Jacob, more than once, in order to shape him as God’s child. God meets Moses personally. David compares God to a shepherd who cares for each sheep personally, and Jesus takes up that same theme with his story about leaving the 99 sheep to go after the one who didn’t show up for church It’s because of all this that I want to be careful not to denigrate the phrase “personal savior”. There’s perhaps nothing more comforting in our faith life than the understanding that Jesus walks with us personally, guides us, comforts us, cares for us, heals us, transforms us.

And yet…

This piece of the faith, which plays so well in our individualistic culture, is in reality more of a sub-plot in God’s story than a main theme. The sub plot of your attendance at a baseball game might be your discovery of garlic fries. They’re good and as you enjoy them you might start a discussion with your friend, right there in the top of the 8th inning, about the cholesterol fighting merits of eating garlic. But your friend, as he distances himself from you in the interest in inhaling fresh air, will probably point out that the bases are loaded and there are two outs, and “we didn’t come here to eat garlic fries, we came here to watch the game!”

And so it goes. “We didn’t come to Jesus to get a personal savior. We came to Jesus to join a profound story that will end with a reversal of the global curse.” Global Curse means, precisely, that the curse is more than just personal. There’s a problem in the world and the problem isn’t just my thought life, or my finances spinning out of control. The problem isn’t just that I need a little help with my marriage, or the kids, or some career guidance. The problem is bigger. How big???

Of course, the great promise of Christianity is this (as one author has put it): “The answer of Christianity (is that) everything sad is going to come untrue and it will somehow be greater for having once been broken and lost.” We’re invited to Jesus not because we’ve personal problems that need fixing (though we do), but because the world is broken. I’m invited to step into the grand project of sowing seeds of hope in the world, offering a foretaste of what will be when Christ reigns fully and finally.

This is why I don’t like the phrase “accept Christ as your personal savior”. It’s not an untrue statement, as much as it’s the garlic fries at the baseball game. If all I do is sit by the snack booth and eat fries, I’ve missed the point. So it is for us, when we gather for worship and sing songs about all Jesus means to me…me…me, neglecting the grand cosmic transformation that’s unfolding, of which we’re invited to play a part. If I miss this, I remain entrenched the the kingdom of this world, singing songs about personal salvation and renewal, and comforting myself that I’m going to heaven when I die.

This is why I’m inclined to talk about sin as more than personal. It’s not just that I’ve failed God somehow – it’s that I’m part of global system that boasts genocide, sexual trafficking, and AIDS epidemic, gross economic inequalities, health issues, environmental issues, and the threat of nuclear annihilation. There’s a better story on the way…and it starts now, when I turn to Christ and become part of the solution.

Love and Peace.

Happy Birthday Mason!

Today is a special day in our home.  Our son, Mason turns 3 years old!  He’s pretty stoked about it…

Having three boys, all under the age of 5 has been a challenge!  We describe our lives as a “beautiful chaos”…which is a short way of saying there are great days and then there are the other days.  We love being parents to boys and are so very proud of each of them! 

Mason is our middle child…the spit-fire boy who never stops going.  He’s loud…competitive…emotional…and has a smile that will melt the coldest of hearts!  I’m so glad to be home with my family today, and to celebrate God’s amazing gift of life.  Happy Birthday, Mason!  Daddy loves you…

Love and Peace.

my new fascination…chalk animation.

I came across this amazing song and chaulk animation video on Peter Rollins’ site today.  Peter is one of my favorite writers, thinkers and theologians.  Make sure to watch this beautiful video, and if you’re like me and didn’t know chalk animation existed, well then welcome to a whole new world!

 

Love and Peace.

When tables collide

Yesterday I returned home from a short tw0-day trip to eastern Washington where I attended the annual conference held for pastors of our denomination.  It had been a few years since I had made the trek over and I was looking forward to seeing some old friend and hopefully connect with some new pastors. 

Looking back on the experience I can say that it was worth the time and cash to attend.  I was encouraged by some of my conversations…confused by the overall lack of vision spoken…excited about the increasing number of pastors who are planting churches.

There was one moment on Tuesday morning where the day started with a brief time of prayer and communion.  I emphasize brief since the majority of the morning was dedicated to the “business” meeting that takes place each year.  You know the routine…department reports, finances, voting on positions…the usual church business stuff. 

I happened to walk in the auditorium a little late.  They had already begun to serve communion.  I sat in the very back so not to be a distraction to anyone.  While sitting there and observing all that was happening, I couldn’t help but take notice to two tables.  One table was placed up on the stage.  On it were bottles of water, microphones, reports, and laptops.  The other table was on the floor and placed on it were the stacks of communion trays.

One was a business table and the other, the Lord’s table.

Two very different tables, representing very different things.  The truth is, that one table is vital to the church body while the other has too often been made more important than it needs to be.  It was in these few minutes of sitting and watching that I wondered to myself…which table are we pastors most familiar with? Is pastoral leadership becoming more about money, numbers, and meetings?  Are we becoming more familiar with the business table than the other, which represents surrender…sacrifice…repentance…and shared experiences?

Now, I know at first that may seem like a critical statement.  I only ask the questions since I know myself and how easy it is to make my ministry about church business and not seek the life of a shepherd.  In my experiences there have been many who have sat me down at one table and trained me to build crowds and manage budgets, but few have been a constant voice teaching me that my calling is formed at other table where truth and grace…and hope and healing are lived. 

We live in a day and age where the business table cannot be avoided.  We need it.  But, the Lord’s table is where we should want to be found.  It’s there that egos are checked and hearts are shaped.  I can only hope and pray that when my career as a pastor is done, that many more younger pastors will know which table is most important to their ministry and influence. 

Love and Peace.

Great video and even better song!

Take a three minutes and listen to this amazing song.  In fact, listen to it while watching the very cool video!  It comes from my good friend at Last Astronaut.  He has a great blog full of cultural insight, art, and life-exploration.  Make sure to check it out!

Love and Peace.