At sundown we're beginning the week long celebration of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles).  Sonja and I would like to invite you all to two special events.
Wednesday night worship. 10-22-2008. 6:30pm to 8:30 ish. We will be hosting an outdoor worship evening. Bring some blankets because it may be cold. Don Bowes will be leading us through some Psalms of ascent as we prepare to come to the feast on Friday.
Friday night Feast of Tabernacles. 10-24-2008. 6:30pm. Bring your favorite food and a little extra to share. If you want to grill it here, that's okay. We are inviting anyone to celebrate the final night of the festival with a giant feast. So bring some gloriously good food and come prepared to talk about the beauty of God's faithfulness that you have seen in 2008.

These are completely laid back events. Please Please Please bring your children. We want to worship and celebrate God’s faithfulness as families and friends. Please call us if you have any questions.

If you want more information on Sukkot you can download the guide I wrote for Kaleo in 2006. You can ignore the daily devotionals but the introduction and readings might be helpful.

Have you seen the move Batman? No, not the new one, the 1989 Tim Burton creation? Where Michel Keaton plays Batman and Jack Nicholson plays the joker? It’s a great film. I think Jack Nicholson is one of the best actors alive and Keaton played a fine batman. That movie got fine reviews , so why make a new one? What were Christopher and Jonathan Nolan thinking? Critics abounded until the film’s release made $300 million faster than any film in history.

People compared Heath Ledger to Nicholson until the release and then all comparisons ended. People stopped talking about Nicholson’s role or even any of the Batman movies that came before 2005. That’s because Jack Nicholson played the joker perfectly well for 1989, but the world today demands a greater complexity.  The ‘he-got-dropped-in-acid’ explanation doesn’t work anymore. We want complicated characters. The Nolan’s don’t even try to explain the Joker’s wounds. His multiple explanations are more a sign of the depth of his disturbance than the cause of it.

In the same way, the way we did church in the 1980s was brilliant, but the world is ready to embrace a much deeper and more complicated approach to church. We should welcome this movement and let it challenge us to communicate deeper and broader than we ever have before. As you watch the innocence of Nicholson’s trickster Batman fade into the serial killing sociopath played by Ledger, you might think the world is going downhill. Yet I see a world that is now open to discuss things that it used to be afraid to discuss and the church should be a forefront in the discussion. I believe the Spirit has lead many people to look for a complicated gritty faith and some people may feel disenfranchised from the easy answers of 20 years ago. The disenfranchisement is not a comment on the answers. Those answers were correct and they still are correct.  Yet to help people understand them we need to embrace the gritty (sometime dark) nuances of life and ethics.

We need to feel free to break the paradigms of dark and light to illustrate the right. Consider this quote from Christopher Nolan.

The term 'genre' eventually becomes pejorative because you're referring to something that's so codified and ritualised that it ceases to have the power and meaning it had when it first started. What I'm trying to do is to create modern equivalents that speak to me of those tropes that have more of the original power.

Just a side note: This blog is in no way meant to disrespect the work of Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger or even Clooney and Schwartzenegger for their work in the worst Batman movie ever released: Batman Forever. Batman Forever was written by Akiva Goldsman who is one of the best writers in the business. It starred great actors.. it just turns out that certain things don’t work in certain cultures. Go figure.

 

I went to a job fair today. The line went out the door for a hundred yards. Lots of people looking for work as the economy dives deeper into depression. I met with the small handful of recruiters and left knowing that my resumes will be throw away as soon as the event is over. As I was driving home I began to get worried and I remembered reading this quote. I thought it might encourage all of you in these times that have been labeled economically tough.

"You who are God’s servants are living in a foreign country, for your own city-state is far away from this city-state.

Knowing which is yours, why do you acquire fields, costly furnishings, buildings, and frail dwellings here?

Anyone who acquires things for himself in this city cannot expect to find the way home to his own City.

Do you not realize that all these things here do not belong to you, that they are under a power alien to your nature?

The ruler will say you do not obey my laws, either observe my laws or get out of my country.

Take care lest it prove fatal to you to repudiate your own laws.

Acquire no more here than what is absolutely necessary. Instead of fields, buy for yourselves people in distress in accordance with your means.”

– Hermas. ~140AD

Let me ask you a hypothetical question:

If God sent down a historian—a man (or angel) full of wisdom and insight—and God told that man to go and see what America was up to and bring a report back to all the people already in heaven. He was tasked with reporting our deeds--describing America. What things do you think would top his list as he described us a country to those who have never heard of us? Our technology? Our pursuit of wealth? The idea of republic democracy? The American dream: a whole country devoted to this radical idea of making life better for themselves? I have to think that his report would have some good things, but I have no question that the top things he will discover will not be about our kindness, compassion, and devotion to YHWH God. Instead, what characterizes America to much of the world is our wealth. Our security in our economic and military might. And our freedom of expressions. What do you think he would record?

Do you expect that a reasonable historian would record that America is a nation that embodies the purposes of God?

I don’t.

What do you believe you are doing that so significantly separates you from them? Do you think that God’s historian would find your story so different that he would include it in his report as a story of those who are not following their own desires? Would he write about you being a part of group that is free from the pursuit of wealth? Are you a part of a counter-cultural movement? Or are you hoping that by some theological wordplay your disobedience will be irrelevant? Or are you trusting in an incalculable difference in yourself—a faith that does not express itself in a different lifestyle? Are you one of the millions of American’s living in spiritual apathy because you’ve bought into the Gnostic ideal of individualism?

Let me approach this in a completely different way. In revelation the angel writes to churches that have names of cities. You can deduct a couple of things from this: one, God’s judgment has a corporate element (or our sin has a corporate element. The effect of both being the same) and that perhaps God is going to judge you within a group. What if God judged your whole church as one? Everyone that attends your church? What if the letter is more literal and God judges your entire city of believers as one group?  What if God judges your entire city as one?

I believe these questions are worth taking time to ponder because they stir our preconceived ideas of how God is "supposed to" work.

When I ponder them I start thinking, “but that’s not fair. God won’t judge me for the sins of others.” Have you ever heard of place called Sodom? God judged the city based on their sin. The whole city bore the punishment. Even the buildings were destroyed. Edom, Philisita, Moab: the judgment of the neighboring countries of Israel fell on them as countries not as individuals. These thoughts keep me awake at night.

I cannot escape these thoughts. And I think I have discovered why.

I don’t want to be judged based on the lives of others because

I didn't say they were good reasons... but those are the honest reasons that my hardened heart doesn't embrace those around me as though God truly loved them. I know they are ugly. I repent of them daily, but I need other believers to contribute what the Spirit has given them concerning this. I need to see other Christians. Instead, I see a group of people so in love with the idea of who they want themselves to be that they pay no heed to the welfare of their neighbor and they exploit those who do not have the good fortune to be a neighbor. Perhaps our Christian community is neither Christian nor community. Could this be possible?

“Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things…”1 Tim 4:16

Take some time to meditate on these things and please post your thoughts.

           I was born with knees that bend ever-so-slightly together. It didn’t create any problems until one church picnic (when I was a freshman in high school) and my friend’s mom slide tackled me and took a chunk of cartilage and a centimeter of bone out of the femur. Ever since then I have had problems with my knees. A few years ago I was playing games with the youth group and a sophomore came flying into my knee and dislocated it. This was 5 days before I left to Russia for a two week youth mission trip.

At this point you need to come inside my head a little--because at this point I’m feeling a bit old and feeble and out of shape. But when I hurt my knee those feelings were magnified. I was nervous for the trip and I didn’t want to spend the whole time in pain and I didn’t want to spend the time sitting down behind the scenes. I don't like people thinking I'm lazy and I don't want to waste the opportunity I had in Moscow. Well, I spent pretty much the entire two weeks in pain and sure enough, one of the leaders (who never should have come) was critical of my performance with the group and she freely shared those criticisms with the elders and pastors; but I believe God used my immobility.

So I got home from Russia and wanted to get back in the swing of things and quickly went back to my daily routine. I had a lot of things pressing on me and I didn’t want take time out to ‘get back in shape.’ Now don’t cast me as the lazy guy. I tired. I would try to ride my bike or walk up some stairs for exercise but each time I bent my leg and straightened it, I could hear the bones grinding and it felt horrible. So I pretty much gave up.

Along came my hero. His name is Mark McCoy. He was serving as an elder in the church and he happened to own several physical therapy clinics. He approached me at some point (I can’t recall the first few times we spoke of this) and asked me to come by his office to see him. You might think that I was jumping for joy. But at this point, you need to understand Mark is a stud. He is a muscular good looking guy. His sons play rugby for USC. The guy has more testosterone in one finger than… well you get the picture.  I remember thinking, “I’ve tried doing more activity and it just hurts, I don’t want added pressure of an stud-elder telling me to do more activity because all its going to do is lead to one more person who thinks I’m lazy. I didn’t want that. So I turned him down. Not once, not even three times. I think I turned him down 4 times until I started getting more desperate. At this time my knee hurt all the time, pretty much every moment of the day—especially when I was sitting at my desk.

One afternoon I had been sitting at my desk all day and I stood up. Or I tried to stand and the knee gave out and I fell to the ground. I cannot write to tell you how frustrating this was. But it gave me enough courage to whine about it the next time I saw Mark. But by this point in our relationship Mark had invited me to come see him several times and I had not done so, let’s just say, he was a little annoyed. So when I brought it up he got on my case a bit. Well, something else I should add. During this time I was losing my house by not being able to pay my rent. The church I was working for at the time had lied to me about how they would pay me and I was stuck in a house I couldn’t afford. I was poor. I couldn’t afford the bill. So I told Mark that I could not come because I could not afford the bill. He about jumped down my throat. “I never asked you to pay! I just want to help!” He handed me yet another business card.

How could I refuse?

I made an appointment with his receptionist and came fearing the worst. Sure enough Mark spent the better part of an hour talking to me about what hurt and bending and poking my knee (if I haven’t mentioned this yet--poking and bending my knee is my greatest pet peeve in life. Because I used to get my knee feeling just fine and then I’d go see the doctor, they would pull and poke and it would hurt so bad; and then for weeks me knee would be sore.) But Marks pulling and poking was different—not that it didn’t hurt. It hurt, but you can whine to a guy who can kill you with his pinky finger. It’s a Chuck Norris thing. So I did my best to persevere through the appointment. At one point I explained a pain to him that I had been mystified by. I had no idea what was wrong. Mark listened and then explained that the pain I was feeling was because I wasn’t using my leg properly and he was going to need to stretch it to make the pain stop. This was a pretty key moment for me and we shouldn’t just gloss past it. I had a significant pain (from straightening my knee fully) that Mark proposed a solution and then proceeded to put me through some of the most excruciating pain I’ve ever felt. He stretched a muscle to a point it had not been stretched in years. It hurt. And if we stop the story here, all my fears have come true. I’m lying on my stomach trying not to cry while a doctor is trying to rip my knee off. But don’t stop the story here because something amazing happened. I saw an angel.. oh wait, I’m confusing this story with an episode of Seventh Heaven.. I didn’t see an angel. The miracle is that Mark was right. I knew he was right and quickly my knee told me he was right. The miracle was that I came back. By my third for fourth visit all of my pain was gone. All of it! Throughout the entire day! Mark put me on some stretching and strengthening exercises that I rarely ever did at home, but did my best when I was in the clinic and after less than a month, he managed to transform my life because I no longer felt pain throughout my entire day. I was able to use the knee without the same grinding. I was able to live the way I wanted to live.

 I hope you understand the profound impact this had on me. Not because I’m some Olympic athlete that uses his knee to run marathons. This was not about becoming an Olympian, it was about being free from my pain. This has nothing to do with knees; it has everything to do with restoration. Mark taught me about restoration. Go back the first couple of paragraphs and let’s try a different scenario.

Lets try this out: Mark approaches me and tells me that a great knee expert is coming to town and I should come here him preach, err.. I mean talk about the proper recovery for knees. Do you think I would have gone with Mark to a seminar? What if he told me that my favorite band would be playing before the speaker? Do you think I would have attended? I’m telling you, they could have been giving out flat panel television sets and there is no way in the world I would have gone to some lecture on knees. My insecurities about my weakness spoke loudly in my mind. I would never have attended anything that didn’t have my trust and respect.

 Instead, I needed skillful strong hands and steady patient love to get me on a path to health. I  recall sitting on one of Mark’s tables with the ‘e-stim’ (a device that shoots electricity through your joint) attached to my leg when I all of this dawned on me. It was that moment that I realized that I cannot continue to do church the way I had been. My life was changed. I knew in that moment that the mega church movement isn’t for me. I knew that I wanted to provide for people the kind of healing that Mark provided for me. So I began to think of opening a spiritual therapy clinic.

I definitely couldn’t just open up a spiritual therapy clinic because I’m no Mark McCoy. That guy has amazing skills to help people. I couldn’t just invite people off the street to come receive spiritual therapy. I am not some uber-competent restorer of broken people. I can’t do this alone. Spiritual Therapy is going to play by different rules than Physical Therapy. I don’t understand them. I knew in that moment that I couldn’t just open a clinic. But in that moment, I knew I must be actively involved in a holistic restoration process. The idea of “church” that I held began slipping away on that table. That is a moment that I know will have a deep impact on my life.

 

I was sitting down to write my thoughts on church and I was listening to the Psalters. I happened on this video and I stopped writing. I think that so much of what I was feeling is spoken by these bedouin brothers.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SSkuADrb2xk%am987�ature=related

"When we discover how to love, capital wont be possible and marxism wont be necessary. " 
- Shane Claiborne quoting.. well who knows... he's Shane Claiborne.

I did write tonight, but I'll save those thoughts for later. These men are living their passion. Mine is still hidden.

"Attack me, I do this myself, but attack me rather than the path I follow and which I point out to anyone who asks me where I think it lies. If I know the way home and am walking along it drunkenly, is it any less the right way because I am staggering from side to side!"   - Leo Tolstoy

*hic

dreams are wrecked by mornings;

deamers are wrought in them

Endurance and faithfulness are concepts long lost to the American culture. The messages I hear about achieving goals and accomplishing God's mission are coming from some motivational speaker, not the man of God who endures suffering to produce a fruit that is only born by it. I've got another brochure on my wall for another conference held by men with bleached teeth, tanned skin and a broad smile. We don't need more people trying to lead us by dangling things which we can see. We need men and women passionately running after goals that are obviously impossible. Faith requires endurance and endurance denotes suffering. Leaders are defined by faithfulness.

1 Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

We look for leaders who are able to dream fantastic dreams, but I hear a calling for dreamers who are willing to follow difficult paths.

Hopefully, this will help us keep track of what we've read.
Bible Reading Plan
Click save target or just open it in another window and print.