Not Always the Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

Today I find myself staring down the barrel of the concluding Sunday of Advent.  And so far I’ve been witness to the lighting of three candles (hope, joy, and love) with one to go (peace) followed by the king of all candles, the Christ Candle on Christmas Eve.  It’s been a different kind of year for our family as we explore new and diverse spiritual and worship opportunities rather than being bound to one church.  Yet through it all I can see the consistency that pervades all Christian congregations during this season.  There truly is hope and expectation that transcends all the accompanying man-made commercial madness that threatens to take over the month of December.

The busyness of the holidays can be seen in a small microcosm of the events my family will experience in just the next four days: my wife’s school chorus concert, my three children’s week of college final exams, the unexpected demise (and unbudgeted replacement) of a laptop computer, a long and tiring work-related trip to the site of a proposed nuclear power plant, the shock of three college kids returning home for winter break, and carpal tunnel surgery.  Yes, nothing says the holidays like carpal tunnel surgery!  But in the midst of the madness, my Sunday morning Advent worship gatherings have reminded me there is indeed hope through all our trials.  And while my family’s week may sound jam-packed and stressful, it’s simply a blessing to know that we’ll all be together again soon for the most wonderful time of the year.

However, the holidays can also be a stark reminder of the brokenness of this world our Savior was birthed into some 2,000 years ago.  On Saturday I was saddened to learn that an old friend had been hospitalized unexpectedly with stroke symptoms.  On Sunday morning, my heart broke when I read a news story of a gunman on the opposite side of the country firing randomly at passing motorists as he tried in a suicidal cloud of deteriorating sanity to deal with the end of a romantic relationship.  The story struck home even moreso when I discovered the slain gunman was someone I once knew when he was just a precocious, wide-eyed, fun-loving child of 4 or 5.  My emotions were sorely tested as I cried for these families whose coming week of the unknown, of unanswered questions, of grief and shock and despair, would put my "busy" week into perspective. 

In this world of ours, tragedy knows no holiday.  Misfortune takes no breaks.  And there is no single season of sadness by which to mark your calendars.  Crises await us at every turn with no consideration of convenience.  All the more reason to be mindful and thankful for the gifts of Advent: hope, joy, love and peace.  Why?  Because, regardless of the depressing tenor of the evening newscast, these four gifts are abundantly evident throughout the year, particularly as we approach Christmas.  And through all the critical moments we face in life, these four intangible elements easily overpower the ills that dominate our darkest days.  Make no mistake about it.  Christ has come.  He is with us always.  And He is coming again.  In each instance, blessing us beyond our station with the spiritual gifts that put all others to shame, the gifts that give us the strength and resolve to continue living in faith and serving Him.  When life seems void of hope, Our Lord brings it.  Jesus.  The loving and humble king who promises healing and restoration and who bears all our sins with grace and mercy.  In your life’s rock bottom moments, may you find the hope He offers through His birth, His teaching, His passion, His resurrection, and His love for you.   Merry Christmas!

What Have You Surveyed Lately?

Here are two thought-provoking quotes from a new book called “Indescribable” by Louie Giglio and Matt Redman.

"The wonders of the starry host are not merely a masterpiece. They are a message." and "God makes worshippers out of wonderers.”

Think about them for a moment or two and then ask yourself this.

How often do we use the word “wonderful” in our daily lives?  I know for a fact that it’s a common part of my daily vocabulary.  And after soaking in the two quotes above, I’m easily convinced of its overuse.  Even the most basic greeting between mild acquaintances (Q: How are you? A: “Just wonderful.”) now seems disingenuous and dramatic.  I mean seriously.  Are you honestly full of wonder at this very moment?

There are times in our lives when we are awestruck at the wonder of it all.  But we’re more likely to be found caught up in the minutiae of our routine and our worries, our work and our earthly trappings, than to be genuinely doubled over by the full force of a blast of God’s wonder and grace.  An extended period of too many days without that true sense of wonder leaves us disconnected and out of touch with our fellow elements of Creation.  You will surely recognize a real dose of His wonder as it will require days of recovery and recuperation on the part of the receiver.

Creation can be a great conductor of this sense of wonder.  The grandeur of the mountains.  The vastness of the skies.  The boundless diversity of life.  The power of the oceans.  The intricacy of the weather.  The miracle of birth.  The excitement of a new discovery.  The helplessness of being so very small.  And the magnificence of being loved so much in the midst of our insignificance.

God’s world, the one he breathed and built for us, is overflowing with wonders in every direction.  And each of those wonders, big and small, obvious and hidden, cries out to us with a message that too often goes unheard.  And that’s our fault, not God’s, because we are the ones who are broken.  Drowning in our pride and independence, we complain and whine and fill ourselves with woe, failing to appreciate all He’s done for us.  He has given us a sacrifice like no other, beginning and ending with the cross of Jesus Christ, a wondrous shape that pervades our existence from the furthest galaxies to the depths of our very cell structure.  Thank God there is no escape from it.  But unfortunately there remains plenty of apathy toward it.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this life is short.  In order to enjoy it at maximum effect, use your child-like senses daily to be humbled by His love for all of us.  Wonder at His creativity.  Survey your surroundings.  Take the time to understand it in all its glory and then praise Him.  Rejoice in the knowledge that He offers rest for the weary, peace for the troubled, forgiveness for the sinner, and an eternal sanctuary for the faithful.  Wonder at His works often and aloud to those around you.  Then open yourself to an offering of worship that, like His love, was meant to be both filled with wonder and to be wonderful!

Anthem

Recently, I found myself engrossed in an episode of “That Metal Show,” a weekly talk show offering from the fine folks at VH1 Classic that focuses on one of my favorite musical genres: heavy metal and hard rock music.  One of the standard segments of the show is a discussion of the Top 5 of various categories.  Inevitably the debate gets good-naturedly heated as music can be a subjective topic and the three panelists argue over which song or which band truly belongs on their final list.  This particular episode asked the question “What are the top 5 anthems of all time?”  But this time the debate grew heated not about the particular songs, but rather how an “anthem” should be defined.  The host of the show, Eddie Trunk, grew increasingly more passionate about this and I found my own head-banging brain wrapped up in the argument.  I love it when people are intelligently passionate about the things they believe in and hold dear to their hearts.  I got to thinking about my own list and then the process took a strange turn as I began contemplating not only songs, but how my own life’s anthem would best be composed.

Over the past two months I’ve been visiting a variety of churches on a quest to determine what the local worship community has to offer me.  This has been an educational exercise as each one is evaluated in a variety of categories: friendliness, quality of the message, music, facility, lay participation, timing, elements of worship, openness to alternative elements, demographics, programming, and level of congregational enthusiasm among others.  In each case, the individual churches have all had something positive to offer while none have necessarily struck me as the complete package.  Like each of us I’m finding there is no perfect model of church.  But each of them shared a similar anthem in worship – praise and glorification of God as our creator and redeemer, and as a deity of love, peace, hope, joy, mercy, justice, compassion and forgiveness who will come again to follow through on His promises to repair this broken world we call home.  And, consequently, it’s a natural progression to establish a worship environment for those present to use that time to commune with God in such a way that certain principles are reinforced and openly and eagerly expressed.  In this way, He is properly honored and we are properly equipped to go out as messengers of His good news and stewards and servants to live out His gospel.  These are the best of intentions and are executed at various degrees of success from church to church, and from week to week.  Any gathering of believers that can honestly commit to this is victorious.

However, one church I visited recently was beyond disappointing.  It was the only one where I felt the absence of any true sense of worship.  And as a result, my emotions ran the gamut.  What started out as anticipation and excitement, quickly gave way to boredom and confusion.  As I looked around at the other worshippers I found similar expressions of disconnect and puzzlement.  As the service wore on from music to message, I hoped for improvement but found none.  I felt sadness and a touch of anger that this church had failed in every way to engage a crowd of hungry and thirsty seekers.  Knowing full well the effort it takes to coordinate a worship service, I was bitter that those in charge had allowed their time of worship to be decreased in every way that served God and that fed his faithful. Instead I found only self-indulgence.    Where was the good news?  Where was the opportunity to praise God?  And to what spiritual end were these people being directed?  The longer I stayed the more tense I became, the more labored my breathing became.  I realized that this was no longer a good use of my time.  My conscience was screaming at me and I promptly exited the building.

I pray today for forgiveness for being overly critical, emotional, judgmental and passionate.  And I pray for those people who are unaware, exposed to a false sense of worship and to unhealthy church doctrine.  But in the end, I suppose the experience was a surprising lesson.  A reminder to never forget what my life’s anthem should be.  Not about me.  Not about us.  But all about Him.  About His Son.  About the Cross.  About His teachings.  About His coming.  And about His unconditional love for each of us no matter how far we fall from His infinite grace. 

I pray I can find a church home again where I can feel Him calling me to be a part of something greater than all of us.  Open a new door for me to be Your servant. Let me be more like You, Jesus.  And let my anthem always be you, O, Lord!

Cabin Fever

In the summer several years ago, when my three children were much younger, I remember a stretch of time when it simply would not stop raining.  I’d come home from work each day and hear my wife lament about how the entire family, including her, would soon be irreversibly stir crazy if the rain didn’t let up soon.  Then one day, I returned home from a day at the office and opened the front door to find an inflatable pool sitting in my living room, filled with pillows, and my children gleefully leaping from the sides, giggling and screaming at the top of their lungs “Geeattics!”  (This was their interpretation of the word “gymnastics’ at the time.)  And off to the side was my brilliant and beautiful wife, smiling contentedly, filled with pride at her ingenious solution to our little family’s bout with cabin fever.  And that pool remained inside for the duration of the summer.

Now here we are 15 years later, and it’s once again a rainy day when someone forgot to tell Mother Nature that the plan was for the family to visit the pool this afternoon.  My children are now grown and, rather than simply fall into the routine boredom that often accompanies a rainy day, took the initiative to alert their friends via the internet to an impromptu tournament of everyone’s favorite game, Guitar Hero, at our house.  Yet another stupendous solution to cure the mundane . . . the routine . . . the usual.

 

As children of God, we mature physically and socially, and as a result, our lives demand new and exciting experiences to push back the doldrums and the monotony life throws our way.  And we eventually take the responsibility upon ourselves to change things up.  Our faith lives are no different.  Once we mature to a certain point and understand fully what our souls stir for, we can’t be expected to be satisfied with the same formulaic worship routine week after week after week.  There comes a time when we demand the unexpected . . . the exciting . . . the element of surprise to take us on a joyous journey to the next level of fellowship with God.  Simply singing a few new songs and plodding through the same predictable standard service week after week, month after month, year after year, becomes inescapably tiresome.  We are social creatures of a mature faith who seek out new experiences with unique ways to communicate with God and to demonstrate our thankfulness and praise.  We look for new ways to release our artistic and creative talents to honor His presence.  We yearn for stronger connections with each other and with the common thread that created us and all of existence.

 

These longings command us to move beyond the comfortable and the easy and the simple, and to move into the realm of the difficult, the challenging, and the unlikely.  Break new ground.  Forge new relationships.  Travel new roads.  Meet new people.  Experience new ideas.  Move beyond your normal boundaries and expose yourself as an imperfect, constantly evolving follower of Jesus Christ.  One who is unsatisfied with this world as it is.  One who is unafraid to be heard above the din of a passive and deaf society.  One who will never stop searching for solutions to fan the flame of more believers and doers in the name of His grace and mercy.  I urge all of us to be daring and driven when it comes to expressing our faith and worshiping the One who sacrificed it all on our sinful behalf.  Work hard to make your individual and corporate worship fresh and passionate.  And, whether the moment is loud and boisterous or quiet and reflective, don’t be satisfied unless you know you’ve expended every ounce of energy to making your worship extravagant and magnificent and filled to overflowing with love and appreciation for all He has done and continues to do for us, his undeserving but grateful flock of thrill-seeking, monotony-battling, pillow-jumping, game-playing, giggling and screaming children.

Unlock Your Roar

I recently sat in the bleachers of our local football stadium on a warm summer evening and watched with much pride as my twin son and daughter graduated from high school.  It’s a bittersweet moment as I remember how much of a blank and innocent slate they were when they took that first bus ride to kindergarten, the 13 years of training and growth that culminated in that coveted diploma, and the nervous excitement that now builds throughout the summer as they anticipate the next four years of college and what lies beyond.  As the graduation ceremony wore on, we listened to speaker after speaker recite the same textbook words that one comes to expect at such an event. Thankfully, the class valedictorian decided to walk the walk and actually take “the road less traveled” rather than just talk about it.   He incorporated humor and wisdom into a well-crafted address that left the crowd smiling and relieved that our school system (students and administrators both) hadn’t completely fallen into a state of monotony and words without action or emotion.  There was indeed a light of hope at the end of a long, dark tunnel filled with test scores, homework, mid-level bureaucracy, and teenage hormones.

High school graduation is a frozen moment in time when, after years of preparation, you are finally bursting to make your mark in the world, seek your fortune, claim your independence, enjoy life to the fullest, bypass the mistakes of the past, and firmly grasp your dreams.  The last thing you want is for someone to shackle your zeal for life and to extinguish your passion for what it is you love to do.  By lingering too long in the same place and in the same position, sometimes such tragedies of life can be self-inflicted.  While we’re still young and not yet finally molded, our souls feel a need to move.  There will be time to plant firm roots in good soil later in life.  But when you are still a wide-eyed and eager novice with strength and health and untainted ideals, be mobile and experience all this world has to offer.

Jesus recognized this in His ministry.  Once he graduated to the full realization of who He was and what He had to offer, He was in a state of perpetual motion.  The same held true for His apostles once Jesus had ascended and they were finally free of their fears of persecution.  For those of us who feel the call and the purpose of the Great Commission deep inside, it can be difficult to contain that desire within the same four walls week after week and year after year, or even in the same town, or even in the same form of ministry.  It becomes undeniable that the message we are called to share with others is too big to be caged.  Jesus and His followers were unable to effectively preach the Word of God in their own hometowns, but this didn’t prevent them from walking mile after mile to find other towns and villages where their words were welcome and their healing miracles were seen in purity and experienced humbly, unquestioned and appreciatively.

Where are you in life right now?  Are you on the cusp of your own graduation?  Do you need to rediscover life’s passion and rid yourself of the routine and mundane and see a return to excitement and discovery and wonder?  If so, then take a step outside and know that He is with you always and will never allow you to falter.  Dare to dream and risk yourself because none of us should fall victim to the expected and the repetitious.  Move beyond life’s boundaries that others have set for you and see what God’s vision is for all of us.  Our God is not a small, insignificant, average and humdrum deity.  Not one to be imprisoned in the limited mind of humanity.  Our God breathes stars and paints galaxies.  He creates life and conquers death.  He is not held captive by concepts like time and gravity.  Our God moves and He is simultaneously raucous and loud, gentle and peaceful. 

Daniel Bashta, an up-and-coming contemporary Christian artist, has written a song titled “Unlock My Roar.”  In it he sings :

“The gates of Hell will tremble when love becomes the anthem that we sing.  Sickness will be silenced when this all-consuming power fills our streets.  I am the sound.  I have the voice.  I am the movement.  Unlock my roar.”

May the halls from which you are graduating today, be filled with fond memories.  May the new world into which you find yourself flung, be one of passion and blessings, both given and received.  And may the Lord of all Creation grace you with pomp and circumstance to move yourself and others in amazing ways.  Only He can provide the key that will truly unlock your roar.

Trash Can Man

This Spring, my family had the good fortune to attend a night of worship in Hershey, PA featuring one of my church’s favorite Christian music artists, Chris Tomlin.  Combined with special guest speaker, Passion founder Louie Giglio, I just knew it would be one of those can’t miss events.  I had heard ahead of time that there was an opening act.  Some band from Ireland (but not U2).  Never heard of the group. But I’d gladly sit through their couple of songs to get to the meat of the event.  It would be the polite thing to do. I mean, they couldn’t be that bad, right?

Once they appeared onstage, they were introduced as six young Irish guys and gals known as Rend Collective Experiment.  Funny name for a band, I thought.  But they proceeded to blow me away from the first note.  What an unexpected treat!  Their energy for Christ was contagious.  You could feel His presence everywhere.  Particularly in their renditon of the beautiful old hymn “Be Thou My Vision.”  Or when the members slowly processed, carrying a full-sized cross through the arena as Chris Tomlin sang “Jesus Messiah.”  And even as they joined Chris onstage for an encore and one of the members danced around using a metal trash can as a drum.  That night, God was truly present everywhere, with everyone, and in everything.  Even in the most unexpected of places: a trash can!

“Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” – Psalm 139

Psalm 139 reminds us that there is no escaping God for He is everywhere and always.  And why would we want to?  Because of our own sins and shame?  Our fears and shortcomings?  Terrified that there is someone out there who knows us for who we truly are?  Knows all our dark secrets and all our silly dreams? I’m reminded of a scene from the movie “The Count of Monte Cristo” where our hero, Edmond, lashes out “God? Can I never escape Him?”  To which his love, Mercedes, calmly replies “No. He is in everything.  Even in a kiss.”  Poetic.  And pretty darn romantic, too.

This summer I pray you will allow the warm breezes, the gentle rains, the blue sky, and the mixed sounds of birds and lawnmowers to soothe you in your leisure time.  Know that whatever your life’s situation, God surrounds you constantly and will never let you go. He’s in the Psalms and He’s in a funny-sounding bunch of Irish kids.  He’s in a kiss and He’s in a trash can. He’s in the most unexpected of things. And He’s in you.  And that’s a good thing, because He is for us and, once we understand what that really means, nothing can stand against us and His good news.  May your eyes be opened to the fact that God is here and He’s got no plans to go.  Amen.

Check out this link for a video of the trash can in action!  Our hero starts to really make his presence felt around the 3:00 mark.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb6ikcfG4-I&feature=related

Dear John

Recently, our worship service lost a close friend.  John was one of the elder statesman at our contemporary service.  He was hard of hearing.  He liked to sit by himself.  He was opinionated, sometimes to a fault.  And he was a welcome surprise when he began to regularly appear each week.  At John’s memorial service, a colleague reminded me of how John would always ask at the end of worship if there was anything he could do to help us remaining worker bees.  One of John’s “jobs”, which he began to regularly assume unofficial responsibility for, was collecting the attendance pads from around the room.  I thought to myself that, from now on, anytime I find a stray that someone forgot to collect, I’ll think of John.  Because I know for sure John wouldn’t have missed it.

This past week, our Praise Team performed a song entitled “You Are My King (Amazing Love).”  One of the lyrics particularly stood out for me during this time of personal reflection at Lent.

“How could it be that You, my King, would die for me?”

When I evaluate myself, quite often I don’t like the face that stares back at me in the mirror.  After all, I’m a sinner.  I fail more often than I succeed.  I’m growing older.  I lose more often than I win. My hair’s receding.  I’m selfish and proud.  I have ridiculously large feet.  And I’m wrong more often than I’m right.  My wife will appreciate the honesty in that last revelation.  But at the end of the day, let’s just say I don’t even come close to being the example of God’s perfection that I’d like to be.

And yet, even in that state of imperfection, God still loves me enough that He would send His only Son to save me from sin and death.  To have nails driven through his hands and feet so that I might live.  To suffer the ridicule and persecution and beating that was mine.  To hang on a cross until His heart stopped beating, His lungs stopped breathing, and His brain ceased to function.  All the while bearing the burden of my shame.  Lovingly.  Willingly.  Without hesitation.

Just like my friend, John, I’m far from perfect.  I never deserved God’s great sacrifice or His amazing love.  But, fortunately for me, those are only my opinions.  God feels otherwise.  He sees me not for all my faults and my underwhelming qualities.  Instead He sees me for all that I can be and should be and for all the great things He intends for me.  My life is meant to honor Him.  And as we are led out of the wilderness of our Lenten wanderings this coming month, may each of us realize that no matter how often we get knocked down, we are called to rise up and finish the job He’s set before us.  Just like my friend, John, may we never stop asking what more we can do for Him no matter how far we may think we’ve fallen from grace.  And may we never allow even one of His strays to escape our attention.  His death and His resurrection demand nothing less.  Amen.