MAKE THE MOVE

The Palmer Perspective has moved. Your browser should have redirected you there automatically, but if not, you can find me at http://seanpalmer.wordpress.com

Those of you who view the page RSS will need to reset it to the new blog.

The Sky is Falling

I've been working my way through Alan Roxburgh's The Sky is Falling. Here are some salient quotes from the first half of the book.

"America's religious history has been deeply shaped by the nation's history and social formation. Beginning with the massive suburbanization of the nation in the mid twentieth century, a deep conviction has developed (particularly among white, Protestant congregations) that individualism and economic opportunity are the highest expressions of Christian life."
----------
Speaking of change:

"The need for control and predictability still assert themselves in powerful ways. Oddly enough, congregations and organizations that promise people a return to stability will thrive in this period, even though they can't truly provide it. Since everyone is looking for stability, when these churches say they can provide it, people flock to them like moths to a flame. Then, to make it worse, the promise seems validated because certain types of congregations do thrive (and they are generally homogeneous, middle-class, and suburban). Other leaders then see them as signs of hope and choose to copy their tactics, though doing so only pushes them even farther from embracing the transition around them and honestly addressing its demands."
----------

"At a recent conference focused on church growth and seeker-directed leadership, a Mennonite pastor walked into an elevator I was using. Bemused by the discrepancy between the theological and ecclesial imagination of Mennonites and the nature of the conference. I asked him, why a Mennonite was at such an event. His response was quick and direct: 'Because it works!' In the midst of massive discontinuity, disembedding, and transition, leaders desire to find something that 'works' rather than stopping long enough to understand what is actually happening...They seek external resources that promise ways of reinstating control without changing the substantive nature of the system. There is little thought put into the question of fundamentally reinventing the system itself."

Meet My Needs!

Truth be told, the church has never met my needs. That's odd to me since I've been in it my entire life and now serve her full-time. What's odd to me is that people in church keep telling me that we need to do things to "meet people's needs."

Really?

I mean, I suppose the church has met my deeper needs in some ways that I cannot articulate, but the meeting of needs I most frequently hear about have to do with externals: services that last no longer than an hour, 15 minutes sermon about kids and families, events that are fun and high-energy, leadership that doesn't challenge, etc....

I hardly ever hear anyone say, "I think our church should help me get over my selfishness and greed" or "I wish our church would teach me how to be humble person in a competitive workplace." No one ever says, "Goodness, I wish this church had a word to say about the fact that water is thicker than blood and that life is about baptized brothers and sisters in Christ and what they do together in the world, more than about my immediate family." Where are the voices saying, "This church could really be something if we learned to live peace-filled lives and love folks like Osama bin Laden and that crazy guy over in Iran."?

Here's my question: In the church's frenzy to "meet needs" by having active kids and youth ministries, clever preaching, entertaining worship complete with the style of music we like, the lack of prophetic voices, and all at a cut-rate prices, are churches failing to met anyone's true and deepest needs? It seems to me, that many of us in the church are lying to people. We imply that we can meet their needs, yet offer them something that satisfies their wants, but never get close to their needs.

What do you think?

The Cusp of Riches

My wife, Rochelle and I have been talking and thinking a lot about missional living and radical giving. The world is such that there are people in need no matter where you look and everywhere you turn, which means there are myriad ways to offer gifts to those in need.

Truthfully, I have always struggled with giving. Part of the reason for this has to do growing up poor and feeling as if you didn't keep as much as you could, then you would run out. Increasingly though, I'm learning that that kind of scarcity thinking is antithetical to the gospel of Christ.

I'm not the only one, though. Many of us have trouble giving, don't we?

Two weeks ago Rochelle was leading a Bible study from the book of James. The apostle James has a lot to say about taking care of the poor, orphans and the widows, showing favoritism, and pure religion. One of the women in class, who is very generous and very wealthy made a few defensive comments about the rich and giving. But, what Rochelle wanted to say was "Wait, don't get offended because you're rich. You're one of the good ones, you're one of the few people who are working to get this right."

And, in my experience with the wealthy folks at my church, that has been largely true. It's never the wealthy or the poor who have difficulty giving, and even giving to the point of sacrifice. It's most frequently those of us on the cusp of riches that are most resistant. It's those of us who aspire to more cash and comfort that always want to be stingy, who want to know where every dollar we give to someone or some organization is going, it's those of us whose chief sin is lacking trust in God to be faithful and to care for us that secretly hate to give and consider giving a kind of divine stick-up.

Many folks, I'm finding, resent giving. I can tell because they add all sorts of qualifiers to their giving. I've seen families in need have to undergo a full-on financial anal probe to get 200 bucks from the church, and I've seen people have to account for where every dollar given them by the church . Now, in our highly competitive, capitalists-driven America, we call these questions and qualifiers "accountability." But is it really?

Jesus says this curious thing in the Sermon on the Mount. He says, "Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you." He adds no qualifiers. He never says that we need to know where the gift goes or if the person is "worthy" or "needy" enough to receive it. I think the Lord is saying, "Your job is to give. Don't worry about what happens next."

Interestingly, the next topic Jesus tackles is loving our enemies. Perhaps the two are connected. Perhaps we sense that those who ask of us are somehow our enemy, as if they are taking something from us that we don't want to give away. Perhaps as we learn to give, we are also expanding our capacities for love--to the point of loving those who are stridently opposed to us.

How might this re-thinking of giving reignite the churches' vision and mission in the world? How might a church bent on giving without expectation or question help us reflect the Kingdom of God?

Reading, Reading and More Reading.

Each summer I select a slate of books to work through. In fact, I'll spend a good bit of my vacation - if and when I take some - reading. This summer I am delving more deeply in Missional Ecclesiology and Emergent literature. By "Emergent" I mean Emergent Village's recently published "An Emergent Manifesto of Hope."

I'm looking forward to all the non-definitions that are sure to be found in my fellow seeker's and friend's work. While I'm sure the book will light some of the path forward for many of us, I suppose others will be frustrated. Those who want all of life to be tidy and as unwrinkled as hospital corners, have a difficult time with those associated with Emergent Village. The reason is that we are all very different and that makes some people uneasy. Emergent Village is made up of conservative baptists and church of Christ folks from the south, Biblical liberals from the west, northeastern academics, mid-western radicals, staunch Republicans and vehement Democrats and that makes for an eclectic group that is no where near univocal.

Personally, that's why I'm engaged by it. I'm fascinated to meet and know other committed Christians who read Scripture differently than what I've been taught to read and hold to an alternative ecclesiology than I know. These people make my experience and knowledge of God richer. So I read them, praise them, disagree with them, and love them as the Father loves me - or at least I try to. And at the end of the day we're all trying to walk in the way of Jesus.

On the missional front, I've got a copy of Alan Roxburgh's new book, "The Sky is Falling" and Patrick Kiefert's, "We Are Here Now." In my book, the best emerging church practitioners are deeply and intentionally missional. The two should go hand-in-hand.

I'm also in an online group that's reading Rob Bell's "Sex God" and I've also got to finish BarackObama's "The Audacity of Hope." I had to Obama down recently as I waded my way through Jones' and Lakeland's Constructive Theology, the writings of Freidrich Schlieirmacher, Church Dogmatics by Karl Barth, Luis Pedraja's Teologia, and the sermon's of John Wesley.

So, what are you reading this summer?

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

I'm thinking about moving this blog to another provider. I've loved blogger, but I think wordpress might be a little easier to use. Any input?

GO SPURS GO

I've been a San Antonio Spurs fan for years--since the heyday of David Robinson. I love the team and have celebrated each of their three championships with great joy. And yes, I want them to win it again this season! However, since my wife--who is also a Spurs fan--is from Phoenix we decided to root for whichever team won this Western Semifinal to win it all. The Suns are probably my second favorite team and I have no problem cheering for them as long as they're not playing San Antonio.

It's been a great series! It reminds me of basketball before the Jordan area, when some players couldn't be touched, making for a "soft," "finesse" game. I haven't enjoyed basketball this much in a long time.

And, oh, the Spurs aren't dirty. GO SPURS GO!!

The Worship Industry

This video - featuring Brian McLaren - is for all my friends who are worship leaders. Each of them works hard to draw people into a communion with God and the pressure is often frustrating.At the very moment that someone in a church is praising them for how they experienced God that day, another person is waiting to fillet them about what they "didn't get."

I hope this video gives us all some hope and direction about what worship should and can be, and how we as worshipers can bless our leaders (leaders, pastors and teachers) by freeing them to simply be open and honest in all of church life.

The Irresistible Revolution / The Future Church...Hopefully

In order to get more "reading" done, I've started to listen to books on CD. Last week I picked up the mp3 of Shane Claiborne's "The Irresistible Revolution."

It is a powerful message that has been close to my heart for a long time, though I think I'm better at talking and writing about it than doing it. Claiborne's life challenges in the same way that Mother Teresa - whom he interned under - challenges.

When I think of the future church, I hope what Claiborne is doing is right at the heart of it, though that spells unease and trouble for most of us.

Journey to the Future Church

Truth be told, over the last several years, my feelings toward the church have eroded. What once to me was a flawed but useful, necessary body, slowly became completely useless in terms of rehearsing the Kingdom of God.

The reasons for this disillusionment were myriad: First, I saw church after church make moves and decisions based on any reason you can imagine except for spiritual and theological ones. Effective, anointed, and gifted ministers were fired and/or otherwise replaced with cheap suited M.Divs with nothing to say, no vision for the future, and hungry bank accounts (this was the case with a friend of mine ministering north of Houston and another in San Antonio). Second, as is so often the case, power players with money and an affinity for the status quo, pressed their preferences into policies that ultimately made their churches less a reflection of Jesus than more of one. Third, though I had always suspected it, it was made clear to me that many of the church are more concerned with comfort and maintaining their spiritual country club than with ministering to the world and loving and accepting the irreducible other. Fourth, I continued to see churches -- particularly large ones -- mistreat their ministry staff, somehow expecting that they and their families could subsists on far less money than the average member of the community. Fifth, I witnessed some ministers and church leaders actively resist new ideas, emerging voices and fresh winds of the Spirit. Sixth, it began to dawn on me that my own spiritual growth was happening outside of the church. I don't simply mean outside of church services, but rather outside and away from the folks I worshiped with (the definition of church) on a weekly basis. Not only that, my friends at other churches were having the same experiences and thinking the same things. Something strange was happening.

It was during this time that I began to examine what was going on in the church. The period of searching led me to literature with fancy sounding words like "Missional Ecclesiology," "discontinuous change," "liminality," "post-modernity," "post-liberal," "post-Christianity," "post-colonialism," and others. It was almost enough to make me go postal. It was an education in itself just to understand the terminology. Because I was so desperately seeking, I suppose I never really gave up on the church, though. Rather, I had come to believe that many of us charged with her leadership were groping in the dark, yet because we were charged with leadership we had to act like we knew what we were doing.

It's not working though. We know it's not working. Those within and without our congregations know it's not working, yet because we have so long confused faith with certainty, church leaders frequently have to act like we are certain with this precious jewel which is the church lest we think it become faithless. Frequently my heart echoed the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: "So often it (the church) is an archdefender of the status quo...If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned to outright disgust."

I confessed to a friend last week that I was deeply distressed about the future of the church. Ironically, I received an e-mail from my friend Mark Love at Abilene Christian University asking me to be a part of a panel at this year's Annual Lectureship about "The Future Church." Now you should know that I trust Jesus' words when he says that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church He built, but when I first received his e-mail about "The Future Church," my heart cynically asked, "Will there be one?"

I do not say these things about the church as some kind of agitator that is secretly hoping to see her fail. I'm a son of the church, a lover of who she is. I'm not one of those folks who can look around any church and undercut her good by pointing to what's wrong. Truthfully, I'm not even negative about the church. I'm optimistic about what the church can and should be and do, and therein lies my holy discontent.

I'm not too negative, I'm too positive!

I believe that faith-filled, God-centered, neighbor-loving people can actually change the world. I believe that folks like Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Billy Graham, Shane Claiborne, St. Paul and others who gave their lives for grand, beautiful pursuits in the name of Jesus are not the exceptions. They are snapshots of what God can do with any and all of us who are willing to give ourselves to Him. I believe that the folks in our pews who want to simply check in and check out of the local church to consume their religious goods and services were sold a lie by a church that promised them stability instead of adventure. And because of that, we've got a lot of work to do and undo!

It's hard for me to talk about the future church, because I don't know what it will look like, and I think that's a good thing. The church is God's, not ours, and He's under no obligation to consult us about her. But if I were to guess about the church's future, I would say that there are three primary options:

(1) More and more Christians will try the escapists' model. We will fortify ourselves in our own schools, churches and sub-culture, becoming evermore irrelevant to the world. This is one way the church can survive in the future. We will simply stand as a anachronism to the larger culture, accepting our new place in public life. Like the Amish, the evangelical church can pick a moment in time and say, "We will go no further."

(2) Churches will continue to simply try to do the same things we've always done, thinking we can be successful if we simply do what we do better. We will fail to see that some of the problem in the church is in the church. We will say the problem is that people don't want "The Truth" anymore and stand in rabid, blind opposition to the culture. The church will become judge and jury over the world, begging it to come back to the dominant days of Christendom and the culture-privileged church. Here, nearly nothing inside the church will change and our proclivities will become unquestioned and unquestionable gospel as the actual gospel goes unheard and unspoken.

Or

(3) The church, as it slowly and reluctantly has in the past, will change! It will take a rethinking of our assumptions about Scripture, people and culture. It will mean learning to re-imagine church, spiritual formation, and faith development. It will mean seeking God rather than political power, influence, image and ego. It will mean engaging the irreducible other -- the people that are not like us -- with a love and acceptance of them that seeks God's purposes in their lives more than their easy transformation into people who look, talk and act like we do. It will mean reconverting -- which will be painfully hard -- ourselves and others into people on a spiritual quest instead of folks who want a serving of Yahweh on the side. It will mean that the church as we know it must die, so that God can once again demonstrate the power of resurrection.

I, for one, think #3 is the church's best option. And I, for one, think language like "missional," "liminality" and "post-whatever" are useful for church leaders, but are not the point. The point is that the church -- the people of God -- are called to be God's Kingdom representatives on earth and what that looks like changes and adapts in time and through culture. Being Kingdom representatives is our primary vocation. Whether we are teachers, lawyers, accountants, maintenance personnel, administrators, students or whatever, we ARE called to enter into the Kingdom of God, to call others into it, and love the world as Jesus did. And each day, as more and more of us do this, the church has a future. And each day, as more and more of us do this, the future has a church.

The Pride of My Life...

One of the truths of my life is that I get a lot of attention. Certainly, some of that attention is negative and critical, but the lion's share is positive. I get to write some, travel and speak and have people gush about how I've blessed their lives. But today, I get to gush about someone who has blessed my life -- my wife, Rochelle.

This morning, Rochelle and I taught a session at the Pepperdine Bible Lectures. This was our first joint session. I honestly thought my stuff was the best part of our class. Well, that was before we actually presented the class. I was blown away. She outdid me. And trust me, that hardly ever happens!

Rochelle did a fabulous job today, and I am very proud! In the past 2 months, my wife has given birth to a baby, organized and ran a women's retreat, taught our church's women's Bible study and a Sunday School class, lived with a husband who has been out of town several weekends and somehow managed to put together the best class that I've heard all week (and that's not husband grandiosity and pride).

What a woman!!

Nearly ten years ago, as Rochelle and I were about to get married, my mom said to me, "I couldn't have picked a better wife."

My mom has never been more right.

One Day Done

I woke up this morning in beautiful Malibu, CA. The only problem was aI woke up at 4am to the cries of my 11-week old daughter and the the snores of my 3 year-old daughter. Nevertheless, 2 hours later when I arose for good, it was to brisk, clean air and sights of the moutains rising over the Pacific ocean. Each year I come to the Pepperdine Bible Lectures, I ask myself how any students or facutly ever get anything done. I went to Abilene Christian, in the dust bowl of Abilene, TX and barely got anything done while there, so Malibu would have been a diaster for me. This is truly one of God's more beautiful places on earth.

Missional and other things...

I've been talking to a lot of people about Missional Church. The scope of the discussion is extremely broad, and the language itself gets used by so many people many so many different things that it's difficult to get your head around. Though I've been immersed in the literature for about 6 years now, I am always fascinated by the folks who are really put off by the concepts.

For those of you familiar with Missional Ecclesiology and Missional Renewal, please comment or e-mail me about what excites you about it, or what concerns / worries you about it the shift from churchianity to Christianity.

----

Our family is off to Malibu this week. Rochelle and I will be teaching at the Pepperdine University Bible Lectures. I will also be doing a session for high school students called "The Pepperdine View." Our girls are going with us and my mom is flying from Georgia to join us on the journey.

----

Our 3-year-old is struggling to potty train -- or rather her parents are struggling with training her. Any helpful ideas?

----

Much love to you all!

Homiletical Fast Food

I know that I've already blogged twice about sermonic plagiarism, but evermore interesting thought concerning the issue continues to arises. Trust me, I'm not on a hunt to root out some plagiarizer, rather people keep giving me head's up when they come across something on the subject.

This week our Administrative Minister handed me an article Dr. Thomas G. Long contributed to this month's The Christian Century. Here are some of the more choice quotes from that piece:

"...preachers who stand up on Sunday morning with a sermon ripped off the Internet and preach the words as if they were their own almost certainly violate the implied agreement with the congregation.

"A good test of this point is to ask, What would happen if the preacher told the truth? "Hey, folks, it's been a busy week and I didn't have time to work on a sermon, and honestly, I'm not all that creative anyway. So this is a little something I found on the 'net" (and I would interject a "book" read). The fact that the air would immediately go out of the room is a reliable indicator that the tacit agreement of the sermon event has been violated. This is why plagiarists, for all their blather about God's words being free to all, never confess their true sources and always imply that these words are coming straight from the heart."
------------
"Only preachers who deliver their own sermons stand with one foot in the life of the people and one foot in the biblical text."
------------
"All preacher borrow from others, and should. There is a difference between being a debtor and being a thief. All preachers stand on the shoulders of biblical scholars, theologians and faithful witnesses from across the generations. We do not owe our congregation an original essay: we owe them a fresh act of interpretation."
------------
"Pulpit plagiarists...in the name of expediency, will grab what they wish wherever they can find it and claim it as their own. Their stolen sermons may occasionally sparkle, but in the end they will have spread the banquet table of God with the empty calories of homiletical fast food."

Food for thought, I think.

The Blogosphere

Lat week we hosted and led two memorial services for dearly loved members of our community. One was 93 and the other 74. In the midst of all this, one of our elders' wives was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which they thought was malignant at fist glance. To say the least, it was a hectic, emotional week.

That explains my absence from my keyboard recently. My apologies for those of you who frequently check on the blog.

While I haven't been writing a lot, some of my friends have posted very thoughtful pieces on theirs. I'm always mixed when I read friends' blogs. I'm glad that they are finding their voice and engaging the world, but then I get a knot in my stomach because I think to myself, "Shoot, I wanted to write that." Then, I feel guilty over my jealousy.

Anyway, here are some things you might want to check out.

1. One of my "old kids," Jessica Reese (I've known her since she was 15, now her oldest daughter is older than my youngest), who is - or will soon be - an emerging writer, has some good thoughts on Christian art at her site.

2. My friend, and recently returned missionary now working with Compassion, Russ Debenport, has some great music and thoughts about CCM at his blog.

3. Though Easter has passed, William Willimon has a great piece on the last to believe in Easter on on his blog, "A Peculiar Prophet."

4. Bill Kinnon, who I don't know, has some interesting thoughts entitled, "The People Formerly Known as The Congregation," at his site.

Happy Reading

Don Imus ...

I've been extremely busy that last few weeks, so a lot of my thoughts have gone unblogged. But if you're interested in what I think about the Don Imus fiasco, click here.

I think Whitlock is on to something. What's more, Whitlock is a smart, thoughtful columnists, who had previously been berated by Imus over another issue.

To Oklahoma and Back

You’ve probably noticed that the blogs have dried up lately – nothing new in a while. Well, there are several reasons for that. First, I spent an extraordinary amount of time studying for a mid-term in Systematic Theology. I’ve probably never studied that long for a test – approximately 10 hours. Historically I don’t do well on test. I’m better at writing papers, I think. Memory is not one of my gifts, so I try to stay away from things that require it. After the 10 hours studying, I took the test, and feel as though I did pretty good. By “pretty good” I mean that I understood all the words.

Second, I’m trying to be more intentional about how I spend my time at home. Honestly, I’ve always been intentional about my time at home, I was just intentionally working on different stuff – sometimes even the blog. With the addition of our second daughter, I realized that I am even more needed. More than that though really; the need for me to be present at home pales in comparison to the joy I experience by being with our girls. With every piece of research I read and with every story I hear, I become more convinced that there is a fathering crisis in this country. Too many Dads don’t spend time with their kids, they don’t know how to connect with them, and many of them are say horrible things to their kids when they do spend time with them. I could tell you endless stories of absentee fathers and dads who call their kids fat, stupid, lazy and unlovable. I never want to be that guy. So, if it means that it takes me longer to get my writing projects done or I have to read at midnight, then so be it.

Speaking of spending time with the family, the third reason I haven’t blogged much lately is because I spent this past weekend at an event in Lawton, OK speaking to a group of teenagers. (Remind me sometime tell you the story of meeting a very cool C-list actress, having to toss out my contact lenses and speak without really being able to see anything, and how I realized that my life was indeed crazy when I was changing my clothes in a church nursery.) The best part of the Lawton trip was meeting and spending time with some very cool emerging Christian artists: Shades of Green, comedian Hoss Ridgeway, and Watershed Worship. I’ve very pumped about the generation of artists – true artists – that are coming up in the church in general and churches of Christ, in particular. Not only did they bust me out some free t-shirts, my two new free Shades of Green CD’s will soon be dropped in my iPod.

Well that's enough blogging for now. Catch you later.

Life Convergence

Noted profound thinker and pugilist, Mike Tyson, once said, "Everybody has a plan until they get hit." Surprisingly keen from someone who seemingly can't keep any part of his life in order, don't you think? But Tyson is right. Dead right!

As I sat with my old prayer group from college this weekend, I began to think about life, plans and joking around. In school we would laugh and make fun of just about anything. That's not so much the case now. Though our censor buttons are still typically turned to the "off" position when we're together, there are some things that aren't so funny anymore. Since we walked the campus of Abilene Christian University our plans have taken some hits. There have been some truly wonderful moments -- marriages, children, career advancement, goals met. There have also been terribly distressing moments -- divorces and marital strife, beautiful children born with birth defects and infertility, career frustration and jobs deserved and not offered, and goals that may never be met or have been abandoned all together.

In an odd life convergence, when I arrived home from the weekend I had a mass e-mail from Classmates.com asking me to update my profile. I -- like you, I suppose -- receive these pretty frequently and never pay attention, but this time I did. As I was looking at the questionnaire, one question jumped off the page to me: "Where are you in life?"

Classmates has several options listed to answer that question, but most folks in my high school graduating class answered: "About where I thought I'd be?"

I thought, "Are any of us where we thought we'd be?" In some way "yes," but in more ways "no," I would guess. Who could predict the ups and downs, the loves and loads that have befallen us all since high school or college? My prayer group from college couldn't. Living means encountering and embracing the unexpected and recalibrating "where we thought we'd be."

And I think that's a good thing!

As I flip the pages of the New Testament, I see again and again that the people who miss Life with Jesus miss Him because He doesn't fit what they thought He'd be. I've learned that it is the truly spiritual person who sees God in the "terribly distressing moments," knowing that our plans need to take some hits so that we might step into God's plan.

I'm not saying that I've got this all figured out. I want God to sign off on my five-year strategy, trust me. I am saying that the next time I log on to Classmates.com, I want them to have another option listed to answer the question, "Where are you in life."

The option I want: "Right where God wants it to be, and I'm happy with that."

Where I've Been

Faithful readers might be wondering where I've been since the last post. Indeed, it's been a while, but the time away from the keyboard has been well spent. Here what's been going on...

1. Last weekend I was at Men's gathering where Dr. Mark Love, professor and director of Ministry Events at Abilene Christian University, was the speaker. I was blown away with the thinking and writing Mark's been doing concerning penal substitutionary atonement and salvation. It's groundbreaking! I can't wait for his upcoming book this September. I'm clearing out my reading so it can go to the front of the list. In addition, I deeply enjoyed the time driving and talking with Mark. I was struck by how frank, honest, and transparent he is.

2. After the weekend, I spent three days at my mother-in-law's home. It was spring break, so both she and our family were on break. While there, I finished my final revisions for The Voice (at least I think they're final). The Psalms won't be out anytime soon, but check out the site to stay up to date.

I was planning to get more writing and reading done, but Rochelle's car broke down (dead battery), and finding a tow truck in central Texas is pretty tough. Plus, come to find out, our car warranty company has gone bankrupt. I'm sure we'll soon get a letter asking us to be a part of a class action.

3. Next I spent two days with the guys from my college prayer group. What a group! There is something special about having people in your life who know everything about you -- AND I MEAN EVERYTHING -- and love you anyway. I feel sad for people who have no place to go to be completely open. It is truly a blessing.

My good friend, Kraig, was nearly killed in a car accident on the way home. Originally, I was supposed to ride home with him. Glad I didn't!

Adult Resignation

I just recently discovered this little piece. To me it is powerful, captivating, and dead on with where I want to take my life. Enjoy.

"I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult.

I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of an 8 year old again.

I want to go to McDonald's and think that it's a four star restaurant.

I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make ripples with rocks.

I want to think M&Ms are better than money because you can eat them.

I want to lie under a big oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summer's day.

I want to return to a time when life was simple. When all you knew were colors, multiplication tables, and nursery rhymes, but that didn't bother you, because you didn't know what you didn't know and you didn't care. All you knew was to be happy because you were blissfully unaware of all the things that should make you worried or upset.

I want to think the world is fair. That everyone is honest and good.

I want to believe that anything is possible. I want to be oblivious to the complexities of life and be overly excited by the little things again.

I want to live simple again.

I don't want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness, and loss of loved ones.

I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth,justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind, and making angels in the snow.

So....here's my checkbook and my car-keys, my credit card bills and my 401K statements.

I am officially resigning from adulthood. And if you want to discuss this further, you'll have to catch me first, cause, 'Tag! You're it.'"

Changing Minds

I discovered the pen of David Roper about 13 years ago while interning for a church in Atlanta. Each day the interns had to read a devotional thought from Roper's book, A Burden Shared: Encouragement for Leaders. Each devotional takes about 2 minutes to read, but the thoughts are powerful, thoughtful, and yes, encouraging.

I frequently return to Roper when in need of a fresh, grounded, incisive voice. Today was one of those days. By divine guidance I landed on Roper's devotional about changing minds. This is a difficult topic for me. It's difficulty because, honestly, when people disagree with me or are resistant to needed changes to engage people with the gospel I secretly think them stupid, ill-informed, disingenuous, unthoughtful, power-hungry or ignorant. Of course, I never tell them that. And down deep I recognize that I'm wrong for thinking and feeling that way, yet, I oftentimes do feel that way.

Roper helps me recalibrate my instincts and behaviors in the face of trying to move individuals and the church forward. First quoting Paul and then expanding the thought, Roper writes...

"The Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will (2 Tim. 2.24-26).

"It's a sin to bully people--to be combative and argumentative. Discussion and debate on the facts is one thing; assault is another. When we resort to coercion we've already lost our moral and rational force. The Puritans were right when they enunciated the principle of consent. Faith can never be foisted on another. Consent must be gained by gentle persuasion and reason rather than mandate. People are best charmed into compliance.

"So we should avoid what Paul calls 'foolish and stupid arguments' and always be 'kind to everyone'--intelligent and relevant in our proclamation and nondefensive in our posture, gently instructing those who oppose, 'in the hope that God will grant them repentance...that they may come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil who has taken them captive to do his will' (2.24-26)

"Those who oppose are not the enemy but victims of the enemy, deceived and captured by him to do his will. They may be delivered, Paul insists, but only if we speak the truth in love.

"Truth alone is never enough. Without love it is mere dogma and it never touches the soul. And without truth, love becomes mere sentimentalism. Only truth delivered with lovingkindness has power to change another's mind. Truth sounds good only when it's spoken with courtesy."

Good thoughts, David.

Me Worship

This video really captures much of the state-of-the-church. Like many things, it's funny because it is true.

For readers of this blog, I don't have to go into a lot of detail about the commercialization of the church. You know all too well the temptation of churches to offer more and more religious goods and services in the hopes of drawing people, not to Jesus, but to the empires we are building; to be successful by worldly standards.

The question is how do we move ourselves, our churches and pre-Christians away from a "me-orientation" toward missional living.

Anyway enjoy the video!

Humilty and Child Rearing

Having a child is a humbling experience. It's most humbling for the mother; who is poked and prodded; shaken and stirred as doctors and labor and delivery nurses enter and exit her narrow hospital room in their seemingly endless quest to "measure" something. Then there's the endless parade of nursery nurses and breast-feeding experts coming in and out of her room wanting to "check" to see how the nursing is going. Soon, I suspect, a woman begins to feel as though her body is simply on display like a nude exhibit at a seedy New York art gallery.

Newborns are humbling for dads too. As many of you know, I do my fair share of public speaking, teaching and preaching, so I've come to believe that I'm pretty good at it. Last night, my almost-one-week-old taught me differently. As her mother was slumbering, I began to tell Katharine about her family - who her mom, sister, and dad are, what she needed to know about Christmas and how we celebrate birthdays. Trust me, I was telling GREAT stories! Low and beyond, as I reached the crescendo of my magical story-weaving, I looked down anticipating the anxious eyes of my daughter and there she was...asleep!

Can you believe that?

I was insulted!

Yet, in my gentle, fatherly, comforting way, I leaned over to her ear and said, "Do you know people PAY to hear me speak?"

Alas I let her off the hook, telling myself; "This is just my first sermon to her, she's got a lot more coming."

::Your Inner Geek::

I've long held to the hypothesis that everyone has an "Inner Geek." What I mean by that is that whoever you are, no matter how cool, there is something - maybe even multiple somethings - that you are a geek about!

I'm mainly a geek about church. When going out-of-town or away on vacation, one of my chief concerns is which churches I'll be able to go to. For instance, this spring I'm going to Malibu, CA, and you better bet that I'll try to arrange my schedule to visit Mosaic in LA. In addition the coming months will take me to Raleigh, New Orleans, Abilene, and some other places I can't quite remember right now, and you better bet I'm going to try and catch some innovative, missional church in the area. As a matter of fact, this past Advent season I tried to make four different church services on Christmas Eve. Alas, my wife's sensibilities and high gas prices colluded to reduce me to only two services plus the Pope's midnight mass.

I'm just a geek for church!

In my free time I read books about church, I write ideas about church, and I blog about church. Amazingly, many if these things never reach the light of day. It doesn't matter to me though, it feeds my inner geek.

I have other things that I'm a geek about too. The are the following:

Crossword Puzzles - don't ask.
Preaching - which has something to do with church.
Gadgets - especially if it's made by Apple.

So what are you a geek about?

Hospitals

I’ve had a small problem all of my life: I’m a complainer. Well, not really a complainer as much as someone who gets very agitated when things don’t go as planned or when people – other than me of course – don’t do what they’re supposed to do when they’re supposed to do them.

I’m a planner.

But I am a planner in transition. As a matter of fact, several years ago I used to be teased about being overly planned in my ministry, now I get criticized for not being planned enough. I’m learning – in big ways and small – to allow God to be Lord of my life and stop telling other people that they all have to met my schedule and time table in order to be in good favor.

The reason for the change, you ask? The place I’m sitting now; the hospital.

Three years ago, when our first daughter was born, things didn’t go well for me. I was agitated by being stuck in the hospital room for 5 days; When I went home one day to take a shower, I got there and discovered that I had left my keys in the hospital; and Malia had to stay in the hospital an extra day because she was jaundiced. All of that doesn’t begin to mention the cost of “living” as a well person in the hospital; parking, meals, drinks, etc. As I look back on how much I complained and fussed I am embarrassed. I behaved that way because until that point in my life I thought that a good life consisted of making a plan and working the plan. I was wrong!

That episode may seem kind of silly to you, but it was powerfully formative for me.

The fact – which I can clearly see now – is that I was complaining in the hospital, yet I was there for a joyous reason, and very few people get to celebrate in a hospital. Just a few floors up from where I was then and where I am now, someone is in a coma, a man is slowly dying from the effects of a stroke, a daughter and son are letting go of their mother who is passing away from breast cancer, a child is suffering from some horrid disability and disease that no child should have to face, and a young parent is saying goodbye to a spouse and children. That’s what happens in hospitals; people suffer and people die.

How in the world could I then complain because the servers, nurses and doctors did not bow to my family’s desires and needs?

I think hospitals are good places to find perspective, to celebrate life and meaning, and honor and grieve the dying. It’s been a blessing for me to be here this week, not just because we are welcoming Katharine McKenna into our family, but because her father is being reminded about life.

May you find life somewhere this week!

------------

By the way, if you’re wondering how to find a little bit of perspective in the hospital, think about this. When I asked Rochelle’s nurse when her dinner was coming, she said, “They always serve us last, (maternity) because no one here is sick.”

A Great Day!

We did it! Well, my wife Rochelle did most of the work, but I was there by George! That’s right. This morning, my wife gave birth to a 7lbs 7 ounce baby girl; our second of the finer gender. Her name is Katharine (noble, pure) McKenna Palmer and she – just like her older sister – is special beyond compare.

We’ll spend the next few weeks adjusting to life with a 3-year-old and a newborn, so I may be posting less frequently. Be assured, sleeping comes before blogging. Anyway, I wanted to let you all know of our entrance to the second round of one of God’s greatest journeys; loving and raising children.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

More on Plagiarism

The topic of sermonic plagiarism keeps coming up - a product of the internet and podcasting age, no doubt. Here's yet another article on the subject. I guess when The Wall Street Journal gets involved, it's news!

Most public speakers and preachers "borrow" material at some point. We've all done it - even if only when we were new to speaking and more influenced by the thoughts of others more than our own interpretations. For some of us, something that we've read or heard is meaningful to us and seeps into our mind and heart becoming expressed in a sermon or talk - this is mostly good. For others, preaching unattributed material is a way of life and work.

It is surprising to me that there is not more uniformity regarding the ethics of sermon plagiarism. I find myself agreeing with Thom Long that, "Every minister owes his congregation a fresh act of interpretation,"and "To play easy with the truth, to be deceptive about where the ideas come from, is a lie."

Tony Dungy - Super Bowl Winner

I love Tony Dungy!

And am so pleased that this man of deep faith, integrity, and character has reached the pinnacle of his profession. As I told my wife earlier tonight, "I like to see good things happen to good people." I've followed Dungy since his days as defensive coordinator in Minnesota and was sorely disappointed when he was fired from Tampa Bay, only to see the team he built go on to win the Super Bowl the next year. I first heard about "All Pro Dads," an organization dedicated to helping fathers father better, from Dungy, who was then the head of the organization. Our family hurt for his last year when his son - suffering from depression - committed suicide. Through it all, Dungy has faced life with character, righteousness, dignity and admirable sense of self.

Here are some paraphrases of things he said during his press conference after the Super Bowl that make him a great man.

1. This win doesn't validate anything (for Peyton Manning). Great players are great players regardless of whether they win the Super Bowl.

2. God doesn't care about who wins and loses (in football); it's about the journey.

3. This should prove that a black coach can do it and a Christian coach can do it.

4. This proves that you can coach football, be a Christian and do it the right way. You can respect people AND be successful.

5. Whatever you do, God has prepared you for it.

What a good man. The NFL, and the world, could use a lot more like him.

Valentine's, Osama, Race, and Elections

Tomorrow my wife and daughter host their 2nd Annual Mother/Daughter Valentine's Brunch. This year Rochelle will be in the hospital recuperating from giving birth on Valentine's Day, so the brunch is happening a little early. Each year the girls eat brunch, tell and read stories, and work on crafts. This time the girls will be working on their craft in our daughter's new pink and purple room -- which is pretty cute if I say so myself.

I'm so blessed to have a wife that not only takes such good care of our daughter, but goes to great lengths to make her life fun by planning special times for her and her friends. Hopefully, when our little Malia grows up, she will look back on her time in our home as a time of great love, wonder and fun.

As a benefit, Rochelle's mom will drop in for the brunch before it's over. She's coming to town to help us put together some odds and ends before the baby gets here. So, in fact, it will be a mother-daughter/mother-daughter brunch.
------
Did you hear about the Australian church that has taken heat -- even from the Australian Prime Minister -- about a sign on their property proclaiming, "Jesus Loves Osama"? Read about it here. I understand what all sides are saying. I just hope that unconditional love isn't going out-of-style.
------
I'm currently kicking around the idea of writing a book about race and the church -- a expansion and development from thoughts I presented last year at the Pepperdine University Bible Lectures. It's been a good journey thus far. I've learned a great deal talking with my parents about their history and race relations in Mississippi in the 50's and 60's when they were growing up and the Civil Rights Movement was in full swing. The outline for the book is done, but I keep wondering if the topic is worth writing about. Or if I'm the one to write it. I've not even been able to get my assistant (read: Rochelle) to read the one chapter that 75% written so I have little faith that others will be interested. What do you all think? E-mail me or leave a comment.
------
I'm already interested in the 2008 Presidential election. Have you all been following the news about Hilary's open mic singing of the National Anthem, her joke about dealing with "evil men", Rudy Guiliani's leaked strategy papers, the false report about where Barack Obama went to school as a child, and Joe Biden's "articulate" and "clean" comment about Obama? Can I ask a question: Does any of this have anything to do with whether or not someone would be a good president? Who cares if you can sing? I'm not backing a candidate yet -- and rarely really "back" anyone -- but shouldn't our consideration of whether or not someone is fit to serve in such an important role, at such a crucial time in history be based on something more significant?

A Lesson Learned - Out of the Mouths of Babes

Click to Play

Here's another video for you all. Sorry the audio doesn't match the video. The Japanese to English dubbing was hard to do.

Church Shopping - King of the Hill

You owe it to yourself to watch this video. There is so much that can be said about this, but I will refrain. Your own reflections will be commentary enough.

20 Questions

Every now and then I'm struck by the fact that so many questions that rattle around in my head never get answered. They just remain questions. And at the same time I realize that more and more questions there are the less and less real answers seem to come. So today I thought I would just share some general questions that have been on my mind.

Ready? Here we go, in no particular order.


1. How come I've never heard of most of the movies nominated for Academy Awards?

2. How come newscasters think they must spend 4 hours re-telling us what the President just told us?

3. How come Nancy Grace is still on TV?

4. Why does the weatherman start the "forecast" by telling us what already happened that day?

5. Why does my mother-in-law do her crossword puzzles in pen?

6. Why do both me and my mother-in-law do crossword puzzles?

7. Why doesn't Starbuck's have free WI-FI like everybody else?

8. Who are the people who haven't learned to not use permanent marker on a whiteboard?

9. Why do people care about Brad and Angelina or Tom and Katie?

10. Why can you negotiate the cost of a house or car but not a computer or a sandwich at Subway?

11. Why was I such a jerk to so many people in high school and college?

12. Why was Shepherd Smith (of Fox News) wearing a Parka last night to cover the State of the Union? Was he covering it from Alaska?

13. Why didn't the Texans draft Reggie Bush or Vince Young?

14. Why does Arizona not observe Daylight Savings Time?

15. Why do people like cats?

16. Why do ultra-fundamentalist Mormons think polygamy is a good idea? Isn't one family difficult enough? (I mean, well worth it, but how many college tuitions and weddings do you want to pay for?)

17.Why are there ethnicities and races in the first place? Wouldn't there be much more peace if we were all, say, black?

18. Why do people enjoying belittling each other so much?

19. Why do people of character and conviction so rarely rise to power?

20. How come so many of us Christians praise Martin Luther King, and Mother Theresa, but so seldom want to do the kinds of things they did?

Future Church

One of the books I picked up over the holidays was Erwin McManus' An Unstoppable Force. Here's a excerpt that I think is particularly good. It reminds me of what the church -- and particularly pastors -- are supposed to be up to. In particular, it is a call for existing churches to not rest on its laurels or traditions.

"It may seem inconceivable, but not long ago the job of church growth consultant did not exist. In fact, church growth seminars and dying churches were virtually unheard of. Although most churches were essentially in plateau, there was a sense of the church as a place of permanence and stability. You just hung your sign outside, and the appropriate parishioners found their way there. The primary role of the pastor was caretaker/teacher, and many times even the role of evangelist was left to someone who came from out of town.

"One could almost predict the development of the Master of Divinity degree as the religious equivalent to the M.B.A. Seminaries began to produce what local churches perceived they needed; godly men who had a professional understanding of theology, pastoral care, and management. Pastors were valued for their ability to bring and keep order rather than for their ability to bring and lead change. The reality was that pastors were being equipped to preserve the past rather than create the future. We became known for being traditional rather than transformational. The ritual replaced the radical."

Colts vs Bears!

Two African-American coaches in the Super-Bowl. It's already a win for me! And, what's more, they're both good, good men! The real win will be the day when the color of the coaches won't matter.

It's too early for me to pick a winner, but I'm torn. I have always liked Peyton Manning and I love Tony Dungy and feel that they lost the AFC Championship game last year in large part because Dungy's son had recently died. On the other hand, defense -- as they say -- wins championships. And Chicago sure has that! But they also have Rex Groosman, and it's hard to have faith in him at QB!

At the end of the day, I think I'll be pulling for the Colts.

Dehumanizing

I’ve noticed of late how easy it becomes to dehumanize people. A couple of things got me thinking about this. First of all, I have been talking to my wife, Rochelle, about theology, professors and the culture of critique that is inherent in the academy and the church; how most professors and preachers I know can deconstruct anything and tell you the missteps any other theologian or practitioner have made in their thinking. Second, I recently posted a comment on a friend’s blog about what I believe is the harsh, cruel and dehumanizing treatment of contestants on the audition episodes of American Idol.

It all reminds me of an episode of The West Wing, when Toby is speaking to President Bartlett about the difficulties the president had as a child with his father. As Toby attacks Bartlett’s dad, the president responds, “Can we talk about my father with a little respect? He was my father, not some Dicken’s character.”

What he was saying is that when people aren’t in the room, when we don’t have to deal with them face-to-face we turn them into something other than human. For the aforementioned professors, as well as armchair theologians and intellectual elites, a person becomes what they write or say – or what the reader interprets they wrote or said. I can hear the discussion now, “Have you read so-in-so? He totally misses this,” or “Such-in-such has no idea about ______.” People somehow cease being humans with families and hopes and dreams, with a bright future and terrible foibles, and simple become an object for others to judge, criticize, or toss aside.

Take those American Idol kids. They stand in line for days, and sing for any number of talent scouts before moving along. Most are sent home! Only the best and the worst are allowed to enter the inner sanctum for Randy, Paula and Simon and the TV cameras. They’ve been passed up the line, their delusions of talent only spurned on be the actions of others. Why? So they can get into the room with the judges to be belittled and ridiculed. Can you imagine the sheer heartbreak, after believing you can sing and having producers of American Idol pass you up the line, only to be called “horrible, awful” or “the worst singer ever?”

A community of people can only come to the point of performing this cruelty on one another when we get to the point that people are no longer people; when they become objects! They have been dehumanized! No longer that creation that Psalm 8 proclaims is “crowned with glory.”

I wonder what might happen if the next time I was setting my jaw to deride someone if I thought about their family, their fears, their hurts, their hopes and their dreams. What would happen if, regardless of what their gifts are and are not, I saw them as fearfully and wonderfully made?

I think in that moment, they would become more human to me and I would become a little more human too.

Change and the Golf Room

Today is my friend, Melanie's birthday. I kind of feel sorry for her. She was scheduled to participate in our church's Women's Bible Study and then have lunch with my wife and another woman they both respect a great deal. Alas, it was for naught, because icy streets in and around Houston have kept nearly everyone at home. I know from experience that spending your birthday alone -- and in her case, chasing after a 4 year-old and toddler to boot -- is no fun!

Yesterday she was recounting to me the surprise gathering that was thrown in her honor of her 30th birthday a few years ago. During the group's time together, some of the "older" women shared "what the wish they knew at 30." Melanie's mom said to her "Don't be afraid of change." That's good advice, I think.

I am frequently vocally advocating some kind of change, yet sometimes I find myself as resistant to changes as anyone could be. Today is one of those days.

My wife and I are expecting our second daughter in three weeks. I'm excited, yet hesitant. This afternoon my wife began clearing out the guest room -- or as we call it, the "golf room." As well as housing guest, this room housed my golf clubs, golf magazines, and my other golf related items. My friend, Kraig, and I painted the room a nice pale green and hung golf related pictures on the wall soon after we moved into our home. But my golf game took a back seat to parenthood after our first daughter was born three years ago. In fact I have only played three rounds of golf in over three years. As someone has said, "No scratch golfer has ever been Father of the Year." Cleaning out "the golf room," in some ways, signals the end of an era, a change. There was a time in my life when I went to the driving range a couple of times a week and played a round of golf on my day off. Now those days are filled with coloring, playing at the park, riding the carousel at the mall, and a host of other Daddy-Daughter related events.

And you know what, the change has been good! I adore watching my daughter grow up and see in her eyes the childlike faith that believes Daddy can do anything and knows that -- as she frequently says -- "God is taking care of us." And I love seeing my wife's belly growing larger and larger as our new baby get ready to, as Malia says, "come out."

So this weekend, my golf stuff will move from "never-used" status to "storage" status. But soon that room will house something far more beautiful, glorious, and powerful.

And the upside is this, when the moment comes that I'll have the time and money to play golf again, by the time my two girls are able to join me as I walk the links, it'll be time for a new set of golf clubs. It's a no lose situation!

Possibility Thinkers

The people that inspire me most are "possibility thinkers." These folks truly look at what is not and create. To me, Steve Jobs, the co-founder and CEO of Apple, Inc. has always been one of those people. 30 years ago venture capitalists asked him, "Why would anyone need a home computer?" Few of us can live without one now.

He is a possibility thinker. He is the speaker of one of my favorite quotes. In an attempt to bring on Pepsi Executive John Sculley in the early 80's, Jobs famously said, "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to change the world." For a time, that quote was written in my office as a way to remind me that my business is supposed to be world-changing.

I think the church needs a healthy does of possibility thinkers. Anyone can tell you why something won't work. It takes special people to dream big dreams and pursue meaningful ideas. Jobs deeply believes that what he does is the most important and meaningful thing he could be doing. And for that reason, he is not a great salesman, but a true believer. And it works! Jobs, and the culture he helped shape at Apple, is always chasing the thing that no one has thought of yet. Or a way to make the existing thing the best it can be.

He realizes that to change the world we need large, expansive and compelling ideas. That's what people respond to. For that reason, there is now a sign in my office that simple reads, "What if..."

Words are Powerful

Well, it's done.

Today Barack Obama announced that he is forming an "exploratory committee" for a presidential run. Now, I know almost nothing about Barack -- and this is not a political blog -- but I do know that as we celebrated the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. yesterday and with Obama's announcement today, that the spoken word is powerful. Hardly anyone outside of Illinois knows much about Obama, which is what makes him a attractive candidate to so many, but what we do know is that his speech stole the show at the last Democratic National Convention. People have always responded to uplifting, powerful words spoken with grace and dignity. Barack is now running for president based largely on the delivery of one speech. That's not to suggest he is not qualified, but rather a reminder to those of us who speak for a living, that worlds can and do change when the right words are used at the right time and used in the right way.

As one theologian has said, "Words create worlds."

A good word, spoken with passion, life and hope can change the world.

Just think, when God created the world, He did so with words.The gospel of John captures this beautifully, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Or as Genesis puts it, "...then God said..."

Let us all choose our words carefully! And speak them with grace!

Scrubs Teds Band -- Great Music. Great Fun.

As a life long member of churches of Christ, I grew up with a cappella music. It has always been a part of my life. At the same time, I also love the NBC Comedy Scrubs, particularly "Ted's Band" or "The Blanks" as they're known in the real world.

The creator of Scrubs loves The Blanks, though many folks don't understand why anyone would be interested in music without instruments. The Blanks are an actually group -- and existed before Scrubs began. At one point they were known as "The Worthless Peons."

Anyway, I'm glad that my appreciation of a cappella music and Scrubs frequently comes together when Ted's Band is on the show. Check out their website at www.theblankswebsite.com

Things I Shouldn't Say (don't think less of me).

For the sake of integrity, I feel that every now and then I should share my spiritual weaknesses with you all. It's true. I am not perfect. There are many areas in life in which I struggle. One of those areas is coveting.

And you better believe that after watching Steve Jobs' keynote at MacExpo this week, I am in full coveting mode over the new iPhone. Now you should know, the "iPhone" name won't stick. My best information is that another company does, and has for a while, own the trademark name "iPhone."

But who cares what it's called? This phone is the most amazing device I've ever seen and I want one NOW! My coveting is so deep that I actually thanked God that I had already decided to switch my cell service to Cingular in June when my contract with another carrier is over. I truly felt that the end of my contract, the fact that I was going to buy a new iPod this summer and the release of the iPhone all in June was providential. How crazy is that?

And on a lighter side, I usually detest celebrity news but I'm loving the Trump vs Rosie feud. Before Rosie got off her blasts against Trump and his hair (which she released simply because he gave a troubled girl a second chance) I never really cared for either, but I've gotta say, "I'm loving The Donald right now." Rosie picked a fight that she can't win. She thought she was being funny by making fun of Trump for no real reason and he unleashed a brutal attack on her. The smack that he is laying on her - and Barbara Walters now too - has been classic. She showed up for a gunfight with a rubber knife and she's getting her clock cleaned. Yesterday Trump called her a "third-rate comedian" and that Barbara said, "working with her was like a living hell."

Wow!

Now, I'm not on Donald's side because of the mean things he's said (things that shouldn't have beens said about anyone), but rather because Rosie has a history of shooting off her mouth, saying hateful and hurtful things about people. It was just a few weeks ago that for no reason at all she called Kelly Ripa homophobic . And apparently, I'm not the only person who thinks that Rosie has created this herself. I'm not saying that she deserves this or that getting torn up in the media is good. But it seems like the majority of Americans might.

We live in a politically correct culture where anyone who called someone else "fat, ugly, disgusting, etc..." would hear from every circle that he or she needed to apologize--and they would need to. But in this case there's been no calls to apologize. No one has said anything. Why? Because it's Rosie. The majority response has been the sound of one hand clapping. It's almost like people are saying, "Yeah, that's Rosie!" If Trump had called anyone else "disgusting" he would have had serious consequences, yet in this case, everyone just seems to be happy to watch the daily furor.

I think there's a lesson here about being a person who speaks words of grace about and to others. When you become known for attacking other people simply because you don't like them or you don't like their perspective or politics (and Rosie has launched vicious attacks on people who stand opposed to her politics) then there aren't going to be a lot of people in line to defend you. And when you dishonor people, some people will dishonor you in return.

Peace Keeping 3

Even though every sermon any of us have ever heard about peace—particularly if that sermon originates from Galatians—has told us that peace is not the absence of conflict. The idea here is that we can be people of peace, and have communal and individual peace even when everything around us is in the midst of tumult. This is a Biblical view of peace, but in reality the way we practice peace in the church is about trying to get to a place of peace as the absence of conflict.

This often comes when a church is looking to replace or hire a new staff member. Churches are replete with stories about one minister being too active or too controversial then leaving for another church or being fired and the very next minister being the most uninspiring, milk-toast, oatmeal talking person ever. Churches tend to swing from one side of the pendulum to the other. In this example, the new pastor comes in and gives the church what it wants in terms on not upsetting or challenging anyone, then the next thing you know, the church looks up and wonders why nothing is going on, why they’re not growing and why no new strides are being made. The reason is peace as the absence of conflict.

Some in the church have bought into the idea that peace, as the absence of conflict is always good. I seriously question that proposition. Like I said before, the transformative process by nature is not peaceful.

The church is supposed to call people away from the kingdoms of this world. Those kingdoms are the very air we breathe. We are bathed in it. We can’t escape it. That’s why the church cannot afford the absence of conflict. This, I think, is what Jesus meant when He said that He came not to bring peace, but a sword. The Savior is not interested in senseless violence, but rather He knows that to live as He is calling us to live, we would naturally be set apart—and set at odds—from the kingdoms of this world.

For example, white churches in the south repeated implored Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement to simple wait for equality and not cause domestic disturbance. This—as the absence of conflict—is peace. Yet, their position was not right. If someone had gone into a southern white church in the 1950’s and said, “Hey, we should everything we can to bring about equality for all races,” then he or she would probably have been run out of town. Yet it is the process of disrupting the peace that advanced the kingdom of God and made both the society and the church a truer reflection of the heart of God.

Peacekeeping is often opposition to God.