To Own A Dragon

A couple from my congregation gave me a gift certificate for Christian Book Distributors for Christmas. Having too much to read at the time, I purchased two books which weren't going to be out for some time. The first one arrived this week. It's Donald Miller's new book, To Own a Dragon.

At his website, you can hear Miller read the first chapter of the book. It's great.

It's great. It's a hilarious! I laughed my way through the first chapter keeping my wife awake with my outburst. Though I plan that it will make me cry at some point soon. This book, though I haven't yet finished it, has pushed some other reading down the list.

Miller writes about his own lack of being fathered and the fathering crises in our country. There's a little something for everyone here. So, if you get a chance, pick it up and read. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll realize why fathers are so important.

More on fathering later...

Give Me Jesus

I have been captivated again this week by the simple, yet powerful, song and voice of Fernando Ortega. Every day this week I have listened to "Give Me Jesus". I was reminded how much I like Fernando and his music last week when I was in Abilene. Mike Cope used these words in his presentation there.

The words couldn't be more simple:

GIVE ME JESUS
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
Give me Jesus

Chorus:
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You can have all this world
But give me Jesus

When I am alone
When I am alone
When I am alone
Give me Jesus

Chorus

And when I come to die
When I come to die
When I come to die
Give me Jesus

Chorus...END

Don't you wish you could sing that song and mean it? Don't you wish that Jesus was all that you wanted and all that you thought you needed? I sure do. I wish that I weren't concerned with money or power or sex or any of a hundred other things that occupy my day. I have always been ambitious; wanting to do more and be more. How about you?

Don't we all crave to be respected, well-thought of, listened to, wealthy, important? But when you sit back and think about it, where has that gotten most of us? I know for me that when I am most pursuing those things that I think I can't live without is when I become the short-tempered husband, the distant father, the minister more concerned with the program or the event than the guy concerned about the people at the event. I know the reason why, too.

I don't really believe that Jesus is enough! Before you congratulate me on my bold confession, let me tell you something. The reason that I confess that I don't believe that Jesus is enough, is not only because I see it in my own life, but because I see it in the lives of people around me as well. Nearly everyone I know is chasing an extra dollar, another promotion, something that we think we finally make us whole, make us complete. You would think that human history and the story of scripture might give us a head's up that what we are chasing will never make us happy or whole.

Last month, I went to our churches men's retreat where we studied the book if Ecclesiastes. One refrain stood out to me throughout our time together. The author makes this profound statement early in the book, speaking of the meaninglessness of life, he writes, "All the streams flow to the ocean, but the ocean is never filled."

Apparently, that's a tough lesson for humans to learn, because centuries after those words were written we are still trying to fill our lives with things that we know won't fill us. There's no paycheck, no vacation, no sexual escapade, no woman or man, no position, no level of influence that can make us matter. In the end, there is nothing but Jesus. That's all there ever was, and all we ever needed.

I guess that's why Fernando can sing, "Give Me Jesus". Perhaps there are some angels walking our planet that know that asking for Jesus is the only true and real thing that we can ask for. They know that Jesus is the only thing. Boy, I sure hope to get there one day.

Mac's Are Best

Now I don't even have to log in to Blogger to blog. I can do it from my Dashboard Widgets. I'm curious as to why MAC doesn't rule the world.

An Admiration-Worthy Man

There are few men that I can say I admire, though many I respect. Chief among those is the President of Abilene Christian University, Dr. Royce Money. I don't really know Royce, but I know enough about him that he makes my short list of "Admiration Worthy Men".

I remember my freshman year of college. Dr. Money, along with his wife Pam, stood in front of the cafeteria and greeted every new student and their parents as they arrived for orientation. I also recall my Junior year when Dr. Money invited the entire Students' Association Senate to his home for dinner. And I'll never forget the Senate meeting, after we students had mismanaged about $27,000 on an ill-fated concert, when Dr. Money lovingly rebuked us telling us to get out of the concert business and into the people business.

As far as I can tell Dr. Money has always been about the people business. Not only that, he has demonstrated that being in the people business means doing what is best for people whether they like it or not.

Several years ago, Dr. Money made a public and full confession of ACU's sin of racism and exclusion. Though he wasn't President of the university in the 50's and 60's when blacks were denied admission to ACU, he felt that healing must begin with confession and repentance. He said that they (those currently governing the university) may not be responsible for sins of the past, but they could be accountable. It takes a real man to say something like that; a man worthy of admiration.

It didn't just stop with words though. ACU set about a pretty rigourous attempt to hire more qualified, competent African-American professors, and sought out African-American students with new vigor. When I walk campus today I see nearly twice as many minority students as were here when I was a student. There are a ton more faculty too. You see, I don't really know Royce Money, but the people who do apparently have little trouble following him. If he thinks ACU should be more diverse, it becomes more diverse.

Recently an organization associated with extending the gay and lesbian agenda contacted ACU and said that they would be visiting the school this school year. Their goal is civil disobedience toward institutions who disagree with them--particularly religious groups. The group announced that they would protest ACU's stance on gay and lesbian relationships. ACU is one of ten schools the group will be visiting on their tour. ACU is also the only school willing to engage the group in open dialogue. The other schools are looking at how to limit the group's engagement on campus, perhaps even how the police might become involved. ACU is willing to encounter the group, to open honest discussion, to give them access to administrators and have students tour them around campus. Though the administration in firm in its conviction, they are determined to meet the group in love, openness, honesty, and grace. Do you know why? Because Dr. Money thinks that what Jesus would do.

This past Sunday night, Dr.Money took another bold step. At the beginning of this year's Bible Lectureship, Dr. Money was joined on the stage by Dr. Don Jeanes. Dr. Jeanes is the President of Milligan College, a Christian Church school. For those unacquainted with churches of Christ, the independent Christian churches are our cousins. We share the same roots, but our church had a major split in 1906. For most of the last hundred years we have been separate groups. What's more, we liked it!

However, the past several years have given us a growing dialogue about unity and oneness. At Christian Church and Church of Christ events, there has been growing discussion about why we split, why disunity is against the Spirit of God, and what we can do to have unity without trying to force uniformity. Well, Sunday night's joint keynote heralded the dawning of a new day for both our movements.

Dr. Money--as the President of the largest church of Christ university in the world, as well as the university that produces the best preachers, teachers and ministers in Christianity--proclaimed that the next hundred years will be different. You know what, since Royce said it, I bet the next hundred years will be different.

I was proud to be a part of the ACU community Sunday night and I'm excited about the future of our fellowship. How could I not be, when we are lead by admiration worthy women and men like Dr. Royce Money.