At 1stChurch, a few members of the staff are writing some devotionals for the Advent season with some different themes. My theme is "Spend Less". Here's my first one:
Whatis it about stuff? We seem to need it. We think everything will be better if we get it. Sure, very few people would actually say: “Man, if I could just get that one thing, everything would be fine,” but we tend to act that way. We fixate on that one thing that we really want, or even think we need, and if we don’t get it, we feel deprived, and if we do get it, we’re happy for a bit, and then we move on to the next thing to possess.
To a certain extent, this condition is natural, given our current circumstances. Clever advertising convinces us that we need things that we probably do not, and our culture values possessions as a means to increase stature. But I think there is something much deeper going on when we are driven to consume and possess.
When we have things, we feel in control, and ultimately, we hope those things will make us feel more complete. The problem is, that completeness is probably not something we can hope for this side of heaven. Yes, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and yes, it is breaking into our lives and our world at this very moment.
But it’s not done yet.
One day we will live fully in the reality of scripture from the book of Revelation, which tells us:
...“‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’" --Rev 21:3-4 (NIV)
Until then, there is a little bit of waiting. Advent is about waiting for the coming King. When he comes, he is going to work everything out. When we see him face to face, we will be made new; set free from the hindrances that plagued us all our lives. We will be complete, and we will be free of the urge to try and find that completeness elsewhere. Maybe it sounds too good to be true, but there it is.
Maybe if we can remember this, it will help us think differently about the things that we buy. Maybe if we know the things aren’t going to do the trick, we can buy less of them. And Maybe we wont expect the things we give to others to make them feel complete either. Instead, we find fulfillment in doing the work that God has sent us to do, and we love people by giving more of ourselves to them, and maybe a few less things.
Possessions are by no means the only way we try to fill the holes we feel in our lives. The problem is not that we are looking only to possessions, it’s that we’re not looking to Jesus to make us feel complete. We can look any number of countless other places, but they just wont do the trick.
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
--Matthew 6:19-21
If you’re feeling like your heart is missing, try looking for it in heaven: I couldn’t find it at Wal-Mart.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
How bout a good story or two?
I was thinking a little bit about church.
I was thinking that if a church is a group of people, sent by God into the community around them, to bring peace, and joy, and love, and healing, and really good news about Jesus, and this group has a big meeting once a week to worship God (the God that sent them out) and to encourage each other, then I think I would expect that a part of that meeting would involve some really good stories. If the whole point of that meeting was to give people a little rest and get them ready to head back out, I would expect that people would want to share what happened while they were out.
Shouldn't they be hearing stories about how peoples lives have been changed, how the hurting were comforted, how the hungry were fed, etc? And then, wouldn't all these people praise God and celebrate, not just for the things he has done, but for the things he's doing, right now?
I want to hear some stories. I also want to have some stories to share.
If you are reading this, would you pray for me? Would you pray that my week would not be about getting ready for Sunday, but that Sunday would make me ready for my week? Would you pray that as I go through my week, that I would come back to Sunday with some stories?
Would you pray that I would find God where he is working, and have the courage to join him in that work? Yes, I think to some extent the nature of my job necessitates that I spend a decent chunk of time getting ready for a Sunday morning worship service, but would you also pray that God would use that service to meet people and prepare them to go out and work hard with God on the things that God is passionate about?
That would be great.
Thanks!
I was thinking that if a church is a group of people, sent by God into the community around them, to bring peace, and joy, and love, and healing, and really good news about Jesus, and this group has a big meeting once a week to worship God (the God that sent them out) and to encourage each other, then I think I would expect that a part of that meeting would involve some really good stories. If the whole point of that meeting was to give people a little rest and get them ready to head back out, I would expect that people would want to share what happened while they were out.
Shouldn't they be hearing stories about how peoples lives have been changed, how the hurting were comforted, how the hungry were fed, etc? And then, wouldn't all these people praise God and celebrate, not just for the things he has done, but for the things he's doing, right now?
I want to hear some stories. I also want to have some stories to share.
If you are reading this, would you pray for me? Would you pray that my week would not be about getting ready for Sunday, but that Sunday would make me ready for my week? Would you pray that as I go through my week, that I would come back to Sunday with some stories?
Would you pray that I would find God where he is working, and have the courage to join him in that work? Yes, I think to some extent the nature of my job necessitates that I spend a decent chunk of time getting ready for a Sunday morning worship service, but would you also pray that God would use that service to meet people and prepare them to go out and work hard with God on the things that God is passionate about?
That would be great.
Thanks!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Saying and Doing
I think it's interesting that Jesus had disciples. That is, it's interesting that Jesus had disciples and not students. A student sits in a classroom and listens to a lesson. These people followed Jesus around. They tried to listen to what he said, but they also tried to do what he did. Out there with Jesus, the disciples found that even with the Son of God standing in there midst, they had plenty of times where their faith was tested. And they had plenty of times when their faith failed. But they kept on going. Jesus kept walking, and they kept following. The disciples didn't have to struggle with acting a certain way on the one day that Jesus would teach, and the rest of the week acting in a different way. The disciples were out there with Jesus. Pretty much all the time.
Jesus, while he would teach in the synagogue, also taught elsewhere. By lakes, on mounts, in cities, etc. He didn't just go into a building one day a week, give an inspiring half hour message, and then spend the rest of the week preparing his next inspiring message. He lived the life he was called to live-- all the time, and in the presence of others. The disciples got to see what he was talking about in action. They got to try it for themselves.
Sometimes I think we can be a little too "do it yourself" in church. We go get some instructions and hang out and hopefully encourage each other one day, and then we have to go figure out how to try and do what we learned, pretty much on our own. And usually, within a day or two, we don't even remember what it was that we learned. I don't think that's the pastor's fault. I also don't think it's exactly our fault. I think it's the system.
Katherine and I bought a house recently. This has put me in a situation where I am doing a lot of things that I haven't done before. What I've found is that the things that I have at least seen done before, or had some part in doing, tend to go better than the things I have had to just read about and then execute. When we lived in our apartment, I learned a lot by watching my father-in-law do a repair and then trying to do what he did. While I can say that I have had to read about how to do certain things and then do them, and they came out alright (maybe with only a few extra holes in the wall), it tends to go much better when someone is helping me out. On the other hand, if I sat down and read a book on home maintenance, and didn't do any of the things I read about, I don't think I would end up being very different than I was before I read the book. I can't say that I can install a sink if all I've done is read about how to install a sink. I'm not going to trust a "pilot" that has merely read all the books about flying.
I think we have to do this faith thing together. We have to see it in action. We have to try it, and try it again.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Joy in the Pit
Here's the sermon for Sunday, July 13th, 2008.
If you want to answer this question as a reflective response, here it is:
If there was a movie that told the story of your life, and you could make that story what ever you wanted, what would it be? How would it end?
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Dinner Party
Here's a little video that we did that tied in to Scott's message this last Sunday. Kind of silly.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Worship at The Launch
A little over a month ago, I started a job leading worship at 1st Presbyterian Church of Champaign's new SW Campus, fondly referred to by some as "The Launch".
This is an exciting place to be and it's great group of people. Part of what is exciting is that this community is into worship. It's a community that's wants to do whatever is needed to connect with God, together. On Sunday mornings, this means we try to have an environment where it doesn't feel so much like a performance as it does a community activity. This is something we strive for, and this means we are going to try things. I thnk it also means that sometimes things work, and sometimes they don't. But isn't that how life is? When we take risks, sometimes they work out the way we hoped and other times they crash and burn. The beauty is, either way we are doing this for God, and He loves us. Maybe that takes some of the pressure off. Maybe the real danger is letting our worship become routine.
We also want to be a community that worships in truth. That means that we don't want there to be a disconnect between the things we sing about and talk about on Sunday and the things we do the rest of the week. Nobody here is perfect, everyone makes mistakes and messes some things up, and we don't want to deny that, but we do want to say that we really don't want the way we live on Sunday to be different from the way we live on Monday. We don't want to talk about loving people on Sunday and then ignore the very people we claim to love the very next day. We want to learn how to serve people, we want to connect with the people that are in our lives. We don't want to isolate or be isolated.
Jesus hung out with all sorts of people, so we want to hang out with all sorts of people. Jesus had compassion on people in need, so we want to show that same compassion. Jesus showed grace, so we want to show grace. When we get together on Sundays, we want it to be a celebration of who God is and what He is doing in our lives and the lives of those around us.
This is the journey that we are on, and the Launch is sort of a starting place. Our goal is not to have the snappiest little worship time that we can; it's to be transformed--it's to be people who love the way that Jesus loved.
This is an exciting place to be and it's great group of people. Part of what is exciting is that this community is into worship. It's a community that's wants to do whatever is needed to connect with God, together. On Sunday mornings, this means we try to have an environment where it doesn't feel so much like a performance as it does a community activity. This is something we strive for, and this means we are going to try things. I thnk it also means that sometimes things work, and sometimes they don't. But isn't that how life is? When we take risks, sometimes they work out the way we hoped and other times they crash and burn. The beauty is, either way we are doing this for God, and He loves us. Maybe that takes some of the pressure off. Maybe the real danger is letting our worship become routine.
We also want to be a community that worships in truth. That means that we don't want there to be a disconnect between the things we sing about and talk about on Sunday and the things we do the rest of the week. Nobody here is perfect, everyone makes mistakes and messes some things up, and we don't want to deny that, but we do want to say that we really don't want the way we live on Sunday to be different from the way we live on Monday. We don't want to talk about loving people on Sunday and then ignore the very people we claim to love the very next day. We want to learn how to serve people, we want to connect with the people that are in our lives. We don't want to isolate or be isolated.
Jesus hung out with all sorts of people, so we want to hang out with all sorts of people. Jesus had compassion on people in need, so we want to show that same compassion. Jesus showed grace, so we want to show grace. When we get together on Sundays, we want it to be a celebration of who God is and what He is doing in our lives and the lives of those around us.
This is the journey that we are on, and the Launch is sort of a starting place. Our goal is not to have the snappiest little worship time that we can; it's to be transformed--it's to be people who love the way that Jesus loved.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Juice Promo Video
So we have started an exciting new series called "Juice: Energy for Life." Here is the Promo video if you would like to check it out. It's pretty exciting. You can also check it out at church over the next couple of weeks. That too would be exciting.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Music, Emotions, and Authenticity
How do I know when my worship is genuine?
Do I know because I feel it?
How do I know that when I'm singing songs and the music is swelling that what I feel is devotion to God and not just some emotional reaction that got triggered by particular sound waves wafting into my brain? (Well I guess I know because I don't always find the music we sing to be particularly moving...)
Music is manipulative. Don't get me wrong-I love it, but music adds a lot to an experience that would not be there otherwise. I don't think any of the movies I watch would be anywhere near as compelling without the soundtrack. In fact, I know this to be true because I've seen the deleted scenes that they didn't write any music for, and they seem sort of empty.
So what is happening when we all get together and start singing these songs and feeling good?
Is it just the music talking?
I think one of the situations where I notice this most is during prayer. It is a pretty common practice in a lot of fantastic churches to have somebody get up there and start stroking the strings while someone else leads us in prayer. I'm not a big fan. I think it's because I feel manipulated. Instead of focusing on what a person is saying and agreeing with them, making their prayer my own, there is this other thing going on, making it feel like it supposed to be some kind of dramatic event. I'm probably being overly critical. I have a tendency to do that. However, I think there is a difference between emotional experience and spiritual engagement. Our prayers can be sober. They can be fairly free of emotion, and we still mean what we say. We are still engaging with God. On the other hand, it is good for us to be moved emotionally by our interaction with God. I don't have a problem with emotions. I guess to sum up my concern, I will just say that emotions are good, and it's great to experience them in worship, I just want the reason we are experiencing them to be because of God and not because of music.
But perhaps I am coming at this from the wrong perspective. Maybe the music isn't really for the people who are coming together for worship. Maybe the music is just one piece of this big community expression we are offering to God. The music is just a platform for a bunch of people who love God to tell God that they love Him. That sort of makes the emotional question rather irrelevant.
Maybe to shoot myself in the foot one more time I will just add that while I think this is true, I also think different people have different music that they connect with. Different experiences help them engage with God differently. Some people are inspired by organ music, others love electric guitar. Some people like to sing a capella and clap their hands. Maybe certain music works better for certain people because that music is more an expression of who they are and how they relate to God?
Maybe. But nevertheless, if Paul and his buddies can sing hymns to God in jail, maybe we can be a little flexible too.
Do I know because I feel it?
How do I know that when I'm singing songs and the music is swelling that what I feel is devotion to God and not just some emotional reaction that got triggered by particular sound waves wafting into my brain? (Well I guess I know because I don't always find the music we sing to be particularly moving...)
Music is manipulative. Don't get me wrong-I love it, but music adds a lot to an experience that would not be there otherwise. I don't think any of the movies I watch would be anywhere near as compelling without the soundtrack. In fact, I know this to be true because I've seen the deleted scenes that they didn't write any music for, and they seem sort of empty.
So what is happening when we all get together and start singing these songs and feeling good?
Is it just the music talking?
I think one of the situations where I notice this most is during prayer. It is a pretty common practice in a lot of fantastic churches to have somebody get up there and start stroking the strings while someone else leads us in prayer. I'm not a big fan. I think it's because I feel manipulated. Instead of focusing on what a person is saying and agreeing with them, making their prayer my own, there is this other thing going on, making it feel like it supposed to be some kind of dramatic event. I'm probably being overly critical. I have a tendency to do that. However, I think there is a difference between emotional experience and spiritual engagement. Our prayers can be sober. They can be fairly free of emotion, and we still mean what we say. We are still engaging with God. On the other hand, it is good for us to be moved emotionally by our interaction with God. I don't have a problem with emotions. I guess to sum up my concern, I will just say that emotions are good, and it's great to experience them in worship, I just want the reason we are experiencing them to be because of God and not because of music.
But perhaps I am coming at this from the wrong perspective. Maybe the music isn't really for the people who are coming together for worship. Maybe the music is just one piece of this big community expression we are offering to God. The music is just a platform for a bunch of people who love God to tell God that they love Him. That sort of makes the emotional question rather irrelevant.
Maybe to shoot myself in the foot one more time I will just add that while I think this is true, I also think different people have different music that they connect with. Different experiences help them engage with God differently. Some people are inspired by organ music, others love electric guitar. Some people like to sing a capella and clap their hands. Maybe certain music works better for certain people because that music is more an expression of who they are and how they relate to God?
Maybe. But nevertheless, if Paul and his buddies can sing hymns to God in jail, maybe we can be a little flexible too.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Self-Indulgent Worship?
Recently, I've had a couple of ideas to use in worship that I have been really excited about. I think these are ideas that could make for a meaningful time of worship for people, and they were inspired by some experiences that I thought were pretty cool. I'm looking forward to trying these things out, but recently I've begun to wonder what these ideas would accomplish. Who are they for? In my mind, I picture them happening at a church gathering, and they go off really well, and I'm moved by them. I think it's good to be moved in worship, but why is my approach to worship based on what will be meaningful and moving to me? I suppose it is important as a community to express our worship to God, and consequently we want to do things that feel like they are from us, and not some pre-packaged, shrink-wrapped deal. We want to use our gifts to their fullest extent to give Him honor. But I think if I am honest, with these ideas, I'm not sure that was at the forefront of my mind.
I think having realized this, there is still value in exploring the possibilities that these ideas for worship may offer, but it's a little disconcerting to realize that my motivation was probably more self-focused than God focused. Granted, I'd be excited about the experience because I think it would help me focus on God and what my community is saying to Him, and I think that's important, and maybe that's ultimately why I thought it would be cool--because I think connecting with God in community is pretty cool. I am into profound experiences.
Maybe what I need to realize is that there is not a whole lot that I can do to "manufacture" profound experiences. Maybe I need to continue to ask God how He wants to be worshiped, and then do my best to go there. God is profound on His own. He doesn't need me to get the lights just right in order to show up.
I suppose, on the other hand, that it is good to break up the routine sometimes. We want to avoid going through the motions when we come to worship. Some of that probably has to do with programming, but a lot of it has to do with heart. When we gather for worship, we acknowledge that it is good to give glory to God, and we want to be able to do that no matter what, but we also recognize that we want to connect with God, and so connect is an important factor in gathering as well. Maybe it's self-indulgent to want that for ourselves, but if that's the case, I think it's self-indulgent in the same way that a husband and wife long to be together, and I don't think anyone is going to fault them for that.
I think having realized this, there is still value in exploring the possibilities that these ideas for worship may offer, but it's a little disconcerting to realize that my motivation was probably more self-focused than God focused. Granted, I'd be excited about the experience because I think it would help me focus on God and what my community is saying to Him, and I think that's important, and maybe that's ultimately why I thought it would be cool--because I think connecting with God in community is pretty cool. I am into profound experiences.
Maybe what I need to realize is that there is not a whole lot that I can do to "manufacture" profound experiences. Maybe I need to continue to ask God how He wants to be worshiped, and then do my best to go there. God is profound on His own. He doesn't need me to get the lights just right in order to show up.
I suppose, on the other hand, that it is good to break up the routine sometimes. We want to avoid going through the motions when we come to worship. Some of that probably has to do with programming, but a lot of it has to do with heart. When we gather for worship, we acknowledge that it is good to give glory to God, and we want to be able to do that no matter what, but we also recognize that we want to connect with God, and so connect is an important factor in gathering as well. Maybe it's self-indulgent to want that for ourselves, but if that's the case, I think it's self-indulgent in the same way that a husband and wife long to be together, and I don't think anyone is going to fault them for that.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
A Confession
A couple of weeks ago I was pretty hesitant to go to church. Not for any good reason, just laziness. I was tired and just wanted to relax. I didn't want to have to worry about doing anything in particular. On my way to church I took comfort in the realization that it was not going to be so bad because I could sit and relax for about an hour. I could listen to some nice music and an inspiring message. That didn't sound so taxing. Then, like having ice water poured down my back, another thought interrupted my impending repose. How about spending an hour worshiping the living God? How about taking the time to affirm that you are devoted to him? How about getting the opportunity to connect with your friends?
I guess that all sounded pretty good, so by the time I actually made it to church (probably about ten minutes late) I felt kind of ready to do this worship thing.
Everything was going well, and it was nice, and then a friend of mine got up and led us in a prayer. She thanked God that we were able to meet and worship Him in safety and comfort. She prayed for people in other parts of the world that had to risk their lives to worship God in secret.
That got my attention. These people in another part of the world would stubbornly continue to meet, despite powerful reasons to stay home, and here I was debating whether or not to bother to show up for worship because I was kind of tired. These people seem to take this corporate worship thing pretty seriously. Maybe there's something I need to learn there. If I could barely be troubled to show up when I'm tired, what are the chances that I would risk my life or fragile semblance of freedom to make it?
This was pretty profound to me. I was moved.
And somehow I managed not to show up for worship the next week because I didn't feel up for it.
I think I could learn a few ugly things about myself from this experience, but one thing that immediately comes to mind is that I seem to have allowed this activity of gathered worship of God to somehow become about me. It seems the deciding factors of whether or not I am going to show up for worship depend on how I'm feeling and how I'm going to feel if I go. Now I'm a little more moved, but I still have this nagging sense that I go to worship more for me than for God. When I go to worship, I want it to be more important to me that God is pleased than that I'm pleased.
I guess that all sounded pretty good, so by the time I actually made it to church (probably about ten minutes late) I felt kind of ready to do this worship thing.
Everything was going well, and it was nice, and then a friend of mine got up and led us in a prayer. She thanked God that we were able to meet and worship Him in safety and comfort. She prayed for people in other parts of the world that had to risk their lives to worship God in secret.
That got my attention. These people in another part of the world would stubbornly continue to meet, despite powerful reasons to stay home, and here I was debating whether or not to bother to show up for worship because I was kind of tired. These people seem to take this corporate worship thing pretty seriously. Maybe there's something I need to learn there. If I could barely be troubled to show up when I'm tired, what are the chances that I would risk my life or fragile semblance of freedom to make it?
This was pretty profound to me. I was moved.
And somehow I managed not to show up for worship the next week because I didn't feel up for it.
I think I could learn a few ugly things about myself from this experience, but one thing that immediately comes to mind is that I seem to have allowed this activity of gathered worship of God to somehow become about me. It seems the deciding factors of whether or not I am going to show up for worship depend on how I'm feeling and how I'm going to feel if I go. Now I'm a little more moved, but I still have this nagging sense that I go to worship more for me than for God. When I go to worship, I want it to be more important to me that God is pleased than that I'm pleased.
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