Everything That's On My Mind

I can't imagine a world without "A Charlie Brown Christmas", and I'm too young (thankfully) to remember one. We need more "roaring lambs" like Charles Schultz today.

The Christmas classic that almost wasn't

"When thy God hides his face, say not that he has forgotten thee, He is but tarrying a little while to make thee love him better, and when he cometh, thou shalt have joy in the Lord and shalt rejoice with joy unspeakable."

Given my last post, this blogger's entry seemed relevant:

Stupid Hymn Tricks

I got off on a tangent in my sermon this morning, and unfortunately I'm not sure I ended up making much sense. I still think the point is valid, I just didn't express myself as well as I'd have liked. The point I was trying to make had to do with the lack of critical thinking when it comes to art within our society, and particularly within the Christian community. Artistic endeavors seem to have gone to one of two extremes, either treated as mere entertainment or propoganda. This trend seems to have created a society that seems to ignore the viewpoint of the artist and the message being communicated.

Art is an expression of the artist's soul. Art is informed by the artist's worldview and that worldview (right or wrong) comes through in the art that is created. This is true whether the artist is producing radical political performance art or churning out the latest cookie-cutter blockbuster for the local cineplex. We ignore that fact to our peril, because everything we consume influences us. We can choose to control its influence on us, or we can simply allow ourselves to be tossed about by each viewpoint we hear.

We can't (and shouldn't) try to simply ignore any art from worldviews we disagree with. It would be pointless to try, we can't avoid it. Besides, there's good and bad in all art, even art created with the best intentions and worldviews. There's bad theology in some beloved old hymns, not to mention current CCM. There's a current CCM song that says when you're sad, "angels in heaven cry with you." It's a sweet sentiment...but it's totally contrary to God's Word.

The key is for us to live life with brain and spirit engaged at all times. As Paul writes, "Test everything. Hold on to the good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

I just love watching these guys play basketball. It's a thing of beauty. I've been a Pistons fan all my life. I remember going down to Cobo Hall to watch them back in the dark days of Dick Vitale and "Thunder and Lightning", aka Terry Tyler and John Long. I remember going to see them play at the Silverdome with 60,000+ of my closest friends back in the heydays of the late '80s. I've tried to forget the days of teal uniforms.

The thing I love the most about the current Pistons is how they win. The Pistons of the late '80s won through intimidation and brute force. This Pistons team wins through unselfishness and willpower. They rely on each other's strengths, support each other's weaknesses, they don't care about personal recognition, and they never quit. Basketball is the ultimate team sport when it's played properly. The NBA had forgotten that for the last decade, thanks in no small part to Michael Jordan. The Pistons have reminded the league what basketball should look like.

There's a reminder there for churches, because a church should work that way as well. Too often, we wait for a spiritual "Michael Jordan" to come along and make things happen, but God intends for the church to be the ultimate team activity. When we rely on each other and the power of Christ, forget about personal recognition, and press on (Philippians 3:12,17) relentlessly toward the goal to which He has called us, we cannot be defeated.

To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
brought to you by Quizilla

I've seen other bloggers posting such lists and thought I'd join the club. In no particular order...

Christmas In Detroit - Various Artists (out of print)

An Evening in December - Various Artists
When My Heart Finds Christmas - Harry Connick Jr.
The Christmas Album - The Manhattan Transfer
Come, Let Us Adore Him - Various Artists

And finally, some Christmas CDs I wish I had...

Boogie Woogie Christmas - Brian Setzer Orchestra
Dig That Crazy Christmas - Brian Setzer Orchestra
Broken Christmas - Various Artists
A Charlie Brown Christmas - Vince Guaraldi Trio
Messiah - George Frederic Handel

Now playing:


It seems appropriate that my first real post on this blog is music-related. Switchfoot's latest CD "Nothing is Sound" has been stuck in my CD player recently. In my mind, it's an interesting musical exploration of the book of Ecclesiastes, which at one time was my favorite book of the Bible. Full disclosure: I was not in a positive state of mind spiritually at that point in my life. Nevertheless, the truths found in Ecclesiastes are vital for us to understand as Christians...but like all biblical truth must be placed in the context of all scripture. Otherwise, we are likely to despair.

"Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." Ecclesiastes 1:2 (NIV)

Yikes! Can I get some Prozac, please? Everything is meaningless? So what's the point? Not to pull a Bill Clinton, but the question is...what does the Teacher mean by "everything"? I believe the Teacher is referring to the things that this world system considers real, important, and valuable. Things like wealth, position, power, happiness, education, etc. All these things are meaningless because the world that we see is not the point, the spiritual world is the point. I'm not espousing some sort of Gnostic spirit/body duality. I'm just saying that the spiritual world has priority, the physical world is simply the tool God uses to mold our spirits into the image of Christ.

This is what Christ means when He says "store up for yourselves treasures in heaven". He's saying the treasures of this world are meaningless, the treasures of the Kingdom of Heaven are what's important. And so, the struggles, trials, and pains of this world are meaningless except for the fact that they are refining us as Peter writes:

So what is the meaning of life? As the Teacher says "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."

To me, blogs have always seemed to be an exercise in arrogance. You need to really believe that someone cares what you think to start a blog. But as a pastor, I get up and preach every Sunday assuming people want to hear what I have to say, so it's not a great leap from there to blogging. So I guess I'm arrogant...or something.

I've never been much of a writer, and I've never kept a journal of any kind. I do, however, see the value of such a thing. So even if no one reads this blog, at least it will be a record of what's on my mind...which is a scary thought at this point. If any entry is actually helpful to someone else, then "praise the Lord and pass the ammunition."

So, hang on tight...you never know what might be on my mind.