Everything That's On My Mind

Saturday, May 06, 2006

“But you see, David was the first blues singer. As well as praising, he was there shouting at God—you know: ‘Where are you when we need you?’…‘We’re surrounded’…‘Your people are starving’…‘Are you deaf?’ That type of thing. He’d be wailing, this militant mind, this poet musician with enough faith to believe he had a deal with God…believed it enough to get angry when it looked like He wasn’t coming through.”

~Bono

I've loved the blues for a long time. Even before I knew what the blues was, I loved the blues. There's something cathartic about the blues. It's raw, it's passionate, it's not quite under control, it's a little bit threatening. Most of all, I think I love the blues because it's honest. There are no pretensions, it is what it is...like it or not.

The Psalms are like that. Some of them are very raw and dangerous. We get a little uncomfortable when David starts calling down judgment from heaven on his enemies. It doesn't sound very "Christian" to call down fire upon the heads of your enemy. It's even more difficult when David questions God, wonders where He has gone.

All this makes me think about the definition of faith. Growing up, I got the impression that "having faith" excluded such thoughts. People of faith were perpetually happy people, everything was always great. Perpetual smiles and "isn't God good?" always on their lips. Now I'm not so sure. If David truly was a "man after God's own heart", then must we at least wonder if the "whining" Psalms are appropriate for the life of faith as well? Maybe you can be a person of faith and still feel depressed every now and then. Maybe Bono has a point. Maybe getting a little upset every now and then is a sign that we really do believe in God's promises. We're just a little impatient waiting for them to come to pass.

Ah, patience, now there's the rub.

So now I'm thinking that a little blues every now and then is a good thing. The key is to be more like David. No matter how bitter his complaint, he rarely closed a Psalm without a reminder of God's goodness and faithfulness, and an exhortation to patience. So we can sing the blues, as long as we don't give up hope. After all, suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character...hope. I think I may need to get that tattooed on my thick skin someday.

Faith

Saturday, May 06, 2006 - 09:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Yak Shaving Razor

Yes, I know. I haven't been blogging much lately. I'm sure all three of my faithful readers are going through withdrawal. Sorry folks, I just haven't been inspired lately. I must be in mourning for the Red Wings, yeah that's it.

In lieu of a real blog post, I offer a link to Joe Carter's regular "Yak Shaving Razor" feature at The Evangelical Outpost. I don't know where Joe finds these things, but every week he seems to provide at least one great tip that I had no idea about. I especially like his Google tips.

So, what's a Yak Shaving Razor you ask? You'll have to visit Joe's site to find out.

Silly | Technology

Wednesday, May 03, 2006 - 09:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Friday, April 21, 2006

Bring It

And so, another playoff season begins...along with sleepless nights when the games are on the west coast. During one of the Red Wings previous playoff runs, I remember having a conversation with a fellow pastor about the dilemma presented by west coast playoff games on Saturday nights. For the record, I have generally been disciplined enough to go to bed on time on Saturday nights, even when the game is still going. :-)

While it does present a time management problem, it's great to have the top teams in both basketball and hockey in Detroit. We've always been a great sports town, even when our teams weren't good. When the teams are good, however, this town goes nuts. I still remember the insanity (in a good way) when the Pistons one their first championship. Lori and I were newlyweds living in the city of Detroit and it was a lot of fun.

I've blogged about my love for the Pistons before, so I guess it's time to give the Wings their due. I was a basketball fan from a young age but despite the fact that my dad was a hockey player I never really got into the game until the 80s. The impetus behind my interest in hockey was a quiet young man by the name of Steve Yzerman. Drafted in 1983, he singlehandedly revived hockey in Detroit and laid the foundation for what is now known as Hockeytown. After 22 seasons, it is likely that he will retire after this playoff run. Hockeytown will carry on, but it will never be the same without him.

I have great admiration for Yzerman. Throughout his career he has exhibited the textbook definition of perseverance. His knee was shredded in 1988 when he crashed into a goalpost. (This incident and others lead to the development of the break-away goal posts in use today) He recovered, obviously, and has continued to fight through many adversities throughout his career. He is one of the few athletes (fellow Detroiter Frank Tanana is another) who has completely changed his style of play and continued to have success. In his youth, he had all the speed and make-you-look-silly moves that you see in someone like Pavel Datsuk today. When his knees couldn't keep up with his creativity, he transformed his game to fit his damaged tools and continued to be productive. Despite multiple injuries that would have caused many to give up, Yzerman continued to doggedly pursue and acheive excellence in his sport. I hope Stevie goes out with a Cup over his head but whether he does or not, he's an inspiring champion and one of the few good role models in the world of sports today.

Now if we could have a two-team victory parade down Woodward Avenue this summer, that would REALLY be something.

Sports

Friday, April 21, 2006 - 08:58 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Communal Faith

I have a love/hate relationship with academic studies and marketing research. Obviously I believe in the usefulness of research to verify assumptions, but I find it ridiculous that our society seems to need an academic study to determine if the sun shines. That being said, I appreciate George Barna's newsletter and the research that he does, even if his conclusions can be frustrating at times. His most recent findings fall into that category, confirming what I've said for years. American Christianity has succumbed to the individualistic nature of our society. American Christians no longer believe the community of believers is a critical component of their faith.

This trend has been obvious for years. The over-used phrase "a personal relationship with Jesus Christ" is a perfect example of the mentality of many Christians. "It's a personal thing," they say; "just between me and God." The problem is, that's totally wrong. Scripture makes it infinitely clear that our faith is a communal activity. We are not effectively part of "the body of Christ" sitting at home watching Joel Osteen on the TV. For iron to sharpen iron (Proverbs 27:17), we must be involved in each other's lives on a regular basis. The early church met together daily, we have a hard time fitting one hour a week into our schedules. No wonder our faith lacks power.

What is needed is not just attendance at regular church services, although it does start there. Real first century-style Christianity requires real community. Real community takes time, and time is one commodity that most of us are very unwilling to part with. It's easy to blame our society and economy for making us too busy, but the truth is we make our lifestyle choices and then consider how to cultivate our faith as an afterthought. Barna states it quite well:

"We want to be ‘spiritual’ and we want to have God’s favor, but we’re not sure we want Him taking control of our lives and messing with the image and outcomes we’ve worked so hard to produce."

If we truly want to see the power of God at work in our lives, we need to commit to the kind of communal faith that can truly have an impact on us and those around us. That kind of commitment requires sacrifice, and that is one word we all hate to hear.

Community

Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - 08:56 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Saturday, April 15, 2006

Permission Evangelism

I'm grateful for the Christian Book Summaries web site. It's nice to get a preview of a new book beyond the typical dust cover fluff. Their latest summary is of a book called Permission Evangelism by Michael Simpson. It's now on my wishlist over at CBD. He articulates many of the views I've expressed about evangelism. The whole idea of evangelism has been gravely distorted, and most people seem to equate evangelism with preaching a sermon to a complete stranger. Some people have that gift, the ability to strike up a spiritual conversation with a complete stranger. Most of us don't, and that's OK. That doesn't mean we're left out of the process. If we don't isolate ourselves within our Christian communities, we'll have relationships with people who need to hear Good News. If we're loving and attentive to the Holy Spirit, those relationships will naturally give us opportunities for spiritual conversations. If we're open and honest about what God has done for us, then we've done our job. The Holy Spirit does the rest.

Missional

Saturday, April 15, 2006 - 08:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Sunday, April 09, 2006

Ramblings on The Big Idea

I can't remember where I first saw this, but I love the humor of it:

Jesus said unto them: "Who do you say that I am?"

And they replied: "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the kerygma in which we find the ultimate meaning of our interpersonal relationship."

And Jesus said: "What?!?"

This morning I spoke about "missing the point" and how we so often do. We overcomplicate the gospel, we add to it, we confuse it with other things. Jesus said "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and love your neighbor as yourself." The religious people of his day had complicated faith to the point that it was unattainable by the average person. Jesus simplified things. He explained God's purpose for mankind in simple, yet challenging terms.

I love theology as much as anyone. I love the depth of people like Dallas Willard, D.A. Carson, F.F. Bruce and A.W. Tozer.* That being said, there's also a place for the depth of "Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so." Modern worship music has long been criticized for being too simplistic and lacking theological content. While some criticisms may be warranted, in general I think the critics are off-base. Music, in particular, is not a tool for theological dissertation; it's a tool for helping us feel what we know.

Yes, we need to maintain orthodoxy and avoid a pop-psychology version of the Christian faith, but at the same time it's not just about believing the right facts. Being a Christ-follower is not just intellectual, it's experiential. We know it and we feel it. Our interaction with God is not limited to simply agreeing with certain facts. It's submitting all that we are to Him; heart, soul, strength and mind. Anything less is missing the point.

Now and then we need to stop and remind ourselves to receive the kingdom of God like a little child. "Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so."

I'll close with the prophetic words of a brother of mine:

God's laughter echoes in heaven
We really think that we've figured Him out
With our systematic theologies
There's just one thing I wanna know beyond a shadow of a doubt
Does Jesus love me?
If that alone is true,
Maybe then I have a clue to ponder:
What's the Big Idea?

*Side note: Why do so many of these great authors simply use their initials? Carson, Bruce, Tozer, Tolkien, Lewis, Torrey, Wright, Packer...all known just by initials. Would I be taken more seriously as J.R. Mitton rather than just Bob? Actually, I already know the answer to that question, but that's another story. :-)

Music | Theology

Sunday, April 09, 2006 - 08:52 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Thursday, April 06, 2006

What kind of sports car are you?

These are so silly, kind of the blog version of those heartwarming emails everyone (except me) forwards to all their friends. Besides, I've always thought of myself as more of an F-150. This sort of makes sense, though. A car with something as bizzare as a Wankel engine seems to fit with my own personal eccentricity.

I'm a Mazda RX-8!

You're sporty, yet practical, and you have a style of your own. You like to have fun, and you like to bring friends along for the ride, but when it comes time for everyday chores, you're willing to do your part.
Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Silly

Thursday, April 06, 2006 - 08:48 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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Monday, April 03, 2006

Pre-porn

I can't believe that anyone will be surprised by this, but there's now "proof" from academia that sexy media is a siren call to promiscuity. It never ceases to amaze me what parents today allow their sons and daughters to watch/wear/listen to. An entire generation of kids is becoming completely desensitized to violence and promiscuous sexuality. I shudder to think about the cultural and spiritual ramifications.

Culture

Monday, April 03, 2006 - 08:45 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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