Funny thing happened on the way to church ... well, actually it happened at church. But nobody ever says the line "Funny thing happened after I arrived at _____." Setting up the video on the third floor for a movie night, I notice I've got no audio out of the PC. Not the end of the world for the night, but I decide to see if there's a known cure that might lead to me learning a new trick or two about the massive snake of wires in the AV booth.

Rescue Roger, who's bailed me out of any number of AV setup headaches arrives on his own. I give him the overview and tell him what little I've done to try and repair the status thus far. Upon taking the speaker line out of the PC, we note that there's no audio coming from the PC. That's a bad thing if you want audio at all. Rescue Roger tries a few things. I let him off the hook since we don't necessarily need PC audio for our room this night all that much. We're both about to resign ourselves to defeat on this, then R.R. plugs the speaker back where it was in the first place. Presto. PC Audio.

Lesson for the day: If something is not working as it should on your PC, do the following (in order of preferred action):

a) do nothing, come back in 20 minutes and see if it magically works on its own
b) fiddle with it until it works
c) unplug and then plug back in whatever is pluggable/unpluggable (this is really a variation of b ... just simpler)
d) reboot the computer

I usually go with a) at work - d) when I know my PC has been worked to death and needs a reset. But there tends to be a bit of learning to do at church in the form of a few extra devices to contend with. So I'm not averse to learning a new trick or two. Still, it doesn't take long before the wisdom of a final option makes sense:

e) adapt to the reality that you are limited by what the PC allows you to do.

And if that's just too frustrating to deal with, pick up some reading material and get away from the computer.

Seriously, though, one of these days, I'm going to have to learn the ways of Rescue Roger when it comes to healing audio/video equipment.

Derek Webb blogging over at God's Poltics. I'm not sure words can truly state how cool that is.

Prof. Stackhouse on certainty ...

So I think it's fine to say that I am "certain" about these things. When I do, I am reporting on my state of mind. I am saying that I am so highly convinced of them that I entertain no serious doubts about them. I think, and feel, and act with untroubled confidence in them.

And that is what the Bible promises me: that I can enjoy such confidence--note that word: such "with-faith-ness" (con fide)--that I can make crucial life decisions according to such convictions.

The Bible, that is, doesn't promise somehow to lift me above my human limitations into an epistemic situation such that I can know something truly and also know that I know it truly and could not possibly be wrong. How could I, as a human being, ever experience something like that?

(And those who quote passages such as Luke 1:4 and Hebrews 11:1 need to consult the Greek lectionaries to see what is actually meant in the English translations that use "certain" words therein. Those words do not mean certainty in the former sense I'm defining here.)

No, the Bible promises that I can know with such assurance, such conviction, such well-grounded faith that I then can and will act in accordance with that faith--and thus be faithful.

Read the whole thing. It's lengthy, but worth the time spent. For an even lengthier read, his latest book is certainly tempting me for some future reading.

Interesting choice of passages for Greg Boyd's Easter sermon:

NIV:

¹⁴ Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil -- ¹⁵ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Message translation:

^14-15 Since the children are made of flesh and blood, it's logical that the Savior took on flesh and blood in order to rescue them by his death. By embracing death, taking it into himself, he destroyed the Devil's hold on death and freed all who cower through life, scared to death of death.

Also interesting was the inclusion of Pink Floyd into the message. Which I thoroughly dug.

I'm trying to work up a little mention of the sermons I'm going through this week, but I'm leaving the above passages mostly as-is for consideration. Beyond the obvious slew of Easter messages, I've also been poring over some of Rob Bell's earlier messages on his church's foundations. Like 10 of 'em, I think. Don't worry, I'm only likely to skim the skim of the surface on it. Much of the material has already found its way into "Velvet Elvis" and his "Everything is Spiritual" message. There's even a few spots where you can identify some NOOMA video ideas being born. But the approach of the message series is fascinating and the insights are always great.

I'll take one brief moment to note how odd it is that somehow, some things just seem to balance out. As mentioned previously, work is a bear. That makes reading time a precious commodity. That makes quiet time hard to come by. It makes Wednesday night services a bit more difficult to get to. And it cuts into the time available to listen to some other sermons from the rest of the world.

That in mind, I happened to just fall asleep on the bus ride home from work one day. I have this unexplainable talent for nodding off just enough to wake up a stop or two before getting home. I don't know how to explain that one, but it goes back to my time bussing it from NW Houston to the UH campus back in my college days (an hour & a half means of getting homework read during the day).

So, the other day, I wake up with the MP3 player blaring a Rob Bell sermon. Several stops prior to home, so I snap to attention since it's one of the older Bell sermons I've got loaded and never got around to listening to as systematically as I had hoped for. Short version of the story: the message just hit home in so many ways. I stopped off to listen to it while I shopped for groceries. Listened to it all over again once I got home. And fired it up another time on the way into work the next day.

Add to that, I'm still thoroughly enjoying my latest toy - a Message Bible. It's disturbingly readable. Addictive almost. Listening to Bell preach with the book handy, it's a pleasantly odd experience reading Peterson's translation and meshing it with Bell teaching from another version. The oddity comes from the fact that I kept finding myself reading more and more around the section used for example in order to find all the context imaginable for the message.

So, with all that's crushing me on the work front (and I say that in a pleasant, enjoyable way), I just crack open The Message for a random read. Anyone experienced in this practice knows where this lands you. And truth be told, I'm not an easy reader of Psalms - it strikes me too much like reading poetry. Maybe that's just a guy thing, dunno. But once more, I land on a message that just soaks in. Like maybe you've discovered a new life-verse or something.

Just great enough that I thought I'd share ...

Psalm 40
A David Psalm
1-3 I waited and waited and waited for God. At last he looked; finally he listened.
He lifted me out of the ditch,
pulled me from deep mud.
He stood me up on a solid rock
to make sure I wouldn't slip.
He taught me how to sing the latest God-song,
a praise-song to our God.
More and more people are seeing this:
they enter the mystery,
abandoning themselves to God.

4-5 Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God,
turn your backs on the world's "sure thing,"
ignore what the world worships;
The world's a huge stockpile
of God-wonders and God-thoughts.
Nothing and no one
comes close to you!
I start talking about you, telling what I know,
and quickly run out of words.
Neither numbers nor words
account for you.

6 Doing something for you, bringing something to you--
that's not what you're after.
Being religious, acting pious--
that's not what you're asking for.
You've opened my ears
so I can listen.

7-8 So I answered, "I'm coming.
I read in your letter what you wrote about me,
And I'm coming to the party
you're throwing for me."
That's when God's Word entered my life,
became part of my very being.

9-10 I've preached you to the whole congregation,
I've kept back nothing, God--you know that.
I didn't keep the news of your ways
a secret, didn't keep it to myself.
I told it all, how dependable you are, how thorough.
I didn't hold back pieces of love and truth
For myself alone. I told it all,
let the congregation know the whole story.

11-12 Now God, don't hold out on me,
don't hold back your passion.
Your love and truth
are all that keeps me together.
When troubles ganged up on me,
a mob of sins past counting,
I was so swamped by guilt
I couldn't see my way clear.
More guilt in my heart than hair on my head,
so heavy the guilt that my heart gave out.

13-15 Soften up, God, and intervene;
hurry and get me some help,
So those who are trying to kidnap my soul
will be embarrassed and lose face,
So anyone who gets a kick out of making me miserable
will be heckled and disgraced,
So those who pray for my ruin
will be booed and jeered without mercy.

16-17 But all who are hunting for you--
oh, let them sing and be happy.
Let those who know what you're all about
tell the world you're great and not quitting.
And me? I'm a mess. I'm nothing and have nothing:
make something of me.
You can do it; you've got what it takes--
but God, don't put it off.

Best read of the day ... possibly for much more than that, even.

There's not a lot of church-ese in there, and the author writes about smiling a lot. I'm sure there are those that would love to nitpick at the lack of theology in Michael Jernigan's post on how he maintains his joy after being injured in combat in Iraq. But if I'm up to being intellectually combative about things myself, I might go so far as to point out that there's more benefit in Jernigan's blog post than in any theology text.

Ya know, after a week-plus of capturing video from Joel's travels up north, I'm kinda looking for a good stretch of time to get back to writing a few thousand words per post. Who knows, maybe even go on a Video Fast (not sure about that one, though). But the work day picks up steam about this time of year, so I'm not quite ready to make that promise. About another week-plus of video-centric blogging and I'll probably return to normal thereafter.

Or, whatever passes for normal.

One little bonus video clip I've been meaning to post since the DVD came out, was a scene from the movie Evan Almighty. For a Christian perspective, the movie's not all that bad - at least on par with George Burns' multiple "Oh God!" movies (which seems to be on the path to a remake in 2008 ... ugh!). From a comedic perspective, the flick was a moderate letdown for us Steve Carell fans. Not a bad movie, just nothing to write home about.

But this little clip of the movie deserves a shout-out. Watching it in the theater, I was immediately reminded of a sermon Joel had given some time before on how God usually will give you the opportunity to grow in an area rather than just wave a magic wand and make you rid of whatever trait we need work on. That, and it's also an excellent reminder on what a great deity Morgan Freeman portrays on the big screen. Well ... a little smaller here. Anyways, enjoy:

Reading through two books at once isn't my preferred method. It kinda detracts attention. But somehow, this excerpt stuck with me as I'm making my way through the paperback release of Joel's "Your Best Life Now."

At once, it captures the hopeful optimism that I think most who enjoy Lakewood while also offering a counterpoint that I think gets overlooked by many of Joel's critics. It's an old, yet warranted, complaint about many charismatic ministries that the tendency is to blame a lack of faith for when things don't go perfectly in our lives. I can't speak for every ministry and how they deal with this. But here, we get Joel's reminder that tough times, setbacks, and disappointments will come.

Anyways, read on below the fold for Joel in his own words ...

One more audio post heading into the weekend. I'm optimistic that I'll break free from work in time to catch some of the great music at Celebrate Recovery. But that ties in to a sermon series that Greg Boyd is doing. I should begin by pointing out that part of what I love about listening to Boyd's sermons is that he's going through Luke - line by line and at a snail's pace. My favorite gospel being taught by a guy who dives into as much detail as he possibly can ... and who possesses the intellect and wisdom to do so wonderfully. But he's taking four weeks off from that plan to renew his church in the art and practice of worship. The reason was due to the need to catch up some of the newer church members there ... but I've got to think the messages ought to resonate with those who have been hitting church for longer. Since I clock in at just over two years, however, I suppose I'm in Boyd's target market. But give either of the first two messages a spin and see what you get from them.

I thought I'd post this little excerpt from the 2nd message. Here, Boyd talks about worship as a form of evangelism. Definitely a very "salt and light" type of message. But it also serves as a reminder of one of the reasons I enjoy our own Lakewood choir & orchestra. Personally, I find it hard to not notice others who possess ... well, whatever you want to call it ... and conclude that there's something there worth sharing.

Whether it's watching/listening to something masterfully performed by any of the musicians, some joyful moment by anyone taking part, or even a wonderful lyric masterfully sung ... if there's something there that doesn't move you at all, there just might be something wrong with you. To which I can only suggest a hearty "welcome to the club!"

Anyways ... Greg Boyd on worship as evangelism:

(Good ol' fashioned MP3 clip here)

In doing some work under the hood of this little blog, I just realized that next weekend will represent the second blogiversary of this endeavor. My how time flies when you're having fun.

Another oddity that struck me was that it seems we had some knowledge of the Christmas event at Lakewood around this time last year. I've not seen anything posted yet for this year. I do know that we're in the planning stages for Koinonia's holiday festivities ... and yes, I'm lobbying extensively to get Stryper booked for either gig. Wish me luck. My odds aren't all that great, but fortunately there's a lot of in-house talent for us to showcase.

As for any pithy thoughts to note at the onset of another year turning over for the blog, it's worth pointing out that it was pretty close to this time last year that I started using a bit more video on the site - first with the YouTube Tuesdays and then with the Monday Videos. The purpose of all that, oddly enough, was to instill a bit more discipline into my own posting and writing. For one, I'd have to do a little work to either locate a good YouTube clip and to edit a good Monday clip. Secondly, if I simply let the site devolve to a visual spectacular with nothing original to add of my own, I'd be pretty embarrassed ... so the routine had an odd way of forcing me to write, and write, and write some more. And, of course, there's the more worthwhile goal of simply shedding an additional ray of spotlight onto whatever catches my interest from within Lakewood or beyond.

Over the past year I've also been pleasantly surprised to learn about the site catching on with folks I rarely crossed paths with at Lakewood. Namely, some of the very folks who inspire and encourage me most in my own journey with their music and singing talents. In addition to that, the video site is approaching it's 50th person to register. Not a huge number, but since there's nothing really requiring registration and almost all of the videos are slapped onto the site, it just amazes me that the number isn't stuck on #1 - that being me. Based on the users there, some of the emails I get every now and then, plus other forms of feedback, it's safe to say this little corner of the internet has a truly international reach.

Of course, I can't say they're here for the snappy writing or deep, insightful odes penned via my keyboard. Obviously, the guy traveling all over the world with his ministry and broadcasting it helps a great deal. And beyond that, it all just speaks to the desire out there for people to connect with God in whatever way fills your own soul. Whatever contribution I add has to be viewed as microscopic compared to that.

If there's one thing I've come to learn more fully in the last year, it's been this: in order to be the most effective messenger you can for God's word into the world, simply find a bunch of other people who are sorta like yourself. A scary thought for some of us. But find the people you can relate to - or that can relate to you despite any discernible reason why you might want to relate to them. And then grow the Kingdom from there. I'm sure there are loads of other ways to do this, but that seems to work for me.

At it's simplest, that's all this blog does. It just sits here in pixelated form - and whoever shares an interest in my own weird reading habits; appreciation of 80s heavy metal music; punk rock music; and the significantly softer stylings of Cindy, Da'Dra, Carrie, Aimee, Jemine and others- well, they land here. And it's each of you who participate in one form or another that add an additional element to this site. I can only be in one place at one time, with my eyes in front of no more than three monitors, one television, and if need be, a radio. Where my talents end, you guys have done a great job in contributing in your own way. And for that, I offer a hearty thanks.

For whatever reason, I opt to head back downtown to the office after church Saturday night. I think it's just a whole lotta reasons bundled up into one timely sense of urgency, perhaps. It seems that after the Wednesday service I was so amped to listen to the service over and over again, I may have gotten a bit too much. By the next day, I was:

a) beyond tired from lack of sleep, and
b) ready to listen to anything BUT Lakewood music

Just for a momentary change of pace, mind you. By Saturday night, I was right where I needed to be in order to regain my appreciation of the musical side of Lakewood. Adding to matters, it was apparently decided that Aimee Beard would be performing a solo once more. Three guesses as to what's on display here come Monday.

Just to add to matters, the sleep schedule is a bit out of whack, I've got work stuff to catch up on, and it seems wholly justifiable to my way of thinking that I do that overnight and catch the Sunday service toward the end of this hideously scheduled day.

Anyways, I arrive downtown. After picking up a late meal, I'm headed down Main St. sticking out like a sore thumb. It's the peak club-hopping hour and I'm dressed in work casual, with a non-descript notebook, a small Bible, and a Eugene Peterson book I desperately need to finish. I look neither hip, urban, young, or cool.

First person that intersects with me extends a card my way and asks if I want to go to "their club." He puts such an awkward emphasis on that phrase that I think it's probably just another street evangelist hawking his wares in order to claim a successful evening of passing out cards. Nevermind that Bible in my hand might tip off a few folks ... even though it was late ... and dark ... and there's nothing that really stands out about this Bible except that it's small enough to not break my wrist after lugging it around all day. I smile, take the card and move on. Every weekend there seems to be a few of these folks. Bumped into one the day before. They're always creative cards you end up with. Alas, this one was for a real club. I just can't help but wonder what about me looked like the type of guy who was cool enough to walk into a place that has $5 Mojitos "b4 12am." Somehow I don't think it was the type of outting that Pastor Hunter was referring to ... nor do I think Rob Bell was going to be delivering a sermon there. So I passed.

After I cross the street, I'm in a difficult-to-navigate section of Main. The line of folks to get into the clubs closer to my office manage to block the street. It's not uncommon to fight for space on the streets with actual cars. After I get to some particularly tight section of sidewalk, I notice there's a group of four college-aged guys doing the "Bullhorn Guy" routine. Only without the bullhorn. So it's really just "Loudmouth Guy" ... and his posse. No cards, no pamphlets, just four really mean-looking kids, a milk crate, and two very loud vocal chords. And nobody seems overly interested in them.

Far more productive, we were treated to a couple of songs from one of Lakewood's Spanish worship team guitarists - Miguel. Interesting testimony given Saturday night. It seems he had given up guitar for a long time, picked it back up after arriving at church and now does a pretty good job of ministering through music. The guy had all of Koinonia singing in Spanish for half of each song. Part of his message was that it's never too late. He offered himself as an example. He had just turned 30. Well, this soon-to-be 40 yr old has also been picking up an old guitar when time permits. Hopefully by the time the clock turns over, I'll have enough practice to do a little project I've got in mind.

Among the qualities that I tend to equate with a great Christian book is what it opens up to me from the Bible. For instance, upon reading "The Ragamuffin Gospel," I was practically forced to re-read Luke one more time due to a sparked interest. Flipping through Eugene Peterson's "The Jesus Way," I got an unexpected spark - this time for reading the life of Elijah.

Peterson's chapter on Elijah was rich enough to re-read a second time in and of itself. Here's one snippet of that chapter to savor for now.

"The Jesus Way"
(pages 107-109)

The Widow
Elijah does go into hiding by the brook Cherith in Gilead, safe from reprisal from Ahab and Jezebel. After they have deciphered the blasphemous implications of his sermon they do go looking for him. And God does take care of Elijah as he had assured him he would. Each morning ravcens bring him a breakfast of bread and meat, each evening a supper of bread and meat. And the brook provides living water.

We are in familiar country here. If God could provide bread (manna) and meat (quail) for the Israelites in the Sinai wilderness for a great company of his people, it is no great surprise to find him taking care of his lone prophet in the Gilead wilderness. The ravens are a nice touch. Against the overall background of the Ahab-Jezebel and Ball-Asherah coalition and its signature drought, Elijah enjoys the hospitality of the Lord's "table in the wilderness" (Ps. 78:19), served morning and evening by the elegant ravens. God's providence is never characterized in broad generalities or pious abstractions but always in the particular, in the personal, in the recognition of grace in an unlikely time, at an unlikely place. Who could have anticipated ravens?

And then the brook dries up and providence shows up in a new way. God now directs Elijah to the town of Zarephath in Sidon. This is a surprise. Gilead was more or less obvious as a hideout, remote and not easily accessible. Out of reach of Ahab and Jezebel. Zarephath is in Sidon, Jezebel's backyard, an area not only inhabited by the people Jezebel grew up with but teeming with the gods and goddesses she is determined to bring into Israel. This is hostile country, dangerously hostile for a man on the run, a man attempting to live incognito.

But Elijah is not a man to calculate his chances. He knows how to obey orders, even when the orders make no sense (maybe especially when the orders make no sense). He goes where God directs him and finds himself cared for not by Gilead ravens this time but by an even more unlikely hand of providence, a starving widow. She gives him her more unlikely hand of providence, a starving widow. She gives him her last meal, a meal that she is getting ready to cook and eat with her son after which the two of them will die together. That is the plan. But it doesn't turn out according to plan. The hospitality the widow shows Elijah is transfigured into the hospitality that Elijah shows the widow and son. Giving begets giving. The little becomes much.

Once we have the entire story of Elijah before us, it will become clear that his life in the wilderness and with the widow, his out-of-the-way life, marginal to everything we assume is important and significant, is foundational to whatever effectiveness he will have when he has the attention of the world. Elijah is as much a prophet in the impoverished widow's home in Zarephath as he was, alone with God's ravens, alongside the wilderness brook Cherith in Gilead, and as he will be, more famously, on Mount Carmel. He is the same man in obscurity as he is in the spotlight.

We are not told how long Elijah spent with the ravens by the brook and with the widow in her impoverished home, but it could have been as long as three years, the time between when Elijah left Ahab pondering the drought sermon and the time Elijah showed up again to arrange for the showdown on Mount Carmel. It wouldn't be either the first or last time that a long period of seclusion, sustained by providential hospitality, was required to build the "highways to Zion" (Ps. 84:5) in a man or a woman's heart. Herman Melville wrote that his isolating years on a whaling ship were "my Harvard and Yale." Maybe Gilead and Zarephath were Elijah's.

What amazes me most about the widow's hospitality for Elijah was that she followed Elijah down a path that involved her feeding him despite being low on food ... housing him when she expected to merely go home to die upon running out of food. Elijah tells her "For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD gives rain on the land.'" Add to the scene here that there is a term in the NIV version that repeats itself in 1 Kings 17 - "Some time later." It's likely that this phrase covers a matter of years. It isn't until after one of those "some time laters" that Elijah brings the widow's son back from the dead and has her concluding with "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth." Imagine all that time of feeding a total stranger (with a deathwish, no less!) with whatever degree of doubt the widow had for Elijah. She followed, she obeyed, she sowed ... all with some portion of doubt. Maybe a lot, maybe just a bit - we don't know. But she followed.

Two separate audio clips to share here from two different sources. Each struck me as worth highlighting.

The first is from Pastor Joel Hunter. Hunter heads Florida's Northland Church. I've been rather late to appreciate Hunter despite his being in the news for much of the past few years. My bias tends to be toward younger pastors, but Hunter is a clear exception. I'll usually listen to his sermons late at night, turn down the lights and let his voice just fill the room. The church also has great sermon notes and a study guide to go by also. As a communication techie who dabbles in graphic arts, it's a nice addition.

Hunter's segment here is from the sermon "Wasting Wisdom" - one that I find myself listening to repeatedly. It covers the difference between moralism and morality. It's a point that I suspect Hunter has covered in his recent book covering politics and religion: "Right Wing, Wrong Bird." In the end, however, it's an affirming view to the way I tend to look at that intersection. Give Pastor Hunter a listen and I'll leave it to him to clarify. If you're up for it, though, the entire sermon is great to take in.

(If the flash player isn't showing up in the RSS feed, click the link for old-fashioned blog reading methodology)

Second up is a duo of clips. Greg Boyd from Minnesota's Woodland Hills Church is one of my favorites because there's a lot to his style that I recognize in myself. He's at once nerdy and rambling. As he puts it, he tends to "think in paragraphs." Like Hunter, Boyd is another author of a book covering the intersection of politics and religion, but this clip doesn't go into that (mercifully). These were actually back-to-back answers in a Q&A session that concluded a series on spiritual warfare. Again, the entire session is worth listening to, but it's over 2 hours of audio from each of the services. I won't lie ... even I couldn't sit through that in one sitting. But it's an incredibly educational and entertaining lesson.

Boyd gets a little bit of grief from critics of his view of what's called "open theism." I don't pretend to have done enough theological study to break that down on both sides for one and all. But the first clip gives a brief overview of what that's about. I'll leave it for you to decide whether it fits with your own worldview, but it certainly opens up an area that warrants more thought in terms of how we live out God's purpose in our lives.

The second clip picks up from the other participant in the Q&A, Paul Eddy. This one grazes on that politics/religion intersection, but only as a means of providing a metaphor. It also, I think, addresses the question more directly. That question was essentially ... why doesn't God just take away - or just obliterate - Satan's power in this world? As Eddy notes in his answer, the metaphor isn't perfect, but it's a good starting point to illustrate with.

I'll recommend the whole 2-hour session if you've got the time and interest in the subject. As a throwback, I first mentioned this topic back when I read John Eldredge's "The Sacred Romance." The book excerpts from back then are another great illustration of the subject as well.

Well, I did a post discussing my one-year Lakewood anniversary last time around, so why not give it another go?

The biggest change over the last year, for my part, has been that I've done a bit more volunteer duty around the place. It doesn't really take long before you look around and realize you're one of the old-timers around church. On the surface, it's an odd calling to have an introvert like myself facilitate a small group discussion for Koinonia or greet folks for Compass Class. But I'm reminded of my days working in retail to put that into perspective. At some point late in my decade-plus of retail work, I remember interviewing for something (whatever memories I haven't suppressed from that era are all a blur) and getting one of those questions that, if I were the one asking, I'd be on alert for some stock answer like "Oh, I just love being around people." You know - those answers that you're supposed to give in order to make the interviewing manager smile approvingly. The answer I wanted to give, of course, was something sarcastic like "I'd just as soon be left alone to my thoughts if you don't mind." Obviously, I'm not likely to be confused as a people person. But I did rather well in retail if I dare say so. My explanation for that isn't that I just loved being around people, but rather that I just learned to co-exist comfortably and peacefully with them. Besides, most people are good folks, right?

As luck would have it, I've since managed to find myself in my own little ministry of "button-pushing" behind the AV console (I'd be the "V" half of that equation). Not a bad fit, really. I still get to jump into a small group pretty much whenever I so desire. The greeting gig earlier in the nights is made easy by virtue of knowing most of the people that show up each week for Compass Class. So even that's not so bad.

As any walk of faith progresses, there's a number of things that may not be a negative, but they do require some attention until they do become a negative. You get used to a lot of things when you've got a routine. I can pretty much name everyone I'll run into at the bookstore before Compass Class. I can usually identify who shows up in precise order for class. I no longer have to make use of a watch when I wonder what time it is during a Joel Osteen sermon. I can tell time by the pace of his sermon. Honest to God about that.

The potential downside to it all is this: when other people go through their own seasons that alter their routine, there's a similar season of adjustment to go through on my part. There's people you get used to seeing and then you don't. There are people you get used to spending just the right amount of time with each week ... and then you don't. I'd be lying if I said there weren't people I honestly miss seeing on a regular basis at church. That takes quite a bit for an introvert to admit to, I think.

There can be a fine line between ritual and building community, and that's basically where I'm going with all this. The necessities needed to establish personal bonds take time. That leads to ritual ... which isn't all bad. So long as it's done willfully, freely, and cheerfully ... and strengthens the bonds of fellowship you've begun building. At it's worst, you can find yourself marching in a circle around your mountain when you should be doing other things. At it's best, you can finish each others' sentences.

All of that just adds to growth, though. There's always someone new walking in the doors of Lakewood. And with thousands of people on hand, you've got to think there's a community of likeminded folks just waiting to come together and strengthen each other in their own walk. Personally, that's about where I find myself ... somewhere near the tipping point to create that something new. What that is, I'm not even remotely sure of yet.

And that, in sum, may be the one thing that I believe I've refined a bit more over the course of the last year. One of the motivations for me leading small groups was that I was tired of getting mixed results in terms of quality discussion at whatever table I was at. Instant fix: be the facilitator. Voila! Want to see your study group grow? Volunteer to help it grow, even if all that means is greeting folks at a table so that other folks can be the social butterflies that God created them to be.

All that to say that what I concluded last year is pretty much the same truism this year. Joel tells us that we won't go out the same way we came into Lakewood and I'm just left to conclude that he's right. Besides, many of the same things that I love about the church are still there. The music's still inspiring, the sermons still resonate long after they're delivered. And occasionally you see someone you haven't seen in a long time.

I don't necessarily want to beat a dead horse over this topic, but Randall Balmer has a post regarding the Pope's authority that I'll just echo. My reasons for taking an interest in Balmer's opinion is that it borrows from one of my own favorites of the New Testament - Peter.

» ESPN: For this firefighter, football is more than a game (Wright Thompson)

Great ending note here on a story with some sad overtones to it. Todd DeLamielleure is a former college student athlete whose father is an NFL Hall of Famer. Todd's path in sports didn't quite go as far as his dad's, but he's not given up the dream even as he finds a renewed calling as a firefighter in South Carolina. The backdrop of this tale is that Todd's station lost nine men to a fire on June 18th.

Todd continues to play in a fledgling semi-pro league. The closing note of this article mentions a great moment of reconciliation between Todd and his father from a preacher some of us are familiar with.

There's no guarantee the league will take off. There's no guarantee Todd will make the team or, if he does, that it will lead to anything else. That's OK. He's not thinking about trying to get another shot in the NFL. He's thinking about that first game, and the pain of the first hit and the sweat stinging his eyes. He's thinking about righting an old wrong, about the importance of having a dream, and maybe someday he'll understand that his story has everything to do with those nine firefighters and that now is the perfect time to tell it. When he does this thing he loves, he honors brave men named Mike and Melven, named Billy, Brad and Brandon, brave men like himself, named Mark, Michael and Earl. He honors his friend, Louis, who left behind a wife named Lauren.

That's what his dad believes, that the past month has given urgency to all unfinished business. A few days before the fire, Joe was watching Joel Osteen, a popular television preacher. The theme of the sermon was not leaving any regrets. So Joe wrote his boy a note. Just in case, you know. He said, "I know it sounds crazy, but I think the girls are right. I should grow up and be like you."

On Father's Day, the day before the fire, Joe gave the letter to his son.

"Man, I'm glad I gave him that note," he says. "What would have happened if he would have been in there? I think that's why he's playing football. He doesn't ever want to have any regrets."

» Chron: Pope: Other Christian denominations not true churches (Nicole Winfield/AP)

There's one blog entry that I've probably got within me that I'd just as soon not write. And yet, after seeing the recent news of the Pope referring to all other Christian churches as "wounded" for their failure in recognizing the primacy of the Pope, I'm having a hard time keeping that post on the shelf.

Don't worry, I'm not headed into some anti-Rome diatribe. But there is something to be said for the judgementalism - a seeming reverse-judgementalism, if you will - that this sort of conclusion draws from. And it's not limited to just the Pope. It's not limited to even discussion of religion, faith, Christianity, or any other belief system. It's something that's within all of us to one degree or another. And since I've now run into similar strands of this mindset on a variety of topics, I can't help but leak out a few thoughts along these lines.

Basically, there's this sense that once each one of us figures some grand, mysterious aspect of life out, there's a tendency to think we're the only ones who see things properly and everyone else is wrong. Read enough religion blogs and you'll run into the phenomenon. Some preacher or another doesn't include enough hellfire in their "sermons" ... ergo, they're false messengers. Certain churchgoers don't vote the way I do ... therefore, they need to be "witnessed" to. You aren't living your life the right way ... let me tell you how to do it. You hold a belief that I find wrong ... so allow me to cast judgment on you.

Perhaps one of the most enlightening aspects that I've learned to appreciate about Lakewood in particular is that what fits for one person doesn't necessarily fit everyone. Case in point, one table-mate in small groups once mentioned that he used to be Catholic and found much of the Catholic Church to be losing relevance. The result was that he landed at Lakewood. On another instance, a woman mentioned that she grew up Catholic, had various doubts about the Church, but upon going to Lakewood found her experience in Catholic Church (her family went there as well) to be made richer.

Both of those stories are beautiful. On the one hand, finding yourself not in a community that you see worth belonging to shouldn't drive one out of a relationship with Christ - nor should it drive someone out of church altogether. That someone is capable of finding a church home despite that loss, to me, is remarkable. Similarly, that one finds a richer sense of community in a church home with one's blood family as well is just as remarkable.

At Lakewood, I think we get to look firsthand at a lot of people who have been wounded in their church/community experience but have enough of a draw to maintain their relationship with Christ that they give it one more shot. I know because that was once me. And there are, no doubt, numerous churches that experience the same thing. We just have a few more folks walk in the doors, so we're rarely in short supply of examples.

To me, that ready supply is a primary feature of Lakewood. But it's not enough to suggest we're any better at it - though we do try. Other churches, big and small, have their unique mission on this count. Whatever denomination they may be ... they all have a mission here.

Now, along comes the Pope to call me "wounded." Nothing against my Catholic friends, but I refuse to recognize the primacy of the Pope. I much prefer the primacy of Jesus Christ. To my own way of thinking, that makes me not "wounded," but "redeemed." If the Pope finds some Bible verse to substantiate his own primacy, I'll be happy to discuss it with him.

Now, final caveat here ... I do think that God works though even the weirdest churches out there. I'm a big believer in just admitting that some church or another just isn't my cup of tea before I go digging through the theological case for them being false messengers. Doesn't mean there aren't several of the latter that warrant the label, but there's far, far more that just aren't my thing. I think that many of Joel's critics would be better served to simply admit that Lakewood's style isn't one where they feel at home in. There's nothing wrong with that. Given what some have tried to argue about his preaching, I think they'd be on far stronger grounds.

I don't doubt that God will work through the Catholic Church and do wonderous things with the folks who call it their church home. Just as I don't doubt the sincerity of one's faith based on them holding a few ideas I might not share ... or who they vote for in elections for Dog Catcher ... or whether they think my taste in music will send me to hell. We sometimes struggle for words to grasp our own reality. Every nuance, every sensation. I've also written how we often struggle for the medium to deliver that message - regardless of whether we have the right words or not. So it stands to reason that in our own, unique walks of faith - our own relationship-building with Jesus Christ - that we probably each struggle with that far more than we let on. And how to express that, how to relate to it, how to understand it all and how He wants to work through our sacrificial lives - that's ought to be a struggle as well.

Of course, it might help if we don't judge what we see as wounds what God sees as redeemed.

» Houston Chronicle: Baptists warned about Islam, atheism (Eric Gorski/AP)

Watergate figure Chuck Colson warned a gathering of Southern Baptist pastors Sunday night against what he described as two dire threats: the deadly marriage of Islam and fascism and a new, militant atheism growing in popularity in the West.

» Think Again: The Three Atheists (Stanley Fish)

Dawkins asks why Adam and Eve (and all their descendants) were punished so harshly, given that their “sin” – eating an apple after having been told not to – “seems mild enough to merit a mere reprimand.” (We might now call this the Scooter Libby defense.) This is a good question, but it is one that has been asked and answered many times, not by atheists and scoffers, but by believers trying to work though the dilemmas presented by their faith. An answer often given is that it is important that the forbidden act be a trivial one; for were it an act that was on its face either moral or immoral, committing it or declining to commit it would follow from the powers of judgment men naturally have. It is because there is no reason, in nature, either to eat the apple or to refrain from eating it, that the prohibition can serve as a test of faith; otherwise, as John Webster explained (“The Examination of Academies,” 1654), faith would rest “upon the rotten basis of humane authority.”

Romans 7:21-23

When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²²For in my inner being I delight in God's law; ²³but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

The above three datapoints just struck me as woth considering for a really mind-bending blog post on how we as Christians have this amazing tendency to just utterly miss the point when it comes to recognizing peril. I have a fair amount of respect for Chuck Colson, but go ahead and put me down as thinking he's missed it by a longshot.

Anyways, there's food for thought for the day. It's kinda late, I'm really tired, and I've got a spectacular impatience for parsing apologetics at this stage in my life. So I'll leave it to you, fearless reader, to mull your own thoughts along this tangent. If you've got a thought or two on the topic, by all means drop a comment or an email.

SIDENOTE: Oh, and it's a crying shame that Fish's blog post is behind the paid subscriber firewall of the New York Times. How strictly do copyright laws abide to words good enough to be spread far further and much wider than they already are? If it's of enough interest, email me and I might throw a few thoughts on that your way.

Well, yesterday I broke a little bad news. I recall that when I realized my stuff was missing, I was pretty mad yet also quick to not let it steal my joy for the day. I've been through moments far less worrisome and done just that in the past. And here I was on a day to anticipate an Aimee Beard solo and the return of Heath Rosborough to our Koinonia group.

I recalled one of my favorite stories of Max Lucado's. It involves a moment when his daughter nearly drowned. You can get the jist of it here. The short version is that upon thanking God for his daughter's safety, the question pops to Max's mind: "Would I be less wonderful had I let her drown? Would I still be receiving your praise this morning had I not saved her?" All I lost was a few trinkets. No lasting damage of any significant kind. Just a few minor inconveniences to replace them and a credit card to cancel. No way that ranks any worse than Lucado's example. So I was determined to enjoy the praise and worship a little bit more that day. Blaring Lincoln Brewster's CD before then helped, too.

After my usual early arrival at church, I opted to sneak into the sanctuary to see if there would even be a few musical refrains to enjoy a bit earlier. I'm almost tempted to not mention what a great feeling it is sitting in the sanctuary with maybe 5 other non-staff folks to be seen and the best band in the land rehearsing. It's almost surreal to be sitting on the front row and the whole church is quiet enough that you can hear Michael strumming with only negligible amplification and nothing coming through the sanctuary speakers. The lady singing along was also a pleasure since she's normally part of the ensemble and it's difficult to pick out each individual's voice in that setting. Not a big surprise that she has an incredible voice. Truth be told, though: even if it was just Larry tuning his piano, it'd still be great.

Normally, upon learning that Aimee's singing, I'd make plans for a Sunday service just for that. But due to a mix of good and bad reasons, I had even more cause for a Sunday repeat. The bad was that I ended up seated further off to the side than normally. The allure of a quick escape for my Koinonia duties was pretty strong. But I think I was also hoping I could sweet talk an usher or two into letting me and a friend move up a row or two ... ya know, where the sound is actually good. Suffice it to say, I was stuck in something akin to an auditory dead zone in the sanctuary. Clearly, I need to work on my sweet-talking. But the rest of the songs performed by Cindy, Steve, & Da'Dra was some of my favorites ... so that made it beyond mandatory that I'd be there Sunday morning. Even if the acoustics left a little to be desired, the songs were already planted and in full bloom in my heart.

Taking advantage of the one plus for my seat, I had a good deal of fun flying by the seat of my pants at Koinonia. I'll admit this: one of the many wonderful adventures of making some enormous changes to the format of this group is that we learn something new every day. Kudos to Marie for being even more adept than myself at finding some of the solutions we needed to make everything go well.

The added bonus of it all, of course, was seeing Heath Rosborough once more. Not only did we get some well-received praise & worship with him, but we also got a look at "Pastor Heath" as he shared a great message that already confirms for me a book that's been sitting on my wishlist for a while now. The music, of course, is always a pleasure to soak up. I don't recall whether I'd seen Heath perform "You Took My Place," but he was gracious enough to lead off with it as he took the stage after group discussion. Clear and away my favorite from his CD ... with a lot of great runnerups to choose from.

Part of Heath's message mentioned how we sometimes get so wrapped up in our routine that we lose sight of true worship. Heath went into Psalm 50 for a word on this. In particular, Psalm 50:8-15 hit home:

⁸ I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices
or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.

⁹ I have no need of a bull from your stall
or of goats from your pens,

¹⁰ for every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.

¹¹ I know every bird in the mountains,
and the creatures of the field are mine.

¹² If I were hungry I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴ Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
fulfill your vows to the Most High,

¹⁵ and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

The routine - the rote mechanical motion defined by man - isn't what God is truly after. Give thanks ... keep your word ... call upon God in your times of trouble. Skip down to verse 23 and we get a reiteration of this as well as the reward:

²³ He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God."

So give thanks ... even in times of trouble.

So Sunday morning comes around. I wake up late enough to ensure that I get a few rows further back than I'd like, but I at least make sure to pick a spot with good acoustics. Nothing left to chance here today. The experience? A hundred times better. Sure, I could be saying that because the music alone was great. The sermon from Saturday night was one that hit home. Or even because of Heath's message. But by the time you add it all up, there's a cumulative effect that's hard to describe.

After the service, I owed it to myself to go out of my way to meet Stephen from the Ensemble (as well as Darrell ~
assuming I'm remembering names reasonably well). Still amazes me that more than five people read this little site, but the usage stats beg to differ. These guys, along with the entire Choir and Ensemble, orchestra and worship leaders, do a magnificent job each week. The level of talent on the Lakewood stage would probably intimidate lesser folks and it's just great to hear that anything I do or say via keyboard encourages them one iota more. By the time Stephen said he heard what had happened to me yesterday, I literally had to jog my memory rather quickly to even recall that for myself. That, to me, says what a great job he and a whole lot of other talented people do to help keep a song of praise alive in people's hearts.

Oh yeah, and Joel gave a great sermon, too. With a little luck, I'll have a few thoughts to cobble together on the subject. Video on the way tomorrow. Marcos at the pulpit on Wednesday.

There's nothing like waking up and noticing that someone broke into my place, leaving with a cellphone, MP3 player, USB drive and wallet. Determined to find a good word for the day, here's one of those "I opened the Bible and my finger landed on ..." type of discoveries:

Psalm 66:8-12

⁸ Praise our God, O peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard;

⁹ he has preserved our lives
and kept our feet from slipping.

¹⁰ For you, O God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.

¹¹ You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.

¹² You let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance.

When it's all said & done, the stuff gets replaced - no big deal. And maybe whoever's walking around with my gadgets gets a word in their heart from any of the sermons or praise & worship videos stored on the MP3 player. Personally, I'd like to recommend the praise & worship from Wednesday that resides on the USB drive.

John Ortberg:

"If I'm to preach to people effectively, I must be freed from my need for their approval and applause. As long as I am chained to that need, then my preaching will really be trying to fill up something in me that I can never fill."

Question - would it be considered too ironic if I applauded that sentiment? Of course, Ortberg's principle applies to blogging and certainly any other number of social circumstances.

Something new from the folks at Igniter Media ...