Tuesday Thoughts

It's been a rough summer for my blog. Given this is only the second post since May, I think it's beginning to feel neglected. 

So I thought to myself, what should I write about? 

• Reflections on my current sermon series? I mean I did manage to preach through 1 Peter 2:11-17 and the commands to submit to our governing authorities, no matter who's in charge. All done without infuriating my more politically-passionate congregants. Yay for small victories!
• Reactions to the latest evangelical leader "falling from grace"? I have some ideas, but not in the mood to share them to be honest. 
• Share news of the latest storm that hit us and try to make a spiritual metaphor out of trampolines hitting electrical poles? Nah, it's crazy and interesting, but not that amazing.
• Promote the publication of my commentary on 1-2 Kings? It's exciting and those books have surprising relevancy for today - but maybe another time.
• An update on the lessons I'm learning helping 5 churches through their pastoral transitions this summer/fall? Maybe sometime soon. 

Am I just creating a list on this page to come back to at a future date when I'm short of ideas? Yes probably. All of those things might be worth further elaboration. But today, I think I'll just give some shoutouts and praise to some fellow pastor friends.

If I wanted to mention all the pastors I know and have great respect for, the list would be super long. But these three stand out because they are like the kind of life-long friends with whom, though separated for a long time, you can still pick up where you left off before like there's been no absence at all. 

My guys Mike, Tim, and Cory fit that description. I don't have the same kind of relationship with each of them as the others but they do share some things in common. 

• They are all my age, probably all seen as "younger" pastors. 
• They are all like-minded people. I don't share the same theological convictions on every point with every one of them, but they are all teachable and willing to dialogue and learn. I try to be that myself and I appreciate that in them. 

To close, I'll just mention an example of why I'm thankful for each of them.

Mike - He pastors the church I grew up in and has shepherded it into a flourishing "mid-sized" church that has a renewed vision for how to impact its community, even as it is located a bit outside the city. We are good friends and accountability partners as well. 

Tim - I just ran into him a couple hours ago and we had a lovely conversation about serious (see second bullet point at the beginning of this post) and silly things (Henry Holsinger t-shirts).  We think alike and I try to emulate his posture towards people and ministry. I could hang out with him every day and be a much better pastor.

Cory - He has a young family that is going through the same adventures as we are. He also offers gracious pushback in discussions and recently offered needed insights on Biden's loan forgiveness orders (of all things). 

Shoutout to those guys and the encouragement they give me directly and also indirectly through their lives.

Stasis and Stagnation

Stasis is defined in Webster's as "a state of static balance or equilibrium". I've been thinking a lot about stasis recently. Mostly from my couch.

I just turned 42 yesterday and adding to that our two toddlers at home, I am realizing how the older I get the more comfortable I am being still and static.

And I'm realizing it takes a little extra effort to break up the stasis. 

I had a similarly aged friend tell me that many mornings it is tough for him to get out of bed, but once he does he's up and awake. I definitely relate to that but for me it also applies to the couch, during the day, or in the evening, when the kids are running all over the place an tearing up everything.

I don't want to be the dad who's always lounging around on his phone or watching tv, mostly ignoring his kids. People are constantly telling us that while this is a crazy time of parenting, "it goes by so fast" and we should "cherish it". And I do, we do. Sometimes. 

Other times I let myself get annoyed at their endless energy or constant inquiries. 

Much like my friend's morning routine, I am finding that my penchant for stasis can be easily overcome by a little willpower to just get up. By just putting down the phone and starting to interact, I find the energy and joy to play with my boys or pick up some of the mess they've made. 

Rest and stillness have their place in life. But there's a difference between stillness and stagnation. Balance is good, using it as an excuse for laziness is not. 

These kinds of lessons spur me on in other areas beyond our living room.  Motivation to exercise can start by just 'getting up' and making some time. And my faith walk can certainly slip into stagnation. But a little extra time a little more honesty with God can go a long way to building some positive growth and spiritual momentum.

And of course, just opening up my blog page and typing out some thoughts can start my first post in over a month. 

In whatever area of life you're static in, I hope you can find that little push to fight that stasis and get going.

Lament

Yesterday saw another mass shooting, this time in an elementary school. Within the last two weeks, we've seen elderly people of color gunned down in supermarkets and Asian-Americans attacked in their place of worship. Yesterday was kids and teachers in a school.

We grieve, as we should. 

We get angry, as we should. 

We search for answers, as we should. 

But something is missing. 

We do not truly lament as we should. 

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This past weekend saw the Southern Baptist Convention release it's third-party report on it's failures to properly address abuse over the past several decades. 

This past weekend saw another pastor admit to egregious immorality. This time it was in my hometown.

We grieve, as we should. 

We get angry, as we should.

We search for answers, as we should. But something is missing. 

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Lament, as I see it in the Scriptures, is an inner and outer wrestling with the reality of injustice, pain, sin, and suffering. Not necessarily all of those at once, but allowing one or more of those things to set in your spirit, languishing with the trauma and not brushing it aside or pretending it doesn't exist. 

Lament involves grief and anger and answers, but it is more than that. 

Lament is facing the consequences of idolatry head on (see Lamentations).

Lament is part of repentance and healing. And I would argue it is such a vital component of each that you cannot repent or heal without true lament. 

Lament is the choice to confront your broken condition and broken circumstances and ultimately turn to Jesus - not for an explanation or answers but for his presence. It holds back no questions and lets out all emotions. It doesn't worry if it is "proper" to vent, it just does. 

Lament is Jesus' groan of anger and sadness at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:33,38).

Lament is Jesus' weeping over Jerusalem as he approaches it before His Passion Week (Luke 19:41-44).

We in the West have trouble lamenting like this. Those families and communities affected will lament, they have no real choice. But lament should be the response of the rest of us too. 

Instead we try to move on quickly. We find excuses why we should and why things should remain the same. It is easier to pretend the problems don't exist. It is easier to pretend it is enough to address the symptoms rather than the disease. It is easier to believe that since no specific solution will prevent all of these tragedies that we have to give up trying to do anything to prevent some of these tragedies from repeating themselves in the future. 

We need to Lament. 

Lament will bring healing, repentance, and change. It will lead us to Jesus.

I use this blog to often feature music I appreciate and enjoy. Here's a song of lament that I happened to revisit last weekend, I think it can be instructive in its own way. 

Sermon Snippets: The Bible Says What?

A common critique of the Christian faith in general and Scripture specifically is that Christians pick and choose what they want to believe and obey and what they don't. 

"You believe _____________ is a sin, but don't condemn wearing clothes of mixed fabrics as Leviticus 19:19 prohibits."

It is an oft-used "gotcha" by non-believers to point out our obvious and blatant hypocrisy.

Except it is an argument that doesn't hold water.

Almost every example critics use in their "gotcha's" comes from the Old Testament Law. And upon closer inspection, both the context of the Law and the content of the laws themselves reveals that we are not being hypocritically selective in what rules we follow and what rules we ignore.

The context of the Law reminds us that God gave Israel these commands to abide by after He freed them from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. The Law was meant to give them a national identity as they lived before Him, holy and set apart from their middle eastern neighbors. The broader Biblical context of the Law is also instructive. The Law is no longer determinative for those who follow Christ (Galatians 3). Jesus himself fulfilled the Law and becomes the true interpreter of the Law, able to define what continues to apply and what no longer has bearing on us (Matthew 5:17-48).

The content of the laws themselves is also important. While we aren't given every purpose, reason, or cultural backdrop behind these commands - we see the Israelites were repeatedly told to do these things to "be holy" (Lev. 11:44-45, 19:2, 20:7,26, 21:8). And we also do know enough about their cultural background to know that many of their dietary restrictions and things like tattoo prohibitions were about avoiding the behaviors of pagan religious rituals of the nations around them.

Most of those realities are different for us 3,500 years later. Holiness still matters (1 Peter 1:16) but how it is lived out has changed. Thankfully we can eat bacon and lobster now because God has instituted the New Covenant to replace the Old Covenant that was founded on the Law (Acts 10:9-16). 

So yes, I probably do believe ____________ is wrong because the Bible says so and I am probably wearing clothing with mixed fabrics. But that doesn't make me a hypocrite. It makes me an informed follower of Jesus and astute student of Scripture.

For further reading on this, much of the above is indebted to Dan Kimball's recent book, How (Not) To Read the Bible (Zondervan 2020).

Faith and Doubt

I am 41 almost 42 years old. 

I've read the Bible since I was a kid and have seriously studied it since I was 17. And still there are times where I go, "Hmm, never seen that before."

The latest example came this week as I prepped for my sermon on the aftermath of the resurrection, in Matthew 28 - appropriately one week after Easter.

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

Did you catch that? "they worshipped him; but some doubted." 

It is no secret that the disciple Thomas doubted (see John 20) and his story is instructive on its own. But this implies there were more "doubters". And Thomas' account is actually more about disbelief. The term used here is about uncertainty, hesitation, and being unsure. Without splitting too many hairs, these comments are not about unbelief-related doubt but about confusion-related doubt.

And who can blame them? They'd just been through a roller-coaster of a week, filled with hopeful celebrations and the starkest of traumas. The "too-good-to-be-true news" turns out to be real and they worship. Some clearly are still trying to process it all and have genuine doubts - unsure about what it all means, what has happened, and what is to come.

The incredible thing about this part of the story is Jesus' response. We know he graciously warns Thomas about "unbelief" but in this description regarding these doubts, he offers something different. He does not rebuke them for denying him (looking at you Peter) or abandoning him in the Garden (looking at the other 10 of you). He reassures them by focusing them on his supreme authority and empowering them for their mission: 

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

One takeaway from this new observation is that faith and doubt can go together. Some view doubt as an enemy or the opposite of faith. It is as if we must have all the answers to all the questions or we aren't right with God. I don't think so. I think doubt/uncertainty is inherent to faith. Like the father seeking healing for his son in Mark 9:24, we will honestly say sometimes "I believe, but help my unbelief". 

Jesus isn't threatened by our hesitations, confusion, or for that matter our unbelief. He offers us himself -  the supreme King of the Universe - not to give us all the answers, but to encourage us that he's in control. He has a purpose for us and he will be with us. 

There will always be an element of ambiguity to life of faith in Jesus. There will be things we don't know, can't know, and will never know. He will take care of that stuff - and take care of us. And he will welcome our struggle with doubt even if it gets mixed in with our worship. 

Our human nature won't like the tension of faith and doubt. If we turn it over to Jesus, we can learn to live with it.

Obscure CCM Bands - Vo. 4

I really thought I was done with this little series. I had a couple others I thought I might share but nothing really stood out to me. 

Then three weeks later I remembers this band. They are a group that represents one of the rare times where CCM was ahead of the cultural wave instead of following it's wake. 

The band - AVB. Acappella Vocal Band (or is it "All Vocal Band", this website makes me wonder if I've been mistaken for 30 years).

You must understand, long before the Pitch Perfect movie franchise and even before Glee became a cultural phenomenon, CCM was featuring acapella groups all over the place. Now this isn't to say that acapella music was totally absent in mainstream culture, it wasn't. In fact I remember Rockapella being ever-present on one of my favorite tv shows, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

AVB was actually an off-shoot from the original group named Acappella, a vocal group founded in the early 80's. Both groups had their 15 minutes of CCM fame for sure. But it is AVB that made an impression on me. 

Their 1989 album Song in My Soul put them on my musical radar thanks to a couple songs that got radio play. Before I looked it up, I was sure this was the early 90's. As I look back though, they were probably my gateway-drug to the emerging pop-rock CCM acts that followed - ie, Newsboys, dc Talk. Their style had great vocal harmony but also featured an up-beat, almost hip-hop sound. 

The song that hooked me, for at least this one album, was "The Victim". Here's a version they did at what is an apparent reunion appearance 10 years ago. 

The group had many iterations, normally made up of 4-5 members at a time. I will never be confused with being a judge on any singing competition, yet they seem to still have a lot of talent and skill. And by combining into a larger group, they are able to do a nice job layering their sound.

I could not have told you that when I was a pre-teen though. All I knew then was, they had a unique sound and catchy lyrics. In this case, convicting-ly catchy lyrics. I gave my life to Christ at an early age, but I remember this song in particular being one of the first times I really learned that Jesus' death gave me the key to "stop doing those things" I knew were wrong. It was more than knowing right from wrong, but knowing how to live accordingly.

And as we consider anew the incredible truths of this Holy Week, the one Truth that stands above all is that when he "died upon the cross, the wage of sin was then made free". He truly took the torture and the punishment that was mine, that was ours. He became the victim of our crime. What a sacrifice and what a wonderful Risen Savior we serve!

Obscure CCM Bands Vol. 3

There was a particular experience common to many of us who grew up around CCM in the mid to late 90's. It felt like the CCM market was flooded with all kinds of bands as labels tried to see which ones would 'stick'. Thus, there is this whole pool of "obscure" bands from which to pick from for these last several blog posts. Some emerged as real heavyweights - Switchfoot, Third Day come to mind. Others never got traction for whatever reason.

Shaded Red was a band that landed squarely in this latter category. I can't remember how I stumbled upon their first album. Probably either my friends Jason Zaugg or Dave Robertson - shout out to those guys. It may have been from hearing the single below in its brief run on the radio. The band actually did make its mark on the CCM world with its second album Red Revolution. "Revolution" and a cover of "When God Ran" drew praise from critics and fans. But even with some modest success, this second album would be there last. 

It's my personal theory that this band's trajectory was permanently altered by the tragedy that befell them before their last album was even released. They were in a car accident that killed their drummer and I can only imagine how hard this was to process, let alone continue as a group. 

But I will always appreciate the art they produced. In the vein of Jars of Clay, they mixed acoustic and electric guitars along with piano, and later horns to produce a classic "Christian grunge" sound. Their first self-titled album became a rarity - due to their original label closing up shop if I remember correctly. In fact, in the early 2000's, I remember shelling out at least $30 to help my friend Dave's girlfriend purchase it as a birthday present for him. We were all at a Christian rock festival and randomly came across it in a vendor's collection. 

Thankfully, someone's uploaded the entire album to Youtube. "Caught" and "Found Someone" are the favorites I always gravitate towards. Shoutout to Jamie and Jonathan Roberts and the rest of their crew who created some really good music in a really short period of time.