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“The maid who sweeps her kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk who prays—not because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors. The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.” – attributed to Martin Luther
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Life sometimes feels like garbage. Guilt, pain, tragedy, depression, betrayal, sickness… we could go on far too easily. It's inevitable that at seasons in life, things will feel like a mess. It might be because of a mess we've made or because of the reality that life is messy. The most difficult thing about the times when our life feels like a garbage dump is that we can't picture anything beyond the trash that we are living in.
The message of the Gospel is one that speaks directly into our mess. The Gospel speaks the truth that God comes into the midst of our garbage and loves us anyway. The truth that your mess isn't too big for the cross. The Gospel speaks the truth that God not only cleans up the mess that you've caused, but he also promises to be with you in the mess of life. The truth that God will never leave you, no matter how bad it gets. And in the midst of all this mess, God promises to work.
"You make beautiful things. You make beautiful things out of the dust…. You make beautiful things out of us." - Gungor
There's an interesting story in the book of John where the disciples have a conversation with Jesus regarding a man born blind. It was common in that day to directly attribute something bad that happened as a consequence of the sin that someone committed. In this case the disciples were asking, "What did this guy or his parents do that was so bad that he ended up like this?"
We commonly ask this type of question when things go wrong. Why? Why me? Why them? Why, right now? Why this? The disciples' question isn't all that different than what we ask. We may not phrase it the same way as they did, but it is ultimately the same. The disciples wanted an explanation, and we often are looking for the same thing.
But Jesus doesn't answer their question.
Jesus doesn't give an answer to why the man was born blind. When we are in the midst of the trials of our own life, we often don't have an answer to the questions we ask. And perhaps what we need most is not an answer to these questions. Instead Jesus changes their focus. Instead of looking back, he encourages them to look forward. Instead of looking for an explanation, he shows them redemption. He shows them that God takes even the worst of situations and makes it new. He takes the blind man's situation and changes the discussion from "who sinned" to "how is God going work in this?"
In this case, Jesus works in the man's life by healing him. Even in the mess of our own lives God can create something beautiful. Even in the midst of pain, hurt, betrayal, and rebellion, God can redeem the most broken of situations and make something beautiful. It's easy to get so focused on the cause of our blindness that we become distracted from realizing that God has promised to work despite what we are experiencing. God has promised to be with us. God has promised to he would never leave us. God promises that he hears us. And that he forgives.
What messes have you been through that you've seen God work in?
Erik Wahl recently was a keynote presenter at Western Michigan's Food Marketing Conference. I had absolutely no interest in the food marketing conference itself, but having become a recent fan of Erik's artwork and speaking, I found a way to attend his keynote and finally get a chance to see him perform live. The primary reason that I have been so interested with Erik Wahl is that he is an excellent communicator. And as a preacher who loves the art of preaching, there is a value in seeing an artist showcase his craft and try to learn a few tricks.
If you haven't seen any of Erik's work, you can find a video later in the post of one of his pieces.
If you ask a room full of adults, "How many of you draw?," you will not likely get very many hands. The same would probably be true of preachers. If you asked a Kindergarten classroom this same question though, the results would be completely different. Something happens as we grow older, and we begin to believe we aren't artists. We believe we aren't creative. We've been told that certain things have to be done a certain way in order to get the results that you are expected to get. When it comes to preaching, I love looking at the sermon as a work of art. When I work on my sermon I want to actually believe that I'm creating a work of art that makes a difference.
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When Erik was painting one of his pictures, he perfectly timed his painting so that as the music finished, he would spray paint an apple on the canvas, ask us to "think different" and rotate the canvas in order to reveal that the painting was Steve Jobs. When I preach, I spend a lot of time working on the content of my message and even specifically crafting the order of my content, but an area where I can improve in understanding the significance of the timing in how I say certain things. The rhythm, the pacing, the tone, and pauses all help communicate. And those are things that are easy to forget about and can only really be perfected by practicing.
As Erik neared the end of his keynote, he described the significance of social media and it's implications for all the people in the food industry. As he described the significance of social media, he also let the entire room know his plans of doing an "art drop" by giving a clue via Facebook at 10:01pm. The art drop is brilliant in and of itself, but engaging the audience by encouraging them to participate in this art drop was even more brilliant. This social media illustration would be experienced by the audience even after the keynote was finished and participants had left the building. What would our sermons look like if they didn't end when we prayed? What if our sermons engaged people still on Monday?
Who is someone that is not in ministry that you've learned some lessons about ministry from?
1. Don't be antagonistic. Some people just enjoy stirring up controversy, don't be that person. People love to get fired up especially on the internet, don't play into that by posting something that you know is going to bring people out of the woodworks wanting to debate.
[tentblogger-youtube -3L5SJyPpZk] Don't forget what this weekend is all about. The crucified and risen Jesus. Death doesn't win; Jesus does.
Regardless of your political party, religious persuasion, or sexual orientation the way culture defines marriage is not only in the process of changing, but it has already been changed.
6 months before I got married, I was faced with a dilemma. In a few short months, I would no longer be only responsible for my own well being, but I would also be given the responsibility to take care of my soon-to-be-wife. I would not be just son and student, but I would become husband. And that meant I needed to make enough money to give us a place to live; and health insurance would’ve been nice too.
I had been planning for most of college to end up as a youth pastor, but 6 moths before marriage I still didn’t have a job doing youth ministry. But I did have an opportunity to work as a garbage man. So I was faced with a dilemma; I felt like God had gifted me to do student ministry, but I also knew God had given me the responsibility to fulfill my future vocation of husband by being a good provider. Because of my calling to be a husband, I knew that it might actually mean that I was also being called to be a garbage man.
Trash, really? God’s calling.
When is the last time you talked to a barista who you felt was called by God to serve you the best coffee they could make? When was the last time you tucked your kids into bed realizing the magnitude of the calling that you have as you pray and listen to them? As soon as we start talking about “calling,” we immediately start separating the sacred and the secular. Pastors are called; church-workers are called, but what about the employees flipping burgers at the corner McDonald’s?
Vocation literally means “calling.” From the time we are little we are asked the question, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” And then as we enter college, we are faced with the pressure that we need to decide a career and hope that it lines up with God’s will. If vocation means “calling” then we are not the ones doing the work, God is. We don’t decide our vocations, we discover them. God has put you exactly where you are; that’s your vocation. You are called to love God and love others in the place that you are. That doesn’t mean that you no longer care about future goals and dreams, but it also means that right now is important. How do you love your family now? How do you serve your employer now? How do you relate to your neighborhood now? How do you interact with teachers today?
The danger for Christians is that it is very easy to fall into the trap of elevating God’s calling in certain situations while minimizing God’s calling in others. It’s easy to lift up pastors and preachers, but what about the assembly line workers? The stay-at-home-moms? The cashier at the local Starbucks? Luther said, “Every occupation has its own honor before God, as well as its own requirements and duties.”
You are here. You are here with all of your gifts, with your personality, with your unique way of looking at the world, with all of your talents because God wants you here. You are here in your neighborhood, in your job, in your school, in your family because God has placed you there.
Where are you?
Photo Credit: Jimloter
Every morning, first thing after i get up and bring our little man into bed for some morning cuddling, a couple things always take place. First, I inevitably grab my iPhone to check the new blog posts for the day and shortly after I start reading blogs on my iPhone, Elijah usually starts climbing on me and pointing for the iPad which is charging on the nightstand next to us. Since Daddy is on the iPhone, he should obviously get to watch Mickey Mouse on the iPad.
Technology does some incredible things. We are more connected in our world than ever before. Something can happen on the other side of the world and I almost immediately can hear about it. I found out about the recent election of the new pope without ever once checking a news source. My son will have technology at his finger tips that I cannot even begin to imagine. People walk around with bibles in their pockets on their phones; hundreds of years ago you couldn’t own your own bible let alone read one while you were in the bathroom. Technology changes the way we function.
But this isn’t always a good thing.
I’m okay with my morning routine of checking my blogs on the iPhone; it’s the modern day equivalent to reading the newspaper in the morning. But what about the times where I’m hanging out in the bedroom with my son and my phone vibrates, do I have the discipline to simply be present with my son and ignore the looming notification. I’m far from having this figured out, but I’m working on it. I’ve tried to make sure that at certain times I don’t have my phone out and just be with my family. We don’t usually just leave the tv on as background noise when we are playing in the living room. When we are reading the bible as a family, texting isn’t okay.
The New York Times had an article describing the love we as americans have for our technology and it was a bit revealing:
“But most striking of all was the flurry of activation in the insular cortex of the brain [when presented with an iPhone], which is associated with feelings of love and compassion. The subjects’ brains responded to the sound of their phones as they would respond to the presence or proximity of a girlfriend, boyfriend or family member.”
I don’t want this to be me.
When I’m with my family, I want to actually be with my family. If I love my phone the way I love my wife and my son, that’s a problem. I’m not getting rid of technology and I’ll still probably use it more than the average person, but I’m also working to be cautious. And that starts at my house.
How are you trying to be cautious with your consumption of technology?
Photo Credit: NBC News Facebook
[tentblogger-vimeo 31112563] I've recently come across some of the work of Erik Wahl. He is an artist, which doesn't say much considering he makes it his goal to make sure we realize that we are all artists. More specifically he is a graffiti style artist and a speaker. The way he mixes his painting presentations as a part of his business presentations is incredible, even in the short clips that are available on his website. He also has a book coming out this summer called Unthink that I am making sure to keep on my radar. If you haven't heard of him yet, check him out.
Isn't it odd that when we look at the Bible that it is full of all incredible examples of God working in extraordinary ways, yet when we look at our own life the only thing extraordinary is how average our life is.
In the book Think Orange by Reggie Joiner, there's an incredible diagram describing how to maximize your opportunities during family times. He describes the various times, communication methods, and the roles a parent plays during each of these times. In Deuteronomy 6:7 it says, "Impress [these commands] on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." But what exactly does this look like?
Meal time is an opportunity for formal discussion. I can remember countless times growing up where dinner time led into our "family meeting" time. While us kids dreaded the meeting, it was also a time for my dad to talk about values that he felt were important to us as a family and that needed to be addressed. At meal times, parents have the opportunity to specifically act as a teacher, helping certain core values be established in their lives.
You cannot be a family and not spend time in the car together. Drive time is an opportunity for informal dialogue. You might be in the car on the way to school, driving up north, or going to a soccer game. Whatever it might be, the car is a perfect opportunity for parents to have conversations with their kids, not by pushing an idea they want to teach, but by allowing their kids to guide the conversation. This is a great opportunity to play the role of a friend and helping your child interpret life along the way.
One of my favorite times as a parent already is bed time. Not only because it means I get peace and quiet, but I love the time singing and reading to my son as I lay him down for bed. As your children grow, bed time is an opportunity for intimate conversations between you and them. Reggie Joiner writes, "Too many parents miss the potential of this time because they have a habit of sending their kids to bed rather then taking them. There is something about the private domain of a child's room that gives the parent a chance to have an intimate conversation and become the kind of counselor who listens to the heart of a child."
Morning time provides a fresh start to a new day. If the previous day was an emotionally draining, get nothing accomplished kind of day, the morning means it's a new day and this one might be different. Whether it is at breakfast with your kids or simply seeing them off before they hop on the bus, the morning is an opportunity for you to act as a coach and encourage them as they get ready to go about their day. I still remember the days I would open up my lunch box to find a loving note from my mom encouraging me (I had to hide these once I hit middle school). The morning is a great time to encourage your kids as they get ready for the day ahead.
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What makes a youth ministry healthy? Is it the amount of people that are attending the events?
Kevin DeYoung on the Gospel Coalition wrote a post years ago entitled, "What's Up With Lutherans?" After recently reading a follow up posted on the Gospel Coalition's website, I decided that I'd add my own two cents.
