Traditional Versus Contemporary Music

Does it really matter? Do you care what style of Church music you hear? Or do you wish there was simply… uh….

less?

If you’re a church person, you may have just fallen out of your chair. We church people tend to get all worked up over the style of music, but the idea we shouldn’t even HAVE music is not a consideration.

Truth is, however, the newness of the contemporary has worn off, and most unchurched people have never sung a hymn in their life. And isn’t it a little disconcerting how the songs we sing in Church have become a multimillion dollar industry?

Pastor’s Duties

If I asked several people what the Pastor’s duties should be, I would receive several answers. Perhaps more answers than people… In fact, since I first wrote this post, I’ve changed my own mind here and there.

What do you think? Right now, sitting there, reading this? Yeah you. What should the Pastor of a church do? Or be doing? Books have been written on this, but off the top of your head what do you think?

Here’s my bet: Your answer depends on your background, what you’re used to, what your favorite Pastor was like, what you personally have gleaned from the Scriptures, what you’ve watched on television or the movies, what your education or training would tell you, or what just seems right to you.

In fact, if you asked enough people, and made a list of everyone’s personal job description for the Pastor, I’m thinking the guy is probably being asked to do everything. You know… when you put it all together.

And everyone knows there isn’t a leader or Pastor alive who should try to do everything -especially just to keep everyone happy. Never works. No matter what your job is.

Which leads us back to some more questions.

The Details of the New Immigration Bill???

This guy likes them. This guy doesn’t. Neither does this guy. And even these people don’t like it.

Very few people like it except those who signed it. Congress. And their approval rating is lower than G.W. Bush, making them just one or two percentage points behind the Taliban in a popularity contest.

And on the surface, that’s good news because any good compromise means everyone hates it, and boy… does everyone hate it!

Of course, they may be right, but then, what do most of us really know about it? Glenn Beck, talk radio host, and Headline CNN host (also my favorite radio guy in the world) hates the bill and he’s doing a special on it tonight. I’ll watch, but I don’t always agree with everything Beck says on this issue. Having said that, we don’t always disagree either.

So we’ll see.

In the next few days and weeks, however, the details are going to be clear for all of us. They will sway us one way or the other, or we’ll be too busy to care.

But before you get too engrossed in the debate, answer this question:

Here’s to the Other Important People…

We don’t always know their names. They usually aren’t famous except for perhaps fifteen minutes once upon a time.

The man who was buried in a Cowboy funeral, the young woman who was taken by cancer and leaves behind a young family, the old father who made a tradition of taking his kids fishing, and the grandparents, dads, moms, sisters, brothers, and children who leave this world before we do.

I’m convinced if God showed us His place, and let us choose whether or not we wanted to live here, or live with Him, none of us would choose here. Paul wrote “I desire to be with Jesus which is better by far.” -or something to that effect. I’m sure we’d agree.

And truthfully, our time here is so short anyway. Just a few moments compared to eternity. So from God’s perspective, it’s not such a sad time when someone comes to be with Him. He has the eternal perspective and what’s more…

He sees the look on their faces when they enter the place He’s prepared just for them, and when they are reunited with those who have gone before us.

And when they get to meet somebody from the Bible they grew up reading about.

“Hey David, what was it like to face Goliath?”

I bet David’s heard that question 1.9 trillion times by now.

Still…

Jerry Falwell…

Jerry died today. After having breakfast with Liberty University’s executive vice president Ron Godwin, Mr. Falwell was found unresponsive in his office later in the day. A lot will be said about the politics of Jerry Falwell in the days ahead, even though the Moral Majority’s heyday was a long time ago. He continues to be demonized from time to time by those who opposed his political views, but the truth is, he hasn’t had a big political profile in a while, so many Americans don’t know much about it.

I would hazard a guess that Joel Osteen and Rick Warren are far more well known these days.

The thing I know about Jerry Falwell, is he once looked at a piece of property and had a dream of putting a university there. Today, Liberty University is respected, accredited, and educates people who don’t share the same political views, or always even the precise religious views of Jerry Falwell. He had a dream of doing something in American politics that he felt would lead the country toward more Biblical values, and the Moral Majority was born.

He’s a guy everyone should learn from because He didn’t just sit there, He took his dreams and pursued them. He believed God would help him accomplish more than he could ever ask or imagine, and today we say goodbye to a man who accomplished a lot. A man who’s dreams and vision will live years beyond him. Whether we believed exactly the same way he did or not, he made a difference.

So can you.

Ever Discover Something Boring is Actually… Not?

Like golf. Golf looks incredibly boring. Mind-numbingly, excruciatingly, playing-solitairily, fall-asleep-at-the-sight-of-it, boring. Actually it’s worse, but you know, they haven’t advanced the English language to the point that you can accurately convey the true value of boredomness in regards to golf. At least the stuff on tv.

If they allowed people to shout random things as they were in mid-backswing, or planted a few explosive charges instead of just sand traps, then we’d be getting somewhere. I hated, hated, hated seeing golf on television for a very long time.

Then I played it.

As stupid as golf looks, it is really fun to play. Perhaps it gives one a sense of power to knock the snot out of a little white ball so that it travels at near light-speed. (it must travel close to light speed because occasionally it actually disappears in flight – or that’s my excuse for not being able to find it after I hit it)

And suddenly I discovered golf wasn’t so boring. Even the television stuff is bearable because today I’m interested in how Tiger swings, and pivets and shifts his weight… I mean, get a guy hooked on golf and suddenly he’ll be studying the moves and posture of men in polyester and weird shoes.

Once you get into it.

That happened to me this week in the Bible. Acts chapter 7 was always a boring chapter for me. It’s a boring sermon. I thought. A guy by the name of Stephen was put on trial because people were accusing him of:

1. Saying bad things about Moses
2. Saying bad things about the Temple
3. Saying they should change their customs.

Free speech? Not so much.

And in what should be an interesting defense to these guys, Stephen gave a defense that would not exactly be called riveting or find its way into a courtroom show.

And he said, “Brethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, ‘GET OUT OF YOUR COUNTRY AND FROM YOUR RELATIVES, AND COME TO A LAND THAT I WILL SHOW YOU.’ Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And… -Acts 7:2-4

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz………………………..

A history lesson? These guys just falsely accused you of saying all sorts of things that evidently will get you killed and you’re telling a Bible story that everyone in the room already knows?

That would have been my official legal advice to Steve.

But this week I forced myself to study what he said, and see if there was something, anything there I could use for my sermon on this chapter for Sunday.

What I found out, after reading closely and checking with a good commentary or four, was that Stephen was stepping all over these guys toes, and doing it so much that by the end, they wouldn’t even finish the court proceedings. They just all started yelling and dragged him outside and killed him.

That’s rather impressive. Here’s how he did it.

First, they were all wrapped up in the Law and the Temple, and he pointed out all the stories of God working in Abraham’s life, in Joseph’s life, in the life of Moses,… all these guys who lived before Israel even existed as a nation, before the Law had ever been given or the Temple had ever been built.

He pointed out just by quoting history that Temples and all of the official religious practices wouldn’t stop God from doing His thing, and therefore don’t really matter all that much.

Hey that works for today. Got a great church building? A beautiful sanctuary? I’m happy for you. Do you need those things?

No.

Do you value your church tradition? A certain type of music? Your denomination? Your favorite Bible version? Great. Value them. Enjoy and use them.

But are these the things that save a person? Are these the things that matter most?

No.

Stephen made three big points.

1. God works in people’s lives, calls people and uses people regardless of religious traditions and rules. The burning bush was out in the middle of nowhere, not in a church, yet God called the ground around the bush -holy ground. And that means there was probably a holy ant walking around somewhere close to the bush don’t you think? Maybe even a holy catepillar or stink bug?

When I was in Greensburg, some nice ladies gave me a tetanus shot while I stood on the side of the road. It felt a little weird getting a shot out in the open like that because usually you get those shots in the doctors office. It felt kinda … well it hurt like usual… but it seemed so unofficial.

You can spend time with God on the side of the road just as easily as you can in the sanctuary at Church. Lots of guys in the Bible spent time with God in the darkest of corners, far removed from the beautiful decorations and music-filled atmosphere of a church.

That was his first point. His second?

2. God used Moses in a mighty way, but Moses wasn’t some perfect guy. And the same people who idolized Moses, weren’t following what he said anyway.

Do you have a favorite preacher or writer? I guarantee you they have faults. If you got to know them, you might not even like them. For all I know, Rick Warren might be a Philadelphia Eagles fan… but God uses him anyway.

And if you do have a favorite preacher or someone you believe in, that’s great. Do you follow their preaching, or do you just like to listen to it?

That had to touch a nerve. So he concluded with…

3. God doesn’t live in a building, so don’t idolize the building.

There aren’t any churches standing in Greensburg today, but I sure felt God’s love and presence among countless people. (well, I guess I could count them, but that would be anal)

God is in the prayers, in the fellowship, in the hugs, and in the encouragement of many different believers working in and with all sorts of groups and organizations in Greensburg this Sunday. This Sunday, many groups just pitched a tent. Evidently, God doesn’t need fancy buildings in order to show up.

So when it was all said and done, I actually liked Stephen’s sermon. It wasn’t as boring as it seemed on the surface.

Besides, they killed him for saying it so it obviously didn’t put them to sleep.

More Pictures From Greensburg

The rest are thumbs, click on them to enlarge

The Greensburg Scene

The first thing that strikes you is the feeling that you’re approaching a very large disaster, the kind you would normally associate with the movies, or with an imagined version of the end of the world.

All of the worst fears have happened and you’re driving into the carnage…

Police cruisers and trucks with lights flashing block the road. Traffic is stopping in front of you, and a highway patrolmen or two are directing people away -unless they have something useful to do in Greensburg.

When a friend of mine from church and I traveled to the scene today, we weren’t sure what would happen. Would they let us in? Who would we talk to? How long would we stay?

The idea from the beginning for both of us, was to see for ourselves what the situation was, and to figure out the best ways for our church and others to help. We were, in effect, the advance scout team for Plains Christian Church. We weren’t sure if that reason would be enough to get us admitted into the town, but of course, God stepped in and gave us some help.

At a town called Minneola, my friend wanted something to drink and since he was driving, we stopped at a local convenience store. I don’t remember if he got a coffee or a fountain drink, but the timing of what happened next was all God. As usual. I wonder if atheists have the same incredible coincidences? It’s a normal thing for most Christians and we simply ascribe the coincidence to God. After all, He’s in control of such things and although that will inspire many of you to ask some very creative and philosophical questions, I still don’t believe things happen by sheer chance, luck or accident. We’ll argue about it later, but here’s what happened today:

When we walked into the convenience store a lady from our church was working behind the counter. We told her our plans and she asked us a very poignant question.

“How are you going to get in?”

Which was followed by a very intelligent reply from me.

“Not sure. We’re hoping they’ll let us take a quick look.”

She didn’t think that had a snowball’s chance in a place I hope never to visit.

Nevertheless, she did believe that family and those helping family with clean-up would be allowed in AND she just so happened to know some people who were headed to Greensburg to help some of their family members. That was coincidence enough, but God wasn’t through. As it happened, one of those very same people she was speaking about was getting something to drink five feet away from us… We all let out surprise greetings, and suddenly we were invited to help, and had an address and name to give the police at the roadblock.

Then this gentleman mentioned just the thing I was most curious about. A church group was already helping in Greensburg. He would introduce me so our church could help if we wanted.

Perfect.

The “Church Group” turned out to be Samaritan’s Purse. They specialize in Disaster Relief, and they are part of the ministry of Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham. I’d heard of them, but never worked with them until today.

A few days previous, as my friend and I discussed traveling to Greensburg, I had mentioned to him we might be able to start some sort of “job list” at a central location in town. This would allow church groups and youth groups who wanted to spend a week or so of the summer helping with the clean-up and rebuilding efforts, jump right in without wasting time figuring out what to do. We both had seen a system like this in Louisiana when we were helping with the recovery effort from the hurricanes.

Well we don’t need to start the list, because Samaritan’s Purse already has one. And as the director on the scene told me today, there are 70 homes on this list they haven’t been able to get to yet. And the list is growing every day. There is plenty of work to do, all they need is volunteers.

Sometimes there are so many things going on with the recovery and so many groups helping out already, that we churches feel everything is being done. We are often afraid we would just be in the way. And when we’re told no one is allowed in but family, we don’t realize a group like Samaritan’s Purse could put us in touch with any number of families. Truth is, we have so much information, we start to ignore it. It just washes over us. We figure someone else is taking care of it. After all, there are all sorts of organizations working in Greensburg.

Right?

Well…. yes but…

A. You’d be surprised how much work there is to do.
B. You’d be surprised how much volunteers are needed, and how easy it would be to jump in and help.

Makes you wonder about New Orleans doesn’t it?

Any group, youth groups, school groups, church groups, etc… can call Samaritan’s Purse and let them know what days they plan to be there, how many people they would like to bring with them, and the great people from Samaritan’s Purse will not only have plenty of work lined up for them to do, but they’ll serve lunch. For those groups who need a place to stay, they try to help with that as well, and the city is planning on turning the park and ball parks into a makeshift campground. If you want to bring the youth group to Greensburg to help out for a Saturday, call Samaritan’s Purse. They’ll be there for the clean-up portion of the recovery which should last through May.

Besides, it’s easy to get people to go right now. How often do you get to see what the apocalypse actually looks like?

Many other groups are helping out, including as I discovered today, some volunteers running around giving free tetanus shots. I’m good for another five years now…

Ameri-Corp is there -the national group started by Bill Clinton, so is the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and yes… even the Scientology gang. That’s Tom Cruise’s religion. According to the guy I talked to about them, they aren’t actually there to help, just to “brain-wash.” His words not mine. My words would be really similar though.

I wouldn’t mind them being in town if they would help out, but instead they’re just setting up their little tent so they can explain their religion to anyone who will show curiosity. The people from Samaritan’s Purse, the Salvation Army and others explain THEIR religion by working, sweating, encouraging people, and getting tetanus shots….

Jesus loved the people who didn’t love Him back. You know, that means we should love people even if they may never accept Christ. And as any married person can tell you, you don’t JUST say you love someone, you show it. Otherwise, the words are empty. Sure you’re gonna preach it this Sunday, but what are you doing this Saturday?

hmmmmm?

Let me tell you, it was awesome to see real love being demonstrated by so many people in Greensburg today, and it was a privilege to be a part of it for a few hours. The pictures you see don’t do the destruction justice. The town is leveled, beaten, crushed, thrown, dented, smashed, broken, scattered, and ripped into a million pieces everywhere you look. Vehicles show just how violent and deadly it would have been to be caught outside in the awesome power of one of the largest tornadoes in American history.

And in the midst of the carnage…

People are working together… laughing with each other.

A couple of guys in a Red Cross truck are driving around giving out bottled water and saying hello.

People are patiently and carefully driving around each other.

Christian organizations are giving out free meals.

The National Guard, state and local police, and police from out of state are working together, directing traffic, waving and smiling, and planning and coordinating like mad.

The on-scene director from Samaritan’s Purse is giving help to a pastor who just showed up to see if there was anything his congregation could do.

A lady who lost her restaurant is smiling and explaining how she plans to rebuild bigger than ever before.

And a couple of the sweetest ladies you ever met are making fun of me for whining when they give me a shot…

It was an awesome sight in more ways than one.

It was an awesome day.

Pictures From Greensburg Kansas! Tornado Aftermath

Sorry for the delay in posting. I spent most of today helping with clean up in Greensburg. The pictures you are about to see don’t do it justice. Everything looks worse in person. One the guys in our church is a highway patrolman. He took a few pictures of Greensburg so these are brand new.

Anyone who would like to help with cleanup during the month of May should call Samaritan’s Purse at 1-828-262-1980. They have done a great job organizing the clean up jobs that groups can help with, and they can use the volunteers! All you gotta do is call, and show up. (the highway patrol won’t let you in just to sight-see) There’s plenty to do!

I’ll give you some more thoughts a little bit later. Right now, here’s the pictures:

…more coming, I’m hungry, gotta eat

Everything Gone in a Moment

Greensburg is 70 miles from me, on one of the main highways that crosses southern/central Kansas, hwy 54. I drive through, and/or stop in Greensburg all the time on the way to Wichita.

We took the family last night to see Spider Man 3, and afterwards we were driving home from Liberal, Kansas between 9:30pm – 10pm. The storm that hit Greensburg was right in front of us on the way home, and it had the tell-tale signs of a strong Kansas storm: Rapid, non-stop lightning. In this case, it looked as if the lightning was jumping across three main cells. Constantly. It gave the eerie impression that the eastern sky was burning in a slow fire.

Eerie because from that distance, it was just the silent flashing of enormous energy. Occasionally if you listened, a low rumble.

With all of the kids, everyone being tired, and since the storm was skirting past us, we soon forgot about it. If I had known there would be such a huge tornado, I might have stayed up later. The damage path would be 1.4 miles wide. Only 3 houses remain in good shape I’ve heard.

Got the first call at 1am that the town had been destroyed. And today we know several people over there helping out. Everyone I know who has any relatives from Greensburg, reports them safe and accounted for, but that’s not the case all the residents. They DID have warning, all the sirens blazing (standard equipment in Kansas, there’s one about 20 yards from my house..) or the death toll would have been unreal.

Greensburg was bigger than my town. Something that big, and moving that slow can swallow a town our size. Crazy stuff out here sometimes. This one will be named “The Greensburg Tornado” for the history books.

Please say a prayer or two for the families in Greensburg, especially those who have lost loved ones. Pray they might have healing, peace, comfort, and strength for the days ahead.

It’s Good Not To Be A Priest

Nothing against Priests, in fact, I admire some of those guys but I’m still glad that Protestant Ministers like myself are allowed to marry! For the rest of you who are married, or thinking of it someday, I’d like to recommend taking a night away from the kids, from family, from home and all the typical daily things, and go on date for just the two of you.

An overnight date.

Sheryl and I were blessed by the church for our anniversary with a one-night stay at the Blue Bird Inn Bed&Breakfast. We also had a gift certificate at a restaurant and so we had dinner, rented the movie Deja Vu (and continued to debate certain parts of it this morning), and had a great time. I even cleaned up the car, detailed it, and without realizing it, started opening doors and holding hands with this hot girl who just happens to be my wife.

We should have done more of these things a long time ago. Ironic isn’t it? That the guy who gives this very advice to others, still gets so busy that he and his wife haven’t been on a date away from the world, and away from the kids in years?

I think I’ve just learned this over the past year. It’s the key to ministry: You can’t just say the right things, you have to embody them. If you want God to use your life in the biggest ways, with the maximum amount of impact on the world, reaching the maximum number of people, you do so by being what you preach. For whatever reason, you’ll make more of an impact by who you are, than by what you say. Your attitude, demeanor, enthusiasm, and all the fruit of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians 5 make more of an impact than the best prepared sermons. That doesn’t just go for pastors, that goes for teachers, managers, coaches, and anyone who is training someone else. Be what you preach.

As St. Francis of Assisi said “Preach the Gospel at all times, and occasionally use words.”

Figuring Out the Will of God

A close look at the book of Acts in the New Testament, or attitudes of those in the Old Testament will show you an underlying assumption: God is in control of every circumstance. What happens, happens because God allows it or causes it. God not only created the universe, but He named every star, planted every blade of grass, watches over the animals in the forest that no one else sees, has actually numbered the hairs on your head (and evidently could tell you something like, “Yes you pulled out hair number 14, number 30122, and uh… oh yes, number 14117 thru 14194…” if He wanted to.

It’s an amazing claim that has begged many philosophical questions over the centuries, but it is still the underlying assumption of the people in the Bible. God is in control.

So when these guys and gals went looking for God’s will, and tried to figure out what God wanted in a particular situation, they started with the idea that nothing which happens is an accident.

Not a thing is random.

Therefore, in the Old Testament they would often just cast lots. People have discussed what “casting lots” may have looked like or been like, but generally speaking it was like drawing names out of a hat. One method was to write on some rocks the different answers, put them into a container and pull them out blindly -exactly like pulling names out of a hat.

So when the Israelites tried to figure out who sinned and had caused them to be defeated in battle, they cast lots until the lot fell to a guy named Achan. Sure enough, Achan had stolen and hidden some treasure which God had commanded them not to take.

It’s why, when the 11 apostles were trying to figure out who should replace Judas, (Acts 1) they cast lots between two men they had proposed and the lot fell to Matthias who took his place with the other apostles.

They didn’t do this for everything. Generally, they just went by the Scriptures, but occasionally they needed specific direction and so casting lots was appropriate. Other times, prophets would seek the Lord in prayer, or angel might appear and give someone a specific message, or God might speak in a supernatural way such as from a cloud, a burning bush, etc…. And throughout all of these stories, God was powerful, mighty and a God to be feared and obeyed.

After the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, the promise of Jesus that God’s Spirit would dwell inside every single person who put their faith in Him came true. Suddenly the relationship people had between themselves and God wasn’t a distant purely fearful thing, but a close, intimate relationship between a child and the Father. And it changed the way people sought God’s will.

In the story of the Church’s beginning in Acts, the Christians would seek God’s will in the Scriptures just like in the Old Testament, they would occasionally see angels or visions like people occasionally might see in the Old Testament, but now they were getting some cue’s from the Spirit who was with them wherever they went!

The Spirit would tell Philip “Go run next to that chariot.”

Or Peter, “Go downstairs, some men are looking for you.”

It was personal. Intimate. God speaking to one single man or woman. I believe speaking to their heart.

And for big questions for which no angel appeared and no dream made it clear and no burning bush was available, the leaders of the Church (the apostles and elders) and often many from the congregation, would search the Scriptures, examine the circumstances that were going on, discuss the issues together, pray and/or fast together, and arrive at a conclusion together that seemed/felt right.

Arbitrary? Only if you assume they arrived at the conclusion randomly and the Holy Spirit exerted no influence.

Just like with the people in the Old Testament, they assumed there was no such thing as random events, they assumed God was working in the circumstances around them, and assumed that God was guiding their decisions through the Holy Spirit who lived inside each believer. They knew the Spirit was around because miracles were being performed, prayers were being answered, and God was changing lives. In other words, they watched, they read, they prayed, and they tried to be sensitive to where it felt like God was leading them.

They even wrote a letter in Acts 15, communicating a major decision that had this phrase:

“It seemed right to the Holy Spirit and to us….”

Ron Luce of Teen Mania Ministries once said people underestimate their ability to sense spiritual things. I believe he’s probably right. But that leaves us with this:

What about me? What about you? How can we know the will of God?

It sounds so easy to hear others talk about it, but how do I do it?

First, pray and believe God will bring you to an answer. It may take some time, so keep praying. Daniel prayed for three weeks for an answer, and I know other Christians who prayed for longer. (although I wonder if they were just spiritually hard of hearing?) Look to the Bible to see what God may have said about your question already… it’s possible God just wants you to start reading His Word or praying more often. And like the early church, pay attention to circumstances. Is God opening a door for you? Is God blocking you from doing something?

For the people in the Bible, there was no such thing as mere conincidence.

And finally, after praying, studying, thinking, discussing, watching, and considering… Where do you feel like God is leading you?

I tell people all the time when they are asking my advice on a particular decision: Pray for wisdom! And don’t just pray, but believe God will give you wisdom! Then, since God is giving you wisdom… use it! Make the best decision you can, the one that feels right.

After all, if you have wisdom, the right decision should sit well with you don’t you think?

And if the Holy Spirit lives in you and you do what the Holy Spirit wants… it should sit well with you in your thoughts and heart, right?

There might be a spoon, but there are no accidents.