getting involved

Click to join ONE GR

Many of you have asked me in recent days about my involvement with the ONE campaign. The campaign to make poverty history. You have wondered what you can do, how to get invloved, and connected. ONE is about empowerment. It is about giving people a voice. Now ONE is about getting local. ONE has groups rising up all throughout the country, and recently Grand Rapids started a group (or chapter for those of you who are club minded).

I have joined the ONE GR group. Through this we ae able to support each other, work together within our organizations, cheer each other on, and as ONE make poverty history.

I ask you to consider joining. Just click at the top of this blog, and you will be on your way. Make a post and say hello to the group. Thanks!

the man called cash

My wife bought me The Man Called Cash on CD for my commute from and to home each day. It is an authorized biography written by Steve Turner about Johnny Cash.

Publisher’s Weekly said about the book:

Published in time for the first anniversary of Johnny Cash's death, this eminently readable biography of the Man in Black feels more honest about its subject than most authorized biographies, perhaps because Cash himself was more honest about his flaws and modest about his successes than many other public figures.

As I listened to the words being read, I learned a lot about Johnny Cash, as well as people like Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, and many others who were the ones that generated so much buzz about music in the 1950’s. Toward the end of the book, I was sad because I knew that it would speak of his death. I found myself not wanting to hear about it, because I had loved learning about his life so much.

My favorite story in the whole book was about a prayer he prayed at dinner. His dinner guest recalled the story:

Cash prayed and said, “… and we thank you Lord for this food, and we ask that you would bless it to our body. We pray these things in Jesus’ name, Amen." When he finished praying he winked at me and said, “I still miss the drugs though.”

It is precisely that juxtaposition of piety and weakness that I think I love about him. It reminds me of another man who is known well for his writing, he wrote:

I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do … What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

In case you didn’t catch that, the other man to whom I referred is the Apostle Paul. He happened to be one of Cash’s favorite people for obvious reasons. I have wondered why I am so enamored by people like Johnny Cash and Paul; these men of such conviction, but at the same time so open about their transgressions. I think it is because they knew themselves well, and they never allowed the good in them to elevate them to a place where they could look down at others. They knew the darkness, and that it was always waiting if they would just relent and turn to it.

Cash turned to it a lot. However, like Paul, he also said:

Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

At the end of his life, after June Carter died he hung around for a few months more. He could barely walk, was in massive pain, and was eighty percent blind. In this state, however, he still had the Bible enlarged big enough so he could read it. Others spoke about his love of Jesus, his kindness, his generosity, and his faithfulness to June.

So many want to be cynical about people who struggle, fall, get up, and fall again. They like to point and yell to expose someone else’s flaws. I am more convinced that the ones who yell the loudest are the ones who are the most scared of having their flaws exposed.

One of my favorite lines in music comes from a song sung by Cash. It was written by Bono and performed with U2 (yeah, I know big surprise). The line goes:

I went out there,
In search of experience,
To taste and to touch,
And to feel as much,
As a man can,
Before he repents.

Isn’t that all of our stories? I know it’s mine. I also know that it is mine everyday. I walk around, and like a little kid test the boundaries of God’s love. Some days, I may not go far, other days I may feel restless and I just want to run. Yet each time I return home to talk with God I find myself speaking the words of Paul:

Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

we can do this

Yesterday, I taught our faith community regarding the Eight Word of the Ten, "Do not steal." I reflected on the words of the rabbis who speak of stealing as not only taking what does not belong to you, but also speak of not giving what God wants to give through you. This idea is clearly seen when God tells his people to leave the edges of their fields for the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the stranger in their midst. This was God's plan ... he gave enough for everyone.

Today we have developed a mentality that God has chosen to give a lot to some, and chosen to give nothing to others. The first part of this is true. God has given wealth to some people. However, in his economy those who have it, are to recognize that what they have comes "from the Father of heavenly lights" and we ought not to hold on to it as though it is ours. We have ownership issues, and we need to get over them and return to leaving the edges of our fields.

God tells his people through the prophet Malachi that when we do not bring all that we should to Him we are robbing him ... because of this they are under a curse. These are some strong words. Yet today the rich have once again been guilty of robbing God. "How are we robbing him?" We are robbing him in our offerings and gifts.

The division between rich and poor continues to grow in our country. In the last six years it has experience an all time high. Why? We are not leaving the edges of our fields. Remember, God asked for a tenth of all that was harvested ... he also asked for the edges of the field.

So what can be done? There are many places to begin. We can together change the world and eradicate extreme poverty in our lifetime. Visit the following sites, and get involved ... leave the edges of your field. God is not asking for just your money, he is asking for all of you.

HOLLAND RESCUE MISSION -Holland Rescue demonstrats God's love to the homeless and less fortunate. Holland Rescue Mission leads, develops, and inspires men and women to develop lives of independence, as God works through comprehensive programs and local church partnering that responds to the spiritual, economic and physical needs of those who God has entrusted us to serve.

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY - Do you love to swing a hammer? Volunteer to build beautiful homes for families in your area. Click and find some information to day!

THE ONE CAMPAIGN - This campaign is asking the wealthiest nations of the world to give one percent more of its budget toward extreme poverty and AIDS. That one percent would be worth billions of dollars. Imagine what would happen if the church in America decided that in addition to what we already give, we would give one percent of our collective budgets toward extreme poverty!

BREAD FOR THE WORLD - This relief organzation has been working end hunger for over 30 Years. It is a nonpartisan, faith based citizens' movement of 54,000 people of faith, including 2,500 churches.

CHRISITAN CHLDREN'S FUND - This organization allows men and women to sponsor children in the world's poorest countries. It is only $24.00 per month. An affordable amount to change the world.

BLOODWATER MISSION - Blood and water represent a community-centered and integrated approach to AIDS that include establishing basic conditions necessary for health, addressing the constraints of poverty, and empowering communities to take ownership of their own long-term health development

jesus would bother us

The more I read and learn about the Jesus, the more I think that if he were here today, contrary to popular belief most of us would not have liked him. Many think that if Jesus were here today he’d be our pal, walk around with us, and smile approvingly at all the things we do day to day.

More likely, He would have come and challenged us, and the way we live our lives to such an extent that, while we would never kill him, we would more likely brand him a radical, a heretic, or a liberal. We would say those things so that we could discount what he was saying as rubbish, and live the way we want to live paying him little or no attention. He would challenge us in many ways that would make us rather uncomfortable I think …

Consider these words of Jesus, and then think through the realities of the Church in America.

“… a teacher of the law came to [Jesus] and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

Jesus was homeless … the one who came to start the revolution that we call church had no structure that was rightfully his. In many places in the world, churches can relate to this. I have a friend who was a pastor in Cuba for years. His building was a three sided corrugated metal lean-to with a blue tarp on the open end. Some of the most recent building projects by evangelical churches of note in the U.S. within the last three years have totaled $62 million, $72 Million, $90 million, and $100 million respectively. The problem however is this … that in America we have buildings but no churches, and in Cuba they have churches but no buildings.

Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Jesus literally says, “In your going, make disciples …” It’s almost like he presumed that we would be going out, that we would be living out the kingdom here on earth. Now we call people and instead of saying “Follow me as I follow Jesus …” (which is the nuts and bolts of following Jesus). We say, “Come sit in my pew.” From the very start we teach them to sit. Jesus walked everywhere with his disciples … why are we not taking people places to show them what it means to be his hands and feet?

Jesus said, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Jesus was interested in our bringing heaven here, now, and telling people of the availability of God’s Kingdom on this earth. Yet, one of the most popular tag lines that people say now is “If you were to die tonight, do you know where you would spend eternity?” This single question has caused much doubt and nervousness among the ranks of people as to whether or not they will go to heaven or hell. They spend their time worrying over whether or not they are still “saved.” This fear is rooted in this very question. We have become so enamored with getting into heaven, and getting out of this world that we have missed the very heart of Jesus when he teaches his disciples to pray.

Jesus said, “Follow me.”

His disciples went to some pretty suspect places, had dinner with some fairly unsavory characters, and even saw a woman let her hair down! We say, “Come know about Jesus.” We have text books, work books, study books, study helps, Jesus books, not “worldly” books, and how to be a better person books (I wanted to work in a joke about Christian Romance Novels, but it just didn’t fit). We spend so much time trying to know about this Galilean Jew named Jesus that we essentially miss following him around … we miss the meals, the pain, the joy, the testing … we miss living.

Yes, Jesus would get under our skin wouldn’t he? The reality is this … we know what he said, and we know how he lived. Many have chosen to do little with it other than to take the light that Jesus is and shine it so brightly on themselves that they are blinded to anything else. The Jesus that came called us to act … to restore, to rebuild, to renew … to place ourselves last so that in dying to ourselves we may find life.

marketing jesus

Caution: Very Cynical

So I was sitting on my couch reading Businessweek … What?!?! Yeah, yeah, I know you think you are on the wrong blog. You’re not, it’s me Michael, reading Businessweek … keep reading and you will know why. There was an article entitled Earthly Empires. It was about evangelical churches who have “unabashedly used business and marketing techniques” to gain “market share.” About half-way through the article hearing from some of the most famous pastors with the largest churches, I began experiencing anaphylactic shock, with acute itching, and hives. Because I read this:

Many evangelicals say they're just trying to satisfy demands not met by traditional churches. Craig Groeschel, who launched Life Church in Edmond, Okla., in 1996, started out doing market research with non-churchgoers in the area -- and got an earful. "They said churches were full of hypocrites and were boring," he recalls. So he designed Life Church to counter those preconceptions, with lively, multimedia-filled services in a setting that's something between a rock concert and a coffee shop.

So compare his words with Jesus’ in the gospels:
Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
Another disciple said to him, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

At another place it says:
Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments."
"Which ones?" he inquired.
Jesus replied, " 'You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

Maybe the reason Jesus was killed was because he did present these words with lively, multimedia-filled services in a setting that's something between a rock concert and a coffee shop. Wait … isn’t this cheating though? I mean if we’re honest we are writing a check that we can’t cash. I feel like we make this Christian thing sound like a sleek silver sports car … then when we unveil what Jesus really was about (many however never get that far), and it seems like a 1983 Pontiac Parisenne Station Wagon with simulated wood grain paneling. We do the show we do the business … but this is not “showbusiness” it is supposed to be the Kingdom of Heaven. We are supposed to see Jesus at work, and understand the Kingdom’s amazing availability here and now on this earth. I am sorry but I do not know that we need to keep on dressing this up in accordance with what the market is telling us … and here is why.

The “market” for the Kingdom of God is all humanity.

Shocking I know. I probably should start a consultation company giving a strategy as to how we can market Jesus to the world. I do not think it would be popular though, and it really wouldn’t be attractive to a lot of people. I mean after all, it would involve things like washing one another’s feet, proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor, humbling ourselves, bringing renewal to the world, demanding justice for the poor, defending the old, being last, giving up our rights, not seeking vengeance, being obedient to death, being agents of peace, living simply, calling men and women to stop living for themselves, building homes for the homeless (not bigger buildings to accommodate “market-driven” strategies), clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, giving our money to the poor and nursing the sick back to health. Maybe this would work if I presented it with a really catchy video, neat music, and flashing lights of course.

But who would honestly attempt something like this? I mean isn’t this insane? Who would buy into something like this? If we actually talked about this in our gatherings on Sunday mornings we would not even have mega-churches, so we definitely should not. Talking about that stuff without all the trimmings that people want (but think they need) just doesn’t make sense. We need to keep making them comfortable on Sundays so that they won’t ever get into the “taking care of the poor” stuff. The best part is the results of the evangelical market driven strategies are working!

True! They get 1,000’s of unchurched people in every week. They get fired up about the lights, feel-good sermons, Starbucks, and pyrotechnics (okay, mild exaggeration) that the vast majority get just what they need in one hour, and they are good for the rest of the week. When they try to unveil something that means taking the focus off themselves … it tanks! Thank God for market strategies … God only knows where this whole Jesus thing would be without them!

think about it

As a teacher people often have thoughts and critiques of what I say, and/or how I have said it. I want to be clear I honestly welcome all critique, for it makes me pay attention to multiple perspectives, and hopefully serves to strengthen me as a teacher (one disclaimer: I generally disregarded people who are just mean about critiquing). So over the years I have heard about everything that a pastor can hear from the listeners.

Some focus on elocution. After a teaching they will say, “You had a vocalized pause at the beginning of your teaching. You ought to work at not saying ‘umm’ when you speak publicly.” I often like to reply, “Thanks, I umm, wasn’t aware that I umm, did that.”

Some focus on what I am wearing. The best comment I ever got was when someone said to me, “What you are wearing is not what a preacher wears.” I wasn’t sure if that meant that I wasn’t a preacher, or if I just wasn’t dressed like one (I will not tell you what I was wearing, rather I will allow you to think about what a ‘preacher’ dresses like).

Some have talked about my hair. Some have commented on my theology. Some have commented on how fast I speak. In all of this, I honestly listen to people. I often in listening find things that are true, and that I need to work on. I realize that if I want as many people to stop and listen to me that I have to, umm, do things that do not distract them from the words.

There is however one thing that I have tried for years, for which I receive much criticism, but I will not ever change. What could that be? For those of you who have seen me you know that my hair is short, I no longer where my earrings, my tattoos are covered, I dress like a preacher (I think), and I try to enunciate much better. So what is it? What is causing this stubborn streak besides my Irish-Cuban heritage?

My desire as a teacher is for those who listen to what I have to say is for them to have to wrestle with the implications of what I say. I want people to think about the questions that were raised during the teaching. I want people to discuss with one another what they heard on the way home. I want to receive emails from people not complimenting me, but with questions that probe deeper into what I was saying. The bottom line is that I want people to think.

This is to say, that many people want a boatload of information, and then want explicit directions on what they should do with said information. Here lies the intrinsic problem with that thought. How can I, a young teaching pastor from New York, with an Irish mother, a Cuban father, husband to a California girl, and father of two young children, tell a 57 year old Dutch woman, mother of 6, wife to a 58 year old Polish guy, who has lived in Holland her entire life, exactly what she needs to do to apply the information that I have given her?

So often I have been on the opposite side of this. The person preaching says, "I have three things for you to do.” When those three things are stated I immediately realize that those three things, while thought to apply to my generation and me, actually miss the mark. I cannot explicitly tell another guy my age what to do with the information presented because he is not me, nor am I him. I have seen time and again someone stand up with the answers, and they preach their hearts out. The listeners leave disappointed because they have heard this kind of thing before … the disappointment comes because the answers frequently do not translate into real life.

So what is it that I will not change? Simply this: I want my teaching to provoke thought by asking questions, not close thought by giving answers. I say this because learning is not simply a consequence of teaching or listening, but a consequence of thinking. Thinking causes one to act on what he or she has heard. It causes engagement with self and others. It is through this action that one learns and makes what they have heard their own. I believe the listener is smart enough to answer the questions, and to apply it to their world and their situation. Let’s think together, and stop just wanting more “to-do’s” and more information. This is what will lead us to further learning.

promises

As some of you may know the G8 Summit is currently happening in St. Petersburg, Russia. Last year was an amazing event as it was accompanied by the Live 8 Music Festivals that happened all over the world, but more importantly the leaders of these 8 countires pledged $50 Billion in effective development assistance per year by 2010. This critical funding means real help for real people, to care for AIDS orphans, give basic education to all children by 2015, and much more. We've made some important progress on canceling debts for 19 countries, but there are many more on the list. In the last year, we accomplished a great deal, but we’ve only scratched the surface.

Last year, President Bush pledged on behalf of America that we assist the world's poorest nations. Congress must now honor our pledge by writing the check to fund life-saving programs. President Bush requested a $3 billion increase in effective international assistance so that America can keep our promises on track. Currently, Congress is going only about a third of the way to help Africa and the world's poorest nations. Both the House of Representatives and Senate cut around $2 billion from the President's request, putting America's G8 pledges in jeopardy.

Please, take a moment and click here and urge Congress to keep America's promise to the world's poorest nations that were made one year ago.

return to simplicity

Yesterday I was sitting in my office with the television on mute (VH1 classic was showing a re-run of a Rush concert), my Mac powerbook was playing music in the background from my iPod. My Razor cell phone was next to my Dell Laptop on which I was writing out my teaching for the weekend, having an IM conversation with my fellow pastor Britton about the teaching, and sorting through emails while I wrote and IM’ed. Then I called my wife on my cell phone (no dialing just telling it to call her). I then drove home listening to a podcast of Miroslav Volf, and had my cell phone headset on to receive phone calls in case they came in.

I am connected. I am wireless, HD, digital video … technology for me is what the toaster was for my parent's generation. Common. It is all around me, and nothing impresses me any more. It is even more so for the younger generation. I never used computers much until high school. Now my 10 year old nephew knows more about computers than I ever could. There is little that impresses the younger generation any more … we have seen it all. Flat screens, holographic images, cars that drive themselves, special effects … boring!

Technology is simply our underwear, a necessary part of the wardrobe.

In the midst of all of this a desire for simplicity is creeping up. With all of the technology that surrounded me yesterday the best part of my day was after I got home. No cell phone ringing, only the sound of my kids laughter ringing in my ears as we wrestled on the living room floor. No images of Rush in concert, rather grilling pork chops on the grill. No music from the iPod, just sweet conversation with my wife over dinner. No IM-ing, instead we went to the cone shop to get an ice cream cone. No email, just my kids splashing in the bathtub before bed. No podcast about theology, rather we sat with our close friends on the patio until 10:30 PM.

Simplicity.

I have noticed that in our world simplicity is a hard thing to get. You really have to work at it. Even more frightening is that most of us don’t want it anyway. It is something we run from. We want to stay connected. We have to be available. There are some people who I think clip the cell phones to their lips while they are in the shower to make sure they don’t miss a call (by the way if you are at lunch with someone, and your phone rings and you answer it only to tell the person calling you cannot talk … you are telling the person you are with and the person calling you that they are both in different ways unimportant). We need technology, we crave it desperately. It makes us feel secure … and without it comes the most dreaded of all things. Silence.

Someone said to me the other day about their faith community gatherings, “If we had silence in our gatherings for more than 20 seconds people would be running for the door.” Silence is scary. Simplicity is scary. Both force us to lower walls and allow ourselves and others to be seen without the cell phone surgically attached to the hip.

The interesting thing that I have seen is that in many ways the church has missed this desire for simplicity. We make things so complex. I was in a church gathering recently that rivaled the Pink Floyd Laser-Light show I once saw. It was riddled with technology and complexity ... there was so much noise in the end you could not hear anything. Simplicity was lost. Technology had won. The message of the gathering was on the disabled list.

Technology has it’s place. It has become the new dictator of our world. However, we need to be people who learn how to “cut the cord” and return to stillness, to quietness, to contemplation, and to simplicity. When we gather, maybe we should look much more like a group of friends sitting on a patio chatting with one another, than a pastor overloaded with sound, media, and technology in his office.

We need to rediscover silence. We need to return to simplicity.