Troy: The Battle Makes the Story

            I love action movies. The cheesy ones, the ridiculous concepts, and the “that could never happen!” movies are just awesome. But the ones I love the most are the ones that are made on an epic scale. I loved the Lord of the Rings movies, not for all of their nerdy goodness, but for the massive scale of the battle scenes. Everything just seemed larger. That’s what I loved about the movie Troy.

            For me, the film Troy was perfect for a number of reasons. I’m a big fan of both The Iliad and The Odyssey. Epic poems are awesome. I’ve always loved Greek mythology. So when I found out Troy was coming I was super pumped. I saw it the weekend it debuted and it is a great film. I’ve got to tell you though; the opening sequence kind of let me down…

            Let’s set the scene here. Barren dessert battlefield. Two armies facing off. The leaders decide to have their champions fight instead of killing hundreds of men. I’m thinking, “Finally! Achilles gets to whoop some tail! This is what I’ve been waiting for!” The scene is drawn out perfectly. Slowly acceleration as Achilles runs, obvious bad guy, escalating music, huge evil guy vs. small good guy…and then it happens. Achilles jumps and appears to lightly poke the pad guy with his sword and he falls down dead. I remember audibly, in the theatre saying, “That’s it!” I wanted a battle! I wanted shields to crash and blows to be exchanged! The battle is what makes it good right? The battle is what tells the story. If the movie had ended right there I might have walked out. Troy stinks if it ends in the first ten minutes! Sometimes the conflict really makes the story.

            Think about all of your favorite Bible stories. Would you want to read, “Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and the Hot Tub at Nebuchadnezzar’s  Palace Because Everyone Resolved Their Differences?” or “Daniel and the Cuddly Puppies’ Den?” Would kids in Children’s Church want to sing: 

            Joshua, didn't fight Jericho, Jericho, Jericho.

            Joshua, didn’t fight Jericho, Jericho, Jericho.
            Because they decided to walk around, around, around.

          Sometimes the conflict really makes the story and without it there wouldn’t BE a story.

            If you’re in a conflict right now ask yourself, “What kind of story does God want to tell through me and this situation?” Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I love conflict or that you should seek out hard times to give God a chance to prove himself. He doesn’t need our help to prove his greatness. What I am saying is that if you’re in the middle of a conflict you can take solace in the fact that God is the one who’s writing your story. In fact he’s the “author and perfecter” of our story (Heb. 12:2). Trust him to write a good ending.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:2-4

TINSTAFL

          At my high school Economics was a filler class. It got only one semester and it was paired up with American Government so it was boring by association. One, I’m sure it was a Monday, my econ teacher told us one day about the glorious “TINSTAFL Principle.” He was so proud of this word because none of us knew what it meant. TINSTAFL is an acronym for “There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.” It comes from people who use free stuff as “bait” to suck you into a sales pitch. They may offer to buy your lunch or to give you a week at beach front resort, but you’re going to hear their sales pitch or time-share presentation. It’s never free…never. 

          I serve at an amazing church called Evangel Community Church here in Northeast Atlanta. We just finished a week long session of outreach. We call the week CityReach (Check out a CityReach rewind video here!) and for us it’s just about simple acts of kindness. We give out water at the T-Ball Park and packs of gum outside of the Italian restaurant here in town. We feed firemen and policemen and we monitor school lunch rooms so that teachers can get a break. We cap the whole week off with a blow out Family Funday with free food and inflatables and we give away groceries to the first 125 needy families that show up. There was one question that got asked over and over at each outreach and with a confused look, “It’s free?”

          I was thinking about how “free” these things were the last few days while recovering from the outreach whirlwind. We do tell people that the items and services they are receiving are free, but that’s not really honest. Someone has paid for all of that gum, and doughnuts, and bottled water. In this case it was our church budget and the generosity of our congregation that bore that burden. It’s not free…more accurately it’s a gift. It cost someone something, just not you.

          For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
1 Peter 1:18-21

          Often times archetypal evangelists talk about salvation as a free gift. They’ll even pull out a $20 and ask someone to come down and take it. They say, “It’s free, c’mon somebody come and take it!” and then they tell you that your salvation is the same way. They are wrong. That money wasn’t free. It cost the evangelist 20 bucks! It was just a GIFT. Salvation wasn’t free either. You see our sin was so great that GOD had to die for it! God! Is there anything more valuable? Think of that next time someone tries to convince you that something sinful is no big deal.

          There’s a new hotel in Las Vegas called “The Cosmopolitan.” Apparently they believe the “Sin City” moniker is a bit too much. Their new slogan is “Just the Right Amount of Wrong.” Please hear me when I say, there is no right amount.

          Sin is a big deal and TINSTAFL applies to salvation too. It’s not free, it cost God his Son and it cost the Son his life. It IS however, a gift. Have you received it?

          …if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9

Good Christian B-Word?

I posted this a year ago and thought it was worth a repost since ABC just released the show last Sunday now and calling it "GCB" and "Good Christian Belles" instead. Sneaky...

March 9th, 2011:

          I just read an article posted by a friend that ABC is developing a show for TV called "Good Christian Bitches." The article is slamming ABC and the producers for even dreaming to create such a show. The article sums up the plot, "The plot centers on the life of reformed 'mean girl' Amanda, played by 'Talladega Nights' actress Leslie Bibb, who returns to her hometown of Dallas to find herself fodder for malicious gossip from the women in the Christian community." The proposed tagline for the show is,"For Heaven’s sake, don’t let God get in the way of a good story!"

          This does not shock me. I expect the world to be the world. I expect non-Christian people to do things that a Christian would consider offensive and vulgar. That's the currency that the world, especially moder median, often deal in. I'll offer this for you to chew on and maybe this will give us some perspective.

          There is a sadness in my spirit connected with this story and it has nothing to do with the negative perception cast by this show. My sadness comes from the fact that, if we really thought about it, this is a totally feasible concept. The article quotes a "Christian publisher" named Tessie DeVore saying, "A show like this can damage perceptions [of Christians in this country]." I'm sad to tell her that it is apparently too late. Perceptions already seem to be damaged.

          If Christians in our world and The Church (capital letters on purpose) were functioning correctly this would be a rediculous concept. The sad reality is, it's not. The concept of this show is totally believable. This falls at the feet of church leaders (myself being one of those). We must work harder to cultivate a culture of love, respect, and purity of living. Let me say, before I go any further, that this show focuses on the problems of one gender, but this problem transcends gender, age, nationality and socio-economic identity. It is not just tied to females.

          I cannot give you a silver bullet to fix these problems in The Church. I can't explain why the ideosyncrocy exists within The Church that allows us to accept gossip, backbiting, clicks (from students to adults and across gender) are perfectly acceptable in The Church of our modern era. I can tell you that there IS hope for something better. There IS at least one way to pursue a resolution to this problem if we cannot fix it outright. Galatians 5 tells us that we should purue, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." It says that against those things there is no law. I think that means you can't go wrong pursuing those things in your life.

          If The Church were being The Church this wouldn't be a news story because it would be laughable. People would say things like, "That's silly, Christians don't act that way?" Instead it's totally beliveable. 

Fighting "Rock Middle" Part 3

          We've been talking for a week now about pulling out of the middle. It’s an important topic and I think one that’s rampant in our culture. Pushing yourself from middle to the front is important, but doesn’t carry much weight unless you finish it out by keeping yourself at that new high level. If you’re uncertain as to what I mean let me answer your question with a question: “How many times do you ‘spike’ with a particular behavior?” When I say spike I mean having a sudden jolt of a particular behavior in your life followed by an equally sudden decline. How many times have you said: I need to read my Bible more, or work out more, or eat right, or call my parents, or read, or get more sleep? And you do those things…for a time. You might read your Bible regularly for an entire week!...only to slack back again to where you where. The same can be said for eating right and working out or any other behavior that is healthy, but not easy. So if you can get yourself out of the middle, how do you stay there? The answer is short, but not so simple: Maintain.

          “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
Luke 21:34-36


Step 3: Maintain

          We've already spoken of guarding our hearts from dissipation and other worldly struggles; the question is now, “How do I keep it up?” I think Jesus is pretty concise here. He essentially says it’s going to be work. He tells us some important tips:

Tip #1: It Happens Fast:
Jesus is talking about a time of intense struggle for the people of faith when he says it will come, “unexpectedly like a trap.” We would all do well to prepare ourselves for spiritual attack, when you operate at a high level (which is what pulling out of the middle is all about) you paint a target on you back. When you pull out of the middle be ready for the attack to come.

Tip #2: Be Vigilant:
When you reach a high point and are looking out for an attack you should set up some defenses. No one builds a watch tower before they have a position to defend right? You can be vigilant by finding a brother or sister in Christ to lovingly hold you accountable. Find yourself someone who will help keep you in check and encourage you to resist the enemy.

Tip #3: Pray:
Simple but crucial. I find that when I’m stuck in the middle I can find myself praying very often for God to get me out of a mess or a rut, but when God does help me to have a victory, I never seem to pray and ask Him to supernaturally help me to maintain the status quo, “God thank you for the place you’ve brought me, now help me to do the work to stay here!”


     I’ll leave you with Joshua. Remember that when the Israelites reached the Promised Land in Joshua chapter 5, they didn’t just settle there and relax. First they had to consecrate themselves to God and then they walked right into Jericho. Say it with me: Maintain, Maintain, Maintain…

Fighting "Rock Middle" Part 2

It Doesn't Matter What You Think!

          I've been talking recently about being stuck in the middle. So often we hear fantastic testimonies of people who are just scraped from the bottom and are used by God to do amazing things. I think there’s a trap in that. I think far more people, particularly Christians, are stuck in the middle. They are stuck somewhere between saved and free. Jesus addressed this in Luke and I talked about dissipation last time, now we’re moving on to “Drunkenness and the Anxieties of Life.”

          “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
Luke 21:34-36

Step 2: Avoid Drunkenness and the Anxieties of Life

          Please don’t think, “Here we go, another Jesus Juicer’ talking about drinking…zzzzzzz” and turn your brain off. There is some debate over this issue so I’ll just keep it simple. Paul wrote that we should, “Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thess. 5:22, KJV). That means we should stay away from stuff that someone might consider bad, or ungodly, or unfitting for a follower of Jesus. You might be thinking to yourself, “That’s not fair!” or “I have intellectual arguments that make it ok!” You’re right and you might but here’s the deal….it… doesn’t… matter what you think! (Where are my old school WWF fan’s at?!?) If something in your life whether it’s drinking, or drug use, or the way you talk, or how you dress, or they way you part your hair makes someone reconsider Jesus as their savior you have just made a poor decision. Jesus said, “It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin” (Luke 17:2).

          The second part of this phrase is, “anxieties of this life.” I think this means more than just being worried about your bills. Yes, many Christians will trust Jesus with their eternal salvation and not to meet their day to day needs, but I don’t see that as the full meaning of this phrase. Paul wrote to his spiritual son Timothy, “Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica…” (2 Tim. 4:9-10). For some of us our anxiety is not our worldly cares and needs but our care for what the world has. How many people have walked away from a call of God because the craved what the world offers. I almost did. Their anxiety derived from the belief that they were missing out on something. Are you really afraid you’re missing out on sin…which leads to death?

         I think these worldly behaviors are what keep us stuck in the middle. So in order to get out of the middle and move forward remember that it doesn’t always matter what you think. Be careful to not be a distraction to others and don’t be a Demas and be too concerned for the things of this world. 

Be on the lookout for Part 3 coming soon! 

Fighting "Rock Middle"

          I heard a missionary speak at the MovementConference this weekend. A great guy who I’ve seen before and is doing great work for the Kingdom of God in India and Laos. His testimony is great too. Not only did he get lost in a world of drugs, sex, and the party lifestyle, he literally brought an entire youth group (leader and all) into his world. God saved him in a mighty way, called him into ministry, and he’s changing the world.

          Those prodigal son, hog pen deliverance stories are inspiring aren't they? It’s amazing to see God do things in someone’s life to grab hold of them when they are at the brink. As I was listening to him I looked around the room and thought about the hundreds of the students in the room who just thought it was a cool story. Those who had a life that was pretty good, and because of that they are content with their station in Christ. They might have “Survival Jesus”, meaning just enough of a relationship to squeak into heaven, but not nearly enough of a relationship to have any joy, peace, or impact when life gets real for them (and it eventually does).  What is the message for these students? How do you save yourself from hitting “Rock Middle” and more importantly how do you move from happily stuck in the middle to getting back in the mix? This issue is pretty large so rather than tackle it in one mammoth post I’m going to break it into three parts. Check back tomorrow for the second installment:

            “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

Luke 21:34-36

           

Step 1: Avoid Dissipation

Dissipation in this sense means, “an act of self-indulgence, especially one that is not-harmful: amusement.” This is huge for American Christians. We are fueled by what moves us and what makes up happy. It’s a cultural movement that is staggering in its ramifications. It creates a relativism that makes all things acceptable to those with “itching ears” (2Tim. 2:3). The CEO of the Oprah Winfrey Network, forebodingly abbreviated OWN, states the OWN mission statement as, “How do I get the most fulfillment, what makes me happy, how do I leave a mark on the world?” God called us to more than a life that makes us happy, but many of us, often myself included, are more concerned with whether or not our DVR recorded the new Walking Dead, than moving forward in our walk with Christ. We’re content, happy, and stagnant. We’re happy with the middle. We don’t have that rock bottom experience because we’re stuck in the place we are.

I’ll leave you with this. I had an opportunity through Mercer University to do some mission work in Liberia in Western Africa. I watched a church service one day in the capital of Monrovia. The people worshiped God with a reckless desperation that I was envious of. I asked my teacher, Rev. Olu Menjay,

“How can I get this desperation to live in the American church, we need this.”

He responded,

“You can’t. It’s too easy there. These people know how desperate their situation is and they see that God is the only way that they will live day to day. He’s the only way they will eat, drink, and survive.”

I think maybe he’s right. We’re happy, safe, and content. We don’t always need God to miraculously provide us a meal or clean water. Don’t take me wrong, I praise God for my successes and my wins and my apartment that does not have ten foot poisonous snakes in it (my apartment in Africa did), but I hope I won’t grow satisfied. I hope I will continue to push and fight the middle! I don’t want to be stuck in the middle.

If this particular issue resonates with you please leave comments below so that we can all continue discussion.

Click here for Part Two of Fighting "Rock Middle"!

On Genuine Worship-Guest Post

     My first guest post today from my friend, keyboard player, and token Jesus Hippie MacKenzie McKay. He's a huge part of my worship team and he's got a real heart to grow as a musician and closer to the Lord. When you're a member of the worship team week in and week out like he is you can get jaded and comfortable in your worship and your leading. He wrote this about staying genuinely connected with the Father and the effect it has on your worship leading.

     "So the other day someone made the comment to me that my piano playing has really improved in the last couple of weeks. My immediate response is that I had finally become a little more comfortable and relaxed while playing. I was sitting there thinking and that really wasn't the answer. I have been playing piano for years in front of large groups of people. My anxieties and worries about messing up died a long time ago, hundreds if not thousand of mistakes before. So I looked a little at myself in that moment. Why had my playing become noticably better within the last couple of weeks?

     I began thinking, and after I had put aside the idea that I had significantly grown as a piano player, I made a realization. I remember during times of worship that I wasn't playing the music or "for the set" anymore. I remember thinking during those times that I hoped God liked my playing. I wanted to make my playing an offering to Him. I still care about how it sounds and whether it fits, but I care about that less in the forefront and more in the background. My goal while playing is that, while worshiping, is that I might be able to get a smile from God, an eyes closed moment. Where maybe, just maybe, I can come up with something new and creative as a gift back to Him who has given me so much.

     I got this picture in my mind last year at camp that worship to God is like when a little girl goes up to her Dad and starts singing the "I Love You Song." The amelodious, out of key song, that to any other person for any other reason would seem mildly screeching and cacophonic, but to that Dad at that moment in time it becomes one of the sweetest sounds he has ever heard in his life and it draws him to pick up his child and wrap her in his arms just to show how much that moment meant and will mean to him. That's genuine worship. A sound that to any other may mean nothing, but to our Father it is the sweetest sound because he knows that we mean it from the bottom of our heart."