Sweet Victory

The strife is over, the battle won. Alleluia, he is risen indeed! The word nika is the english transliteration of the koine Greek word for “victor”…the one who claims the prize after running the race. Our Lord Jesus endured to the end and did what we least expected. He gave the prize to us. Isn’t that just like our God?

Faith in a minor key

Lent. It’s dark…dreary…solemn. By the time we come to the end of these 40 days inspired by Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness we are ready. Truthfully, I get more than ready: I get a little DESPERATE. A season of repentance makes me uncomfortable. It makes my sense of self-sufficiency crumble into dust that can only be revived by the living water of God-sufficiency. Dying to sin amounts to the consumate counter intuitive journey to fulfillment. Oprah, step aside: it’s not all about getting comfortable. The world [not just Oprah] screams at us to avoid discomfort at all costs. The cost is that we’re devoured by our appetities while all the while thinking that we’re improving ourselves. This is what we see when the mask is pried away and we see the ugly face of sin for what it is. But Jesus tells us that he’s paid the cost so that we can be delivered from ourselves: from wearing masks. He requires that we give up on ourselves so that a new self can emerge. This dying to ourselves brings us closer to wholeness than all of our attempts at “wellness”.

It sounds backwards. It feels backwards. Yet, it leads us forward into the wounds of the resurrected Jesus where we see the proof of our redemption and the hope that does not disappoint. The bottom line: I don’t need a biger dose of my dysfunctional humanity, or a stronger kick in the shorts to motivate me. I need someone who can pick me up and carry me, and deliver me as a child into the welcoming embrace of my Father. I need Jesus.

In two more weeks the darkness will part. The heavy curtain blanketing our hearts will be torn from top to bottom, and the light will pour in. We will by faith participate in Jesus’ resurrection. Until then we underscore the absolute necessity of coming to the end of ourselves.

The passing of an era?

On February 24th the original Christian rocker Larry Norman died at the age of 60. Larry challenged evangelical Christianity during the early 1970’s with his music and message. He was nearly universally condemned by those considering themselves “conservative” Christians who considered the rock genre as satanic. His song, “Why Should the Devil have all the Good Music” became the anthem of the movement that gave birth to what we now call Contemorary Christian music. And yet, his message revealed a mature theology and character that allowed him to intelligently  and lovingly engage with those who took issue with him. What was missing was the expected raw, irreverent, rude  attitude commonly associated with rock music. That an articulate, passionate, well informed, and loving man would be at the heart of something so quickly condemned as demonic is the real big surprise. I saw Larry perform several times while I was in college. His messages revealed a saint and sinner wrapped up in a very untidy package of humanity. They also revealed an incarnational God intent on relating to his creation face to face.

Churches unwilling to acknowledge what was really happening in the lives of redeemed and still imperfect sinners were antagonized by Larry’s message. It was as if he was too honest. In my view, he challenged and destabilized an American spirituality stuck in the plot line of the sitcom “Happy Days”.  As modern American evangelicalism continues to spiral into a consumer-driven self help view of the Christian faith, I wonder if we might need another Larry Norman to challenge us. No matter. Today as I write he is resting in the arms of Jesus.

As you journey through lent

The Christian “F-word”

Faith is something that I think about a lot these days. It could be that God is slowly curing me of self effort, and weaning me onto what can be done in his strength. [Without my help, thank you very much!] The world is a very different place when viewed through the eyes of faith. As I rest in God’s strength I become different, too.

Hebrews 11 refers to faith as the substance of things hoped for. I’m going to guess that the things we’re asking for in faith have more substance in our minds, but that’s not what God’s word says. The greek word is hypostasis, and refers to the essence of things: that which underlies the apparent reality. We know that polymer is the essence that holds plastic together. So also, faith: so much more real [real-er?!] and enduring than the material things we hope for. The reason behind this is our faith object. Our faith is placed in Jesus, the one in whom all things hold together, and the author, perfector and finisher of our faith. In the biblical literature faith is most often referred to as something we receive. The passive voice describes us as being acted upon by the Holy Spirit, and faith placed in us. The perfect tense speaks of faith as the result of a past action taken by God. Yet, somehow, we find ways to make it about us.

Going on in Hebrews 11, the patriarchs moved ahead in faith without seeing fulfillment in their lifetimes. Clearly the faith object wasn’t what they could get from God. None of them received any physical reward. Their reward was in relating to the Lord by trusting his promises, and the “yes” to all the promises is Jesus Christ. And so, Hebrews 12 says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…”

The substance of faith is not checking off our list of things we want-as if God’s faithfulness is only measured by whether he gives us what we ask for. The substance of our faith, our confidence and hope, is Jesus himself. God gave us something we never dreamed to ask for: his only son. If this ever ceases to be enough, then I’d better stop, drop, and pray. It’s more than enough. It’s everything.

Becoming small-er

Two days after the last post I fell while skiing and broke ribs six and seven on my left side. Hmmm. God are you succeeding in getting my attention? Broken ribs have got to be the most painful and generally least serious of injuries. I compared notes with a friend of mine who recently had open heart surgury. Sure enough: ribs hurt way more. There’s not much to do while propped up in an easy chair. Breathing hurts…movement hurts…and pain killers are over-rated. For seven days I followed the same pattern: read scripture, fall asleep, wake up, repeat. If this is what needed to happen for the Lord to put me in more intimate touch with him, so be it. Makes me wonder what he’s got planned next. Hmmm indeed.

Becoming small

Yesterday I went for a quick ski in the backcountry with a friend. At least, that was our intent. About three in the afternoon we found ourselves skiing through old growth forest as the snow increased in intensity. When we left the car a few minutes earlier I briefly picked up my pack and then decided to leave it, thinking that we’d be gone for 90 minutes or so. In the pack were headlamp, extra food and water, extra warm layers, and a first aid kit complete with heat packs. Instead, I tied a nylon shell around my waist and stepped into my ski bindings. Two hours later I wished I had taken  it.

At a trail junction we made a map reading mistake, and found ourselves 6 miles out when dark fell. My friend and I realized the seriousness of our situation immediately, and stopped to think through our situation and strategize. Our resources included a quart of Gatorade, two energy bars, and the clothes on our backs. We decided to backtrack-but to keep our pace moderate and steady so as not to burn up our remaining energy. With the darkness came colder temps. We were already wet from skiing three hours in the snow storm, and began to feel chilled. On top of this, we had been stalked by a mountain lion earlier. While it was still light I heard a rustling in the trees above us as we skied, and then saw the shape of the cat jumping onto the trail ahead of us.   Later we saw blood trails where it had attacked a deer. Knowing that mountain lions are more active after dark, we looked over our shoulders constantly as we skied.

I noticed my thoughts going in several directions as I shuffled through the snow. In my head I reviewed the stages of hypothermia. I calculated where we hoped to be in 30 minutes, prayed, assessed and reassed our situation, and argued against my rising fear. I listened to the messages from various parts of my body and weighed them against the demands of cold, exhaustion and darkness. I thanked God over and over for my commitment to telemark skiing this season, and the strength I still felt in my legs.

When we got back into the trail complex we stopped to eat the last of our food and drink the last swallows of Gatorade. Up until this point I believe we had faced our situation with our combined skill and experience, and I think we had been smart in our response. However, the reality we faced was that, though we bought ourselves time and had stayed in control, we were out of resources. My extremities were very cold and it was now very dark. We were soon to be faced with decisions at numerous trail junctions while our mental status began to deteriorate as hypothermia gained ground. As I skied I began to feel an overwhelming urge to sit down and rest. Though my mind told me this was a classic danger signal, the warning seemed to come from a great distance. I was starting to stumble on my skis and was crossing the line to resignation when we saw the lights of a snowmobile coming up the trail.

We were taken 3 miles down hill to a warming hut where we were fed cups of hot chocolate while sitting by a wood stove. It was 7:30 in the evening. After I got home, it took heating pads and warm fluids until 10 pm to rewarm my core. In hindsight, when the snowmobile found us,  I think I had only 30-60 minutes before I would have given in to hypothermia. Afterward, when my friend and I debriefed, we were both satisfied that we adapted and responded as well as we possible. Even so, looking through the lens of decades of mountain travel and over 10 years of guiding experience, it was obvious that our best effort would not have been enough-we needed a break.

Last night I slept 12 hours. I woke up many times thinking, “God was merciful to me…” When it comes down to it, an experience like this underscores my fragileness and smallness. It’s so easy to become self-sufficient in our own attitudes, and this masks our 100% need for God. Tonight my family and I are so deeply grateful:

Psalms 121:3, 4 “He will not let your foot slip-he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep”

Gear: Thoughts on Guitars

I’ve been working on a signature sound for a number of years. The sound you get is governed by four variables: the instrument, technique, preamplification, and amplification. The instrument makes the vibrations. The vibrations come from the hands and technique of the player. The vibrations are sensed by the pickup and modified in the preamp stage. And all the rest goes to amplification. [The knee bone connected to to the keg bone...]

My thoughts today are on the first stage: the guitar. I play guitars built by James Goodall of Goodall Guitars, and Bill Wise of Charis Guitars. If you have great input, you stand an excellent chance to have great sound. Custom guitars have tops that are individually voiced, and because of this, you hear so much more. The sound is inspiring to the player and the audience, and makes us want to play more. This is a GOOD thing! You hear the fundemental note, and the overtones. The character of the tone woods is mainfested in various ways depending on the woods: dry, clear, warm, punchy, rich, immediate, woody, velvety…and the list goes on. The most common remark by players who upgrade to an excellent instrument is, “I never knew how much sound I was missing!”

Buy the best guitar you can afford. Play a lot of different makers and builders to hear what you like and don’t like. Keep in mind that two of the same models from the same maker can sound and play very different. You want to look for a guitar that’s built from all solid woods. This feature alone will put you into the $1200-1500 range. Other things to look for are on-board electronics, hardshell case, and quality tuners. I highly recommend Larrivee guitars for their quality of construction and reasonable price. Their customer service is incredible.

For a custom guitar I suggest visiting Acoustic Pro Musician to view a number of builders in several price ranges. Better guitars make better sound. Better sound inspires better playing. Better playing inspires you and your audience. selah.

Third Generation and Getting Better!

I just got back from the baptism of my second God daughter in Nebraska. I had a chance to visit University Lutheran Chapel and see what’s been going on in worship since I left almost three years ago. I was blessed. What I saw confirmed once again the power of investing in people and raising them up to serve the church. It’s about real relationships. I was so touched to watch the people I mentored mentoring others, and extending my work to a third generation of influence. Ministry-worship, or any other-multiplies when we invest in people. God is good. The sunday morning worship was joyful, exalted, and surrendered: in the right measure…all at the same time. selah.

When I think of the ministry of Jesus, there was NOTHING his disciples could do that he couldn’t do better. Yet, his work with his disciples reveals a cycle of teaching and sending. First, Jesus shapes their hearts and attitudes with his word, then he releases them to go do the work in his name. Instead of doing everything himself, Jesus sends people into the world to represent his interests. “Great is the mystery of Godliness!” Not only that Jesus came in the flesh, but that he places his work in the hands of human flesh. He invests himself in us. Selah, indeed.

Is There a Theology of Sound?

Over the years I’ve heard a number of people refer to a particular style of music and say, “I can REALLY worship to THAT!” The spectrum of worship music is so very broad. For example, my congregation offers four service formats from liturgical to what I call “upbeat contemporary”. For some, the operative word is reverence. For others, the key word is freedom. No one seems to be neutral on the subject of worship music. For some time I’ve speculated that there might be musical sounds that we create that are pleasing to God, and some that…well…are not. I’ll just dive right in.

So, how do we sort out what kind of sound is pleasing to God? My thoughts center on one primary assumption the intent behind our choice of music. Though it may seem obvious that there’s only one intent that fuels our worship, [to lift up Jesus Christ as resurrected savior of the world!], experience has taught me that it’s very easy to cross the line into performance and entertainment. This can happen regardless of musical style. Whether a pipe organ in the back of the sanctuary or the artistic expression of a vocalist on the worship platform, people regularly walk away from worship having missed the point because the musical leaders drew attention to themselves. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10.31:

“Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God”

What I find remarkable about the context of this passage is that it’s a discussion of eating meat that had been used in a pagan ritual. Later, Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:4-5,

“For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God.”

The central issue is not what other people did with the meat, but whether it was received with thanksgiving to the true and living God. Does this mean that we can borrow musical sounds from other cultures? Apparently so, but there’s a catch. If it violates the conscience of our brothers and sisters, we need to surrender our freedom for their sake. Love and concern for others guides us. And so, this leads me back to the core of the matter: all things set apart for the expressed purpose of glorifying Jesus Christ, including music, are sanctified by this intent.

Clanging gongs and banging cymbals. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul tells us that without love everything we do is noise. Most commentators agree that he was referring to the banging, clanging and wailing that came from pagan temples in the city of Corinth. What made these rituals pagan was not the banging and clanging, but the lack of true love that can only be imparted by the True God (John 4.7-8). The Israelites also sent up quite a din of trumpets and yelling while they walked around Jericho…but for a Godly purpose. Recently, I heard a band that called their style “old-school punk worship.”  What made up my mind was that the volume buried the message. I and all the people seated around me had absolutely no idea what they were singing about. It failed to lead us into worship, and led several people to the door. Sometimes we mistake the punch and power of music for worship. It may well be a spiritual experience-but not from the Holy Spirit.  The  message of worship must be louder than the music.

Reading Between the lines. Also important is what the musical sound brings to mind. In other words, the music can have a message apart from lyrics, and sometimes the two don’t match up. Even as I say this, I realize that some  have used this argument to prop up a very narrow view of what constitutes proper worship music. In my view, if you prefer classical music, then simply own your preference without trying to make it into a theological issue. Nonetheless, certain soundscapes point to specific landscapes in the heart. The emotive quality in music is obvious, and requires no explanation. The rock genre popularly referred to as “death metal” is an extreme case in point. The music simply sounds violent. The question is whether the sound conflicts with the message or supports it. In light of the many places musical sounds can take us, we need to constantly wrestle with music as in end in itself, or as a vehicle given by God to help usher us into worship. Arguing for or against style is a slippery slope that can lead to the worship of a worship form.

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things”