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Jonah and A Big Boat

I just wrapped up a preaching series called The Runaway: Story of a man named Jonah. I love the story of Jonah but it is definately not a kids story, which many have sadly turned it into. If you read through the book you realize that Jonah's attitude is horrible throughout the entire story. Count how many times he says he wants to die, it is ridiculous!

In Chapter four of Jonah he goes outside the city and sits and waits to see if God will destroy the city. He is hopeful God will wipe out the Ninevites. While he is waiting, God causes a plant to grow to give Jonah shade against the hot middle eastern sun. Yet during the night God causes the plant to wither and during the day sends a hot east wind to blow into Jonah's world.

Jonah is furious, so furious that of course HE WANTS TO DIE! He doesn't care about what is happening in Ninevah, he just cares about his own comfort. He is complaining because his little "Destruction of Ninevah" one man party isn't comfortable enough.

Jonah has totally lost perspective! People in Ninevah have been spared. Jonah is mad because he is too hot????

Reminds me of a story I read about a Carnival Cruise that went bad a few years ago.

The ship with nearly 5,000 people on board became stranded off of the coast of California and it took 3 days to tow it back to San Diego. Once the regular food ran out Spam, pop-tarts and crab meat was airlifted in.

The worst hardships people had to endure were brushing their teeth with bottled water, showering in the dark, and waiting in line for food. Not too bad. I spent malmost 19 years as a youth pastor doing all those on a regular basis. Ha, Ha.

If you listened to the interviews passengers gave when they arrived at port you would have thought they were on a ship, filled with zombies, that had struck an iceberg and the band was on the deck playing “stairway to heaven” as the ship was going down!

All the passengers also knew Carnival was going to reimburse them for that cruise, all travel costs getting to and from the ship, nullified all expenses they had incurred on ship before fire, including casino losses and gift shop purchases. Free Hotel rooms and food if they wanted to stay a week in San Diego and give them an additional cruise on top of all that!!!

Ryan Harlan a little kid was interviewed and he said, “A lot of things went wrong, but it was really fun and I made some new friends.”

I don't know about you but I think I would have taken the small inconveniances, and all those perks, even the SPAM.

I hope I would have had the same PERSPECTIVE as Ryan Harlan instead of that boat full of Jonahs!

 

The Death of the Ragamuffin

 

Many writers have affected my walk with Jesus over the last twenty three years, not many more profoundly then Brennan Manning. I picked up the book The Ragamuffin Gospel as a young pastor and Christian and it helped me in so many ways move away from the legalism and self-righteousness that still lived in corners of my heart. Those pesky things had been a part of the Christianity that I grew up with (not from my family) and I saw them practiced by some in my church community. Brennan's words helped dry up those dirty pools.

 Manning died on April 12 and an amazing voice both in preaching and print went silent. His death was mostly ignored even in Christian culture, which was surprising. If you haven't exposed your heart to Brennan Manning I hope that you will pick up one of his numerous books or listen to some of his teachings online. I think you will find that God speaks to you through Brennan reminding you that you are God's child, deeply loved even in the midst of being deeply flawed. You will discover a Jesus, maybe for the first time, who has pursued you for your entire life. You will find in Brennan's writings over and over again the God of the broken, the wounded, the seeekers, and the lost.

Some Brennan Manning Quotes:

“Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion.” 

“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” 

“I want neither a terrorist spirituality that keeps me in a perpetual state of fright about being in right relationship with my heavenly Father nor a sappy spirituality that portrays God as such a benign teddy bear that there is no aberrant behavior or desire of mine that he will not condone. I want a relationship with the Abba of Jesus, who is infinitely compassionate with my brokenness and at the same time an awesome, incomprehensible, and unwieldy Mystery. ” 

“The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creation. Not to make people with better morals but to create a community of prophets and professional lovers, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love. This, my friend, is what it really means to be a Christian.” 

The following video was made to promote Brennan's last book All Is Grace. It shows Brennan in his last days and a look back on his life.

 

 

Jesus And Spandex (Christian Stuff Of The 80'S) Chapter #2

STRYPER

During 1980s, Stryper represented the popular glam metal style for the time which is characterized by highly visual performances, twin guitar solos, Michael Sweet's high-pitched, multi-octave screams and big hair. A trademark of the band's stage act was drummer Robert Sweet's practice of turning his enormous drum kit sideways to the audience so that the crowd could see him playing. This is why Robert was more often called a "visual timekeeper" rather than a drummer. A characteristic element of the band was that all their outfits, sets, and instruments were painted in yellow and black stripes. The number of the stripes represented in various stage props and costumes increased during the show, leading up to In God We Trust. The band would explain the symbolism of the stripes: a direct reference to the whiplash scourges given byPontius Pilate to Jesus, derived from the King James Version of the Bible's Isaiah 53:5.

Formed in 1983 as Roxx Regime, the band would soon change their musical message to reflect theirChristian beliefs, and the band's name was also changed to Stryper. They would go on to become the first overtly Christian heavy metal band to gain acceptance in the mainstream. In 1983, they signed with major label Enigma Records and released their debut album The Yellow and Black Attack. In the mid-1980s, Stryper enjoyed their most successful period beginning with the release of To Hell with the Devil, which achieved Platinum sales status. Stryper would go on to release two more Gold albums before breaking up in 1992. In 2003, Stryper came out of retirement for a reunion tour and subsequently signed a multi-album contract with Big3 Records in 2005.

 

A Most Rare Thing

 

In this day and age one of the most rare things in our culture is deep freindships, it is a commodity in recession. Every statistic shows that friendships (not Facebook ones) are hard to find and even harder to maintain.

Here are some stats:

-Average American have 2 close friends down from 3 twenty five years ago

-25% have no one to confide in

-80% only talk to family

-Having friends over to your house is down 45%

Pastor Marc Driscoll writes this about his neighborhood and the difficulty of finding friends there:

And what I see in my neighborhood, it’s weird. Every time somebody puts their house up for sale, all of the neighbors go to the open house. They have no intention of buying the home. They’ve just never been in the home and they’re curious. So, they just go to the open house.

We actually opened our home and did a party a few years ago. We invited all the neighbors and they were totally freaked out. I had people ask me, “Why? Why do you want me to come over?” Like, “I’m gonna kill you, and eat you, and put part of you in the fridge.” I had one guy, “Like, are you a Jehovah’s witness?” I’m like, “No.”

Another guy, “Do you sell Amway?” I’m like, “No, I don’t sell Amway.”

“Just shut up and come over or don’t.”  They were like “You wanna talk to me. Why? What did I do?” “You didn’t do anything. You can come over to my house. I’ll give you chicken wings and we could be friends, maybe.”

There is nothing more valuable than friends. I have found that out this year. I have felt the pain of broken friendships and enjoyed the comfort and love of friends who cared for me more than I knew. I have also discovered new friends in the fray of life, some from the most unexpected places. I encourage you to invest in your friendships, treasure them and seek to be the type of friend that you want to have.

"Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a good fire?" 
C. S. Lewis

 

Jesus and Spandex (Christian Stuff of the 80's) Chapter #1

MYLON & BROKEN HEART

In 1987, the band received a Rock Album of The Year GMA Dove Award for Crack the Sky.That same year, they received a Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance by a Duo, Group, Choir, or Chorus.

About this period (1982–1991), LeFevre said, "I was a Christian musician who preached a little, worshiped a little, and rocked a lot." Then in 1989, his past drug abuse caught up with him, and he suffered a massive heart attack on a tour bus that summer while touring with White Heart. Doctors advised him to stop touring, but against the physicians advice Mylon completed his scheduled obligations and finished his concert tours. Mylon and Broken Heart would continue touring through 1990 to support Crank It Up. They disbanded after the tour completed.

 

All The Poor and Powerless

 

Have been enjoying some great worship here at the Exponential Conference. Our house band has been from a church in Boston called Reunion. They are doing an amazing job. I thought they were going to lift the roof off of the church today during Your love Never Fails with 5300 people singing. Amazing.

They introduced me to a song from a band called All Sons and Daughters titled All the Poor and the Powerless (video above). Beautiful song. Amazing Live.

Here are the lyrics:

All the poor and powerless
And all the lost and lonely
All the thieves will come confess
And know that You are holy
And know that You are holy

And all will sing out
Hallelujah
And we will cry out
Hallelujah
All the hearts who are content
And all who feel unworthy 
And all who hurt with nothing left
Will know that You are holy

And all will sing out
Hallelujah
And we will cry out
Hallelujah

Shout it
Go on scream it from the mountains
Go on and tell it to the masses
That He is God
We will sing out
Hallelujah
And we will cry out
Hallelujah

Sam To Your Frodo

Do you want to give up? Tired of trying to do anything good in this world? Feeling like it all doesn't really matter, or even if it does what can little old you do? I have felt this way a lot in the last eight months, and I have doubted my place in the big story God is telling. Maybe you feel the same.

There is a moment towards the end of The Two Towers where Sam speaks truth into the life of a dejected, beaten Frodo.

He transports him and us to a new place when He reminds Frodo of the old, old stories the ones worth remembering.

He strongly reminds Frodo why people in those stories never gave up, why they kept going.

 Sam says:

“Because there is something good in this world worth fighting for!”

The Apostle Paul said:

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge, will award unto me on that day " 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (NIV)

There is still good in this world worth fighting for, never forget that!

Guinness & The Gospel

So in the category of I bet you didn't know this! Check out this little excerpt from the book The Search for God and Guinness

"Arthur Guinness was a great man of faith. Born on the estate of an Archbishop and raised a loyal son of the Irish church, Arthur lived by the words that were his personal motto: Spes Mea in Deo -- "My Hope is in God." He was deeply inspired by the revivalist John Wesley to use his wealth and talents to make the world better. Taking scripture as his guide, Arthur served the needy of his time and worked to use his gifts in honor of his God. One favorite project of his that seems confirmation of both the purity of his faith and his concern for social good: Guinness was the founder of the first Sunday Schools in Ireland.

Much of the great 250-year history of Guinness beer is a story in which wealth is gained through faith-inspired excellence and then used to serve others for the glory of God. This is what Arthur Guinness founded and this is the legacy that Guinness beer still symbolizes to this day."

As they say in Lord of the Rings. "They come in Pints!"

The Beautiful Paradox

"It is this paradox--that He is both God and human-that gives Jesus an overwhelming beauty. He is the Lion and the Lamb. Despite his high claims, he is never pompous; you never see him standing on his own dignity. Despite being absolutely approachable to the weakest and broken, he is completely fearless before the corrupt and powerful. He has tenderness without weakness. Stength without harshness. Humility without the slightest lack of confidence. Unhesitating authority with a complete lack of self-absorption. Holiness and unending convictions without the lack of approachability. Power without insensitivity. I once heard a preacher say, "No one has yet discovered the word Jesus ought to have said. He is full of surprises, but they are all the surprises of perfection."  -Tim Keller from The Grieving Sisters

Retro Post #1: Jesus and Hot Dogs

This post originally posted on The Jesters Pub on October 4, 2005

Last night was one of the most memorable of my life and once again a reminder of the blessings in my life and the blessings that God pours out on us when we simply give of ourselves. I was invited by Mary Rude one of my high school volunteers to join her and her family in downtown tampa where they feed homeless people each Monday night. I was eagerly looking forward to finally joining them downtown and being a part of their incredible ministry.

I brought about five pairs of jeans and some shirts to give out and they were snatched up right away. Basically Mary's family brings hot meals and desserts and sack lunches, which they pay for themselves, every Monday night and there are literally about 60 to 80 people who line-up to receive the food each Monday. I became a server of the hot dogs. They were the most popular. It was amazing and heartbreaking all at the same time as I handed out hot dogs to young, old, black, white, oriental, male and female all who were homeless, all who would sleep that night on the hard Earth.

Each face represented some sad story, a story of a person who by all regards is now forgotten in our society, except on Monday nights @ 7pm. I got to sit and talk with Curtis who was forty one and had a warm and inviitng personality. He talked about his life and how he had quit in life so many times but he was tired of quitting, he also talked about how his family had never been there for him and how he could have made something of his life. He talked about God and how he knew that God loved him and he just wanted to do what the Lord wanted him to do, but he just hadn't been able to.

I am always amazed by the honesty of people like Curtis who have no images to uphold, no self-righteousness to protect and can be raw before people and God. Curtis may be considered to be in poverty but I have met so many people who make 150,000 a year in my life who live in poverty of the soul because of their lack of honesty before God. I met Jesus last night, I felt him near, I felt His pleasure and I knew he was close to all of us in that place. I left downtown last night thanking God for my time there, for the people that I met, and for the Kingdom of God I saw lived out through hot dogs and coconut cake. I will be back next week!

**UPDATE**

Since this posting Mary's family ministry has become known as Amazing Love Ministries. Go to their website or their Facebook page to read their newsletters, see pics and other info about how this awesome ministry has grown or to support them financially.

I recently spoke their on a Monday night and it was a huge blessing to me to see what God has done with this ministry.

Here is a video about the minstry: