An Ancient-Future Legacy

This past week, Robert Webber passed from this life with the hope of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I first became exposed to Webber's heart and ministry through a worship renewal conference in the late 90's. Having grown up in conservative Baptist churches, Webber's emphasis on an Ancient-Future renewal of worship was both peculiar and intriguing. I have continued to enjoy his articles which he wrote for Worship Leader magazine.

To those of us who did not know Robert personally, he has left a wonderful legacy of reuniting the ancient beauty of worship with the necessarily relevant forms of worship in our day. He has reminded us that we are part of the on going drama that God is working out in His creation for His glory. Robert Webber was a gift given to the Church from God. May his legacy continue to resonate in the worshipping communities of those who love and follow Jesus!

The Lost Art of Book Reading

Surfing, word processing, html code, blogging....what ever happened to the lost art of book reading?

Don Imus' Mouth

Don Imus, host of a nationally syndicated radio show, made the news this weekend because of his mouth. He called the Rutgers Women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos." His rational for this hateful comment was that he was trying to be funny. He will be going on the repentance tour this week to prove that he is not a racist, much like the string of celebrities who have entered rehab as of late because they let something racially distateful out of their mouths.

Don should apologize and demonstrate his repentance with actions. However, what caught my attention with this story was the way in which he tried to seperate his words from his heart. He said, "I'm not a bad person. I'm a good person, but I said a bad thing." Is it possible to say something hurtful occasionally when you are on a path of transformation? Sure. But Don has made a career with his caustic mouth. And now, he says that the things that he says do not reflect who he really is. Really?

Jesus said the opposite was true. "The things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." (Matthew 15:18-19) Reality is that what comes out of our mouths comes from our heart - even in jest. We are fooling no one when we say that our words do not reflect our heart. So if we are speaking hurtful words to others, then we need to take a good hard look at our own heart - stop trying to justify ourselves and own up to the transformation that needs to take place in our lives. Otherwise, we will find ourselves in the same place as Don Imus and his mouth.

Prayer Path

This year for Holy Week we set up a Prayer Path in our church for people to go through. It was a time of reflection, meditation and prayer using a variety of multisensory elements.

We had a good turn out, and the material we purchased from Group was great! It took about 2 days to set up, so if you use it plan accordingly.

A Grieving Discipleship

The journey of following Jesus is not a pain free path that allows us to avoid pain and suffering. This might be preferable to us, but it is not how the Spirit leads us. As we follow Jesus, we come to realize that we are transformed more by going through the trials and troubles of life as we hold on to Jesus' hand in the midst of our pain and confusion. In those moments we experience a grieving discipleship.

Michael Card released a wonderful CD in 2006 titled "The Hidden Face of God"in which he tackled the difficult topic of suffering in a modern day collection of psalms of lament. The first song on this CD is "Come Lift Up Your Sorrows." The first verse and chorus are as follows:

If you are wounded, if you are alone,
If you are angry, if your heart is cold as stone,
If you have fallen and if you are weak,
Come find the worth of God
That only the suffering seek.

Come lift up your sorrows
And offer your pain;
Come make a sacrifice
Of all your shame;
There in your wilderness
He's waiting for you
To worship Him with your wounds,
For He's wounded too.

The writer of the book of Hebrews makes this astounding statement about Jesus. "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16)

What a gift to be able to follow Jesus who has walked the paths that we tread, experiencing the pain and suffering, temptations and trials that we face - and yet did not fail. He is the one who meets us in our pain, and continues to do in us what he has already begun as we continue to hold on to his hand in the midst of our pain. In the midst of our grieving discipleship, let us lift up our sorrows to our great High Priest who has walked our road, faced our pain, and intercedes for us so that we might receive mercy and grace in our time of need.