Church Can Still Be Cool

Last night we had a prayer gathering at my church, River City Community Church in San Antonio.  We have, as a congregation, decided that it was time to really press in and set ourselves about listening to the Lord.  Not that we haven’t been over the past number of years, but we felt it was time to say that if necessary, everything else would stop and we would just seek His face and hear His voice and follow His leading.  Period.

So, last night we got together with no agenda other than to worship and listen.  I am about to make a statement that I have never made before, and so I hope that I communicate well, but about half way through the evening, you could feel His presence in the room. It was amazing.  And from that moment on, through our prayers and worship, we noticed a consistent theme arising.  It became clear that the Lord was speaking.  And it was awesome.  Person after person spoke of coming in burdened, but leaving with a sense of purpose and healing.  Life change happened in our midst, and it was mind blowing to watch it.

Since that meeting, I have been processing through what made last night different, and I can only come up with one thing, so I offer it up to you for discussion.  Could it be that the difference was in our focus?  Last night, we got beyond the music, beyond the noise, beyond the crowd, and we just waited on Him.  Is it possible that there are times when we, with the best of intentions, get wrapped up in the programming of a church service or the vibe in a room, and so we miss Christ?  I am reminded of the story of Elijah when he needed to hear from the Lord.  he went to the mouth of the cave and waited.  There was the great wind, the mighty earth quake, and the consuming fire, but God wasn’t in those things.  Instead, Elijah found God in the sound of a gentle whisper.  It wasn’t until Elijah got past the noise, the mood, the emotion that he found the almighty.  Seems like God has been on to this secret for years.

So, what is the noise for you?  What is it that is keeping you from hearing from God?  What are the distractions, even those that appear good, that are keeping you from the best?  The truth is, that gentle whisper is calling to all of us.  The only variable is whether or not we are quiet enough to hear it.

Is his presence worth the work of silencing the noise?

This Sunday starts our new “Do Hard Things” series at Real Life Student Ministries. BE THERE!

I have given the last 20 years of my life to a love that has made me the man that I am.  We have laughed together, cried together, worked together, played together… they know my secrets, my ambitions, my fears… to say that they have been merely a friend would be to insult the depth of what we have had.

And yet, today, it’s time to say good bye, dear Reese’s Peanutbutter Cup.

It’s not you, it’s me.

See, the other day, you weren’t around, and as ashamed as I am to admit it, I tasted another candy.  I didn’t want to.  I meant to just look at the Nutritional Facts label when one thing lead to another.  Before I knew it, I had taken a bite.  In the days that followed, I tried to hide my feelings.  To pretend like it wasn’t happening, I tried to say that I still loved you, Reese’s, but in the end, I have been smitten by this beauty.

What can I say?  The heart wants what the heart wants.

Goodbye is never easy, but it appears to be all that is left.  I hope that we can still be friends, but I understand if this is too difficult for you, Reese’s.  I will cherish the goodtimes that we have, and may even mix you into a blizzard every now and again, you know, for old times sake.

Don’t let this tarnish what we had.  Our love was real, and was as much as I knew.  In the end, time moves on.  I hope you understand and that we can pass in the hall without the awkwardness that always follows a failed love.

I wish you happiness, Reese’s.  I pray that you will find the one who fills you with joy as Heath Bar has for me.

So, I am podcastable.  That’s not even a word, but I am.  Apple sent me an approval email and everything.  you have no idea how it makes one feel to be approved by Apple.  Wow.

But seriously, we have begun putting the audio from our weekly sermons on line at this cool hosting site. From there, you can subscribe, and it will download weekly.  Pretty cool for if you miss a week or if your just surious about what we’ve been talking about.  Subscribe today!!

In other news, I like southwestern egg rolls, and you should vote tomorrow.  those two thoughts have nothing in common, but they both popped into my head at the same time, so I wrote them.  Hope your night is awesome!!

Saturday was a day of emotional extremes.  On one hand, I was awakened at 2:30 in the morning with the AMAZING news that my BEAUTIFUL niece, Regan Elizabeth was beginning her trek towards the outside world.  We sat at the hospital and visited, then spent hours amazed at the newness of this life and the limitless possibilites that await her.  She is amazing.  Don’t believe me?  Check out the picture…

See?  I told you so.  She is incredible.  It was an awesome day, and she is an awesome kid.

Then, Saturday night, we get home to find our street baracaded off by police and fire trucks.  A house four down from me burned badly.  A 72 year old man and his wife lost almost everything.  What a mess.  I was encouraged briefly to see the neighbors rally around them and encourage and pitch in, but then Monday morning came.  My wife found a story on line on the woai.com site that told of their horrible situation and how they family didn’t have insurance and the tough place they found themselves in.  The comments on the story broke my heart.  To a man, they ridculed the family for not having insurance, even calling them stupid.

Is this the world we live in?  Is compassion totally gone?  Not a single word about how heartbreaking the ordeal was.  Not a single comment on how important it was that we rally around our neighbors who are hurting.  I’m not saying that there isn’t validity to the comment that says it was ill-advised to cancel your insurance policy, but where does that get us?  Will that put a roof over this poor families head?  Will this turn back the clock and prevent the house from catching fire?  I doubt it.

Pointing out mistakes and criticizing poor decisions do nothing to solve the problem.  We try to remove any sense of civic responsibility by tricking ourselves into thinking that it is all their fault and they deserve what they got.

I long for a day when we will seek a solution first, and someone to blame second.  I pray that I will sometime see a world in which people really do care beyond what is easiest for them.  Not even sure what else to say.  Today, I am discouraged with the world I live in.

Never has there been a career that celebrates wrongness like the meteorologists. Here is what i mean…

1) 20′ swells predicted in Galveston, swallowing the sea wall and making Houston the new barrier island. Early reports are 9′ swells, lots of damage, but not near the catastrophic impact they expected.

2) San Antonio was told that we will have 35 to 45 mph winds with all day thunderstorms were a certainty. Make plans to settle in and not get out much. As I type this, it is beautiful and sunny and now I have to mow. Dang them.

3) I listened as they said Houston should get 6-8 inches of rain from the storm, only to see current totals already cappping 10 inches.

Here’s the thing, I am glad the sea wall held and that San Antonio isn’t inundated by the storm of the century and I am also heart broken by the damage in Houston. I just don’t get why these ya-who’s are allowed to report this stuff as absolute, unquestionable fact. The truth is, and they should report, “Truth is, guys, it is gonna be bad. How bad, we just don’t know because we are just weathermen and all weather is controlled… well, controlled by God, so rather than look like complete idiots, were gonna tell you that if you’re in the path of the storm, it’s gonna be wet and windy. Wish I could tell you more, but the truth is, I value things like integrity and honesty, so I’m just gonna keep my pie-whole shut. We will let you know after the storm how it turned out because that’s really the only time we will ever be able to report to you with any accuracy. Back to you guys in the studio.”

Wouldn’t that be refreshing?

So long Galveston… been nice knowing you.

To hear the weather channel today is like hearing a memorial service for Galveston.  Water already at the sea wall and still expecting a 15-20 foot swell.  That can’t be good.

I love the image of the weather person standing on the shore line with the wind blowing livestock by in the background, rain so hard it is piercing their skin, and yet they hold still.  Committed to bringing you the most accurate, up to date information possible.  The hurricane center today said, and I quote, “If you don not evacuate Galveston, you will die.” And yet the weather channel, apparently impervious to weather, stands strong, riding out the worst of it.

Who do you have to tick off to get that assignment?

In other news, I am feverishly working on ideas for upcoming Winter Camp (January 2-4, 2009) and have come up with a shirt idea that I like, but I would love your feed back.  It’s edgy, but it will start discussion, no doubt.  The idea is that the church has begun to hate the very people God called us to reach to.  We only want to deal with the healthy people, so we judge then avoid the lost.  The shirt also has a double meaning, b/c it is what Christ said about us in Romans 5:8.  Anyway, here is the shirt idea…

So, what do you think?  Vote now and let me know.  i like it, but then, I am not normal, so I was curious.

I will blog tomorrow if the hurricane doesn’t kill me first.

So, I am a self confessed over eater.  i love food.  The whole experience.  The smell, the taste, the texture, the gratifying feeling of that near ache in your belly when you have consumed enough food for a small country in one sitting and now settle in on the couch for some football.  My mouth is watering.

I have been known to enter and win various eating contests at camps and events, typically consisting of pizza, or an entire McDonald’s value meal blended up into a shake or… well anything you can consume mass quantities of.  But a planet?  That’s too bizarre even for me.

But not for France.

France, in collaboration with Switzerland has erected a 17 mile tunnel deep below their border and built a machine that will fire protons along the length of the circular track.  The idea is that it will recreate the conditions necessary for the big bang to have happen.  I the coming months, they plan to fire protons in opposite directions around the tunnel thereby hopefully allowing the protons to slam into each other causing a, you guessed it, big bang.

Don’t believe me?  Check it out for yourself at ; http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/09/10/lhc.collider/index.html

Opponents tried to step in and have the courts stop the effort fearing that the project would “create a black hole large enough to swallow the planet.”  How’s that for an undesired side effect?  I guess we shouldn’t be too worried, though.  History suggests that France will surrender long before there is any real danger.

But here’s another problem I haven’t heard of yet… scientists discount God and say the universe was created by the last big bang.  Assuming that’s true (and it isn’t, but let’s assume) has no one taken time to consider the ramifications of creating another planet INSIDE OF OUR CURRENT PLANET???!!!  I am no scientist, but that sounds less than desirable.  Embarrassing that no where in the process did someone stop and say, “Wait a tick… what are we to do if this thing works?  Where are we going to put another planet?”

France, please stick to things you know and do well… cooking, smelling bad, surrendering and being snobby to the rest of the world, namely.

And please, for the love of all that’s holy, please don’t swallow my planet.