All posts in Family

  • October 24, 2010

    Why We Are Being Sent

    This morning I announced to our congregation that our family looks to be the next family sent out from Cornerstone Church. We are, after all, a sending community.

    Cornerstone Church, based in Americus, Georgia, is a large family with people all over the world. Sending people has become a part of our congregational DNA. People come to our church for a certain season of their lives and then they are sent out to various parts of the country and around the world. We believe we have become the kind of church where people are sharpened, shaped, and then sent out by God design. Our time to be sent is coming soon.

    I have accepted a staff position at Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri, which will begin in June 2011. The Vreeland family will be sent out from Cornerstone Church sometime in May next year.

    So why are we being sent?

    Let me explain by backing up a bit. Cornerstone Church was founded by faithful people who desired an “Ephesians 4” kind of church—a local church free from denominational constraints, a church free to worship Jesus in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, a church where leaders equipped the saints for ministry. Cornerstone Church was and is a church that Jesus is building. I have been thankful to serve and grow with this congregation over the last eleven years. This church has been my family and my church home. We have laughed together and cried together. We have worshiped, worked, and played together for over a decade and sadly our time together is coming to an end.

    For over eighteen months, I have felt that a time of transition was coming. During this time, I shared with our elders that I was open to exploring ministry opportunities outside of our church if God was opening the door. I did explore a few opportunities at other churches during this time, but they all ended up as closed doors. My prayer has always been for God to send our family and use us wherever he desired for us to live and work and serve.

    Our elders have been, and continue to be, completely supportive of me. I thank God for that, because as Cornerstone’s pastor, I have felt completely free—free to go or free to stay. There is absolutely no dissatisfaction in my heard regarding our church. I love our church. Cornerstone is a great church to lead and be apart of. It is a church of leaders, members, and attenders who love God and love one another with authenticity. We would love to gather up everyone in the church building and tie about 10 millions ballons to the roof, like in the movie Up. Then we could float the church on up to St. Joe with everyone at Cornerstone with us.

    The primary reason I was open to other ministry opportunities was an ongoing and unshakable sense in my heart that I had fulfilled God’s calling for me in this church. The work of the local church is never done. There is always a new generation of Cornerstonians growing up in the church. There are always new people coming in and new believers who need to be discipled. There are always stagnant Christians who need to be transformed and mature saints who need to be mobilized in ministry. The work of the local church is never done, but it seems my specific calling in this local church has been fulfilled.

    It took me a long time to understood why God called me here eleven years ago. For a long time, I thought it was a mistake. Either I misunderstood his calling or God called the wrong person. I didn’t understand why God wanted me to stay in 2004 amid the upheaval in our church after the previous pastor resigned. But God’s providence is easier to see the rearview mirror. Looking back, I can see God’s hand at work in my own heart and in the heart of our congregation. I am humbled, really humbled. There is no sense of false humility here; I am truly humbled that God was able to work through my failures, mistakes, sins, blunders, ignorance, and misguidedness at times to create something beautiful in this congregation.

    Reminds me of the chorus from Gungor’s “Beautiful Things”:

    You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of dust.
    You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of us.

    Our church is far from perfect, but we are becoming beautiful as a congregation. We are church without strife, backbiting, and fighting, where people love one another. We are people who worship God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are a congregation formed by the Scripture. We are those who confess Jesus is Lord and live with him at the center of everything. It seems that my calling here was to lead our church into a season of health. When I was ordained in January 2000, the minister speaking at my ordination challenged me to leave churches better than the way I found them when I entered in. I can honestly say Cornerstone is a better church, a healthier church, a more beautiful church, than it was when I arrived in 1999.

    And now it is our family’s turn to be sent. Today is not the day for tears and goodbyes. We still have seven months of ministry here, seven months to continue to do what we do, which will now include laying the ground work for the next chapter in Cornerstone’s history.

    Bonus: ” Beautiful Things” by Gunor

    6 Comments / Family, Ministry /

  • May 6, 2010

    Thoughts on a Christian Nation

    I am happy to be a part of a Christian nation. It has become my sense of identity, my place to belong. I didn’t choose to be a part of the nation, I was born into it. It was not my choice, but I am grateful that this Christian nation is my home. I pray for this nation to reflect the image of its Architect. I pray that this nation will demonstrate faith, hope, and love to the world. I pray that this nation will transform culture.

    And by the way, the Christian nation of which I speak is the Church.

    Today is the “National Day of Prayer” and I am joining people of various faiths in praying for our civic nation. As a follower of Christ, I am asked to pray for those in authority, to pray for those with delegated authority. I will stand today and do so, but my prayer may be different than other Christians. I will be praying: God, let your kingdom come, let you will be done on earth and it is in heaven. Sadly, I assume others will be praying: God, our nation has forsaken you, help us to return to you, so that you can bless us again.

    I believe the second prayer is lifted up in sincerity and devotion. I do not doubt the ones praying it love Jesus and America too. But what is implicit in that prayer is a bit troublesome to me. “Help us return to you”—does this mean our nation once was “with” God or faithful to God or a community of people who once worshiped Jesus? Were we once a “Christian nation?”

    I think we can all agree, things have changed. The Christian faith once had a dominate place in our culture and now it does not, but does this imply that we were a “Christian nation” that has lost its Christian identity? I don’t think so.

    First of all, nations (i.e. political nation-states) cannot be Christian; people are. The only Christian nation is the “nation” of Christ followers. This is a trans-national, multi-ethnic nation of people who worship the Jesus of the New Testament as the Son of God and the one true reigning ruler of the planet and all the political nations in it. We believe he died for our sins, was buried, and rose up from the dead, vindicated, and proven to be the King of God’s kingdom and creation. It is Jesus that we follow. It is to Jesus that we pledge our allegiance. This “Christian nation” is a community called “the Church.”

    So why do some want to call the United States of America a “Christian nation”?

    I suppose it is because of the undeniable influence the Christian faith and worldview had on the formation of our nation. Colonial America of the early eighteenth century was filled with pilgrims and passionate Christ-followers who fled Europe in a desire to worship without the interference of Government. Those leaving Europe for Colonial American had experienced centuries of bloody violence between Catholics and Protestants. Many of them crossed the Atlantic to live out their Christian faith in peace and purity.

    The Mayflower Compact, written by those traveling on the Mayflower in the early seventeenth century to establish their new colony, states their desire:

    Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and advancement of the Christian Faith and Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the First Colony in the Northern Parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together into a Civil Body Politic...

    I believe these were people of authentic Christian faith who wanted to organize themselves into a new civic body for the “glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.” It was people like these in the early seventeenth century who helped frame the creation of a new nation, a union of the thirteen original colonies, into one new civil body politic, the United States of America.

    The big question is this: Did the founders of this new nation, desire for the United States to exist for the “glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith”?

    Historians more astute than I will need to help us sort this out, but from my reading of history, I would have to say no. If this was the intent of the founders then why is it not recorded in the founding documents, i.e. “the Declaration of the Independence,” “the Constitution,” or “the Bill of Rights”? The Treaty of Tripoli, ratified by the Senate and signed by President John Adams in 1797, explicitly states:

    …the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.

    When we read documents like “the Declaration of Independence” we see references to “Creator” and “Nature’s God,” but these are not references to the Christian God/Creator. These are the gods of deism, the religion produced by the Enlightenment. While the founding of the US included the influence of the Christian faith, it also included the influence of the Enlightenment, a revival of Greek philosophy, with an emphasis on the supremacy of reason, individualism, and cultural optimism. So if we want to claim that the US is a “Christian nation” because it were influenced by Christians, then shouldn’t we also claim that the US is a “Greek nation,” because it were influenced by the Enlightenment?

    [Side note: For all you fans of Church history, I am not denying the fact that Christian theology was also influenced by Greek thought, i.e. Platonism, particularly in the first few centuries of Church history. I think it is crucial that we weed out Platonism when reading the church fathers as it is antithetical to the true gospel. But for the church fathers, these were Christian men writing Christian documents for the Christian church and so the influence of Plato is different than in the case of men like Thomas Jefferson who was a Deist, writing a political document for a political nation. The influence of the Greek thought on Jefferson was much greater than it was on somebody like Origin.]

    I do not think it is helpful to consider the US either a “Christian nation” or a “Greek nation,” because the US is something altogether different. The US is a democratic nation, a republic, a political nation where the citizens have a voice in the government. This brings us back to the issue of the dominance (or the lack thereof) of the Christian faith in American culture. Christians, like all citizens, have a voice both politically and socially, but let’s choose a voice that sounds like Jesus.

    Let’s choose a voice that sounds like Jesus speaking to the Roman Empire (my kingdom is not of this world) instead of Jesus speaking to Israel (How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings).

    Let’s choose a voice that sounds like forgiving love instead of disrespectful hate.

    Let’s choose a voice that sounds like peace instead of hostility, grace instead of rhetoric, faith instead of propaganda.

    Let’s speak into the public and political arena with humble words, subversive words.

    Let’s speak and then put our hope in the three branches of power: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

    Let’s speak and pray and put our hope in the kingdom of God and not the governments of men.

    15 Comments / Life, Theology /

  • February 17, 2010

    Lent 2010

    Today is the eve of Ash Wednesday (some traditions call it Shrove Tuesday). It is the day before Lent begins. It is the final day of preparation for a 40-day season of prayer and fasting that will lead up to Resurrection Sunday, the ultimate day of Christian celebration. This will be my third year practicing Lent. It has become a helpful practice for me. It has given me a systematic way to be disciplined in the area of prayer and fasting. And I need all the help I can get when it comes to fasting, because…well…fasting stinks. Eating is so much better than fasting. But I have come to find the value in delaying gratification, in saying “no” to natural appetites, so that I can say “yes” to a hunger for righteousness.

    This year I am reading through N.T. Wright’s book Jesus and the Victory of God during the 40 days of Lent. Wright was my companion last year during Lent as I devoted 40 days to his massive book on the resurrection. This year I am reading through his book on Jesus, a fitting focus for Lent.

    I am not observing Lent, because it has become in vogue for young, hip, contemporary, postmodern evangelical-types to take up ancient practices.

    I am observing lent because I have repented of pride and arrogance.

    For so long, I carried myself in pride, scoffing at traditional Christian churches with all of their “dead” rituals and traditions. I assumed that the traditions in my brand of Christianity were the only valid traditions because we have guitars after all; not to mention multi-media projectors and web infused technology! I have come to realize that my brothers and sisters in Christ who belong to more liturgical traditions have something to offer the greater body of Christ. Ancient traditions like Lent help us slow down and pay attention.

    I have repented of my arrogance (and ignorance). I am learning to walk down, well-worn paths like Lent, paths that have been walked by millions (billions?) of Christians before me. I have repented of my snobbery and I have welcome in the traditions of the past. Traditions are not so bad. Concerning tradition, G.K Chesterton wrote:

    “Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to that arrogant oligarchy who merely happen to be walking around.”    –G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

    Join us on this 40 -day journey of prayer and fasting. Some people chose to give something up for Lent, which is just fine. There are no rules. My oldest son Wesley, said he wants to give up Pop-Tarts for Lent. I say, “Go for it.”

    You choose how to pray and when to fast, but use this as an opportunity to confess and repent of sin and identify with Jesus. This is the purpose of Lent: to identify with Jesus, to see Jesus, to love Jesus, to commune with Jesus, to encounter him passionately, deeply, and reverently.

    For more info and resources go to: http://www.churchyear.net/lent.html

    Here is my prayer as I go into Lent 2010. It is a song from Dustine Kensrue:

    “Consider the Ravens”
    By Dustine Kensrue

    I’ve got bills to pay
    Taxman on my tail
    Just keep prayin’ that
    the check’s in the mail

    There are times it seems
    when everything’s lost
    and I’m moaning, I’m tossed
    and I see..

    Between the river and the ravens I’m fed
    Between oblivion and the blazes I’m led
    So father give me faith, providence and grace
    Between the river and ravens I’m fed
    Sweet deliver, oh you lift up my head
    and lead me in your way

    I’ve grown sick and tired
    of trying to stand still
    I’ve learned to let the wind
    pull me where it will

    Throw myself into
    the will of the wait
    I can never be great
    ’til we’re free

    Between the river and the ravens I’m fed
    Between oblivion and the blazes I’m led
    So father give me faith, providence and grace
    Between the river and ravens I’m fed
    Sweet deliver, oh you lift up my head
    and lead me in your way

    Although I’m walking through
    the valley of the shadow of death
    evils all around
    It’s coming from the right and the left

    Trust that I will see
    the glory above
    Oh, your banner of love
    flies over me

    Between the river and the ravens I’m fed
    Between oblivion and the blazes I’m led
    So father give me faith, providence and grace
    Between the river and ravens I’m fed
    Sweet deliver, oh you lift up my head
    and lead me in your way

    Amen and Amen

    Here is a live version of Dustin Kensrue performing “Consider the Ravens”

    5 Comments / Family, Life, Ministry, Theology /

  • February 6, 2010

    Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing.

    MANIFESTO: THE MAD FARMER LIBERATION FRONT
    by Wendell Berry

    Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay.
    Want more of everything made.
    Be afraid to know you neighbors and to die.
    And you will have a window in your head.
    Not even your future will be a mystery any more.
    Your mind will be punched in a card and shut away in a little drawer.

    When they want you to buy something they will call you.
    When they want you to die for profit they will let you know.
    So, friends, every day do something that won’t compute.
    Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing.
    Take all that you have and be poor.
    Love someone who does not deserve it.

    Denounce the government and embrace the flag.
    Hope to live in that free republic for which it stands.
    Give you approval to all you cannot understand.
    Praise ignorance,
    for what man has not encountered he has not destroyed.

    Ask the questions that have no answers.
    Invest in the millennium.
    Plant sequoias.
    Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant,
    that you will not live to harvest.

    Say that the leaves are harvested when they have rotted into the mold.
    Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
    Put your faith in the two inches of humus that will build under the trees every thousand years.

    Listen to carrion–put your ear close,
    and hear the faint chattering of the songs that are to come.
    Expect the end of the world.
    Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable.
    Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.
    So long as women do not go cheap for power, please women more than men.

    Ask yourself: Will this satisfy a woman satisfied to bear a child?
    Will this disturb the sleep of a woman near to giving birth?

    Go with your love to the fields.
    Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head in her lap.
    Swear allegiance to what is nighest your thoughts.

    As soon as the generals and politicos can predict the motions of your mind, lose it.
    Leave it as a sign to mark the false trail, the way you didn’t go.

    Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary,
    some in the wrong direction.
    Practice resurrection.

    1 Comment / Life /

  • January 19, 2010

    Prayer of the Frog

    Prayer of the Frog
    by Walter Hollenweger

    Sometimes, I feel like a frog,
    Happy in the waterpond—until I run out of air and creep on land.
    Happy in the fresh air, until my skins hurts in the glaring sun and I plunge back into the water.
    O God,
    Why did you make me an in-between creature, neither fish nor fowl?
    Why am I not a flamingo, or an eagle or a mighty roaring lion?
    Just a frog?
    You did not ask me whether I wanted to be a frog,
    Nor whether I wanted to be at all,
    Nor did my parents ask me.
    So, I am, what I am, an in-between being.

    When I am with the feminists they call me “macho”
    because I want to pray “Our Father.”

    When I am with the pacifists they call me a war-monger
    because I do not believe that the abolishment of the Swiss Army serves world peace.

    When I am with the military they call me a pacifist
    because I find it a scandal how we treat the conscientious objectors.

    When I am with the Christians, they say I am not a Christian
    because I find many of their convictions superfluous.

    When I am with the Non-Christians the say I am a Christian
    because I believe in Jesus Christ.

    When I am with the progressives they say I am conservative
    because I do not know how to re-organize world trade justly.

    When I am with the rich people they say I am a leftist
    because I expect them to share their riches.

    When I am with the Catholics they say that I am a Protestant
    because I do not believe in the infallibility of the pope.

    When I am with the Protestants they say I am a Catholic
    because I like the Catholic liturgy.

    When I am with the Ecumenists they say that I am a Pentecostal
    because I would like to see more of the Spirit in the ecumenical movement.

    When I am with the Pentecostals they say I am an ecumenist
    because I am convinced that they need the ecumenical movement.

    When I am with the critical exegetes they call me “pious”
    because God sometimes speaks to me in Scripture.

    When I with the uncritical Bible readers they say that I do not believe in the Bible
    because I do not accept their facile interpretations.

    O God, you alone know what I am.
    Help me to believe that this is enough.
    You made me an in-between being so that I can be an evangelist.

    But God it is a tough job.
    Sometimes I am confused and terrified.

    Strengthen my faith so that I am
    A cheerful in-between creature, a happy frog.

    From Pentecostalism: Origins and Developments Worldwide (1997)

    No Comments / Life, Ministry, Theology /

  • December 16, 2009

    Oral Roberts Died Today

    OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

    Dr. Oral Roberts, a legendary evangelist who rose from humble beginnings to become one of the most influential Christian leaders of the 20th century, died today in Newport Beach, Calif., due to complications from pneumonia. His son, Richard, and daughter, Roberta, were at his side. The founder of Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association and Oral Roberts University was 91.

    There will be a private family internment. Arrangements for a public memorial service in Tulsa are pending and will be announced soon.

    “Oral Roberts was the greatest man of God I’ve ever known,” Richard Roberts said. “A modern-day apostle of the healing ministry, an author, educator, evangelist, prophet, and innovator, he was the only man of his generation to build a worldwide ministry, an accredited university, and a medical school.

    “Beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, he was not only my earthly father; he was my spiritual father and mentor. The last member of his generation in the Roberts family, he had a passion to bring healing to the sick.

    “His name is synonymous with miracles. He came along when many in Christendom did not believe in the power of God and His goodness. Oral Roberts was known for sayings such as ‘God Is a Good God,’ ‘Expect a Miracle,’ ‘Release Your Faith,’ and ‘Plant Your Seed for a Harvest.’

    “The Bible teaches that when a Christian dies, he or she is instantly transferred into the presence of God. The past few months, my father has talked about going home to be with the Lord on a daily basis. He has run his race and finished his course. Now he is in heaven, and we as Christians have the Bible promise that someday we will be reunited. My heart is sad, but my faith in God is soaring.”

    Granville Oral Roberts was born into poverty in Bebee, Okla., on Jan. 24, 1918. He began stuttering as a young child and then, as a teenager, contracted a potentially deadly case of tuberculosis. Bedfast at 17, he was carried to a revival meeting by his older brother, where a healing evangelist was praying for the sick.

    On the way, he clearly heard God speak to him, saying, “Son, I am going to heal you, and you are to take My healing power to your generation. You are to build Me a university based on My authority and on the Holy Spirit.”

    Roberts was miraculously healed of tuberculosis and stuttering at the revival meeting. His healing ministry was born several years later. “If a former stuttering, tuberculosis-ridden young Indian boy in an obscure county in Oklahoma can see the invisible and do the impossible—and still do it—so can you!” Roberts once said.

    Roberts was a legendary and beloved figure in a segment of Christianity that emphasizes healing, speaking in tongues, and other gifts of the Holy Spirit, as described in the New Testament.

    Dr. Jack Hayford, president of the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, said of Roberts, “If God had not, in His sovereign will, raised up the ministry of Oral Roberts, the entire charismatic movement might not have occurred. Oral shook the landscape with the inescapable reality and practicality of Jesus’ whole ministry. His teaching and concepts were foundational to the renewal that swept through the whole church. He taught concepts that spread throughout the world and simplified and focused a spiritual lifestyle that is embraced by huge sectors of today’s church.”

    After his healing at age 17, Roberts spent a dozen years pastoring churches in Oklahoma and Georgia, and preaching at revivals around the country, while also studying at Oklahoma Baptist University and Phillips (Okla.) University.

    Then, in 1947, he founded Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association (OREA) and began conducting crusades across America and around the world, attracting crowds of thousands—many who were sick and dying, and in search of healing. Through the years, he conducted more than 300 crusades on six continents. OREA officials estimate that he personally laid hands in prayer on more than 2 million people. The ministry continues under the leadership of Roberts’ son, Richard, who has ministered in the U.S. and around the world for almost 30 years.

    In 1954, Oral Roberts revolutionized evangelism by bringing television cameras into services, providing what he liked to call a “front-row seat to miracles” for millions of viewers. Years later, he began a television program, “Oral Roberts Presents.” More than 50 years later, the ministry’s daily program, “The Place for Miracles,” continues to minister to millions on over 100 television stations, multiple cable and satellite networks, and can be seen around the world via the Internet.

    In 1958, Roberts founded the Abundant Life Prayer Group to address the around-the-clock needs of those suffering and requesting prayer. More than 50 years later, prayer partners continue to receive calls from around the world seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Over the years, they have received more than 23 million phone calls for prayer, along with astounding reports of miracles in answer to prayer.

    Roberts answered God’s call to build an institute of higher learning in 1963, founding Oral Roberts University on 500 acres in Tulsa, Okla. Longtime friend Billy Graham officially dedicated ORU four years later. In the 1970s graduate schools, including Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, Law, Education, and Theology, were added. Roberts served as school president until 1993, when he became chancellor.

    In 1981, Roberts founded the City of Faith Medical and Research Center, merging the healing power of medicine and prayer. The facility closed after eight years, leaving a lasting impact on the understanding by many medical professionals of the importance of treating the whole person—body, mind and spirit.

    Roberts wrote more than 130 books, including such classics as “If You Need Healing, Do These Things,” and “The Fourth Man.” His book “The Miracle of Seed Faith” has more than 8 million copies in circulation. This book’s key principles—God is your Source, sow your seed out of your need, and expect a miracle harvest—formed a fundamental part of Roberts’ ministry and legacy.

    “After I’m gone, others will have to judge how well I’ve obeyed God’s command not to be an echo but to be a voice like Jesus,” Roberts said. “As far as my own conviction is concerned, I’ve tried to be that voice with every fiber of my being, regardless of the cost.”

    Roberts was preceded in death by his wife, Evelyn, a daughter and son-in-law, Rebecca Ann and Marshall Nash; a son, Ronald David Roberts; a grandchild, Richard Oral Roberts; his mother and father; two sisters, Velma Roberts and Jewel Faust; and two brothers, Elmer and Vaden Roberts.

    He is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Richard and Lindsay Roberts; a daughter and son-in-law, Roberta and Ronald Potts, all of Tulsa; as well as 12 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.

    In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Oral Roberts Ministry Healing Missions Fund, as part of the ongoing goal of Oral Roberts Ministries to take the saving, healing, delivering message of the Gospel into all the world until Jesus returns. Gifts can be sent in care of  Oral Roberts Ministries, P.O. 2187, Tulsa, Okla. 74102, www.OralRoberts.com.

    No Comments / Life /

  • September 22, 2009

    Dylan Thomas Vreeland

    DSC_1102

    We welcomed our new addition just over a week ago. Dylan was born at 12:01 pm, Saturday, September 12. He was 8 lbs. 8 oz. at birth and was 21 inches long. We are thrilled to report that he is healthy and happy (well he is happy when his belly if full and his bottom is dry). We thank God for blessing us with a healthy baby boy.

    A number of people have asked about his name, so here is the story.

    Last summer Jenni and her mom were visiting Jenni’s sister in London. While touring Westminster Abbey, Jenni went by the Poets’ Corner and saw the memorial to the Welch poet, Dylan Thomas. (Here is a picture of the memorial.) She thought to herself, “Hmm, that would make a good name for a boy, if I have another baby boy.” We had always talked about the name Thomas, if we were to have another boy, but we didn’t like it as a first name, because we did not want to confuse it with Thomas the Train.

    When we found out Jenni was pregnant, we began talking about boy names and girl names. “Dylan Thomas” was at the top of our list for boy names. Jenni knew I would like the name. It is not only the name of a well-known poet, but the rumor is that the name “Dylan Thomas” led Robert Zimmerman to change his name to Bob Dylan, although the blessed brother Bob isn’t so clear on where he came up with “Dylan.”

    She was right. I loved the name.

    And so from the moment we learned we were having another son, his name has been Dylan.

    Here is some poetry from Dylan Thomas, the poet:

    Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
    by Dylan Thomas

    Do not go gentle into that good night,
    Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
    Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

    Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
    Because their words had forked no lightning they
    Do not go gentle into that good night.

    Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
    Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
    Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

    Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
    And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
    Do not go gentle into that good night.

    Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
    Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
    Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

    And you, my father, there on the sad height,
    Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray,
    Do not go gentle into that good night.
    Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

    Here is some poetry from the other Dylan. This is a prayer/blessing for my Dylan:

    Forever Young
    by Bob Dylan

    May God bless and keep you always,
    May your wishes all come true,
    May you always do for others
    And let others do for you.
    May you build a ladder to the stars
    And climb on every rung,
    May you stay forever young,
    Forever young, forever young,
    May you stay forever young.

    May you grow up to be righteous,
    May you grow up to be true,
    May you always know the truth
    And see the lights surrounding you.
    May you always be courageous,
    Stand upright and be strong,
    May you stay forever young,
    Forever young, forever young,
    May you stay forever young.

    May your hands always be busy,
    May your feet always be swift,
    May you have a strong foundation
    When the winds of changes shift.
    May your heart always be joyful,
    May your song always be sung,
    May you stay forever young,
    Forever young, forever young,
    May you stay forever young.

    2 Comments / Family /

  • August 18, 2009

    White Paper Bible

    I am always looking for creative ways to engage in the truth of Scripture. God has given his Word to us for nourishment for living in his kingdom. We do not use the Scriptures as much as we eat them. They feed our hearts with the life of God in order to live for God as human beings who are fully alive. The challenge with regularly eating God’s book is an over-familiarity with the Scripture. I love spaghetti. We eat a lot of spaghetti in my home, for obvious reasons: it is quick, easy, and everyone in the house eats it without (much) complaint. I love spaghetti, but I don’t want to eat it every day. I need a little bit of variety. Most followers of Christ like sitting down, opening up the Scriptures and reading from a leather-bound copy of the Bible, but if we are honest, it can become such a routine that we become bored. I know I do.

    A friend of mine has just launched a new user-driven website designed to give us a creative way of entering into the Scripture— www.whitepaperbible.org.

    Here is how it works: Users register and log in and create a “page” that is added to the White Paper Bible (WPB). A page is a list of verses around a certain theme. Users give each page a title, description, and the list of verses. All verses are from the ESV. When creating a page you only need to list the Scripture verse reference. Once the page is created, the site populates the entire verse with each reference.

    You do not have to be a registered user to use the site. You can search by topic or keyword and go to a page where you can quickly find the verse that speak to the specific subject you are interested in. This is an incredible quick way to begin to meditate on the verse you need. I am looking forward to the iPhone app, which is under development. (I will download it to my iPod touch. I still do not have a iPhone, because they have not opened it up to the Verizon network. I am patiently waiting for Verzion to pick up the iPhone, but I digress…)

    WPB is a great entry point into the Scripture, a great way to enter into the text and allow it to enter into your heart, put I would offer a word of caution. There is a subtle danger in collecting together a list of Scriptures. The danger is two-fold.

    First, it is easy to misinterpret a single verse once you remove it from its context. It is possible to pull a verse of Scriptures together and make the Bible say just about anything you want. So as you are compiling a list of verses for a new page, make sure you have read each verse in context so that you are linking together verses that are speaking about the same concept. Make sure you understand the meaning of a single verse in the context of the verses around it.

    Second, when you compile a certain list of verses on a subject you are deciding NOT to list other verses. There are editorial reasons why we do that, but those editorial reasons can be caused by theological biases. We all have biases, but we should not let those biases keep us from hearing the Scripture speak to speak to us in its fullness. We all have a favorite verses of Scripture. The ones we copy and hang on our refrigerator or we highlight in our Bibles. We need to be careful not to ignore the verses that are not underlined in our Bibles. For example, if you are creating a new page on the love of God, it is easy to list the verses that speak of God’s love for us. The temptation is to ignore the verses that define God’s love as following his commands, you know, the verses that demand something from us.

    These are not arguments for why we shouldn’t compile together verses, but a friendly reminder that as we use the WPB to increase or meditation on God’s word that we allow Scripture to speak for itself. We should pursue to know God through the Scripture as he has revealed himself to be by reading Scripture verses in his context.

    Great web tools like www.whitepaperbible.org are great ways to enter into the Scripture, God’s story and so we should use them as just that, entry points into God’s great big, over-arching story, of which we play minor characters. As soon as we begin to view the Scripture as God’s catalogue of promises we miss the point. The Scripture is not a shoppers catalogue as much as it is a pilgrim’s daily bread.

    3 Comments / Life, Ministry, Uncategorized /

  • July 15, 2009

    Did You Know: The Times, They Are A-Changing

    The world around us is changing more rapidly than we realize. The times, they are a-changin’.

    Watch this:

    Here is the story about the creation of the video, at least, as far as I can piece it together. In 2006, high school teacher and Director of Technology, Karl Fisch, was asked to speak at an annual faculty meeting at the school where he teaches. He wanted to provide updates for where technology is going and how it may impact education. He created a simple PowerPoint presentation entitled “Did You Know/Shift Happens.” It contained thought-provoking and discussion-provoking statistics of the exponential growth of information and global technology. Little did he know what kind of attention his presentation would receive.

    With the help of Scot McLeod, the PowerPoint slideshow was reformatted into video form in 2007. With updated statistics, “Did You Know 2.0” has received over 3.5 million views on YouTube. An executive at Sony BMG edited and released a third version of the video, “Did You Know 3.0,” which they used at an executive meeting in 2008. This version has received 1.8 million views on YouTube.

    So what does the video reveal? The statistics are shocking. Here is the text:

    If you’re one in a million in China…there are 1,300 people just like you.

    China will soon become the NUMBER ONE English speaking country in the world.

    The 25% of India’s population with the highest IQ’s is GREATER than the total population of the United States. TRANSLATION: India has more honors kids than America has kids.

    The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004.

    We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that haven’t been invented, in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.

    The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today’s learner will have 10-14 jobs by the age of 38.

    1 in 4 works has been with their current employer for less than a year.

    1 in 2 has been there less than five years.

    1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met online.

    There are over 200 million registered users on MySpace. If MySpace were a country, it would be the 5th-largest in the world (between Indonesia and Brazil).

    The #1 ranked country in Broadband Internet Penetration is Bermuda. #19 The United States. #22 Japan.

    We are living in exponential times.

    There are 31 Billion searches on Google every month. In 2006, this number was 2.7 Billion. To whom were these questions addressed B.G.? (Before Google)

    The first commercial text message was sent in December of 1992.

    Today, the number of text messages sent and received everyday, exceeds the total population of the planet.

    Years in took to reach a market audience of 50 million:

    Radio 38 years

    TV 13 years

    Internet 4 years

    iPod 3 years

    Facebook 2 years

    There are about 540,000 words in the English language, about 5X as many as during Shakespeare’s time.

    It is estimated that a week’s worth of the New York Times contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century.

    It is estimated that 4 exabytes (4.0×10^19) of unique information will be generated this year.That is more than the previous 5,000 years.

    The amount of new technical information is doubling every 2 years…

    For students starting a 4 year technical degree this means that half of what they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study.

    NTT Japan has successfully tested a fiber optic cable that pushes 14 trillion bits per second down a single strand of fiber. That is 2,660 CDs or 210 million phone calls every second.It is currently tripling every six months and is expected to do so for the next 20 years.

    By 2013, a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the computational capabilities of the human brain. Predictions are that by 2049, a $1000 computer will exceed the computational capabilities of the entire human species.

    During the course of this presentation:

    67 babies were born in the US

    274 babies were born in China

    395 babies were born in India

    And 694,000 songs were downloaded illegally.

    So what does it all mean?

    by: Karl Fisch, Scott Mcleod, Jeff Brenman

    How should Christians respond? How should local churches respond? First, we shouldn’t panic. The church has typically responded positively to technological advances. The Protestant Reformation would not have been possible without their keen use of the printing press.

    Second, we should invest time, energy, and resources into understanding and utilizing digital technology. It is naïve to assume that this technological quantum leap is only in the “big cities.” One of the characteristics of digital technology is its availability. It is nearly everywhere, even in rural areas. Local churches would be well-served to use websites, blogs, social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), podcasts, viral video, text-messaging, and email. Many of these forms of media are more inexpensive than most people think.

    Third, we should be cautious. The rapid expanse of technology will continue to increase, but there is a subtle downside to this technological revolution. While digital forms of communication allow us to share information much more rapidly, they do not move us any closer to Marshall McLuhan’s “global village.” We can quickly fabricate artificial forms of community and human relationships. We can lose a personal human touch in our desire to become more hi-tec. Technology should be used to support biblical community; it cannot replace it. It is God’s Spirit through face-to-face human encounters that creates community in our local churches. We need a more enriched experience of the Holy Spirit to preserve us as become more technologically advanced.

    Catholic writer and Priest, Raniero Cantalamessa writes,

    “Our great need today is a new openness, a new readiness to approach the Holy Spirit, a reawakened longing for the Spirit. Now that we have knowledge enough to explore the immense horizons of cosmic space in one direction and sub-atomic particles in the other direction, only the Holy Spirit can give humankind that sustenance of soul, that love which will prevent our humanity from shriveling up altogether as a result of our knowledge. Only the Holy Spirit’s help will make us able to use our technical knowledge not to destroy but to humanize our planet and improve the lot in life of every person” (Cantalamessa, Come Creator Spirit, pg. 269).

    So “if your time to you is worth savin’ then you better start swimmin’ or you will sink like a stone; for the times, they are a-changin’.” Swim in the waters of technology and pray God continues to bathe our hearts in his love.

    The video ends with a question: So what does it all mean?

    This is where the Church needs to respond with the gospel.

    Technology is good, but it can become a meaningless idol. A pursuit for the newest, the fastest, the more innovative new gadget, but meaning, purpose, and value comes from the God of the gospel. As gospel of love, provided for by love, communicated through love.

    1 Comment / Life, Ministry /

  • June 10, 2009

    Life Among Losers and Perverts

    I was sadden to hear the news of Gary Lamb’s departure from ministry. He planted and pastored Revolution Church in North Georgia. He has stepped out of ministry after confessing an affair with a staff member at his church. I have prayed for Gary, his family, and his church. I have never met him, but he is my brother of Christ and a fellow church leader. I share in the sorrow of this man’s sin.

    I do not have any judgment for Gary. He is a sinner, but so am I. When I see the public sin of others, I do not see righteousness in me. The public sin of others causes me to see my own sin and it reminds me that life in Christian ministry, life in the Church that Jesus is building, is life among losers and perverts.

    We are all losers.

    We are all perverts.

    We are all sinners.

    We have all lost in the game of moral superiority.

    We are all perverted and twisted by our fallen human nature.

    We have all sinned and fallen short, way short of God’s doxa, his glory.

    Sin is the problem with humanity. And the root of human suffering, evil, and struggle is some kind of sin. There’s are a whole lot of people suffering from the disease of conceit. Whole lot of people struggling tonight from the disease of conceit. And not just conceit but greed, lust, envy, and the like. Sin twists and perverts humanity into something ugly and devoid of life. God’s creation is good. It is pristine and beautiful. Sin comes along like a silent vandal and smears the splendor of humanity with pollution and corruption.

    There was a time in my spiritual journey when I was uncomfortable calling myself a sinner, let alone a “loser” or “pervert.” I thought that if I was the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), then it would be an offensive to the cross to call myself a sinner. Didn’t Jesus die in order to forgive the unrighteousness of sin in us and make us righteous? (I am looking forward to exploring this issue soon in N.T. Wright’s new book on justification.) If I am righteous then doesn’t calling myself a “sinner” disrespect the work of Christ as he suffered and died on my behalf?

    So for a time in my spiritual journey, I would not call myself a sinner. No sir. I was the righteousness of God in Christ. I had right standing with God by grace through faith. While this was true (and is true), it was just not complete; it was not the whole story.

    Am I righteous? Yes

    Am I a sinner? Yes

    As followers of Christ, we have to live in this tension that while we have right standing with God (i.e. righteousness) we are still sinners who sin. If we only focus on the righteousness we have received by God’s grace, we can easily become proud and ignore our struggles with sin. If we admit our weakness, our frailty, our status as losers and perverts then we are in a better position to grow in grace and open ourselves up more to the Spirit’s work of transformation.

    Really, we need to see the saintliness in others and the sinneriness in ourselves. (I may have created a new word here.) And our response to a clear vision of our sinneriness shouldn’t be self-loathing. We should respond with confession and repentance.

    Confession is saying the same thing, i.e. calling sin what God calls sin.

    Repentance is telling God how, by his grace, we are going to live differently.

    A lifestyle of confession and repentance is how we do life together among losers and perverts. We do not hide our sin, ignore our sin, rationalize, spiritualize, or justify our sin. We openly confess and repent. These spiritual practices become tools in the hands of the Holy Spirit who is transforming us to reflect the image of Jesus (the only non-loser in all humanity) for the joy of God the Father.

    1 Comment / Life, Ministry, Theology /
← Older Entries
Newer Entries →