Chris Shandrow's Blog

One Song, Three Listens

2012-01-18T11:27:00.003-06:00

Some of you may not know that one of the things I enjoy is writing and playing music. I've had the good fortune to do this for money at different times in my life, however small the amount (yes, $1.26 is still money...it can buy things). Today, I want to take you on a journey with me as we look at the evolution of a song in my life over the course of three crucial listens. I'm the ghost of music past, so grab your pants and let's travel...

Listen #1 - 2008
I am sitting in a small room in Lewis and Stacey Lux's house in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It's been converted to a little recording studio with cables running out into their bedroom where vocals and instrument tracks can be captured. We are hunched around a computer monitor in a space that is literally so small I can't get out without climbing over someone's chair. We are writing a worship song.

Lewis created a cool little loop with to a couple of piano chords flowing over it that had a neat, atmospheric vibe, and we are working on making it into a full-fledged song. Sometimes when I write a song, I have specific lyrics and themes I want to communicate based on what's going on in my mind and life. Other times, the words just kind of fall out and fit the music...they may not make a lick of sense, but I can worry about that later. This is one of those times. For no other reason then the fact that they just seem to fit okay and sing right, the words "heal us" become the chorus of our new song. There's nothing incredibly personal about this song to us, it just seems to work. So we write it and demo it.

Listen #1 ends with us being pretty excited about coming up with a decent little song and a good sounding demo. No deep meaning other than the satisfaction of having created something.

Listen #2 - 2010
I am sitting in the driver's seat of our mini-van on an interstate in Missouri. Terri is sitting next to me with her giant dark sunglasses on. She has been wearing them all the time because she keeps breaking down in tears at completely random times, whether we are in public or not. The glasses keep the tears hidden to a degree so they won't freak out the kids. They have seen mommy crying a lot lately, but we want to insulate them as much as possible. Two before, I was let go from my job as a worship pastor at a church in Kansas City. The details don't really matter, but the impact has been completely unexpected. It feels like we have had a death in the family. It seems to be the only appropriate way to describe the impact of what we are going through. We are utterly and completely broken, grieving for the lost life we thought would be ours for years and years.

I put in the Goodbye Audio album that Lewis, Stacey and I have literally just finished recording three weeks before. When we were putting songs together for it, we remembered that unfinished demo, Heal Us, and decided it would be the first song we would try to complete for the album. The music plays loudly in the background, mostly unheard as Terri and I are completely lost in our thoughts, and our kids are watching dvd's. Each of the songs cycle through from start to finish until the last song begins. It's Heal Us.

As the song plays it engages both of us. The neat little song written two years before that held no deep, personal meaning for us was transformed into the raw and pained cry of our hearts to God. I listen and get lost in it. My chest feels like it is being crushed under the weight of the desperation and lostness.

Terri looks at me and says, "It's almost as if God gave you this song two years ago for us to hear now."

Listen #2 ends with us holding on to the desperate plea of this song like a lifeline. We are crying.

Listen #3 - 2012
I have just dropped Cameron and Trinity off at a pastor's kid retreat in Carlinville. I have a solid two hour drive back home by myself in a fifteen passenger van with now CD player or aux input, so I grab Trinity's iPod and start shuffling. She left it with me so she wouldn't forget it in Carlinville, wise beyond her years, and I am glad because I need something to listen to other than the dozens of country radio stations I can pick up. I put in the earbuds and press play.

Songs are playing. They are mostly background because I am thinking about other things, until I hear a piano strike a chord. I haven't heard Heal Us in ages, so I turn it up. As it plays I remember. I remember writing it with Lewis and Stacey - the excitement of creating something new. I remember trying to hide the tears from my children as it plays over and over again as we drive - the brokenness and despair of loss. And I reflect on where we are now.

Listen #3 ends with us happy in our new home, living close to family, serving at a great church with an incredible leader, doing life with incredible new friends and looking ahead to starting a new church campus that we will lead.

The same song was three different things to me at three different points in my life. First it was potential, second it was a lifeline, and third it was a reminder from God that he brought us through. The thing is, the song really didn't do anything. God did. In 2008, he was planting in us exactly what we would need to face the heartbreak that was coming in 2010. In 2010, he used what had been planted in us to carry us through a valley we couldn't see the end of. In 2012, he let me see the big picture of how he had been at work in it from the beginning. And he used one song for all of it.

Below is a link to the song, Heal Us. Download it. Enjoy it. It's free. Maybe it will just be a neat song for you. Maybe it will help you through a situation you are facing. For us, it will no longer be just a song. It's a monument that has been planted in the road at three distinct points in our lives. Once pointing forward, once pointing down, once pointing back and all pointing to God. What you are building now in the time of peace and prosperity in your life may be the very thing that will get you through when a massive storm comes. The life preserver you are tightly clinging to right now may be the thing that reminds you of God's faithfulness when the storm has passed. It may be a song, a story, a person or an object, but it always God who will walk through it all with you from beginning to end.

Heal Us

(right click and select 'Download as...')

Being With You

2012-01-11T16:06:00.002-06:00

"What was your favorite part of Christmas?" I asked my kids, fully expecting to hear a rundown of their favorite presents. They surprised me.

Cameron (age 9) looked thoughtfully up at the ceiling, pursed her lips and rubbed her chin as she considered the question. "My favorite part of Christmas was being with you," she said.

"That was your favorite part? Not the Nook that Granny got you, or Just Dance 3?" I asked, unsure if she had missed the point of the question (and obviously giving her no credit).

She looked at me and responded without hesitation, "Yes. I just really liked that we got to spend a lot of time with you."

That was both the most encouraging and condemning thing that she's ever said to me. The fact that what my kids want to do more than anything is spend time with Terri and me is just astounding. The fact that it was the best part of her Christmas holiday was even more so. The reality that it seemed like such a special occasion to her rather than her normal experience punched me in the gut.

As parents, we do and do and do. We run our kids to this practice and that performance, hoping that the more extracurriculars we can involve them in the more well rounded they will become. We work long hours to provide the best for them, to take them on vacations and keep them in nice clothes. We do their laundry, make their dinners and pack their lunches all because we love them and want to take care of them; and the irony is that they usually don't even notice any of it. But, why would they if all they want is to just be with us?

Know this, your kids would rather sit and watch TV with you than have you clean their room. They would rather you jump on the trampoline with them than go to dance class. They would rather break your back by jumping on it than have it bent under the burden of long hours at the office. Cameron will never remember anything I did at work, but she will always remember lying on her bed listening to the stupid voice I gave her squirrel puppet.

Time is the one thing you can spend but never earn, and our kids want us to invest it in them. Not teaching, training or correcting. Just being.

Speak Up

2011-12-21T15:40:00.000-06:00

Have you ever had an idea that was totally great in your mind, but then when you actually verbalized it out loud you realized it was completely dumb? I was once in a creative team meeting to talk about interesting ways to illustrate the affects of anger in our lives. We were focusing on the idea of a grill - how it's hot and burns all the time, how it's heat can either be used to cook a delicious burger or burn your face off. I was trying to bridge the gap between the negative impact of our anger and the flames on a grill.

"I think I have it," I said to the pastor at the time. "We have this grill that's got flames shooting up, and we can get video of you talking about how our anger is like flames that burn people, damaging our relationships with others. Then you can talk about how our anger can also burn up our relationship with God, and when you say that you can burn a Bible on the grill to drive the point home. Our anger is literally like burning the Bible in our lives!"

My pastor paused, tilted his head, looked at me with a puzzled expression and said. "We can't burn a Bible."

In my mind, it was the best idea in the world. Burn a Bible to show people how destructive their anger is to their relationship with God. What I missed was the obvious fact that it's not good practice for the pastor of a church to burn Bibles, and especially not to document the act on film. In my mind it was brilliant. Once it passed my lips it was immediately evident what a stupid idea it was.

Our minds can be a cluttered mess of ideas, anxieties, memories, to-do lists and useless trivia. Very rarely does a person have complete clarity in their thought processes because our brains can move so fast and process so much information. It is estimated that the human brain can handle 10 quadrillion instructions per second. That is massive amount of data flowing through the millions of cells in our heads, and sorting through them is not always easy, which is why it is difficult to always have a clear head.

For me this fact is played out best when I pray in my head. You know, those silent prayers that we offer up to God...the ones where you are halfway through asking God to move on behalf of your sick aunt before you realize you are going through your grocery list. The prayers where you are telling God how much you love him in your head only to realize a few minutes later that you are mentally reciting the lyrics to that Selena Gomez song you heard on the radio earlier. Silent prayers are okay in a pinch, but they rarely keep me connected. It's no surprise to find out that there are only two real mentions of silent prayer in the Bible (1 Samuel 1:13 and Nehemiah 2:4-5). Those were both powerful prayers, but I think it's important to realize that they appear to be the exception rather than the rule. Prayer in the Bible is typically understood to be out loud.

He said to them, “When you pray, say…Luke 11:2

The disciples have just asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, and he begins teaching them the Lord's Prayer with this statement, "When you pray, say..." Say it. Say it out loud. Speak it. Not when you pray, think to yourself, but say it out loud. It's amazing how much this principle has changed my prayer life. When I talk to God as if he is a person in the room rather than the imaginary friend in my mind, I am much more deliberate about what I'm saying. My prayers go from being loose and free-flow, guided by whatever is going on in my mind (shopping lists, what I need to record on my DVR, does my hair look good, what if bigfoot really is real?), to thoughtful and rooted in my relationship with God.

The tongue has the power of life and death...Proverbs 18:21

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that there is power in the words we use. Raise your hand if you have never hurt anyone's feelings by saying something stupid...no one should have their hand down right now. Now, raise your hand if you can remember something kind, encouraging or challenging that someone has said to you...you should be tired of raising your hands at this point, because words have power! They do not just fall to the ground.

And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. 37 The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.
Matthew 12:36-37

For some of us it's scary to pray out loud. We are afraid we will look or sound stupid and worry that we will run out of things to say. The way that I love it when my kids talk to me is the same way God loves it when we talk to him. More often than not, my kids talk about bodily functions in weird voices, but I'm cool with it because I love them, and I love hearing their sweet little voices. God loves hearing your voice. He loves it because he loves you! Nothing you have to say is unimportant to him, and there's no way you could say anything in a way that sounds dumb to his ears. The next time you pray, find a quite place all by yourself and say it. It has the power to change your life.

Snoopy's Million Dollar Business Plan

2011-12-16T16:36:00.001-06:00

Today I received two receipts from the iTunes store. I nearly choked when I opened them and realized that one of my children had made $247 worth of purchases in the Snoopy's Street Fair app by a developer called Beeline. The first thought was, "This is going to kill us." My second thought was, "This is going to make a really funny story." My third thought was, "I need to find a defibrillator quickly because Terri is going to have a heart attack, and someone's going to need to resuscitate her." No joke, she was beet red when I told her and looked as faint as a civil war era debutante on a hot day.

The breakdown of purchases blew my mind: one Snoopy Dollar Money Clip ($4.99), one Snoopy Dollar Money bag ($24.99), and two Snoopy Dollar Trunks ($99.99 each). My first thought was, "People spend real money to buy fake money to buy virtual visits to Lucy's psychiatric booth?" My second thought was, "What kind of kids app would allow you to buy something in-app for $99?!?" My third thought was, "Has Snoopy written a book on business, because I need to read that junk if he's pulling down that type of cash from children under 10?"

I sat down across from the kids and explained what had happened, convinced that Calvin (age 6) was the offender since he is 4he most infatuated with video games. I explained how I opened up the receipt email. I described how much money the in-app purchases cost. I listed off all the things that we could have bought with that money: a new iPod touch, an Xbox Kinect, two hundred other much more fun apps that only cost $.99 each. As I really pounded this home to make my point, a funny thing happened. Calvin held on to his semi-cheerful expression, as if what I was saying was all new to him. But Trinity (age 7)...Trinity's face began to drop as her mouth turned down into a deep frown. Her eyes got big and glassy. She looked up at me and said, "If say I did it will you promise not to be mad at me?"

"I won't be mad at you," I said.

She cracked and folded into that pinched up cry-face and said, "It was me!!!" Then she immediately broke down in tears. My first thought was, "This is too cute, but don't smile because it will hurt her feelings even more." My second thought was, "I need to make sure she doesn't feel like I am angry with her for something she didn't do on purpose." My third thought was, "Two hundred dollars might be a small price to pay for the opportunity to hold my little girl in my lap and comfort her like this."

But I'm still working on my refund...

Jesus Has a Mohawk

2011-12-14T09:45:00.001-06:00

Recently, a bunch of teenagers at a punk rock concert in Indonesia were picked up by police and taken to a detention center 30 miles outside of town. These kids must have been doing some crazy stuff, right? Drugs? Fight club? Looting? Satanic rituals? Watching any of the Twilight franchise movies? No, none of that. They were detained and shipped out to a week long prison retreat because they looked different. No joke! The police picked up these kids because of their body piercings, crazy hair and unconventional clothes. Once they arrived at the detention center, police began buzzing off their spiky mohawks and stripping away their body piercings. Why, you may ask? Because of a perceived threat to Islamic values.

Okay, let's stop and make sure everyone is clear on this: 65 teenagers were arrested and driven 30 miles to a prison camp where they were stripped, had their heads shaved, had all their piercings, dog collar necklaces and chains forcibly removed and were thrown into pools of water for "spiritual cleansing." And all of this was because of a perceived threat to Islamic values. No laws were broken. No crimes were committed. Police were afraid of what the individuality of these kids might mean to their religious structures.

My very honest reaction to reading about this is to feel sick on numerous levels, but mostly because these attitudes prevail here in the United States as well. For that matter, these attitudes exist in the church too. We don't do well with "different". When a dog-collared, mohawked teenager with piercings in his ears that are as big and empty as the hole in a Krispy Kreme donut walks through the doors of our churches, what kind of reception do you think he or she can expect? Fear: "Is this kid going to pull out a gun and murder me?" Disgust: "I bet those huge piercings are really stinky." Anxiety: "Please don't sit by me, please don't sit by me!" Confusion: "I have no idea what to say to that dude." Anger: "This kid is going to make my kids want tattoos!"

Our response is rarely as vile as that of the Indonesian police, but can be just as indefensible. We double down on our unwritten codes of acceptable church behavior and dress. We very subtly communicate to this person that the more they change to be like us, the more we will accept them. With our avoidance, we delicately send them off to the detention center that is the lonely corner of the church lobby because the perceived threat they represent to our Christian values is just too great.

Jesus wasn't a perceived threat to the religious values and leadership of his day. He was a very real and active threat. His teachings contradicted the rigid religious caste system that had developed in Judaism to exclude those who were poor, sick or born with the wrong pedigree. His miracles gave credibility to his dangerous ideas. His very presence was that of a dangerous punk rocker who is threatening to upset the apple cart. What's more punk rock than going into the Jewish temple and tossing over the tables of merchants and payday lenders who were taking advantage of religious people for their own personal profit? If the religious leaders in Jesus' era could have shut him down by shaving his head, they would have done it in a heartbeat.

Jesus' followers were poor, uneducated, sinful, disgraced and dangerous. They lived at the outer edges of religious society because they had nothing to contribute. They were nobodies. But Jesus was drawn to them. He saw so much more in them. Jesus sees in people the potential not to destroy religion, but to know and be loved by God. He sees in us the seeds of greatness, whether our hair is green, our skin is tattooed or we have so many piercings we leak like a sieve.

Be like Jesus. Love people who seem dangerous and unlovable. Welcome in those who are different without expecting them to change to be included.

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’ “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
Matthew 25:34-40

Let's be the church that welcomes people in with love, rather than forcibly shaves of their unacceptable hairstyles. Because the next time you see Jesus, he may have a mohawk.

Sex Trafficking and the Church

2011-12-12T09:00:00.002-06:00

Everybody has one or two things that really get to them. They are the things that grab your heart and don't let go, wringing it out until nothing but anger, sorrow and determination are left. For some people it is poverty or human rights. Many people are deeply moved by inequality, whether it is based on race, religion, gender or any other number or qualifiers. We can all agree that these things are horrible and need to be addressed, but there is always that one thing that really cuts us deep. For me that thing is sex trafficking.

I have talked about it before in this blog, but when it comes up I can't be still and not pour out the indignation, frustration, anger and helplessness it makes me feel. There are women and children in our world and in our nation who are being imprisoned into a life of sexual slavery. They are drugged, repeatedly raped and intimidated into submission before they are sold over and over again to satisfy some of man's darkest urges. It makes me sick, and it makes me sad when I read articles with statistics like this:

Over the last several years, the U.S. State Department has estimated that traffickers in other countries are selling 17,000 to 18,000 women and children a year and bringing them into the United States for sexual exploitation. In addition, another report estimates that 100,000 American juveniles (with estimates as high as 300,000) a year are being trafficked annually within our nation for the purposes of sexual exploitation. These numbers are staggering indicators of the number of lives of women and children being destroyed daily by sexual slavery within the United States. They also reveal another sobering reality: There are staggering numbers of men in America who are creating the demand for these sexual services.

How can this happen in the United States right under our noses? How can we hear numbers like that and do nothing? We, the church, must rise up to this challenge. We must break new ground in helping the victims of these crimes, but the problem is that we don't know how. We don't know where this is happening in our community. We don't know the victims or how to reach them. The church must wake up to this and begin showing the love of God in tangible ways. But how?

I want to challenge you to read this article and begin asking yourself, "How would God have me help these women and children?" Ask God to show you how you can be a part of crushing this darkness that exists under the surface of our society, and please share your ideas. We can all do something...

http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/201201/201201_088_sextraffic.cfm

Defenseless

2011-12-08T14:41:00.001-06:00

I have been hurt in the past. I have put my faith in a person only to be devastatingly hurt by them. I have seen my children uprooted, losing friends and the their stability in life because of the hurtful choices of people who held the care of my family in their hands; and for reasons that cannot stand up under scrutiny. I have been wronged. I have had lies and half-truths told about me to protect the tellers from the consequences of their actions. I have been hurt badly…and so have you. We all have. Every single one of us can point to scars on our hearts that have been knit together over the wounds caused by people in our lives in whom we placed our trust.

In many ways those hurts can define us. They can lift us to greater success by driving us to overcome or can grind us into a life of unending bitterness and mistrust. We can push them away as if they never happened or call them fresh to our mind every day, as new now as the moment they first happened. For good or bad, our hurts have the power to change us and those around us by how we respond to them.

“But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. Give to anyone who asks; and when things are taken away from you, don’t try to get them back. Do to others as you would like them to do to you. “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.

“Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
Luke 6:27-36

In one teaching Jesus shows us two things. First, people will hurt us. It’s going to happen. It’s not a matter of if, but when. This is a non-negotiable principle of life that Jesus is acknowledging, but he also shows us how to deal with those hurts: offer the other cheek also. In a crazy twist on the human sense of justice, Jesus doesn’t tell us that we should get payback any way we can. He tells us to double down and make ourselves even more vulnerable. Why would he do that? What do we gain by being walking punching bags?

First, we have to always remember that people are not our enemies. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says that, “We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God.” If we allow our hurts to make other people our enemies, we are missing the mission and the heartbeat of God. We don’t use our weapons for revenge, but to wipe out everything that would keep the people who hurt us from God. Isn’t that what Jesus did? Even as he was being beaten, whipped, humiliated and killed by mankind he was fighting back. He wasn’t throwing punches at his aggressors, the people who were causing him pain, but at the sin that was keeping them from knowing God’s love. He was fighting for us even as we were fighting against him. And that’s how he expects us to live.

The beauty of it all is that when we live defenselessly, we are the ones who are blessed. Our vulnerability becomes our very strength and God will use it to begin knitting together the strongest relationships we could ever know, relationships that model Jesus’ relationship with us; the kind where we are submitted to the needs of others first. If you are a person who has carried the massive weight of bitterness, resentment and unforgiveness for a long time then you know how wounded your relationships with others are. I know the fear of putting your trust in another person again. I know what it's like to still feel the sting of the last slap to your face. But when you make yourself defenseless, God becomes your defender. You are not putting your faith in the person who let you down, but in the God who guarantees that a defenseless life is a good life.

Each of us has been hurt by someone, whether great or small. Will those hurts seep deep into your heart, poisoning your ability to trust others and know real community? Or will those hurts cause you to lay down your armor like Jesus did, making yourself defenseless to those who are not really your true enemies anyway? God is calling us to live a life that is defenseless, in the only way that true unity and community can grow. It’s his plan of mutual submission. Are you willing to turn and offer your other cheek to the person who just slapped you, knowing that it could lead to the truest community, deepest relationships and greatest freedom you have ever known? I am.

Echo the Buffalo

2011-12-08T09:02:00.001-06:00

This morning at 4:00 am, my dog Echo barked one time. I groggily woke up and told myself it was just part of whatever dream I was having. At 4:06 she barked again, and again I convinced myself that my dreamland must be full of barking dogs (although anyone who knows me at all could tell you that would be more of a nightmare for me - barking dogs, shedding hair, licking you and putting cold wet noses on you...gross). I pulled a pillow back over my head and tried to pretend it was all just a dream. At 4:16 she barked a third time. This time I knew it wasn't in my head and that I was going to have to get out of bed into the chilly, winter morning air and let her outside.

I rolled the blanket back and walked out to her kennel with my eyes half closed, because everybody knows that if you squint while you get up to do something in the middle of the night it is easier to go back to sleep when you climb back into bed...right? She went outside and did her business. I called her back in and made the executive decision to just leave her out of her cage since it was almost morning anyway (yes, almost morning - all of you who get up at at four or five every day just need to face the fact that it is still night!). With my half-closed eyes, I stumbled back into the warmth of my bed.

On the edge of sleep, I hear a loud noise. It is the noise a person makes when they stumble at the top of the stairs and spastically roll all the way down to the bottom. That deep collection of thumping booms that is made by flailing arms and legs as they flop and roll down wooden steps is very distinct, and that's the noise my dog Echo was making while she excitedly ran up and down the steps. It was the sound of a herd of buffalo running through my house. It happened once and I thought, "Okay, she's where she wants to be now and it won't happen again." It happened twice and I thought, "Maybe she left something that she needed upstairs and just went to get it. " It happened three times and I thought, "I'm going to tie her feet together so she can never run again (I can be grumpy when I am awakened early in the morning)!"

With eyes half closed, careful to keep in whatever sleep still remained in there, I got up and put her back in her kennel. As I drifted back to sleep, I think I dreamed of hunting buffalo...

Stop Doing Things

2011-12-07T11:02:00.003-06:00

I was a Junior in high school. The tests were handed out by the teacher and placed face down on our desks. I waited for the signal to start because, being very competitive by nature, I wanted to be the first one to finish and turn it in (I also liked to finish early because I could spend the rest of the hour reading whatever book I couldn’t put down at the time).

“You may start the test.” The command was given and I was off, tearing through question after question on the two-page questionnaire. But something strange happened while I scribbled and wrote…people started getting up to turn in their tests before me. At first it was the kids I would expect to beat me, the ones who actually cared more about their grades than just winning a race, but soon other students were taking their quizzes up too. And they were NOT smarter than me! Something was way off, so I doubled down and raced through the questions even faster to just not be last.

When I filled in my last blank, I scratched my name across the top of the sheet and rushed it up to the teacher’s desk. I wasn’t last, but as I walked back to my seat I saw the strange smiles on the faces of the students who had beaten me. They were giggling and looking very self-satisfied. I sat down a little confused. When the last student turned in their test, our teacher got up and addressed the class. “Those of you who completed all the test questions will be graded on how many you got right. Those of you who followed the instructions at the top of the page to just write your name on the test and turn it in will get 100%.”

There it was in black in white at the very top of the test: Write your name on this test and turn it in without answering any of the questions.

If I had bothered to take the time to read the instructions instead of just forging blindly ahead, I would have gotten a perfect score and still probably been the first one finished. Instead, I jumped right into it, thinking that the directions were pointless because I knew the right way to do it. That is a character defect that I struggle with to this day, I want to just go and do something…anything! I don’t want to have meeting after meeting, plotting and planning, devising and scheming. I just want to know the general direction I need to head toward so I can start sprinting there.

Jesus understood this passion to do something. The Bible describes Jesus in Matthew chapter 9 as travelling through all the villages and towns in the area, healing people wherever he went. It then gives us insight into his motivation when it says:

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Matthew 9:36

If I were Jesus, moved with compassion by the lostness he saw in people at this moment, I would start doing things. Healing people, giving them money, offering good advice, telling my disciples to get out there and help for pete’s sake. But Jesus doesn’t tell his disciples to go get busy. He tells them to do something else entirely.

He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”
Matthew 9:37-38

Jesus tells us the best thing we can do if we want to help people who are lost – pray. He didn’t tell his disciples that they ARE the workers and should go out there and get busy. He didn’t give them a strategy for how to help the people they had pity for. He told them to pray for God to send more workers.

We are working on the beginning of an exciting new opportunity at First Assembly. There are a lot of things that need to be done to make it happen. There are a lot of jobs to be done and spots that need to be filled. It is in my nature to want to make a checklist and start scratching off the things that I have taken care of, but I am reminded that it’s not about what I can do. It’s about what God can do. He is the one in charge of the harvest, not me. So I will stop, take a deep breath and ask him to send the workers he needs in order to help those who are lost without any idea of where to go for help. Jesus thought praying for workers was important enough to specifically tell us to do it. Will you be a doer or a prayer?

More Christmas for Your Money

2011-12-06T14:29:00.004-06:00

We were shopping at Wal-Mart the other day, and they had a giant sign that said, "More Christmas for Your Money." I'm not sure how that even works. For my dollar value, will Wal-Mart give me the thirteen days of Christmas when Target will only give me the twelve? Can I get more baby Jesus for my buck this year than last year? Will I look back that the Christmas of aught-twelve as the biggest Christmas ever when I'm rocking in a chair, remembering the days of my youth to my great grandchildren?

I love Christmas shopping, but don't even get me started on Black Friday. Terri went out at midnight on the morning of Black Friday and said there was blood on the floor at Wal-Mart in the section where people could get a huge discount on a Wii. Someone was willing to bleed to save fifty bucks on a Wii!! Personally, I would pay someone fifty bucks to let me stay home on Black Friday and avoid the insanity that inevitably ensues. Besides, how many $2 waffle makers can one family use?

I stumbled across this shopping video that some guys made on Black Friday that seemed to make it all worthwhile. Enjoy!

Big Brained People and God

2011-11-23T10:39:00.009-06:00

I have a really good friend who has been posting some interesting and challenging questions about God on Facebook. Some examples:

If the Bible is god's perfect word and the source of all morality, how do we justify or deal with the parts that are clearly immoral or that we could never support? And if we agree those parts do exist in the Bible, how can we go about picking which passages are acceptable and which are not?
Does free will exist in heaven?

One of these posts has 129 responses, and a lot of folks are FREAKING OUT! It's totally understandable because people don't like having their beliefs messed with. Many people have a genuine concern for my friend. They have a deep desire for him to really know God they way that they do, but don't really know how to get around his difficult questions.

If you have spent much time with me, you know that I love deep, theological conversations so I want to get in on the action, but first I want to throw a little essay in your face to maybe redefine the place these questions come from - a place of absolute intellectualism. I am a firm believer in intellectual purity and think it is crucial for people of faith to be able to explain their beliefs with integrity, but I want to adjust the lenses we sometimes use to look at God and the Bible a little bit.

Do me a favor, and click here to read John 9. It's okay, I'll wait....

Finished? Okay...

Jesus heals this blind guy in a way that has no precedent and makes absolutely no intellectual sense. Jesus could have just said a word and the guy would have been healed, but instead he makes spit-mud and rubs it in the guy's face. Crazy. Nobody understood it. The religious leaders couldn't make intellectual sense out of Jesus because his teachings didn't match the structures of law they had built up around themselves (and make no mistake, Judaism in those days had become a rigid intellectual and behavioral pursuit of learned men babbling and writing about deep scriptural truths while legalistically living according to the unspiritual structures of the law).

The religious leaders challenge the man Jesus healed. Bear in mind that this guy knows NOTHING about Jesus and probably very little about Jewish law. He was a blind beggar. Religious folks looked at his blindness as judgment for sin in his life. He had been blind since birth, so no one had ever even given this guy a shot. Unworthy since the day he was born. They ask him intellectual questions to challenge his experience with Jesus, calling Jesus a sinner because what happened doesn't fit with their worldview and therefore must be wrong. The man responds this way:

"I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!”
-John 9:25

He's saying this: I can't answer your intellectual questions. I don't know how Jesus' teachings square up with your Old Testament laws. I can't tell you why he did this or what it even means for me...or you. But I know this - before Jesus came into my life, it stunk. But now everything has changed for me. I can't explain it, but I know it's true.

Here's my point - the effort to take a purely intellectual approach to God and the Bible will always fail you. It will do nothing but drive you farther and farther away from the truth of who he is, because God didn't just choose to make himself known to us intellectually. There are spiritual and emotional aspects to our humanity, and God speaks to all of them. Not just one. People who only respond to God in crazy emotional ways are just as out of whack as those who take a purely academic approach. Any imbalance, whether emotional or intellectual, will fail to bring us the full truth of who God is.

Allow me to illustrate. If you are a parent, you love your kids. With all your heart and soul you love them. But ask yourself this question: why do you love them? Objectively and intellectually, are they any more beautiful than other children? Are they any smarter than other kids worldwide? Are they better behaved than all other kids? If we were to be purely academic we would have to be intellectually honest and admit that there are kids somewhere in this world who are prettier, smarter, kinder, more talented, funnier and more helpful than our kids. So why do we love them? I think it's safe to say that passed on genetic material isn't the cause of that deep parental love, so why do we love our kids more than all other kids in the world when there are other kids who on paper are objectively more worthy of our love?

That question can't be answered intellectually. True love goes beyond the mind. You love them because you love them. You can't understand that love intellectually. It's the same with God. He cannot be fully understood academically. The single mom who recently committed her life to Christ at our church doesn't know all the theological truth about God. She doesn't know all the history and context of the Bible. She just knows that Jesus has changed her life. She can't quantify it by defending Old Testament dietary restrictions. She just knows that she was blind, but now she can see. It's the same with all of us. Some of us can better explain the difficult questions of the Bible than others, but even if every one of us had that ability, intellectually understanding all the answers doesn't have the power to change your life. That only comes by having a real encounter with Jesus.

Where are you in all this? Are the hard questions you are wrestling with keeping you from letting Jesus rub spit-mud in your eyes? Is your pursuit of emotional spiritual experience keeping you from growing in Biblical knowledge of God? Are you willing to have that encounter with Jesus, whatever it means for your preconceptions about who he is?

Don't Flunk Art Class

2011-11-02T15:38:00.006-05:00

The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes.

-Martin Luther

There is something so true and powerful about this quote. It speaks right to the heart of art and creativity in the Christian culture that we live in today. Today, I can buy Christian music, movies, books, t-shirts, shoes, jewelry, diet plans, candy and comic books. I could probably go the rest of my life without consuming anything that wasn't made by and for Christians. What's crazy about the incredible statement Martin Luther makes about the Christian duty of creativity is that he said it 500 years ago. That's it, take a deep breath and contemplate that...500 years ago we were still dealing with issues of isolationism and Christian commerce.

I recently spoke at a youth convention about Christians and art. It was an exciting topic for me to tackle since I have been a musician and songwriter and because the Bible has a lot to say about art and creativity. In the Bible, the book of Ephesians has an unlikely, but Biblical view on how art intersects our lives as believers in Jesus.

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Ephesians 2:10

First, God has a creative nature that he has instilled in each of us. What was the first documented thing God did in the Bible? He created. He made things. He imagined them up with his creative mind and gave form to the vision that existed in his heart. Then God created man as his masterpiece in his own image. We were created to create! We were made with the purpose of continuing the process of making and remaking the earth, and God has invited us to join him in creation by putting in us an undeniable desire to express ourselves by making things. Music, paintings, cabinets, cars, sculptures, computers, movies, toilets...all of these things were created by men who were inspired by the creative spark of the divine that God placed in each of us.

Secondly, art reflects the human condition. God created us anew in Christ Jesus. That means we weren't always perfect! We were messy and ugly and crude and broken. This is a big one, because as Christians we often expect all art to always sum up the gospel in a neat, tidy, positive little package, but the reality is that we live in a fallen world and were not always in God's good grace. We are imperfect people who need to be redeemed by a perfect God. Many Christians will produce art that is very inspirational and positive, but God didn't just make Christians in his image. People who don't know God have a divinely inspired creative impulse too, and way too often we reject and deny the true and earnest cries of those who are desperate and hungry for God just because they put their cries to the melody of a song or write them into a screenplay. We must be good judges of the media that we consume, but the Bible makes no distinction between secular and Christian life. Martin Luther knew this when he talked about the Christian shoemaker. There are full sections in the Bible where the writer is in a really dark place and doesn't mind letting God know about it.

You don’t let me sleep. I am too distressed even to pray! I think of the good old days, long since ended, when my nights were filled with joyful songs. I search my soul and ponder the difference now. Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will he never again be kind to me? Is his unfailing love gone forever? Have his promises permanently failed? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he slammed the door on his compassion?
Psalm 77:4-9

This passage is just one example out of many, but God doesn't seem to mind. In fact, he welcomes our honesty and transparency. The Bible says that he works through our weakness. In the expressions of our hurt, lostness and pain, the reality of our humanness is brought to the forefront. But so is the reality of God's grace and love in our lives.

Finally, our art is meant to reflect the glory, perfection and goodness of God. We were created to do good works that he planned in advance for us. This doesn't mean that everything we do has to have a cross stamped on it. It means that our art, whatever our creative endeavors are, should be good. The shoes we make should be the best shoes out there because we serve the best God out there. The music we write should be compelling and original because so is God. As followers of Jesus, nothing we create should be mediocre or irrelevant because God is neither of those things. When what we create is second rate, it paints our creator as second rate. God created us to do good things, not average or just okay things. Everything we do should be done as if it were for him personally, and if God commissioned me to write him a song you can bet I'd work my tail off on it.

Below is a great example of an artist who is a Christian creating compelling, professional and quality music (check it out and buy this record). Creativity matters to God, so it should matter to us. How can you improve the quality of what you make in life? How can you honor God with it in better ways? How can it reflect his true character and nature better?

Cat Cookie

2011-10-18T08:46:00.004-05:00

This is one of my all time favorite Youtube videos. My kids and I could sit and watch this all day long, over and over again. If you know my kids, you know that when I say over and over I am being extremely literal.

One Million Daughters

2011-10-12T11:49:00.003-05:00

I used to be the guy who could watch anything. The more gritty and realistic a movie or t.v. show was, the more I appreciated it. I will take the subtle Batman from The Dark Knight over the flamboyant ridiculousness of Batman Forever (the batsuit had nipples, for pete's sake). I say used to, because things changed when I had kids. Movies that I might have been able to watch and enjoy took on a new and different flavor when watched through the eyes of a father.

In college, I remember loving the Mel Gibson movie, Ransom, in which a millionaire's son is kidnapped for a huge ransom. Back then, the action and intensity just built and built to the incredible and inevitable reunion at the end of the film. The intrigue and plot twists had me hooked from beginning to end. But when I saw it on t.v. after my first daughter was born I felt sick to my stomach the entire time it was on. I turned it off because I couldn't watch it anymore. All I could see when I was watching it was my daughter in place of the fictional millionaire's son. I saw her bound in the back of a van and locked away in a dirty room, alone and scared. What was once an entertaining fiction became all to real for me (for the record, that's why I will always enjoy sci-fi movies because I am pretty confident that aliens will never get my children).

I recently had the opportunity to do some research on human trafficking in India, specifically sexual slavery. It is one of the darkest and vilest things to blight our world, and the more I read, the more sorrowful, sickened and angry I became. You see, I have two daughters, and when I read the plight of these innocent girls who are sold or kidnapped into sexual slavery I can't help but imagine how it would feel if they were my girls. I can't help but imagine what it would do to their pure hearts, precious dreams and their innocent expectation that they will always be protected and taken care of. The pressure behind my eyes builds every time I come face to face with the reality that this evil exists in our world because it is so hard to hold back the tears when confronted with it.

I have two daughters, but there are one million daughters out there who are trapped and alone, where man's lust and desire meet commerce in the darkest way imaginable. We cannot let this continue. We must not let it stand. We may not be overseas, but we can support those who are. There are too many daughters out there with no one to tell them how special and beautiful they are, no one to safely tuck them in at night and no one to protect them against the wickedest urges that bubble up from the darkest part of men's souls.

Project Rescue

This Autumn Morning

2011-10-08T09:15:00.003-05:00

I sit on my front porch at 9:15 in the morning. It is sunny and warm with a cool breeze, jeans and sweatshirt weather. The sweet smell of dying leaves is already floating around, and every burst of fresh wind brings dozens and dozens falling to the ground in front of me. Trinity rides her bike up and down the street in front of our house in her little green sundress. She just explained to me that it is too revealing so she has to wear a tank top under it. She rides crazy fast in her sparkly pink Converse hi-tops, so fast that when she speeds downhill I hold my breath sometimes in anticipation of a wipeout. Cameron pushes the wagon to the top of the street and rides down in it. She uses the handle as a reverse steering wheel as she wobbles back and forth down the sidewalk. It makes me remember the road rash I got so often when my wagon tipped and rolled doing the exact same thing. Not wanting to be left out of the action, Calvin chases after the wagon in his checkered shorts and barefeet. He catches up at the bottom of the hill and takes position at the back. His smile is brightened by the glow-in-the-dark vampire teeth he has in his mouth. The iridescent vampire becomes the wagon's engine as he pushes his sister back up the hill to do it all again. I yell at the dog to keep her from chasing them out of the yard. I contemplate driving her out into the country and leaving her there, but the amount of love my kids have for her keeps me from acting. Stinking love...

Their laughter floats back and forth on the breeze, and I wish that it will never stop. I want those giggles to be carried everywhere the wind goes for as long as sound exists so that I never have to stop hearing it.

Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T12:30:00.000-05:00

The breaking news banner flashed across the bottom of the tv with a sound signaling the something was going on. I looked up from my laptop to see a headline scrolling across the screen announcing, "Steve Jobs has died." Three weeks ago I read a biography of Steve Jobs that focused on his innovation and leadership. I was astonished to realize how much he has impacted technology, society and culture. The mouse you are using with the arrow icon to navigate your computer screen? Steve Jobs made that happen. You can point and click instead of typing commands into a prompt on your computer. The windows and menus you use to access all of your programs? Steve Jobs made that happen. The new Mutemath album you just bought and downloaded on iTunes? Steve Jobs did that. It didn't take much for me to realize the impact he has had on our world, but in that moment I saw how much he has impacted my family. Even as his death was announced, I was loading new songs from my Macbook onto my daughter Cameron's iPod. My iPhone was sitting in between in between me and my son, Calvin, who was playing on the iPad. My kids will interact with technology in a completely different way than I did growing up, and much of that is due to Steve Jobs.

In a commencement speech he gave at Stanford University, he talked about one of the things that drove him to not just create great products, but to be passionate about what he does. He said:

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.

There is a lot we can learn from the life of Steve Jobs - his passion, creativity, and care for the people he produced for. My thoughts and sincere prayers go out to his friends and family.

Disney People

2011-10-05T17:09:00.006-05:00

Have you ever known someone who can be best described by the things that they are into? You know, people who are so sold out on a product, company or ideology that they almost completely embody it? For example, let's examine "Coffee People". These are people who literally cannot function until they have their first cup of coffee (and it's never just coffee - it's always a "cuppa coffee," as if the coffee cannot exist in this dimension without the metaphysical tether of the cuppa). They will make you sit and wait for them to finish their cuppa coffee every time you eat with them because it would be unthinkable to leave even a drop undrunk (that's right, undrunk). You may be choking on a bagel, and they will perform the Heimlich maneuver on you, but only after they've finished savoring their cuppa coffee. If you are a coffee person and this characterization has offended you in any way, I'll buy you a cuppa coffee to make up for it; but let's be honest - you know it's true.

There are also "Disney People". Every annual vacation is spent at Disney World. A map of the parks is not necessary because it has been committed to memory. They wear Mickey boxers, briefs, boxer briefs and speedos. They get teary eyed when they watch Beauty and the Beast, and can't get through Finding Nemo without a full box of moisturized Kleenex (with soothing lotion for their Mickey Mouse noses). When they get into tough situations they ask themselves, "What would Walt do," because they have have accepted Disney into their hearts.

I am not a Disney person. Never have been. I went for the first time when I was 19, so I think the magic was lost on my jaded, incredibly mature adult mind (since everyone knows that when you are 19 you are incredibly mature and know everything). I enjoyed the thrill rides, but never really got the Disney magic that my wife goes on and on about. Disney had me in their clutches, and I left unchanged. But recently I've had a change of heart.

Three weeks ago, Terri's dad and step-mom treated our whole family to a Disney World trip. As a dad, I had the chance to experience Disney through the eyes of my children. To me, parks are all about the rides, but my kids just wanted to meet the characters. In fact, they waited hours to get character autographs and pictures. We waited for over a half an hour just for Pluto, and when I asked Calvin if he would rather ride rides, he said, "I'm not leaving until I have Pluto's autograph!" My daughter Cameron*, when asked about the trip, will gladly volunteer that, "we waited for over an hour to see the princesses and it was totally worth it!" I rode It's a Small World three times! Why? Because they loved it. They loved all of it. And you know what? I did too. Not because everything was so much better than the last time I was there, but because their enthusiasm got ahold of me. I loved it because they did. The magic of our Disney trip was not in the amazing quality of the parks (they ARE amazing), or the emotional stories of the characters. The magic already existed in my kids, and I got to see it come out in all it's loud, bright and amazing glory.

Am I a Disney Person now? I don't really know. I'm a "Cameron, Trinity and Calvin" person, and if that means I've given myself over to Disney, then maybe so.

*Cameron read this post over my shoulder and asked that I make sure everyone knows that she IS a Disney Person.

Peer Pressure - Part 2

2011-03-15T15:43:00.005-05:00

In part 1, we talked about how Herod was pressured by his wife to imprison John the Baptist because she didn't like what John had to say about her. The peer pressure keeps on coming in the second part of this story.

Herodias’s chance finally came on Herod’s birthday. He gave a party for his high government officials, army officers, and the leading citizens of Galilee. Then his daughter, also named Herodias, came in and performed a dance that greatly pleased Herod and his guests. “Ask me for anything you like,” the king said to the girl, “and I will give it to you.” He even vowed, “I will give you whatever you ask, up to half my kingdom!” She went out and asked her mother, “What should I ask for?” Her mother told her, “Ask for the head of John the Baptist!” So the girl hurried back to the king and told him, “I want the head of John the Baptist, right now, on a tray!”
Mark 6:21-25

If your dad was one of the richest, most powerful men in America and he told you that he would give you anything you wanted in the world, up to half of everything owned, what would you ask for? Justin Bieber tickets, sure. A Twilight poster signed by the full cast, absolutely. But in our second demonstration of peer pressure we find a request more gruesome and terrifying than both of those.

Herodias asked for John’s head
Herodias' (the daughter - weird) could have had anything she wanted. She could have had a pony. She could have had Taylor Lautner escort her to that Justin Bieber concert where the three of them could sit backstage and play Uno. Think of how much money she could have had if she'd asked for half of all her father had. But what happened? She asked her mom what she should do, and her mom pressured her into asking for a guy’s severed head.

Girls, seriously, for one moment I want you to contemplate that. You could have a diamond studded platinum necklace. You could be driving around in a new lexus. You could go to Disneyworld every month, but instead you have a hairy, bloody, stinky decapitated head on a silver platter. And why? Because, Herodias' mom wanted something for herself, and she put pressure on Herodias to get it. And that’s another important thing to remember – peer pressure is never for the good of the person being pressured, it is about getting the pressurer something that they want.

I used to be in a band that would travel around playing shows. At every show there would always be a group of guys there to help set-up and tear-down. Having just spent hours trapped in a van with three other guys, we were always very ready to hang out with some new people and do something exciting. The excitement we found was often in something called "The Chocolate Milk Challenge."

We would basically challenge one of the stage crew guys to the semi-impossible task of drinking a gallon of chocolate milk in an hour or less and then holding it down without throwing up for another hour. What ensued was at least an hour of laughter as we watched this fella's face turn from excited to sick to puking. Needless to say, we entertained ourselves often by getting people to throw up (yes, we did the challenge amongst ourselves too).

I tell you this not to make me or my band look like a bunch of jerks, which we kind of were, but to illustrate this fact about peer pressure: Nothing made us laugh harder than watching someone throw up a gallon of chocolate milk, and that's why we would get someone to accept the challenge. Not because we wanted to see them beat it, but because it would be a great story to tell. Peer pressure is about getting the pressurer something that they want. Nothing else.

Peer Pressure - Part 1

2011-03-14T13:56:00.012-05:00

I challenge anyone to tell me that peer pressure is not a force at work in our lives at any and every age. I guarantee you that your grandpa feels pressure to pull his pants up just a little bit higher when he's around other grandpas with high pants. There's a crazy story in the Bible that is just chock full of the negative consequences of peer pressure. In Mark 6:17-28 is the story of a Jewish ruler named Herod.

Herod had sent soldiers to arrest and imprison John as a favor to Herodias. She had been his brother Philip’s wife, but Herod had married her. John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry your brother’s wife.” So Herodias bore a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But without Herod’s approval she was powerless, for Herod respected John; and knowing that he was a good and holy man, he protected him. Herod was greatly disturbed whenever he talked with John, but even so, he liked to listen to him.
Mark 6:17-20

Herod was put in place as the ruler over a large part of ancient Israel by the Roman government right around the time that B.C. became A.D. Herod had married Herodias, who was formerly his brother's wife. This was somewhat scandalous at the time because Herod's brother was still alive, and it's not totally kosher to romance your sister-in-law away from her husband to marry her yourself. John the Baptist made a lot of noise about how this was wrong, which made a lot of waves in Herod's house. Which leads to our first bit of peer pressure in this story:

Herod imprisoned John
The Bible says that Herod liked John and enjoyed talking to him, even though John criticized him for marrying his brother’s wife, but he arrested John and had him imprisoned because of pressure from his wife. Herodias, Herod's wife (Herod and Herodias...it's like a couple named Terry and Terri) was very put out by the constant criticism of her marriage and took matters into her own hands. Either Herod was a big sissy or his wife was a hugely annoying nag, maybe a combination of the two, but Herod bent to the pressure from his wife and did something that he knew was wrong. He threw John into prison. And that’s an important thing to remember – peer pressure almost always wants you to do something you know you shouldn’t do, and the people who are pressuring you know that you don’t want to do it but are pressuring you anyway.

Hometown Blues

2011-02-08T10:25:00.003-06:00

Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I used to play in a band that traveled from city to city playing shows for people. We had moderate success; not enough that any of you would know us by name or song, but enough that I felt like I was living my dream. Regardless of how rock star I felt when we were on the road, it was always strange coming home.

When we were on tour, I was Chris, the front man who mastered the art of playing his guitar while both jumping high in the air and kneeling on the stage. I can't dance a lick, nor do I want to, but put a guitar on me and I can't keep from moving. Our job was to dazzle a crowd, and we worked hard at it. But at home, I was Chris, the guy who used to have Jason Priestly hair (if you were born after 1985, google it). I was Chris, the kid who used to run around the church playing tag. When I was in Texas, if I told someone what I did for a living, they would think it was the coolest thing in the world. When I told someone at home what I did for a living, they would say something like, "Oh, that's neat...(awkward, disapproving pause)," or "So, your wife must have to work then?" In any other city, people thought I was living the dream, but at home they thought I was wasting my life and had no problem letting me know that whether by word or attitude.

Jesus went through something very similar when he came home. He had been traveling around the region teaching and doing miracles in outlying towns and villages. Many people had been healed; a little girl had even been raised from the dead. The word was out on Jesus, and people were excited about what he was doing. When he taught, there were so many people in the crowds crushing in on him that he had to get in to a boat at the lakeshore and teach from there to keep from getting mobbed. Yet, when Jesus went back to his hometown of Nazareth, he got a much different response.

Jesus left that part of the country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his hometown. The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?” Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.
Mark 6:1-6

If Jesus had been anything like me, he would have expected a splendid homecoming - the hometown boy who went into the world and made something of himself! But that isn't what he got. Instead he was mocked and belittled. John 7:1-5 tells us that even Jesus' brothers got in on the action and made fun of him. After all the miracles he had done in the region and the wisdom with which he taught, the folks in his hometown gave him no respect and no recognition.

What is really interesting is that the unbelief of the people in Nazareth limited the miracles that Jesus could do there. It wasn't a lack of desire on his part, but a consequence of the the hometown crowd's inability to see the potential of what God could do through Jesus.

Many of you know what it feels like to not be believed in. You know the sting of harsh words that come from a parent, sibling, teacher or coach who think you won't really amount to much. If that's you, you are in good company. Jesus faced that too, but look what he accomplished with his life. The beauty of what God does in our lives is that it has nothing to do with who we are or what gifts, talents and abilities we bring to the table. It is about his strength and greatness, not ours.

Knowing that, is there someone that you have looked at with less than optimism about their potential? Is there someone you have written off as a lost cause, or someone you know could never reach greatness because of their past, their upbringing, their lack of talent or resources? Just like the people of Nazareth, your lack of belief in someone could be limiting what God wants to do not just in their life, but yours. Don't allow your hometown attitude to keep God from doing amazing things through the life of someone you may never expect it from. Your unbelief in someone who seems insignificant could be what keeps the miraculous from happening in your life.

I'm a Butterfly

2010-12-18T13:38:00.006-06:00

A few years ago my kids wrote an awesome new song and dance called, "I'm a Butterfly." I recorded it for posterity because it was sure to be a top ten hit. Exhibit A:

You will notice that at the beginning of the song, two year old Calvin screamed, "I'm mad! I'm mad!!" Then he promptly got into the spirit of the song and began the butterfly dance. Terri was looking at old videos, saw this one and decided that the best thing to do was to give Calvin a hard time by grabbing him and screaming, "I'm mad!" Calvin did not appreciate this and wrote a response song entitled, "I Did Not Say That." Exhibit B:

I can't decide which one I like better. What do you think?

Buy It Now

2010-12-14T16:57:00.004-06:00

I love how eBay has become a "buy it now" shopping destination. The auctions are great because there is a chance that you can get an amazing deal, but the anxiety of bidding wears me out. Did I bid enough? Did I bid too much? Where am I going to be when this auction is ending so I can get my last minute bid in? With "buy it now," I click what I want to pay and the item is mine...no muss, no fuss. It is simple and transactional. You pay this, you get that.

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.
Psalm 1:1-3

I am drawn to passages like this because they present a spiritual truth in such a simple and straightforward way. If you want a prosperous life that is consistently bearing fruit, spend time in God's word. Read it. Think about it. Write it down. Apply it to your life. It's the "buy it now" price to having the permanent blessing of God.

Think about the last time you felt completely drained, when you were just exhausted by life. I've been there. In those moments, the idea of having roots that are permanently planted and drawing on the strength, joy and energy that only God can provide sounds pretty great. And you can buy it now, not with the click of a button but with the opening of a book. If that's you - drawn, worn out, spread thin and exhausted - find some time to spend in the Bible. Satisfaction is guaranteed or your money back.

The Change Sorrow Brings

2010-11-23T08:51:00.007-06:00

"Never waste the opportunities offered by a good crisis."

-Machiavelli, 15th century philosopher

That is a powerful quote from an old political hand, a schemer some would say, whose name has become synonymous with the astute if ruthless exercise of raw political power. Most recently it has been quoted by Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's Chief of Staff, about the financial crisis that has dominated Obama's first term as president. When he said it people flipped out. How could he be so callous about a disaster that is affecting so many people? Could he really look at something that has been so disastrous to people all across America as a good thing?

I won't speak to Rahm Emanuel's motives or meaning when he quoted Machiavelli, but I will echo the sentiment. In fact, the Bible agrees with this statement. Around 57 AD, the apostle Paul wrote a pretty scathing letter to a church in Corinth, Greece. The Corinthian church started well but had become divided by sin, pride and misunderstanding of key doctrines. In short, the church at Corinth was an ugly, disastrous mess, and Paul addressed these problems head on. Paul's letter to the church that he loved was so confrontational that he actually had second thoughts about sending it.

I am not sorry that I sent that severe letter to you, though I was sorry at first, for I know it was painful to you for a little while.
2 Corinthians 7:8

What comes next is a statement equal to that of Rahm Emanuel and Machiavelli, the apostle Paul's understanding of the power of a good crisis.

Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way. For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.
2 Corinthians 7:9-10

Paul is talking specifically about the sorrow he caused the Corinthian church with a letter that ripped them up and down about their behavior and attitudes. It hurt them. They changed.

Sorrow is universal. There are things that everyone will face, struggle with and be hurt by in this life. But God in his infinite wisdom and love for us recognizes that when we face sorrow, it is an opportunity for us to grow and become better. There is a kind of sorrow that God wants us to have so that we will turn to him more and more. Sorrow may hurt us, but we will change. Getting fired from your job. Losing a dear friend. Having a financial meltdown. Starting over with nothing. Facing the destruction of your marriage. Living through your parent's divorce. These things can cause great pain and sorrow in our lives. But when we turn to God in our sadness and allow him to bring healing and restoration, the Bible promises that we will never regret that kind of sorrow. When we turn to him, he will never waste a hurt. Has God used the painful circumstances of your past to change you? Is there sorrow in your life that you are allowing to be wasted?

Giving Up My Birthday

2010-11-17T12:40:00.002-06:00

I hesitate to even say this, but in nine days I will turn thirty four years old. I know, I know...it's bad form to put your age in print where it can be referenced forever, but I think I can still pull off twenty nine to the casual observer. Over the years I have had some great birthday presents. I think the best was when Terri bought me season one of the show 24. We hadn't watched it when it was on the air and had no idea what to expect. After spending the next thirty six hours (eight for sleep) watching that first season, we immediately went out and got season two. Some birthday gifts are wonderful surprises. This year I want to take the surprise out of my birthday. I have a lot of great stuff, and I'm not convinced that I need much more, so this year I am going to do something different. I'm going to give up my birthday.

No, this is not the kind of giving up my dad did when he made the decision to just not age anymore. It is not even a giving up of the celebration of my birthday. In fact, I would love for this year's birthday celebration to be the biggest ever, with more people involved than ever before. This year I want everyone I know to celebrate my birthday in a big way, but a different way.

Instead of gift cards and presents this year from the people who are closest to me, I want everyone I know to send me money. Yes, I want you to send me money! Once it is all collected, every penny I get for my birthday will be gathered up to support missionaries all across the world. It will go to support a home that helps young european girls who have been rescued out of human sex trafficking. It will go to support schools in India that literally pull kids out of the garbage dumps where they hunt for enough food to live off of and teach them to be the doctors and world leaders of the future. It will go to support the distribution of food, clean water and the love of God all over the globe.

You may have never gotten me a gift for my birthday before. Let's change that this year. By celebrating my birthday you could be literally saving someone's life. So grab your checkbook and send a card. Together we can celebrate one more year of my receding hairline by generously showing love to people who need it.

Send cards to:

Chris Shandrow

800 E Vernon

Normal, IL

61761

Let's Talk Commitment

2010-11-16T10:14:00.001-06:00

What would you do to show your commitment to a cause? I love seeing the guys who paint their bodies blue and orange and go shirtless in the minus zero windchill of a Chicago winder to support the bears. That is serious, bodily commitment. In the Bible, the prophet Isaiah also demonstrated serious commitment.

In the year when King Sargon of Assyria sent his commander in chief to capture the Philistine city of Ashdod, the Lord told Isaiah son of Amoz, “Take off the burlap you have been wearing, and remove your sandals.” Isaiah did as he was told and walked around naked and barefoot.
Isaiah 20:1-2

Naked for three years. Might sound like a vacation to some, but publicly? That's commitment.

Stepping In It

2010-10-20T08:49:00.003-05:00

It's a beautiful fall day. The sun is beaming down, warming your face against a cool autumn breeze that would chill you if there were a single cloud in the sky. But there are none. The sky is as clear as a fresh glass of water, and the air is so crisp you can see for miles. You are walking at the park, savoring every bit of the season, listening to the laughter of children and enjoying the sense of energy in the air; as if nature herself is pulling together to make you feel alive. Then you step in poop.

Somehow dog poop seems to end up exactly where you want to walk. It's like the soles of our feet have some sort of natural magnetism that draws us to the exact spot where a dog has made a fresh mess. It's awful. For me, it's usually the smell that tips me off first. "What is that? Did you...? Oh no!" Then the wiping of the shoes on the grass, which is completely discouraging because you will never get it all off. The worst part is that it's not just a one time mess up that you can just move on from. When you step in dog poop, it has a way of traveling with you. "It's in the tread of my shoes! How do I keep it from getting in the car? I can't wear these into the house. I don't want to track it up and down the stairs."

Life has a way of directing us toward the messes. You are driving along just fine and your car dies. You are writing an important paper for school and your computer crashes. You are living a healthy life until a small cough turns out to be cancer. You are building a great career and, out of nowhere, you are let go and have to leave everything behind to get a new job in a new city. You were moving forward on what you thought was an easy road through life and, all of a sudden, you step in it.

It's easy in those moments throw your hands up and think that the train of your life has been derailed one too many times. It can seem as if God can't or won't help us in our impossible situation. We can become frustrated and angry at the pointlessness of our needless suffering, because, really...when we take a look at the mess we are in it is nearly impossible to see any purpose behind it. All we can hope to do is not track that mess through every other area of our lives, right?

How can we understand the road we travel? It is the Lord who directs our steps.
Proverbs 20:24

When you are in the middle of your "dog poop moment," it can be really hard to hear a verse like this. On the surface it sounds like it's saying that God directed me right into this mess; he made it happen. My point in this in not to dispute God's sovereignty over our lives, but to point out that we can't fully understand the road we are walking in life. We can't see around every corner or know what the best routes to take are. God does. And what does he do for us in our ignorance of the best way to go? He directs our steps.

I enjoy playing Would You Rather, so here's a question for you. Would you rather walk through a minefield of dog droppings to get a million dollars or keep your shoes clean on the sidelines? We'd all choose the million, but what if you didn't know about the money? Would you still choose to walk through all that mess? Probably not. The good news is that God knows what lies ahead for us. He knows there are million dollar moments waiting for us, and he knows what we need to walk through to get there. Even when you can't understand the road you travel, you can trust God. He knows where you need to be and he will direct your steps to get you there. You can trust him.

Keep Complaining

2010-10-11T09:05:00.005-05:00

As a parent, there is one sound above all others that makes me want to break things, and when I say things I mean anything! I would break almost anything to make this sound stop...an ipad, a Faberge egg, a priceless Van Gogh painting or an intact dinosaur egg. That sound is complaining. When my children (or anybody's children for that matter) go on a complaining binge it is like ice picks in my ears. Whether it's the piercing tone or the constant whining that embodies all compaint, it is a horrible thing for anyone to have to put up with.

When my kids complain, my response is to send them away. "You complaining? You're done. Go to your room. Do not pass go. Do not go to the bathroom. Do not get a drink of water. Do not take a breath of oxygen. Go directly to your room." To me, it is an undisciplined, ungrateful and selfish response to circumstances, and I won't tolerate it. But I do know someone who puts up with it.

I cry out to the Lord; I plead for the Lord’s mercy. I pour out my complaints before him and tell him all my troubles. When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn.
Psalm 142:1-3

God cares about the details of our lives. Not just the, "going to church, giving in the offering, not telling lies," details, but the nitty gritty, daily issues of life. God cares about your headache. God cares about the fact that you don't know if you can pay all your bills. God cares about your car that is barely running. In short, God cares about the things that affect you. And more than that, he wants you to bring those cares to him.

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
1 Peter 5:7

Sometimes when we approach God we come to him as if he is some angry being in the sky that we must appease with our polite contrition. We treat him like a rabbit in our back yard that we must approach very slowly and carefully because if we offend him he will dart off too quickly for us to catch. We see God as a petty being who won't give us what we want if we put him off in any way. Those views of God couldn't be any further from the truth. God cares about our problems and wants us to bring them to him. If we hurt, he wants us to tell him. If we are broken, he wants us to bring our brokenness to him. If we are angry at God and want to throw punches at him, he wants us to address it with him because he can take our punches and more.

God wants the real you. He doesn't want the job-interview you. He doesn't want the first-date you. He wants you...warts and all. So are there things in your life that you don't understand? Are there hurts that you are suffering? Are things just not going your way? Cast your burdens on Jesus because he loves you. And when you do, don't be surprised to find that God is in your corner.

Middle School Minotaur

2010-10-10T16:13:00.002-05:00

You just gotta love Jr. High students. They have the perfect balance of knowledge and personal restraint that create some great moments. One such moment happened today at Epic JV, our middle school service:

Teacher: Who knows what a mentor is?
Middle Schooler: Isn't that something from Greek mythology?
Teacher: No...that's a minotaur, a creature with a human body and the head of a bull. Although a minotaur mentor would be pretty sweet.

I talked to the Jr. High student later. He'd been reading the Percy Jackson books. It was a window into the middle school mind.

Abandoned?

2010-09-03T19:01:00.004-05:00

As I write this right now, one of my dear friends lies in a hospital bed. Last week she went in to see her doctor to have a sonogram to check on the health of her baby. There was no heartbeat. She is eight months pregnant.

Pause for a moment to let those last two sentences really sink in. I don't have to go into any more detail for you to feel the full weight of the pain and grief that go with those nine words. Terri and I grieve with her and her husband as they deliver a baby today that they cannot know this side of heaven. We grieve with them not only because we love them, but because we personally know their sorrow. On Christmas day of 2003 we had the first of two miscarriages.

This event in our lives opened up one of the darkest and most difficult struggles that I have had to face as I wrestled with this question: why did God let this happen to us? I ran all the explanations through my mind over and over, and nothing fit. There were those well meaning few who told us it happened so that God could use our story to help others, to which I thought, why not just stop it from happening to all of us in the first place? There were those who said there must have been something wrong with the pregnancy, to which I thought, why not just heal our child instead of letting her die? There were those who said that someday we would be able to look back and understand why it happened, to which I say very honestly...I still don't understand. I don't understand why we went through the pain of two miscarriages, and I don't think I ever will. But to get hung up on understanding why we go through difficult times would be to miss the point.

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief.
Psalm 22:1-2

This is the anguish of David poured out into words on a page. This is the sum of his pain and doubt boiled down into a brutally honest outburst to God. It is interesting how blunt this is. I have been begging you for help and you have been ignoring me. I know you can hear me but you choose not to come to my aid! The lesson of this passage is that when it comes to suffering, God does not expect us to censor our feelings with him. He does not require that we be politely resolved to devastating circumstances. God wants our honesty because he wants to share our pain. He wants to carry our burdens. The Holy Spirit's very nature is to comfort us when we are hurting. Does this help explain why we are walking through a valley? No, but it reveals something equally valuable to us. It reveals God's character.

Why is it so important that we understand God's character? The truth is that there are things that will happen in life that we may never understand. Our ability to fully understand the ways of life and the universe is like an ant's ability to understand particle physics. God's ways are so much higher than ours that we can never fully comprehend them. Complete understanding will always elude us. That is why it is imperative that we know God. When we know God's character, we can trust him to take care of us in every circumstance.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them...And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:28, 38-39
Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.
Deuteronomy 31:8
When you know that nothing in this universe could ever separate you from God's love, even though you may hurt, you can trust that love. When you know that God works everything out for the good of those who love him, even though you may never understand the purpose behind your suffering, you can trust his intentions. When you know that he will never abandon you, you can hurl all the fire of your anger and pain up to the heavens and know that God is big enough to take it and still carry the weight of all your sorrow and doubt. You can know that no matter how far away he may feel, he is right there with you because he promised never to abandon you. The doubt we feel when we are going through unbearable suffering will never change who he is. And who he is is a God who loves you more than anything in the universe.

As we prayed for our friends, memories of our loss came bubbling to the surface, and I can honestly say it doesn't hurt any less now than it did on Christmas day seven years ago. But God has drawn us so much closer to him that, even though the hurt is still there, I know his love is there even more. Just like his love is there for our friends who are suffering through the unimaginable right now.

Kindergarten Blues

2010-08-25T08:40:00.003-05:00

Do you know that kind of sick, sad feeling you get when your kids are really scared, upset or worried about something and there is nothing you can do about it? Today was Calvin's second full day of Kindergarten. When I asked him last night how his first day went, he said, "Awesome!" Then he did a little action dance with his fists pumping in the air. This morning I took him back and all of a sudden he couldn't let go of me. His eyes got all red with tears and his mouth turned down as he tried not to cry, telling me, "I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you to Calvin, but I'll see you as soon as school is over," I said.

He didn't miss a beat with his reply. "But I'm not going to get to sit by you." And the tears in his eyes swelled up into beads that threatened to roll out at any second. He lined up with his class, and I watched as he marched into the school using every bit of his willpower to keep himself from really crying. And I felt every bit of the anxiety that he felt - new kid, new school, new neighborhood.

I know that tonight he will tell me how much he loved school as he sits on my lap and gives me a trademarked Calvin "Huggy & Kissy." I also know that tomorrow morning we will carry the weight of his anxiety again. But it will be a little lighter.

Bullet Point Update

2010-08-17T15:18:00.008-05:00

My brain requires that data be aligned in a very organized fashion. I want my information to be clear, concise and to the point. I'm the guy who twirls his finger (Get to the point!) when a story goes too long. My motto is, "Efficiency or death (or at least mild discomfort)!" So, in the interest of effective communication I am going to sum up the last two months in a very efficient, very business like bullet-pointed report. Without further ado...

We moved from Lee's Summit, MO to Bloomington/Normal, IL.
The dog rode with me in the moving truck. No accidents, but lots of hair and licking.
We all spent the night packed into a smoky smelling hotel room that accepted pets. We learned that beggars can most definitely not be choosers. Echo, our dog, peed in front of the elevator on the second floor. Sorry, fellow travelers!
We unpacked the truck with the help of some wonderful new friends on a summer day that made me feel like I was wrapped in a hot towel all day. It may be great in first class on an international flight, but not when you're trying to pull a refrigerator up a flight of stairs.
We registered the kids at their new school. The girls are very excited. Calvin is very scared. Mark it down to Wii separation anxiety.
We went two weeks without the internet at home. I'm not going to lie...it was awful. How do the Amish live?!?
We spent some time missing our dear friends and family in Kansas City.
We started our new jobs. I work as the youth pastor at First Assembly of God and will be working with the staff to launch a second campus over the next two years. The team here is just amazing, and I can't believe how lucky I feel to be a part of it. Terri is working at Wilber & Associates (an incredible place to work!) in Banking and Support. What's interesting is that before we moved to Kansas City, she worked at the church while I worked at Wilber. It's like Freaky Friday except we aren't twins, we switched employers instead of bodies and Lindsay Lohan has absolutely nothing to do with it.
We are meeting wonderful new people and making some great new friends. Watch out Facebook...I'm about to blow you up!

In summary, we're back in Illinois and we love it. As our routines and schedules begin to solidify, life is beginning to settle into normalcy. It feels like home all over again.

PS. I have already mowed my yard here twice. Not bad. Not bad at all.

The Last Time

2010-07-13T14:15:00.006-05:00

I mowed my yard for the last time today. We are moving from Lee's Summit, MO to Bloomington/Normal, IL in ten days, and unless there is burst of radiation from space that causes my grass to grow at science fiction like levels, today will have been the last time I mow my yard in Lee's Summit. It will be the last time I pace the full breadth and width of the place that has been my home for the last four years, my feet falling into the familiar paths that I have paced behind my mower numerous times each summer. It will be the last time I look with pride on my yard after spending a few hours tending it, caring for it.

How strange that something so innocuous, something I have previously considered a chore, can carry so much emotion with it. As I walked I kept thinking, "This will be the last time I mow this yard." Over and over. And I wonder now about other things. Will this be the last time I close my gate? Will this be the last time my kids go down the playground slide? Will this be the last time I hear my neighbors across the way playing in their pool? Will this be the last time it rains while we live here?

Even as I ruminate on all this I realize that we can never know when our last times will be. Will this be the last time I kiss my children before they go to school? Will this be the last time I pray with a friend at church? Will this be the last time I rest my head on my pillow and drift to sleep? Thinking about these questions can't help but raise one more: Knowing every moment may be the last moment, am I satisfied with the moments I am living right now? Have I wrung all the joy and life and love out of every moment I find myself in?

Life can happen to us all in very unexpected ways. Today may be the last time you mow your yard.

Did You Ask First?

2010-07-04T00:04:00.004-05:00

Calvin walks out of the kitchen and passes me with his mouth full and his cheeks fully chipmunked. I stop him and ask him what he has in his mouth.

"Uh gunboo," he says. I see the pink orb in his mouth and, knowing there is a jar of them in the kitchen, I put two and two together to realize he is saying a gumball. At this point I slip fully into parent mode and say the words that every parent has said at least once (even though they may have sworn when they were younger that they would never say things like their parents).

"Did you ask first," I say.

He smiles and giggles and says, "Oops, I forgot." I smile and giggle because I can't stay mad at the kid, and we laugh together as he skips off to play Wii.

Did you ask first? It's a small question with big implications for us. In the Bible there are numerous examples of people who reacted and responded to a situation without asking God what they should do first, and the results were disastrous. In 1 Samuel 21 and 22, David was on the run from King Saul who was trying to kill him. Saul thought that David was trying to take his thrown and was immensely jealous of David's popularity with the people. David, who had always been so faithful to God, panicked and ran. He went to the priest, Ahimelech, to ask for his help, but lied about what he was doing. He told Ahimelech that he was on a mission that Saul had sent him on and asked for food and weaponry. When Saul found out that the Ahimelech had helped David, he sent his men to slaughter him and all the other priests in that town, 85 in all. He then ordered his men to kill all of their families as well, wives and children. Hundreds of people died that day because of what David did.

David's mistake was in not seeking God's help and guidance first, and it led to a series of bad judgments that cost many lives. If he had paused, taken a breath and asked God what he should do, God would have led him to a totally different course that would have spared many people a great deal of pain. A good friend of mine just told me that God doesn't push, he leads. Those times when we feel pressure to quickly respond to our circumstances, when we feel backed into a corner, those are the very times that we need to ask God for his help the most. Those are the times when we need to ask what he wants us to do instead of responding with our first instinctive reaction (which are usually the most selfish and damaging). No matter what we face, we must always ask God how he wants us to respond first. The Bible assures us that when we ask he will answer.

One Hundred Pieces Bad

2010-06-28T20:42:00.004-05:00

My son, Calvin, has a knack for putting words together. He has been talking non-stop about how his fifth birthday is "coming on," and keeps referring to himself in the third person as "Calvie." I find myself unable to keep these quotes to myself, so here is the most recent gem he gave us at a restaurant the other day.

Calvin: Daddy?
Me: What do you need, Calvin?
Calvin: I need to go to the bathroom.
Me: Can you wait for just a minute?
Calvin: I can't. I have to go really bad. I have to go one hundred pieces bad!

He wasn't kidding...

Melatonin

2010-06-26T23:16:00.002-05:00

We bought a sixty dollar swimming pool for the kids this year at Aldis. Yes, you can buy swimming pools at Aldis. You can buy almost anything at Aldis depending on how stocked they are, but I digress...(we love Aldis). It sits in the back yard atop a ten foot diameter circle of dead, brown grass, and my children have been in it every day this week. Even though it only fills up to about two feet deep, I have enjoyed it too. Blow-up rafts float just as well in a kiddie pool as they do in the ocean and are just as relaxing.

Having spent so much time in the sun, my kids are all nicely tanned. Chemically, the sun reacts with their bodies releasing melatonin which turns the skin to a golden brown. Melatonin also regulates the circadian rhythms of the body which make you sleep well and feel rested and happy. In short, being tan makes you happy, and it is the work of melatonin inside your body that makes you tan. That's why you come out of the tanning bed after ten minutes of relaxation feeling like a million bucks. Melatonin...it's at work in your body to make you feel better.But it's not the only thing at work in you.

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Philippians 2:13

We go through life almost completely unaware of the chemical elements working inside of us, regulating our internal systems and keeping us going, but we must never forget that there is another force at work within us. This force is not focused on helping us sleep better or making us feel good. This force is not designed to fight off disease or make our hair and nails grow fast. It is the force of God's love working inside of us, giving us the power to do what we could never do on our own - live a life that is totally pleasing to him. This may sound like a condemnation to some, that it's impossible to live in a way that would satisfy God's perfect nature. Rather, it's a huge relief! Even though we are imperfect, God's power works within us to make it possible to live a life that will make him happy and bring him joy.

We could never make ourselves spiritually tan, but God is working in you and me to do just that. And who doesn't love being tan?

Eating An Elephant

2010-06-22T12:03:00.002-05:00

Packing up your house to move is like eating an elephant. It's just so huge that you gotta tackle it, but where do you start? Do you start with the big meaty parts to get them out of the way, or is it a better strategy to start with the trunk and work your way back so you can really see your progress? Do you start packing up the rooms where you don't really spend that much time, or do you get rid of the stuff that you never use in the rooms that you spend the most time in? Do you start boxing things you might need, or keep them in tidy piles around the house so you can access them if necessary? I think I'd rather just be eating twinkies than an elephant anyway.

Four Great Years

2010-06-15T19:23:00.002-05:00

Four years ago, almost to the day, Terri and I, along with our children, followed the call of God to go into ministry for the first time at Eagle Creek Church in Lee's Summit, MO. Without question, it has been the most rewarding four years of our lives. God has given us relationships that have blessed us beyond measure and has changed us dramatically as we have leaned on him for our strength.

It was with deep regret that four years after our first Sunday at Eagle Creek I tendered my resignation as worship pastor. When we started our ministry journey here we trusted that God would lead us and equip us for every future challenge, and we continue to do so today as we look forward to where he is going to lead us next in our journey with him.

We know he will continue to bless and grow Eagle Creek, and our desire, greater than any other, is that those of you who are part of the church will continue to seek him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. It has been our deepest honor to serve you and we will never forget what this church has meant to us.

My Paycheck

2010-05-14T08:45:00.003-05:00

The other day as I was sitting at the table eating dinner with my family, I realized how incredibly blessed I am. I have the most lovely and dedicated wife. She loves me to a fault and works hard to support me any way that she can. My kids are just a delight. Whether I am getting caught up in just how beautiful they are or trying not to choke with laughter at something funny they just did or said, they never cease to bring me joy. I realize that, at the end of the day, my family is my paycheck. My treasure in life is the four people who sit around the table with me every night. The four people who I would give anything to be closer to. They are my reward.
How joyful are those who fear the Lord—
all who follow his ways!
You will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
How joyful and prosperous you will be!
Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine,
flourishing within your home.
Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees
as they sit around your table.
That is the Lord’s blessing
for those who fear him.
Psalm 128:1-4

All you need is...

2010-05-11T08:21:00.002-05:00

Love. It is such a beautiful word. It contains within it the hope all of us have to experience a deep connection with someone in this life. Love is something that we reserve for those who are the closest to us, our family and friends. We keep the word to ourselves until we know that it is ready to be fully unleashed, because once that tiger is out of the cage there is no getting it back in. It's a strong word. Ever been in this conversation?

Jill: Jack, I want to tell you something.
Jack: What's that, Jill?
Jill: We have been seeing each other for a few months, and I wanted you to know that I love you.
Jack: (about 10 seconds of silence) Wow, that's really sweet. Thank you.

We all know that this very brief conversation led to at least three hours of Jack trying to console Jill who is alternately crying, screaming and slapping. Love is a very powerful thing. It's no wonder that we reserve it for those who we think we can trust with it. But is that enough?

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Matthew 5:44

In Jesus' own words, the Bible tells us that we are supposed to share this precious commodity with the people who hate us. The people who are rude, cruel, insensitive, unappreciative, hostile, selfish and careless towards us. The people who hurt us and keep hurting us. The people who use us and abuse us. That's a tall order, but it's not debatable. There's another side to it as well.

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
1 John 4:7-8

Loving others is not just a command, it comes with a promise. If you love others you will know God, because love comes from him. If you lack love for others, you cannot know God. Lovelessness will create a wall between you and God that keeps you from growing close to him because it is so contrary to his very nature. And yet, if you can love selflessly and unconditionally it will draw you closer to him.

If you want to know God more, who do you need to love more? Who do you need to forgive? Who do you need to release from your anger, bitterness and resentment? Love comes from God. What better way to get closer to him?

Something I'm reading

2010-05-05T10:05:00.002-05:00

Admittedly, I didn't know a lot about the emergent church (or the emerging movement). It is in many ways a reaction to what they would describe as the bloated and shallow, seeker friendly megachurches and the politically charged conservative Christian movement. Whether you agree with the emergent church on this opinion or not, they are gaining followers among the young and disenfranchised all over the western world.

Set up as a biblically based, theological response to the published writings of emerging leaders and writers like Rob Bell, Tony Campolo and Erwin McManus, it is both an eye opening look at a new movement in the modern (or post-modern) church and a call to biblically correct belief. If you are interested in the emerging movement, whether you know very little about it or a lot, this book is definitely worth a read.

If You Have Two Minutes

2010-04-08T17:42:00.004-05:00

If you have two minutes to spare, this is worth a watch.

Busted Van and Bank Account

2010-04-08T14:30:00.003-05:00

Terri called me yesterday, very upset. The power steering in the mini-van went out, and we took it to the shop to get fixed. I expected to have to pay a few hundred bucks for a pump or belt replacement. They replaced the pump and realized that the rack and pinion system (don't ask me) was bad. If we didn't fix that, the new pump they had put in would be ruined in a matter of months. The grand total...$1100.

Contrary to the jetsetting image I tend to portray, we do not sleep on a mattress stuffed with hundred dollar bills. With our emergency fund completely drained and beyond, we are feeling the pressure of being seriously broke. But you know, it's not a big deal...

Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear."
Hebrews 13:5-6

I've always thought the "I'll never leave you or forsake you," verse was pretty cool; a remarkable promise from God that he is always with us and will never leave us on our own. It takes on a whole new meaning when read in its actual context. God is always with us, but this verse is talking specifically about money. When it comes to money and our needs, God will never abandon us. If we serve God, we don't need to have any fear that we will be okay, no matter how broke we may be. God will never fail to meet our needs. He promised it. And a promise from God is something you can really take to the bank.

Have a Bad Week for Easter

2010-04-03T17:11:00.003-05:00

It has simply been a terrible week. Without going into detail, I can tell you that if I had the ability to go back in time like Doc Brown and warn myself about the week I was about to face, I would tell myself to dig a hole, crawl in and wait it out. At least I would have until God, as usual, spoke to me out of his word. I have been studying the book of Hebrews lately, and at the pinnacle of awfulness that was the last several days I ended up in Hebrews chapter 12.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.
Hebrews 12:1-4

Starting a holiday weekend after experiencing a terrible week seemed at first like a raw deal, but going into Good Friday at the bottom of the barrel was exactly where God wanted me. Of all the things in this life that have the potential to grind me down bit by bit, the pains, humiliations and hurts I must suffer, nothing could ever compare to the suffering that Jesus endured on my behalf. All of the hard and unfair words that are thrown my way combined could never add up to the derision that Jesus faced for me. None of the powerlessness that I feel in the face of overwhelming circumstances could ever measure up to the powerlessness Jesus must have felt at the hands of those he freely handed himself over to, those who tortured him, shamed him and took his life. But Jesus faced it knowing that God's purpose for his life was being fulfilled, that through him we could have life.

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave...
Philippians 2:5-7

He gave up his divine right to not suffer. He voluntarily let go of his privilege as God to never have to be subservient to anyone and became a slave. He entered into his suffering with both eyes wide open to offer us a way into a perfect relationship with God.

Going into Easter weekend on the back of a terrible week is, for me, perfectly appropriate. To remember Christ's suffering while in the midst of my own, completely aware that mine is no measure of his, is a stark reminder of just how much he went through for his love of me. For his love of you.

So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.
Hebrews 12:12-13

May my suffering make me more perfect even as his suffering has. May the trials we face bring us closer to the cross, step by step, even as the path he walked did the same. May we celebrate the perfect gift of his suffering, and remember it best by enduring it just as he did. When we do, we become like him. When we do, our path and the path of Christ will converge. There is no better place to be.

Who's Your Waitress?

2010-03-31T15:09:00.003-05:00

I know that waitress is kind of a loaded term, but "server" didn't quite have the same pizazz when plugged into the title of this post. Regardless, the question is still a good one. When you sit down at a restaurant to enjoy a nice meal, who is taking care of you? What are they like? Are they happy? Are they going through something difficult? Are they in need?

Over a month ago, Terri, the kids and I were eating at one of our favorite restaurants (and by favorite I mean a restaurant where kids eat free at night). Our server was a girl who looked completely familiar to us. After chatting with her a bit it became obvious we had never met, but we had a nice talk. When it was time to pay the bill, Terri and I looked at each other knowing that we had to do something special.

You see, God dropped her right on our hearts. Over the course of our conversation, she told us that she normally doesn't work nights and it was just dumb luck that she helped us that night. Dumb luck or divine providence. We clearly felt God leading us to reach out to her, so we gave her a huge tip (mandatory if you are trying to share Christ with your server, and just a good practice as a Christian in general) and left her a note with our contact info inviting her to church. Before we left, Terri personally invited her to Eagle Creek and told her we were looking forward to seeing her again.

Last week, we went back and asked to be seated in her section. She remembered us and was very friendly. We asked how she was doing and talked about what was going on in her life. Then she told us that she had something to show us. She opened up her little book, rifled through the pages of receipts and order slips and from the back of the stack pulled out the little note we had left her. She had kept it.

She hasn't come to church with us yet, but we are hoping that Easter Sunday is the day. We look forward to taking her out to lunch afterward and seeing what God is doing in her heart. He has a plan for her, and he chose to use us to draw her to him. It is both a huge responsibility and very humbling, and we have been praying that God gets ahold of her the way he has gotten ahold of us and changes her life.

Next time you go out to eat, think about the people who are taking care of you. God may be asking you to take care of them.

Forgotten God

2010-03-29T20:41:00.000-05:00

I have been reading a great book that I recommend to anyone who wants to know God better. It is specifically about the Holy Spirit - who he is, what he does and how he works in our lives. Definitely worth the read...

Joan Jett Said It Best

2010-03-29T08:15:00.002-05:00

Joan Jett, the rock and roll icon known best for her absolutely awful 80's hair, said it best when she sung, "I love rock and roll!" It's true...I do. I love it! Music has always been very important to me and I enjoy a wide range of styles (kind of a music snob). Even though there are many styles that just don't do it for me (country), I can appreciate everything from jazz to bluegrass (light on the bluegrass). But there is one style that never leaves me cold.

If music were a recipe, my favorite dish would consist of the following ingredients: electric guitar, bass guitar, drums and another electric guitar for taste. Toss in handful of good songs and a dash of reckless energy, stir and serve. Be aware, at this point, the dish may be a little unstable. That is just fine. The more stable this dish is, the less fun it is. It is also very important that it be served at the correct volume. It will be most enjoyed at a volume of eleven, but anything over eight is acceptable. If consumed at any level less than eight, the spice will not come through and the intended flavor will not be appreciated.

Remember, all rock and roll is best consumed fresh from it's original source in album format. Everyone knows that a sandwich from a vending machine is not as good as a sandwich that is freshly prepared. Music is the same. Rock and roll taken from sources such as movie soundtracks, WOW samplers, and American Idol may be improperly prepared and can be far past its expiration date. If consumed from sources that are not trustworthy, you run the risk of ruining the potency of rock and roll in your life forever. You must be able to trust your chef!

In the immortal words of Brian Johnson, "For those about to rock, we salute you."

You Can't Kiss It

2010-03-26T18:00:00.004-05:00

I hear a loud thump coming from the bathroom, and, knowing that Calvin (my four year old) is in there, I run to see what happened. The following is a word for word re-enactment of what came next.

Me: (Seeing Calvin laying on the floor with his pants around his ankles with a cry-face on) Calvin, what happened?

Calvin: I was going to the bathroom and I slipped and fell down.

Me: Are you okay?

Calvin: I hurt my bottom...but you can't kiss it.

Weezer and Beer

2010-03-23T10:01:00.004-05:00

Sometimes when I am driving I like to put the iPod on shuffle and just see what happens. I have more than 4000 songs in there so every once it a while it feels good to be surprised by a song that I haven't heard in a while. Sometimes I get surprised by a song I didn't even know I had or have never heard. Often I'll hear a song that hits me just right. Yesterday was one of those days.

I had to make a thirty minute drive and needed some unexpected music, so I flipped the iPod to shuffle and got on the road. It was a great trip because every song that came on just happened to be a really good one (yes I have crummy songs on my iPod). The highlight came when Say It Ain't So by Weezer came on. I love Weezer. One of the main reasons I love them is that their lyrics are so real and raw. Rivers Cuomo, the lead singer and primary songwriter, is so transparent in his lyrics that it feels like I'm reading a page out of his very private journal. There is nothing more powerful to me than a song that can transport me into the very heart of an artist, and Say It Ain't So is one of those songs.

It is a song about being raised in the home of an alcoholic step-father and is brutally raw. I found myself getting completely absorbed in the song, almost as if it were the first time I was hearing it, and what I heard was terribly sad:

Dear daddy, I write you in spite of years of silence
You've cleaned up, found Jesus
Things are good so I hear
This bottle of Stevens awakens ancient demons
Like father, step-father
The son is drowning in the flood

Ephesians 5:18 says, "Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life." That is a clear command not to be drunk. Many Christians make the case that alcohol is okay as long as you are not getting drunk. If you are not out of control, it is okay in moderation. That is a legitimate and detailed argument that I cannot punch any holes in, but a friend once made an argument that carried more weight with me.

He was raised in a home where both parents were alcoholics. In explaining his childhood, he described drinking binges happening late into the night. He described cleaning up empty bottles and vomit while his mother lay passed out on the couch until late in the afternoon. He described the pressure he felt trying taking care of his alcoholic mother while still getting ready for elementary school every day. After painting this picture of his childhood, he said, "I've seen the damage that alcohol can cause in a family. I've seen the incredible pain it can cause. Knowing that there are other people out there like me who have suffered under the chaos alcohol can create, how could I possibly tell anyone that alcohol is okay? How could I possibly tell someone who went through what I went through that it is okay?"

Alcohol has a reach that extends beyond those who drink it. It is a thief that perpetually robs the families of those who get trapped in its grasp. How long can a person play with fire and not get burned? How long can a person play with fire without his children thinking it is safe for them to play with it?

Say it ain't so...

Wolfman and Me

2010-03-15T14:53:00.004-05:00

Thought I would make a quick video to share a an old friend with the world.

My Work and My Heart

2010-03-10T16:06:00.007-06:00

I recently came across a quote from Leonardo da Vinci that stuck with me in a profound way. To call it just a quote is probably not to do it justice, because it is actually the last thing he said as he lay on his death bed.

I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.
~~ Leonardo da Vinci, d. 1519

At the age of 67, da Vinci died one of the most accomplished painters, scientists, inventors and engineers of his era. His art portfolio still contains some of the most valuable and well known paintings and sketches in the world, and he was such a forward thinking inventor that relatively few of his designs were constructed or even feasible during his lifetime. His artistic ability and scientific curiosity made him one of the most capable minds in anatomy, sketching diagrams of the human body that had never been mapped before.

In spite of all of these accomplishments, he carried into the afterlife regret that his work did not achieved the level of excellence he expected of himself. I agree with him. Not about his own work, but about my own. I am my own worst critic and am driven by the desire to constantly reach for and achieve the best in all I do.

I admit that in the past this has been a negative in my life, leaving me dissatisfied and always unhappy with the product of my work. It was a driving force that had no finish line. At what point do you know you have reached your best? It's subjective at best, even if you don't weigh in the fact that it's nearly impossible to effectively judge yourself. I kept pushing and pushing myself to accomplish the impossible - satisfying my own high expectations. That is until this verse from the Bible firmly got ahold of me:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.
Colossians 3:23

I may never be able to create the ultimate product that I really want, whether it be a song or a spreadsheet, but I can work at it with all my heart, seeking to honor God by giving him my best effort. Satisfying my expectations is no longer the goal. Pleasing God with the heart behind my work is.

The beauty is that, just like da Vinci, I am not off the hook when it comes to striving to be my best. My responsibility to grow and improve in the gifts God has given me is even greater because it is in the service of one far greater than myself. How could I possibly work as though I were working for the Lord and not put all my effort into it? How could I present something to God that I didn't practice, prepare and plan for? It would be an insult to God and the gifts he has given me.

Ultimately, no matter what I create, make, design or execute, I am not building a work product. I am building my own heart.

Favorite Things

2010-02-09T17:13:00.003-06:00

My daughter Cameron wrote a poem for the Young Authors program in the Lee's Summit school district. She didn't win (boo), but advanced pretty far with her poem, and I figured that it deserved some broader attention. Watch your back, Maya Angelou.

Favorite Things
by Cameron Shandrow

Smoothies with juice
Soft fur on kittens
Beautiful seashells
New furry mittens
Sleeping on days off
With very good dreams
These are a few
Of my favorite things

My very nice teacher
Hannah Montana
Cuddling with dad
Eating a banana
The moon above
And the stars when they sing
These are a few
Of my favorite things

How Super Mario Taught Me to Love Better

2010-02-04T16:08:00.002-06:00

I was so excited to bring home the exciting new purchase I had made for the kids, Super Mario Brothers Wii. They loved the very physical games like Wii Sports and Wii fit, but I wanted to bring them into my video game world...and by "my video game world," I mean an old video game world. It's a world where you only go forward and backwards, a world of Pac Man and Frogger. There are only two flat dimensions, I need no third. It's a world of video games where you cannot get lost. If you keep on moving you will eventually reach the end.

I was really excited about the fact that four of us could play the game all at the same time. At least I was until we started playing. At first it was a lot of fun, knocking into each other while we figured out how to play the game together, but as we began to conquer levels I got more serious about beating the game.

I am an impossibly competitive person. When it all boils down, fun is fun and competition is competition. The idea of leading my family to an ultimate Super Mario victory felt so good, but the reality was that my kids kept killing me. Over and over again they would send me to my doom by pushing me over cliffs, knocking me into balls of fire or bouncing me into spiky shelled turtles. It was more manslaughter or negligent homicide than murder because it was all accidental, but the result was all the same: I started getting really frustrated.

Imagine being so frustrated at repeatedly losing that all you want to do is throw a brick through the tv screen and you will have a taste of how annoyed I was at constantly dying. My thumb started hurting as my grip on the controller tightened more and more. I started plotting how to send the kids to bed early so I could come down to the basement and beat this level by myself without having to work around them.

The next morning, still smarting from my losses, God showed me something in the Bible that all competitive Wii players should take to heart:

Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each others faults because of your love.
Ephesians 4:2

In this world we all deal with frustrating circumstances. We have to put up with people who do things that are annoying and irritating, things that make no sense to us. Terri and I have a saying - "People are crazy." Not just some people, ALL PEOPLE. If you are reading this, you have some crazy in you. We are all crazy in different ways, and some of us more so than others, but everyone has little things about them that bug someone else. Our responsibility in a world full of crazy people is to be patient with each other, remember that we are crazy too and to always extend grace to those who are grinding our gears.

Even if they keep bumping you into man eating plants that periodically come up out of plumbing pipes looking for something to eat.

Burger Plant

2010-01-30T16:34:00.002-06:00

Mondays are my day off, and while Cameron and Trinity are at school (2nd grade and kindergarten) we like to take Calvin (4) out to do fun stuff. For Calvin, fun is going to the Burger King that has the newest and nicest playground.

This part is actually not relevant to the story, but as an aside I need to tell you my problems with Burger King. The food is fine, fast food grade fare, but their beverage selection stinks. Diet Coke is the only drink for those of us who prefer a sugar free beverage. I'd go for iced tea, but it's the syrup kind instead of fresh brewed, and that's just an abomination. This last little thought is just a window into my mind, and it's inclusion is not intended to make me look old or crotchety in any way, shape or form.

So we are sitting in Burger King enjoying our Whoppers when the following conversation transpires:

Me: Calvin, what are you doing?

Calvin: (Removing the sesame seeds from his bun) I'm taking these things off my burger. Can you help me?

Me: It will probably take a long time to take them all off, and you won't have much bun left. Why don't you just eat what you have there.

(Calvin continues picking off the seeds and stacking them into a little pile)

Me: What are you doing with those?

Calvin: I'm going to save these so we can put them in the ground in our yard.

Me: What do you think will happen if we do that?

Calvin: I'll put them in the ground in our yard and then a burger plant will grow and we can have burgers all the time.

World hunger...solved by a four year old.

The Box in the Entryway

2010-01-13T08:40:00.004-06:00

I like to think that I am usually on the right side of things. When it comes to making a decision or resolving some conflict, I like to believe that I do everything the right way; that I live my life acting the way God would want me to - that my choices, preferences and judgments are the same as his. I like to believe that I live a life being led by God rather than being led by my more selfish and unflattering nature. We all want to see the best in ourselves, believing that we are living at the highest standard we can. But human nature is a tricky beast.

Last week I set up a new bunkbed for my girls. It came in a long 2 foot by 7 foot box separated into its individual components. Being an incredibly adept male I put it together with as little intrusion from the instructions as possible. In the process I had to disassemble their old beds and put some of the old supporting boards into the empty box to take to the trash. When we lived in Normal, IL, you could put anything on the curb for the garbage guys and they would take it - boards, boxes, old dishwashers...you name it. It was an amazing and enlightened time. In Lee's Summit, MO, they have no such garbage courtesy. You pay extra for the pickup of anything that does not fit in a trash can. Not wanting to pay nearly $40 to drop a long box of boards and styrofoam on my own curb, I left it by the door in the entryway of my house until I could find someone with a truck I could borrow to take it out to the dump.

You all know how this story ends. The box is still sitting in my entryway, resting in the same spot it has for the last eight days. Somehow it is easy for us to get so used to the messes in our lives that we don't even realize they are there anymore. We all want to think that we are living right, making good choices, but are we? Or are we just gazing past clutter that we have grown accustomed to?

The Bible, in the book of Galatians, has a great way to diagnose whether or not we are really doing as well as we think we are by pointing out the results that we will see in our lives when we live a certain way. Here's the bad news:

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.
Galatians 5:19-21

I'm willing to bet that you are no sorcerer, but when is the last time you got into a stupid argument with someone? Maybe you aren't likely to be found drunk at a crazy party, but you are quick to lose your temper. Maybe you are reading this thinking how stupid I am because everyone else is always wrong. If there is something on this list that describes you, it means that you are following the worst part of your nature instead of following God. It's pretty eye opening isn't it? I mean, we're not talking about murder and theft here...we're talking about anger, jealousy and division. If you can see these things in your relationships, it's time to reset your moral compass.

Here's the good news:

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Galatians 5:22-23

There is also a benchmark to know if you really are doing as well as you think. And not only is it a benchmark, it's a promise. If you live your life led by God, you will experience real love, joy, peace and all of the above. These things are not just identifiers of whether or not you are living right, but they are guaranteed results if you follow God. Are you in need of some peace in the chaos around you? Are you struggling with something and need more self-control? Do you want to wake up every morning feeling true and genuine joy? Where God leads, these things follow.

The Secret of Happiness

2009-12-02T08:41:00.004-06:00

Where were you on July 17, 2009? What was your attitude like? Were you grumpy? Were you irritated? Were you frustrated and angry? If so, you were missing out on what that day was all about. The 17th of July was the first annual Global Day of Happiness according to a proclamation signed by the mayor of Durham, NC. Urging people to observe the holiday, the proclamation says that the day 'will help recognize simple pleasures, like a smile -- the more in tune with one's happiness, the more one is inspired to commit good deeds.' It adds that 'mental health is a worldwide issue, and happiness increases confidence, and self-esteem -- which leads to success, and a healthy lifestyle.'

Problem solved! Moving on to world hunger...oh, wait. You aren't completely satisfied that creating a Global Day of Happiness is enough to overcome frustration, sadness and depression? You are a cynic, aren't you? Join the club. I admire the attempt to try and spread some joy in the world, but is pasting a smile on our faces really the key to happiness and contentment in life, as if our attitudes must somehow follow the structures of our facial muscles? I've known too many people who can smile through the pain to believe that. Sure, it's great to recognize and celebrate happiness, but where are we supposed to find it?

Happy are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Happy are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths.
Psalm 119:1-3 NLT

The Bible sums up the secret of happiness for us in three verses. It's not complex or overstated. It doesn't require a master's degree to understand. There are not a series of vague exercises to implement. Simply search for God with all you have and follow him. That's it. Happiness equals that. Interestingly, it doesn't say 'happy are those who find God.' All we have to do is stay on the search.

Do this...peer through the lies that we tell ourselves about what will make our lives complete, look at yourself honestly and ask yourself this question: Am I truly happy? Or you could ask yourself this: Am I truly searching for God with all my heart? Ultimately it's the same question.

Appropriate Proposal Response?

2009-11-26T19:42:00.002-06:00

My four year old son Calvin takes marriage very seriously. He thinks the guy should traditionally be the one to propose to the lady. Hence the following conversation he was overheard having with one of his sister's friends...

Little Girl: I think I'm going to marry Calvin.

Calvin: I think I'm going to punch you in the face.

He's a born romantic.

Personal Awesome Code

2009-11-24T17:18:00.004-06:00

I want to start a new system of inter-personal recognition. The social security number is so two thousand and late. I want something that is a little more cutting edge and aggressive, something that has power and heft. To that end I have created the Personal Awesome Code. It is a twelve digit combination of numbers and letters that is generated by putting down the caps lock key, blindly smashing your computer keyboard and pulling out the first twelve characters. Voila...your PAC is official! Here is mine.

RNNUH7XGATUF

I would love to see this sweep the US like a viral video of a baby calling out state capitals, so please comment with your PAC. Let's change America!

PS - I'm going to email this to President Obama. I hear he has a blackberry, so it should be no time before this is being rolled out.

Frigid Dreadplate: Maxed Out

2009-11-04T09:35:00.009-06:00

I am fascinated by World of Warcraft. It is literally a world that exists within the world. In fact it's existence is so formidable that the World (of Warcraft) is more real the the world (of reality) for a lot of people. I have never played the game (apologies to those I offended by calling it a game - it's a lifestyle), and probably won't because I am very soft and get motion sick when I play video games (I will whip you in foosball, though), but I am amazed by it. Why, you ask? Let me break it down for you.

1. Any game that can get a person to spend more time on their computer than most people spend at their full time job has accomplished an amazing feat. I mean, when Dr. Phil has an episode about a guy who is driving his family to bankruptcy because he spends more time in the World (of Warcraft) than he does trying to get a job to feed his kids, you know that your game wields the power of the ages. I personally know people who can play for at least 12 hours a day non-stop (except to use the bathroom...I hope). Every day! Wow...or WoW, if you prefer.

2. The World (of Warcraft) has created a whole new language. I could sit and listen to people talk in WoW-speak all day long and never get tired of it. It is meaningless to me, but just as cute and fun as listening to baby talk (when a baby tries to speak, not when an adult is talking nonsense to baby). Here is a video made by a dear friend of mine who is high in the hierarchy of the World (of Warcraft). You cannot be mad when you watch this! I could be having the worst day ever, play this video and immediately feel better. Hearing a person talk about Blood of the North as seriously as if they were talking about their college degree is just a delight...

(here is the link if you can't see the video embed below: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXtcXyRo3eE)

3. The World (of Warcraft) has surpassed the bonds of regional friendship and created a new super-friend. An Uber-Friend, if you will. This new relationship is forged in the fires of combat. It is a bond created and strengthened in a way that could only happen under the constant pressure of battle. This new friend is called a Guild Mate. Closer than a brother, your Guild Mates will always be there for you, defending you on your raids and quests, guarding your back and DPSing for you all day (I'm still not sure what that means exactly, but I think DPS is my all time favorite World (of Warcraft (yes I just used parentheses within parentheses - you'll figure it out)) slang). That is unless they get grounded by their mom.

I finish with this - I know that I will never fully understand this World (of Warcraft). It is beyond my ability to fully comprehend. I can understand getting lost in the world (not of Warcraft) of a great book, but a book has an end. The World (of Warcraft) goes on forever. There is always a dragon to kill, some gold to get or a quest to take on. I'm glad my WoW friends have a place where they can go to have fun and excel at something they are really good at. I just pray that they don't get lost in the Dark Wood of Crogdor (I just made that up) forever. The world (of reality) would definitely be a better place if they spent a little more time here with us.

Wisdom On Backorder

2009-10-22T08:44:00.005-05:00

Daniel was an Israelite slave in training in Babylon nearly 2500 years ago. He had been a well-off teenager of noble birth in the upper class of Jewish society when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, swept into Israel, defeated them and took their king and many of noble birth back to his capital. Daniel was one of the best and brightest of the Israelite captives and was chosen to be a slave trained for service in the king's palace.

Several months after the defeat of Israel, Nebuchadnezzar had a really bad dream. He called in all of his advisors and magicians to try and make some sense of it, but the dream was so bad that he was not going to take any chances that his people would give him bad info. So instead of just asking them to interpret his dream and tell him what it meant, he commanded that they tell him what he had dreamed first. They freaked out because they knew that it was impossible to read the king's mind and tell him what he had dreamt, and they told him that. Nebuchadnezzar said, "Okay, but if you can't tell me my dream I'm going to have you and every other wise man, magician and advisor killed."

This was bad news for Daniel, because he was in training under the kings advisors and as a result fell under the execution decree...

Daniel 2:14-16 - When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, came to kill them, Daniel handled the situation with wisdom and discretion. He asked Arioch, “Why has the king issued such a harsh decree?” So Arioch told him all that had happened. Daniel went at once to see the king and requested more time to tell the king what the dream meant.

Daniel had no way of knowing this situation was coming. If anything, he probably thought that things could not get any worse after being kidnapped, separated from his family and made a slave; but the Bible tells us that when the commander of the king's guard came to kill Daniel, Daniel handled the situation with wisdom and discretion. Why is that such a big deal?

Daniel 2:20-21 - Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power. He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars.

Daniel was not just smarter than everyone else. He wasn't necessarily the most capable guy in the room. In this last verse, Daniel is thanking God for bringing him through this situation, and it shows us one thing that Daniel understood – his wisdom came from God. The discretion and wisdom that literally saved Daniel's life when Arioch came looking for him was not a result of reading a lot of books, studying hard or just having a sharp mind. It was given to him by God because Daniel sought him.

And Daniel had a lifestyle of seeking God. Before there even was a problem, Daniel was seeking God – and not just for help, but because he wanted to know him more. When you habitually seek God, when you spend reading his word and talking to him, you are laying the groundwork for him to work in incredible ways in your future – in situations that you don’t even know are coming but that he does. The time you spend with God today, the prayers you send up now are unleashing God's power to go ahead of you into your future where it will meet you when you need it. When you seek God today, you are making payments on a divine insurance policy that will cover you when times of crisis come.

What is the moral of this story? Seek God. Learn about God. Talk to God. Spend time with God. The secret to Daniel’s success throughout his entire life is that he spent time on his relationship with God first, and it made all the difference for him. It will make all the difference for you too.

The Greatest Shirt in the World

2009-10-06T15:36:00.002-05:00

My son Calvin has the greatest shirt in the world. How do I know this? He told me...

"Daddy,do you like my shirt," he asked while pulling the red t-shirt with the motorcycle on it out from his chest.

"Sure, it's really cool," I replied. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah. When I wear it, it makes me run really faster. And it makes me pedal really fast too."

I knew two things after our conversation. One: my son is totally and completely awesome. Two: I have to figure out how to invent a shirt that has magical properties. Imagine a shirt that not only makes you run faster, but will help you fit a full work or school day into 60 minutes.

Calvin is a genius.

Not According to Plan

2009-09-17T17:31:00.003-05:00

Today did not go the way I expected it to. I thought my day would be spent writing very effectively and efficiently in the morning and shooting a video in the afternoon. In the plan I had in my mind, everything would be executed perfectly. It didn't happen.

As I wrote, the words came as easily as punching a hole through a brick wall. It was as if I couldn't put a single coherent thought together. The day progressed and problems presented themselves one after the other, completely distracting me from the plan I had so diligently made this morning. Nothing was working the way I had expected, and by the time I got home tonight I felt like a flaming ball of frustration. My day felt like a complete waste.

Then I remembered something I read first thing this morning:

We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.
Proverbs 16:9

I read it again this evening as I sat in my bedroom trying to decompress, and I realized this - my day didn't go as I had planned it, but it went exactly the way God wanted it to. This was very freeing for me. So what if everything I wrote was worthless. So what if I don't feel like I accomplished all that I felt I needed to. God determined my steps today, and that's exactly where I want to be.

Froginson Crusoe

2009-09-09T14:57:00.006-05:00

It happened again. We went to McDonalds for a Labor Day lunch. After we ate we walked out to the car where I beheld a sight that I thought I would never see again. There was a tree frog sitting on the windshield of the car next to mine. Did you get that? THERE WAS A TREE FROG SITTING ON A CAR! Again!!

To catch up on why this is so remarkable, click here for one of my prior blog posts.

I can't say that I have ever won anything big in my life. I never win drawings or raffles of any kind. I have no first place trophies on my walls. Most people know me by the quiet and fairly average life that I lead. But for some reason, God has chosen me to be the guy who keeps finding tree frogs on cars in random, non-forest related places. What am I supposed to takeaway from all of this? Please, if you read this blog, post a response if you have an idea. Any idea works! Maybe I'm supposed to be a herpetologist. Maybe I'm wrong and these guys live all over Missouri. Someone, please just help me!

Here's the actual picture...

You Might Be Lazy If...

2009-09-08T21:17:00.001-05:00

We have all heard of Jeff Foxworthy. You know - you might be a redneck if… Well, according to the book of Proverbs, you might be lazy if…

You hate work.

Proverbs 21:25 - Despite their desires, the lazy will come to ruin, for their hands refuse to work.

You love sleep.

Proverbs 26:24 - As a door swings back and forth on its hinges, so the lazy person turns over in bed.

This one is a no brainer. Loving sleep does not necessarily make you a lazy person, but – come on people, where there’s smoke there’s fire.

You are full of excuses.

Proverbs 26:13 - The lazy person claims, “There’s a lion on the road! Yes, I’m sure there’s a lion out there!”

Ever know someone who always had an excuse? I can’t mow because of my allergies. I can’t get a job because I have to focus on my schoolwork. I can't keep a job because my bosses are all jerks. I am getting bad grades because my teacher hates me. I can’t come to church on Sunday because I have to babysit at 3pm and I need to be emotionally ready for it. One word comes to mind when I think about people who have an excuse for everything – yuck. And if you are that person, let me tell you this...I love you, but you aren’t fooling anybody!

You think you got it all figured out.

Proverbs 26:16 - Lazy people consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors.

And the attitude component of laziness comes out. It is not just a matter of not having the energy or desire to do things. There is an element of pride to laziness. It sounds something like this: I don’t need to put my dirty dishes in the sink. That’s what moms are for. Yes, my room is a disgusting mess but that’s only because I don’t need to waste my time on the small things in life when I am destined for so much greater things. I am special enough that I don’t need to work for anything. You guys should all be taking care of me! I don't really need to work hard because I just know better.

Did you check off one or more of those boxes? If you did, you might be lazy. Here's the antidote in one sentence:

Colossians 3:23-24 - Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord, not for people.

How to Not Be Stupid

2009-09-03T11:36:00.003-05:00

Here's a good question to ponder: If there was a book titled How to Not Be Stupid, would it be a best seller? Or would the people who needed to read it be too thick to realize it? How about this question: If you are stupid, how do you know it? Is there a test you can take? I'm sure that everyone reading this right now is absolutely positive that they are not stupid, but could easily diagnose someone who is. But if nobody thinks they are stupid, who sets the stupid standard? Who makes the little amusement park sign that says, "You must be at least this wise to ride"? Should we judge by grades, test scores, bank account balance or coherence of speech?

I ask this because at The Creek we are looking at the book of Proverbs this month in a series called Fortune Cookie Faith. The book of Proverbs is thirty one chapters made up of one to two sentence sayings - not unlike the ones that come inside the fortune cookie that arrives at the end of your Chinese meal. Imagine that God ran a Chinese restaurant and wrote all the cookie fortunes. If you ate there daily, kept all of the cookie fortunes you received and compiled them all into a book, it would look a lot like the book of Proverbs.

I think Proverbs could aptly be subtitled How To Not Be Stupid because the whole purpose of the book is summed up in Proverbs 1:5 - Let those who are wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. And let those who understand receive guidance. God sets the stupid standard, and he is very invested in us living wise lives. He wants to equip us to make the right choices that will both protect us and prosper us. So he gave us Proverbs.

This month, The Creek will be reading through the book of Proverbs one chapter a day. It's not complicated. There are thirty one chapters, so we are reading the chapter that corresponds with the date. On 9/6 we will read Proverbs 6. Our goal - to not be stupid. Will you join us in our quest?

Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures. Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God. For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity. He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him. Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy. Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe. Proverbs 2:2-11

Trinity Improv

2009-08-23T18:48:00.005-05:00

Since it has been a while since my last post, I thought it would be appropriate to do something a little different. Presenting an original vocal arrangement by my daughter, Trinity...

Tree Frog Crusoe

2009-07-27T18:03:00.002-05:00

A few days ago, I took the family to the mall to enjoy the free (I repeat, FREE) indoor playground there. After an hour of play we returned to our van in the parking lot and loaded up. The kids were loaded up and I was moving to get into the driver's seat when I saw something strange on the black Denali SUV next to us. It looked like a mushroom growing on the side of the vehicle, but I knew it couldn't be that and took a closer look. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a tree frog...an honest to goodness tree frog stuck to the side of a GMC Denali in the parking lot of a mall in Independence, MO.

How in the world does an animal indigenous to Central and South America find itself on the side of a vehicle in the middle of the midwest? Was it holding on to the side of that SUV for a long interstate road trip to the mall or did someone just randomly pick a car to stick a frog to in the mall parking lot? The only way I could understand how the frog was feeling was to picture myself hanging on to the side of a rickshaw in the middle of a Vietnamese farming village without really knowing how I got there. What would I eat? Where would I live? Do they have air conditioning?

I felt bad for the little guy and removed him from the Denali and placed him in a tree in one of the few green areas in the parking lot, all while he continuously leaked some sort of fluid on me in some sort of defensive maneuver. I figured every little bit helps. Until a raccoon eats him...

Lost and Found

2009-07-23T08:43:00.003-05:00

Weeks and weeks ago I lost my iPod - poof, gone. I thought it had fallen out of our van somewhere between Kansas City and St. Louis. I was devastated and crushed. I was crestfallen and dismayed. I was broken and bemused...the gist of this being that I was not happy about losing my iPod.

Fast forward to this morning. Our scene is set...

Time: July 23, 8:20 am

Place: Chris' Office

Chris walks into his office and sits in the large office chair that is really too big to fit in such a small room. He cuts a handsome figure as he quite responsibly goes through his morning email. From below comes a growling noise. Chris has not eaten breakfast and his stomach is not happy with him. It is telling him, unintelligibly, that it desires some sustenance right now. Chris reaches down to his computer tower. On top of it is resting a box of Quaker Oatmeal packets. The flavor is pumpkin spice. It is delicious. Upon looking into the box, Chris realizes that he is down to his last oatmeal packet. He falls to one knee, raises both fists to the sky and shouts, "Why?!?" It echoes throughout the whole office, resounding off the confining walls.

Resigned to savoring this last pumpkiny treat, Chris reaches in and pulls out the packet. Something catches his eye. There is still something in the box. What could it be? A toy surprise? An unexpected extra packet of oatmeal? A dead bug? Chris draws closer to the box. His heart begins to pump harder and faster as his body prepares it's fight or flight response. He almost closes his eyes as the weight of the unexpected bears down on him, but he remains strong. He is a strong man. Very strong. Not just emotionally, but muscularly as well. He has huge guns would be the main point of the last few sentences...the author digresses.

Chris looks down into the empty box of oatmeal to realize that it is not done gifting him with goodness yet, because laying at the bottom is his missing iPod. He jumps up on his desk and screams to the sky with both hands raised, "YIPPEEEEEE!" He then pauses to think about why he yelled such a dumb word before getting down and sitting at his computer to blog to the world about what a great morning he has had.

I hope you enjoyed this scene. No details were changed or ommitted to protect the innocent.

Dear Facebook Part II

2009-07-21T10:03:00.000-05:00

Dear Facebook,

There are times in every man's life when he must come to grips with the fact that he does not know everything and cannot possibly be right all the time. Those moments are rare for me (as those who know me well can attest), but in your case, FB, I have to step up and admit that I was wrong.

It was just over a year ago on July 14, 2008 that I publicly professed in this blog all of the frustrations that I had with you. I felt you were a little too coy, playing hard to get. Your interface both attracted and confused me leaving me unsure where our relationship really stood. Maybe I just wasn't ready for your world twelve months ago. Maybe our time wasn't until now, but Facebook, you were the one for me. Email is great but limited, and using Myspace feels like walking into a Jackson Pollack painting of the lawless wild west. But, Facebook, you have everything I want out of a social networking site. You were always the one.

So now I will post all the pictures that I take (without cropping out the elements that may not make me look like like some people - you know who you are). I will text them from my cell phone. I will poke those I am thinking about. I will have a mob war. I will like wall posts. I will chat at will. I will fight in my sorority. I will update my status regularly. I will keep Tom on my friend list. I will tend to my farm, and I will support causes! And together, we will face this bright future with eyes up and hearts strong! Hand in hand, Facebook, we can conquer any foe, climb any mountain and swim any ocean!

(The preceding is a paid advertisement.)

Kickball: Totally Extreme Soreness

2009-07-01T10:49:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday night, The Creek met for two hours of Totally Extreme Kickball. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this nation-sweeping craze, let me explain what makes it totally extreme:

1. We have six bases instead of four - base 1.5 and 2.5 are in right and left field.
2. There are five outs per at bat (at kick?)
3. There are no force outs except for first base.
4. You can have as many people on one base as you want.
5. You can pass the runner in front of you.
6. You don't have to go back to the previous base if a ball is caught.
7. There is a wild ball. It sits behind home plate and can be used by the defense once per inning to get more people out as necessary.
8. I am the ultimate arbiter and judge of all the rules at any given time...including during the game. Cry about it all ya want.
9. People's heads often blow off the top of their necks during play because of the extreme awesomeness involved.

There is one other thing that makes Totally Extreme Kickball totally extreme: the extreme amounts of pain I still feel in my sore muscles. Who knew that kickball (an extreme version) could be the greatest physical and aerobic workout of all time in the entire history of the world? Not me, until now.

"Chris, you are just getting old." you might say. "Kickball is a game for the young, not the aged."

"Fie on that!" I say. "Run thee upon yon six bases, whether strapping young teen or mature oak of a man, and thy upper thigh muscles will burn with the fire of the blacksmith's forge!"

Somehow, it also makes you talk like you live in a small Icelandic village in the year 1647. The power of this game!!!

Who's Bad

2009-06-26T15:38:00.004-05:00

It is strange that my first blog post in weeks is about Michael Jackson (go back in time and ask past-me if I ever thought that would be the case and I would have first said that time travel is impossible, and then said no) but I find myself in this curious place where I can't get him off of my mind. Obviously his death is a total surprise and has hit the airwaves and internet with the force of a nuclear bomb. Trying to avoid the topic of Michael Jackson right now is like trying to avoid pulped fruit at a Gallagher show (google it or ask mom and dad...I'm in 80's nostalgia mode, all right!).

Let me take you on a journey through time as we view snapshots of the moments where Michael Jackson's life intersected mine...

1982 - First-grade-me hears about Michael Jackson from the kids at school. I agreed with them about how awesome he was and how he had the best dance moves ever, even though I had never heard a single song of his, had absolutely no idea what he looked like and didn't know he existed until they brought him up.

1983 - Became desperately jealous of the kid in school who had the red and black Thriller jacket, even though I had never heard the song or seen the video. This was when I also became aware of the fact that Michael Jackson was not a white guy. Kid-me was not Johnny Pop Culture. Tried to do moonwalk. Failed. Made dad record an episode of Silver Spoons where Michael shows up at the local hangout and dances with Alfonso. Was disappointed when it turned out to just be an impersonator. Alfonso could sure dance, though.

1984 - Became desperately jealous of the kid in school who had the red zipper jacket and one sparkly white glove. This didn't hurt too bad though, because I wanted the black zipper jacket. Practiced moonwalk often. Failed. Enrolled in break dancing lessons to learn it. Failed. Saw a "Making of Thriller" documentary on display at the county fair and begged my parents to let me watch the video. They had no idea what I was talking about. They were also not Johnny Pop Culture. I went to a friend's house after school one day and watched it in her basement on VHS tape over and over and over...Tried to do moonwalk one last time. Failed. Successfully did the worm, though.

1987 - "Bad" was released and I enjoyed the single, but got way more play out of Weird Al Yankovic's "Even Worse" album. I wore that thing out.

1989 - Discovered rock and roll and completely lost interest in Michael Jackson.

1994 - He married Lisa Marie Presley and I felt very uncomfortable about that. Started to sense some desperation in him.

2003 - The real downward spiral began. Allegations of sexual abuse. Dangling babies. Bizarre behavior. The guy I'd loved as a kid was gone and had been replaced by a ghost haunting his old hangouts, trying to resurrect the fame and success of years past.

Today - Michael Jackson is dead. I hear fans interviewed on the radio talking about what a great man he was and how he changed the world. How things will never be the same. For my part, he entertained the world for a time, but the man and the legend are separated by a pretty great divide. What I feel the most is sadness. For his kids - they didn't ask for the circus of a life they were given, nor did they ask to lose their father before they even hit their teens. For his family - regardless of what you think of them, they lost a son and brother. For him.

I heard on the radio today an interview with the man who was going to auction off all of Michael Jackson's belongings at the Neverland Ranch to pay for his $400 million dollar debt. He said that the house was filled with hundreds of life size statues that Jackson had purchased over the years. The fact that he filled his house with replicas of life-size people says more about his loneliness, I think, than anything else.

My prayer for his family is that God grants them peace in their hearts as they grieve and rest from the chaos of the hungry press and crushing fans. May his kids get only the best of him. And may God spare anyone else from the isolation and loneliness that hunted Michael Jackson for his whole life.

Less Than or Equal to Six Flags

2009-06-04T13:30:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday, The Creek took a road trip to Six Flags in St. Louis. It was an incredible event with two notable exceptions:

1. We designed and ordered event t-shirts, and let me tell you...the design was super cool. We went with a roman numeral theme for the letter six, so it looked like "VI". It was totally cutting edge...until I went to the screen print place to pick up the shirts up and saw that they had printed the design sideways. So instead of "VI" we have a "less than or equal to" sign on our shirts.

2. We got to the park and had a great time on the rides. The lines were almost non-existent and we were moving quickly from one ride to the next...until at 1:45 pm a storm front blew in out of nowhere and poured down sheets, blankets and comforters of rain all over us. At one point we were lambasted with pea sized chunks of hail. We all gathered as quickly as possible (those of us who weren't in the middle of eating lunch at least) and huddled together in a steaming mass of cold wetness while we prepared to leave Six Flags a full two hours early. My shoes are still drying off in the basement.

The day will go down in history as the Less Than or Equal to Six Flags Trip.

Jedi Juice

2009-06-04T13:27:00.000-05:00

Do I really get paid for this?

Movin' on up

2009-05-29T08:32:00.004-05:00

At the end of every school year, I would begin telling people that I was in the next grade as soon as possible. For example, on the last day of school as a freshman I would begin referring to myself as a sophomore. Even before the final bell of the year, I was a sophomore and you better shut it if you thought otherwise. I guess things don't change much because, at The Creek, everyone has cast off this last school year like a muddy old pair of boots.

"7th grade?" they say. "7th grade was soooo two days ago. I'm no 7th grader. I'm an 8th grader, fool!"

And don't you dare call a student who is going to be starting high school in the fall a jr. higher. They will break you in half before ever being identified as a middle school student again. I know. I have been broken many times. It's the perils of being old I guess...or should I look ahead to the next big transition in life and start calling myself dead?

Where No Man Has Gone Before

2009-05-08T10:18:00.003-05:00

Tonight is the night I have been waiting for for months! Tonight I will rest comfortably in a high back, cushioned chair in front of a giant digital projection screen. Tonight I will drink a diet coke and eat Reese's Pieces in the dark. Tonight I will join with thousands of like-minded individuals across this great nation and the world to dream of a better future. Tonight I watch Star Trek.

My review will be forthcoming. I predict 8.5 out of ten.

Drowning Boy

2009-05-01T15:47:00.003-05:00

When I was little, probably 3 or 4, I remember going to a pool party at the house of some friends of our family. They had an old school swimming pool in their back yard, the kind with a deep end, a slide and a diving board. At the halfway point of the swimming pool, the deep end began with a gradual slope that began at three feet deep and ended at eight. Being the brave young amphibian that I was, I grew weary of bouncing around by the steps that descended into the pool and decided that I was going to venture out as far as I could go while keeping my head above water.

I inched out, little by little, until my toes crept over the edge of the downslope into the deeper water. My chest nearly burst with pride as I turned to get my mom and dad's attention so they could see how brave I was. But when I turned, my foot slipped down. When my foot slipped down I lost all purchase on the floor of the pool and began to drift down into the deeper water.

It was one of those moments that was so surreal and terrifying that I can vividly remember how it felt, reaching for the surface of the water but having no way to get myself there. With my eyes open and my breath beginning to run out, I panicked and started to thrash around. The movements of my arms and legs not only pushed me farther from where I wanted to go, but began to spin me upside down. A horrifying eternity passed before a hand plunged down into the water, grabbed my arm and pulled me up.

My dad pulled me out of the water coughing and crying into his arms. What passed like minutes for me may have only been seconds for him, but when he saw me, he was there. I was completely helpless to save myself, but he came to my rescue. What felt like miles of water above me may have only been inches, but my dad saw me in need and didn't hesitate to pull me out. And I will never forget how I felt in that moment.

Maybe you have never had a moment like that. No one has ever been there for you when you needed rescue. You have been let down too many times to even think it possible that anyone could be. You think no one cares about you enough to notice you slipping down into the deep end.

He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters...He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me.
Psalm 18:16,19

God will rescue you. He will pull you out of the deep waters when you can't sustain yourself, and he needs no other reason to do it except that he delights in you. He thinks you are cool. He thinks you are funny, smart, talented, special, and he will save you because he loves you and enjoys you. I guarantee you this, you will never forget how it feels in that moment he pulls you out.

New Favorite

2009-04-21T12:18:00.003-05:00

I have kids. I have kids who like to watch and do crazy things. They have a new favorite cartoon that I am not ashamed has become one of my new favorite shows. It's called Chowder and it's on Cartoon Network. This show has grown on me like an infection. It's hold over me has spread like moss on a tree, slowly and completely. I swear, we have been watching at least an hour of this show every night. I'm enthralled...

Break-in Blues

2009-04-17T10:32:00.002-05:00

You know that sick feeling you get when you can't find your wallet? You know, the one where it feels like a can of cheese whiz just broke open inside your stomach? I experienced that sensation this week when I realized one morning that my wallet was completely missing. I figured that it fell out of my jacket pocket when I was getting out of the car somewhere. Frustrated, I began the process of cancelling all my cards (well actually Terri began that process - I sat and wept into my open hands). It got more frustrating.

After trying to figure out where I had seen my wallet last, Terri and I began to put together some puzzle pieces. She got up early in the morning to put some clothes in the dryer and discovered that both of our garage doors were wide open to the world. She thought I had done it, chalked it up to me being dumb sometimes, closed the doors and didn't say anything about it. Similarly, when I went down to the garage to go to work I noticed that one of the overhead lights in Terri's van was on. I thought she had left it on, chalked it up to her being forgetful sometimes, turned off the light and didn't say anything about it. When I got around to my car I saw that the driver's side door was slightly ajar. I laughed at how absentminded both of us must be to leave our cars like that overnight and drove to work.

A few hours later Terri called me to ask if I had gone to the car wash this morning...twice. When I told her that I hadn't we began to get a sinking feeling that someone had found and was using my wallet. Terri called the police who told her that they'd had numerous reports of garage doors being open from our neighborhood.

If you haven't figured this out yet, let me break it down for you. Someone managed to open our electric garage doors in the middle of the night, broke into both our cars and stole my wallet and ipod. I think the part that makes me the sickest is that they could have walked right into our house while we slept and done whatever they wanted. Yeah...think about that for a second. Doesn't feel good running across your imagination, does it? Me either.

One positive about the whole thing; my wallet was getting a little bloated and uncomfortable in my back pocket. Having been relieved of much of it's weight, it is now slim and trim. Much easier to sit on.

You, The Fly

2009-04-14T11:49:00.005-05:00

It happened to me one spring when the weather turned warm. I was driving around just enjoying the weather when I noticed I had an uninvited passenger on the window outside my car. Maybe he was just buzzing around looking for a good meal and found something that looked interesting on my windshield. Maybe he just needed to take a break and rest his six legs and my car was the closest spot. Maybe the common housefly just thinks I have a really sweet ride and wanted to check it out when I was near. Whatever his motivation, Mr. Fly had come to rest on my vehicle.

I dont' know how you feel about having a fly sitting on your windshield looking in at you, but I don't love bugs, and when there are bugs sitting on my car I want them off. So I did what anyone else in my situation would have done; I put the pedal to the metal to shake him off. As I'm speeding up I imagine the fly feeling like one of those guys in action movies who jumps onto the hood of the car that the bad guy is using to escape the scene of the crime while the bad guy speeds up, swerves left and right and side-swipes other cars in an attempt to shake him. I watch the fly as I enter onto the interstate and begin going faster. 45...50...60...65...70? He's still there?! I'm pushing 75 miles per hour and this fly, shaking and quivering in the roaring wind, is still hanging on to my windshield for dear life! I finally gave up and pulled off at the next exit.

When I got the stop sign at the top of the exit ramp I got out and shooed him off. I imagine he was a little disoriented from the terror of the experience when he found himself miles from where he came (what is the equivalent of a mile to a fly...50 miles?). I, on the other hand, got back into my car and went to get a milkshake.

We all buzz around trying to make sense of our lives, trying to qualify and categorize our experiences into something that has purpose and meaning. We usually try to fit things into our vision of how the world should be. We label people and assign value to them based on what meaning they bring into our lives. We fold up our experiences and put them into the appropriate folders: Life Lesson, Bad Luck, Coincidence, Fate. We alphabetize our knowledge by category: True, False, Important, Trivia, Myth, Read it on the Internet.

But sometimes we land on something that is just too big for us to move. It is too vast for us to understand, too complex for us to puzzle out. When this happens, when we are confronted with something that is just too much for us to fully make sense of, we have a choice. We can either fly away, searching for our next meal, or we can hold on for dear life and wait to see where this behemoth is going to take us. The question is this: Are you content to fly back and forth between the things that you can easily control and explain, always avoiding the thing that can neither be reigned in or simplified, or are you going to hold on for the ride? See where it takes you? See if this greater thing has bigger meaning for your life?

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for
good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11

What does this mean? You are the fly. God is the car. When you hold on for dear life to the one you cannot quantify, change or control, He will take you for a ride. And the destination is always planned out specifically for you. It is always good. Are you willing to hold on?

Setbacks

2009-04-09T09:46:00.002-05:00

Undoubtedly many of you have not heard this yet, but let this be the official announcement: This year we are planning to release an Eagle Creek Worship album with all original songs. Over the last few months we have been writing and introducing new, original songs on Sunday mornings with the goal of recording and releasing the cd in September.

Up until a week ago, everything was going swimmingly (or smurfingly for those of you who were shaped by the 80's). We had nearly all the songs written and began moving forward on the first stages of recording several weeks ago. We were busting it out too. Committing everything we possibly could to tape, we had a pretty sizable library of music tracks for the album. Until the inevitable happened - computer crash.

With the fast and simple failure of a single hard drive we lost everything we had recorded. Every single track. Every vocal, guitar part, drum track...everything.

Square one is not such a bad place to be though. We now have the opportunity to approach everything from the beginning again with fresh eyes and ears. It may have given us the opportunity to write better songs. Only time will tell, but the setbacks won't stop the music.

So Say We All

2009-03-20T13:15:00.004-05:00

Tonight, my friends, is the series finale of Battlestar Galactica - perhaps one of the greatest science fiction shows to ever hit the airwaves. How do you eulogize something that brought you so much joy over the years? Remember the highlights? Dress up as your favorite cylon? Mourn and weep? I know that many of you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about at all, but for those that do, this is for you.

Transcript of My Farewell Address to Battlestar Galactica

Friends, nerds and fellow sci-fi geeks; tonight we gather to honor the journey of the Colonial Fleet as well as their guide, protector and shield: the Battlestar Galactica.

Dear Battlestar Galactica, long have your journeys brought laughter and tears to my heart and home. Many are the nights I spent stitching together my colonial uniform, wishing I too shared a small cabin in your spacey depths. Great is the sadness I will feel in your passing as you move from this world to the next, bidding farewell to those of us you leave behind...with nothing to look forward to except the new Star Trek movie and new episodes of Lost. Empty will my DVR be without your episodes filling the vast amounts of memory in it's now sorrowful hard drive. A hard drive without Battlestar Galactica is like New Caprica without President Gaius Baltar! You all know what I'm talking about, right? Of course you do.

Perhaps I should stop before the watercourse of tears running down my face becomes a flood, but know this Battlestar Galactica...I and my fellows around the world have united to waste many a Friday night warming a couch to your fantastical tales. We have put aside debates over Star Wars vs. Star Trek to join in unity for more of your inspiring stories. Factions within the worlds of Warcraft and Starcraft have lain down their arms in peace to enjoy your delicious science fictiony goodness. For that we salute you.
So say we all!

(the crowd of hundreds replies in unison, "So say we all!")

...and...scene.

Music and Lyrics

2009-03-04T10:51:00.004-06:00

No, this is not about the romantic comedy with Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant. I read an article today that had some interesting facts about the power of music in the lives of teenagers.

The University of Pittsburgh recenty did a study where they graded the sexual aggressiveness of the lyrics of songs by popular artists on the US Billboard charts. The lyrics were graded from the least to the most sexually degrading. They then asked 711 students aged 15 to 16 at three local high schools about their music preferences and their sexual behaviour.

Overall, 220 - 31 percent - of all the surveyed teens had had intercourse. That is a discouraging statistic considering that the students they interviewd are all in the Freshman/Sophomore range - most not even able to drive yet. But the rate of sexual activity between students who listen to sexually aggressive music was more than double the rate of those who don't. Let me break this down for you: Students who listen to music that is sexually suggestive are more than twice as likely to engage in sexual activity.

The entertainment we consume has an affect on our hearts, and when our hearts are affected so are our actions. What are you doing to your heart?

Read the full article here.

Who Not What

2009-02-17T12:31:00.004-06:00

There is a saying I love that always helps me keep things in perspective when my desire to do totally cool things threatens to take over my life: It's who you are, not what you do that matters. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you accomplish the greatest feats in all the world, who you are is what really counts. The Bible puts it much better than I could:

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3

But I think there is a flipside to this as well. A lot of times when we think about God, we think about all of the awesome things that he has done for us. We remember the time when he sent peace to get us through the loss of a loved one. We remember the time he provided for us when we needed money and we didn't think there was any way we were going to make it. We remember when he helped us find our keys that one time they fell out of our pocket at the movie theater and were hidden under a row of seats. God has done a lot of amazing things for us, but he is so much more than what he does.

It is easy to root our faith in what he has done for us when he has done so much - to worship him for how well he takes care of us. But we should not plant our faith in what he does. Our faith should be rooted in who he is...his character, his nature, his goodness, his divinity. Everything that he does for our benefit springs from who he is. God does good things because by his very nature he is good. Nothing he does goes against his nature, so even when we don't understand why or how something could be happening, we trust the character of the God who is at work and put our faith in who he is. And what is the key to that kind of faith? Knowing God.

It's who He is, not what He does that matters.

Car Accident

2009-02-10T17:09:00.002-06:00

Today I got in a car accident. Before you ask...no, it wasn't my fault. Here's how it went down.

Lewis and I were driving back to the office after our staff meeting at Atlanta Bread Company. I had a breakfast sandwich and coffee. It was delicious today. Anyway, we were tooling down the street when car one pulled out in front of us to cross over into the far lane. He had plenty of room to clear us, but the guy in car two who thought he could sneak out after car one did not. I smashed the break pedal into the floor like I was trying to kill a giant spider. My wheels stopped, but the car didn't. The rubber peeled off my tires like I was trying to stop a car rolling on giant black crayons. Lewis yells, "Look out!" In my mind, which was operating in hyperspeed, I calmly explained to him why we were going to be okay. What actually came out of my mouth was more like, "Nyauh!"

My front passenger side slammed into the front driver's side wheel of car two, bending his wheel over and crushing in the steel exterior of his Ford Focus. After I checked to see if the driver of car two was okay we chatted. Turns out it was the first real two driver car accident either of us had ever been in. Pretty cool.

What's not so cool is my sore neck and headache. Turns out your neck snaps like a rubber band when the weight of your melon head is going one direction and your body is not. Especially when you hit something at 35 miles per hour. And the accident wasn't my fault, which means that my 97 Saturn will have a 2009 front end. That's pretty cool, right?

Grammy Itch

2009-02-10T15:45:00.003-06:00

I used to play in rock bands. I'll just come right out and own up to the fact that deep down inside of me lives a little man who wants to get in a van and drive ten hours to play a forty five minute show for just enough money to cover what I spent on gas and food to get there. This little man doesn't care about making a living, he doesn't care about sleeping in comfortable beds and he doesn't mind eating gas station food that exists at the lowest rung of the food chain. All he wants to do is rock.

This little man was knocking at the door of my mind while I very casually watched what was left of the Grammy awards after small group on Sunday night. Here was the dialogue we had:

Little Rock Man: Hey. Hey! There are people playing music
on tv. Do you see that?

Me: Yes, Little Rock Man. I see it. It's pretty
cool.

Little Rock Man: Of course it's cool. They are rocking!

Me: Well, to be fair, it is the Grammys so there really isn't that
much rocking going on.

Little Rock Man: There's enough. I wanna do that too! Come on...let's do it! Grab some of your holey (not to be confused with holy) jeans out of the closet, throw some goop in your hair, get your guitar and let's drive! We can be in Pennsylvania by noon tomorrow, and maybe we can get in on open mic night at Jimmy's Coffee Hut.

Me: That sounds about as good as getting punched in the face, Little
Rock Man.

Little Rock Man: I know! It rocks!

Sometimes I wish I had Little Home Improvement Man or Little Star Wars Figurines Man. Little Baseball Card Man sounds good too, but I guess we do the best with what we have.

I did go downstairs and play my guitar really loud though. Really loud. Sorry neighbors.

An Open Letter to Matt Pope

2009-02-06T08:26:00.003-06:00

Dear Matt Pope,

Yesterday in Prairie Village, a suburb of Kansas City, a church protested outside of a local high school. They mobilized their people and drove to Kansas City with their signs and their voices to take a stand. What were they protesting? They were protesting you. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church protested outside of Shawnee Mission East High School because you, an openly-gay former student, were elected prom king last year.

As I watched this on the news, I felt sick to my stomach. Not because a local high school had elected a gay student as prom king, but because of the warped response of those who are trying to represent God to the world. The leader of the protesters, Shirley Phelps-Roper, was briefly interviewed by the local news station.

"Those children elected a prom king, queen, thing," Phelps-Roper said. "They showed that they don't have a clue about their duty to obey the standards of God."

I wanted to ask Shirley about her duty to obey the standards of God myself. When did it become a standard of God to verbally attack and abuse those who may be far from him? Those he loves dearly? God has clear, unbreakable standards for us, but how are we supposed to live them out?

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:37-40

Matt, if I had to make a list of ways to show love to someone, shouting down a group of students for nominating their friend as prom king might not be at the top of the list. This is not an excuse, but God doesn't hasn't given us the responsibility of calling out everyone else's sin. We are responsible to deal with our own. God doesn't want us to throw stones at others, but to look at ourselves in the mirror of his word.

I wonder how many of those protesters would still be there shouting about the gay prom king if everyone knew what lie they told their boss to get the day off, what gossip they told about the girl in the other van, the thoughts they had about that kid who really gets on their nerves, what sites are on the history list of their web browser...

Please know this, Matt...God loves you. He loves you with a perfect, selfless love that has no basis in who you are or what you do. He loves you unfailingly because that is just who he is. He wants you to know him. He wants to have a real, tangible relationship with you. He thinks you are awesome and has an incredible plan for your life if you are interested in taking his hand.

I don't know if you'll ever read this, Matt, but if you do, drop me a line. I'll buy you lunch sometime.

Chris

Self Evaluation

2009-02-05T21:56:00.002-06:00

For me a new year brings with it a sense of renewed purpose, a fresh chance to get things right. I can't look back at a previous year and not identify things that I wish I would have done better. When it comes to my own performance, I am a harsh critic. There are probably very few of my failings you could point out that I am not already very aware of. Probably.

If I was to be completely honest I would admit that I have blind spots. I've got gaps in my ability to self evaluate and I can miss things in myself that I would want to get rid of if I picked them up in an honest evaluation. For example, if I were to take a step back and get a completely objective view of myself I would realize that I have a habit of relentlessly and ruthlessly making fun of Twilight to the people who love it dearly (even now I am practically having to break my own fingers to keep from writing all the witty comments that are coming to mind). But some people really love that beautiful novel of love and romance, so it would probably do me good to just shut up once in a while. Besides, I love my share of stuff that many people would think incredibly stupid (the movie Screamers).

I say all this because I am in a period of reflection and self evaluation right now. Where am I? How did I get here? Where do I want to be? What do I need to do better? It's a good place to be because if we can't take a clear and honest look at ourselves we can never identify and deal with what is holding us back. In one of my favorite passages, the Bible puts it better than I ever could:

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Psalm 139:23-24

What about you? Ready to take a look?

Movie of the Year?

2009-01-31T11:45:00.002-06:00

I recognize the fact that simply embedding youtube video clips is lazy blogging, but sometimes I just can't help myself. I also know that when this post shows up on facebook the video won't be embedded so go to www.chrisshandrow.com to view it in all it's glory.

Lewis, friend and co-worker extraordinaire, and I have talked at times about making a short film. After watching this movie trailer all I can say is, "Why bother, when the greatest movie of all time has already been made?"

God's Big Decisions

2009-01-23T08:54:00.004-06:00

This Wednesday night at The Creek we talked about the mind of God and how God literally knows everything: everything that is, everything that will be and everything that could have been. Simply put, God knows everything there is to possibly be known. He knows how many heartbeats you have had since you were first conceived. He knows how many particles of sand there are in the volleyball courts at Lea/McKeighan Park. He knows the exact diameter and circumfrence of Jupiter. He knows the next time my car is going to break down (never...please!). God knows everything.

This fact can raise some difficult questions for us. After The Creek this week, someone came up to me with a question. "If God knows everything, he knows Person A will follow him and Person B will reject him. So, if he knows that Person B will reject him why would he even allow them to be born in the first place?"

Paraphrase: Why would God allow people who he knows are going to reject him to exist in the first place if they are only going to face the consequences of their sin and spend eternity apart from him? For that matter, if God knew Adam and Eve were going to sin why create man in the first place?

Let me give you the best answer I can for that: I have no idea. None. I could spin theories for you based on human experience and wisdom, but the truth is I don't really know. Only God does. Isaiah 46:9-10 says:

Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I
am God, and there is none like me. Only I can tell you the future
before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I
do whatever I wish.

He is God. Not me and not you. He plans and does whatever he wants. This seems abrupt, but it is true. Isaiah 55:8-9 says:

My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."

I hated it when my parents would say this awful phrase: Because I said so. It may be easy for us to read the verse above and get the sense that God is simply telling us, "I do what I want. Deal with it!" But that's not the case.

Since God is infinite and we aren't, we will never fully be able to understand how he works and why he does what he does. We will always have difficult questions that we will wrestle with that don't seem to have a clear answer. When those questions arise, instead of jumping to wrong conclusions about God, we need to remember the things that we do know about him for sure. I may not know why God created mankind fully knowing that many of us would reject him and face an eternity in hell, but I do know that the Bible says he is perfect in love. I know that his word says he is perfectly just and fair in everything he does. I know that his faithfulness to us lasts forever.

You see, I may never be able to fully understand the mind of God - why he chooses to do what he does - but I can remember what his word says about his character. When something happens that I think is unfair, I remember that God is just, loving and true. That's the beauty of how great God really is. Even when I don't comprehend why things are happening the way they are, I can always trust in the character and unchanging nature of the God who is in control of it all. That is why it is so important for us to always be learning more about him. Knowing God is the heart of our existence. Everything else springs from that. God is our anchor, and if we don't know him, continuing to learn more and more about him, we will always be battered and tossed around by the doubts and tough questions that will always pursue us in this life.

Jesus is My Friend

2009-01-09T09:33:00.001-06:00

Love it. These guys are tight...no joke. I wish I had a beard.

Forever is a long time

2009-01-08T14:46:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I got an e-mail from an old high school friend who I literally don't think I've seen since graduation. Google and Facebook have all of a sudden made us all available to anyone curious enough to look for us and this friend decided it was time to look up the past.

It's a strange thing to think about friendships like that. We kind of assume that the relationships we have now will always be around - our current friends will always be our current friends - but that isn't really true. If you think about it with me for a second you will quickly remember someone who you were really tight with a while ago that you haven't talked to in months, maybe years. My life is littered with old friends who I have lost touch with for one reason or another, even relationships that I valued dearly.

When you really think about the temporary nature of many of our relationships it can get a little overwhelming, depressing even. But there is something cool to think about in all of this. There is one sure relationship that will last forever and will never end. Ever. In the moment I decided to commit myself to a real, tangible relationship with God, I entered into a friendship that has no possibility of ever ending. God is never going to move away. He's never going to go to a new school or get a job somewhere else. He knows everything, so there's really no need for him to graduate and go to college. Even death can't separate us.

Everything in our lives is temporary to one degree or another, but God isn't. His love and care is constant and never stops. Because he is eternal we can know him forever, a very long time, and still not know everything about him. But we will have forever to keep trying.

Feeling Fine

2009-01-01T00:04:00.000-06:00

Feeling fine in 2009...

Okay that sounds a lot stupider out loud than it did in my head, but I'm going to leave it to document my occasional random dumbness.

Meet God

2008-12-31T11:32:00.002-06:00

The holidays are over and a new year begins. I love the Christmas season just like any other red-blooded American, but I'm going to be really honest and admit that during this last week of the year I'm just holding my breath for it to be over. The joy of the season is great and all, but I'm the type of person who is just ready to get back to business. I want to jump back into the routines of regular everyday life. Staying with family is wonderful, but I want my own bed. Eating at restaurants is a blasty, but I'm stinkin' ready to eat some plain old rice at my own table. I like routine.

I also like looking ahead to the new year and planning ahead for the Creek. I'm very excited about a new series we are starting in January called Hello, My Name is God. I read a story of a kid who, when asked to draw what he thought God was, drew a picture of Santa Claus. Maybe God acts like Santa in our lives sometimes, but that is a very incomplete picture of who He is. It makes me wonder how many of us operate in our faith with an unfinished picture of the God we are trying to follow. Through this series in January we are going to work our way through key passages in the Bible that illuminate aspects of God's nature and his personality that will shed light on who he really is to us and what it means to follow a God that we can really know.

Holiday Sausages

2008-12-18T10:15:00.003-06:00

So we had our Christmas Smackdown overnighter last Friday and IT WAS AWESOME! Granted, I am getting to an age where staying up all night is the equivalent of getting punched in the kidney over and over again by Andre the Giant, but even considering the effects of sleep deprivation and old age I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

The competition was intense, but the highlight of the night was a game called Holiday Sausages. Here's how 'tis played (emphasis on 'tis for Christmas effect):

Select two representatives from each team. Have the two people sit in front of each other (each on their own side). A person from one team is chosen to start by asking a person from the other team a question. They can ask any question, but the answer must always be the same “Holiday Sausages”. The person answering must not laugh or smile, and if he does so successfully, his team gets a point. If he laughs or smiles, his team has to ask the other team a question. Everyone plays this until all have had a turn or two. Whichever team ends with the most points is the winning team!
Some of the questions we had were real winners. I've done my best to remember them to list them below. If I've forgotten any of the best ones, feel free to remind me.

What did you bursh your teeth with this morning?
What time is it?
What rhymes with Holiday Snausages?
When there's something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call?
Who let the dogs out?

Try it sometime. It might change your life.

Christmas Smackdown

2008-12-09T17:49:00.003-06:00

Christmas Smackdown is this Friday night and we are going to blow it up. I've been going through the plans for the night and I cannot wait...

Animal Head, Human Body

2008-11-14T16:12:00.008-06:00

So I've just recently discovered that I have some sort of affinity for pictures of animal heads on human bodies. I realized this after The Creek last week. The title of the message was Human Hippo. The background I used looked something like this...

Upon further review I found a background for another message that looks something like this...

It's like I've got the Island of Dr. Moreau in my head. I don't think I'm ever going to wear a suit again...I should probably just do a message series called Animal Head, Human Body. What do you think?

God is...

2008-11-07T15:48:00.002-06:00

God is awesome. He is bigger than my problems, my fears, my anxieties and my weaknesses. He can make my crayon scribbles an artistic masterpiece. He can take the pittance I give him and turn it into a tsunami of blessing in my life. He can take my distracted heart and love me with all his perfect and neverending might. I don't deserve him. He definitely doesn't deserve me, but he loves me. How did it ever work out that THE GOD - who made the universe, who made dandelions, who made the color blue, who made chocolate - loves us? We are a speck on a planet that is a speck in a solar system that is a speck in a galaxy that is a speck in the universe. I don't get it, but I'm glad he does. So glad.

Show Me Change

2008-11-05T11:09:00.003-06:00

It's officially over! Barack Obama is our new president. It has been a historic election, and he is a historic candidate that represents not only the positions of the people who voted for him, but the power of the American ideal that says success is available to all Americans no matter their race, gender or religion. I think it's pretty cool that, regardless of political ideology, America has taken a giant step toward closing the book on stained portions of our history by electing an african american as our president.

I still see the yard signs for Obama that say, Show Me Change, and every time I do they make me think. I still have romantic notions that a political figure will be able to sweep in and change our country for the better, that one man will have the ability to unify us under the ideals that our nation stands for. But the truth is that while I hope for change in our country, I will have to see it to believe it. Politics is politics. You make promises to get power, and what you do with it is often a different matter.

But change is available for all of us regardless of the man leading our country. There was another man who brought change to the whole world. He didn't promise freedom from high taxes or from wars, but freedom from the the prison of our own guilt. He didn't promise to give us a more prosperous life, he promised to give us eternal life...abundant life...life as it was meant to be lived with purpose and destiny. He didn't promise to make our circumstances better, but to give us perfect joy no matter what our circumstances are. You want real change? Jesus is the only one who can give you that. He changes who you are. He changes who you will be. The old you us gone and a new one is waiting to take shape. That's change I can believe in.

He doesn't need my vote to change the world, but he has it anyway.

Fall Back

2008-10-31T08:37:00.003-05:00

Daylight Savings is this Saturday and I LOOOOOOVE daylight savings in the Fall. We get to set our clocks back and gain an extra hour. That's right - we are literally giving ourselves the gift of time. How often do you get to have an extra hour in your day to do whatever you want? Never! Of course, it is all balanced out in spring when an hour is forcibly taken away from us. That one is like getting kicked in the face by a donkey, which I mean to say is not terribly pleasant.

Some years I soak up this extra hour in sleep. Some years I sit comfortably in bed watching an extra hour of TV because I know it can't hurt me. To me it isn't just an hour, it is sixty sweet, precious minutes of constitutional freedom.

Love

2008-10-31T08:35:00.001-05:00

Get this week's small group guide here: Love.

Eagle Creek is Moving

2008-10-29T11:15:00.003-05:00

Big news...Eagle Creek Church is moving to the Gamber Center. We have met for the last two years at the Eastglen 16 Theaters, but time waits for no man and on Sunday, November 30 we will begin meeting at the Gamber Center. There are a lot of things I will miss about the theater. There is something pretty sweet about having church in the same theater where people are going to see Saw V. I'll miss some of the cool peeps we have met who work there. Shout outs to Erica, Scott and Eddie especially. I'll mostly miss having Dots stuck to the bottom of my shoe every Sunday morning. Okay, not really.