O Philipos

Philipos was a central character for awhile in my Classical Greek textbook in college.  He got into all kinds of trouble, mostly by shirking responsibility.  Many times, he was addressed with the vocative O Philipos.

I've spent the past couple of days thinking, "O Philipos" in response to Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame's GQ article.  Facebook and Twitter are full of conversation, and my mind has been swirling a bit, so here are my thoughts.

Full disclosure: I've been a Duck Dynasty fan, and while not always appreciating some of the viewpoints expressed by the Robertson clan, I generally enjoy the show.

If I hear one more person use the term "free speech" inappropriately, I just might scream.  Free speech does not mean you get to say whatever the heck you want without facing any consequences. Free speech protects us from government censorship or jailing or various other government reactions.  Police are not breaking down the door of the Duck Commander factory.  Free speech for Phil Robertson is intact.  Free speech for A&E (now that corporations have free speech) is intact.

We shouldn't be shocked by the statements made by Phil Robertson.  He's expressing a very common viewpoint about homosexuality that is shared by many conservative/evangelical Christians across the United States.  My guess is that most people, especially church leaders, in his community interpret scripture to condemn homosexuality.  I'm not justifying that, or agreeing with it.  Anybody who has read this blog over the years knows that I get the most drive-by bloggers when I voice my support of marriage equality.  I'm just saying we shouldn't shocked.

I've grown so, so, so tired of the "attack on Christianity" schtick.  Why on earth wouldn't people be skeptical about and/or reject a Christianity that only gets really fired up when Christians in prominent positions face consequences for expressing prejudicial views?    Seriously, if the only righteous indignation the Christian community is known for is related to protecting the rights of "Bible believing Christians" to bash on LGBQ folks, there is something seriously wrong.  Christianity is fine. A&E will not bring the body of Christ in the world to its knees by suspending Phil Robertson.  Oy.

By the way, why isn't there more press about Phil's comments about the Jim Crow south?  That was ridiculous.

My final thoughts are really addressed to Phil Robertson and other folks who are given a chance to speak publicly about their faith.  O Philipos, do you really believe that homosexuality is the gravest of sins facing our world today?  What about the imbalance of wealth in our country and around the world?  What about the greed that leads to that imbalance?  What about our failure as a nation to care for "the least of these"?  What about increasing gun violence and no real efforts to curb it?    What about our failure to practice sabbath?  You didn't expect me to finish with that one, did you?  And yet, it pops up more than you might think in Deuteronomy.

OK, I've rambled on long enough.  As always, I welcome any feeback.

It's been awhile

Within the past few weeks, I've had numerous people note that I haven't blogged in a long time.  "For seven years!" one person said.  It looks more like a few months, but definitely not much in the past couple of years.  Not to get too "meta" about it, but I appreciate my wife's question as to why it is I think I don't blog as much anymore.  Here are some stabs at answering that question:

• Last year I was blogging more for the campus ministry at Vanderbilt and Belmont.  This year, that excuse has disappeared.
• For a good bit of time after I left Harpeth Presbyterian Church, I was doing more personal journaling, and didn't have much energy left to reflect publicly on what was a painful time in my life.
• Campus Ministry, even more than Youth Ministry (why I capitalized all that, I don't know), feels like an ongoing person-to-person blog most of the time.  I'm engaging in meaningful conversations every day with folks who are seeking to deepen their faith and/or understanding.  At the end of the day, I think I prefer to schedule that one more chat at a local coffee shop than compose a blog post that potentially nobody will read.
• It's possible that I blogged more during times when I felt isolated or alone, and when I feel more connected to my fellow human beings, I feel less need to broadcast.
• I preach every week now, so I think a good bit of my creative energy goes into that endeavor.

So, there are some brief thoughts as to why I haven't blogged much in the past couple of years. 

All of that being said, I think I have the thought, "Now that's a bloggable moment/topic/issue," two or three times a day.  It is my hope that in the new year, I will re-engage with this blog and with the UKIRK blog and invite folks to engage with me as well.

Inspiration at The Wild Goose Festival

That's right, folks, I am just back from four days of hanging out with other justice-oriented followers of Jesus at The Wild Goose Festival in Hot Springs, NC.  Among other highlights, I particularly enjoyed hearing from Nadia Bolz-Weber, Brian McLaren, Phyllis Tickle, and Vincent Harding.  As always, the speakers at such an event challenge me to think about "doing church" in new ways.  My hope is to post a few blog posts over the coming weeks in response to some of the talks I heard.

For now, I'd like to reflect a bit on a talk that my wife and I attended entitled The Worst of the Scriptures: Why We Should Read It and What We Can Learn From It.  The speaker was a woman by the name of Amy Yoder McGloughlin who did a wonderful job of addressing the many and varied issues found in the disturbing words of Judges 19-20.  She challenged us to consider why the church avoids such disturbing stories in worship and in educational settings, especially when stories in the news of the contemporary world sometimes parallel such atrocities.  Conversations like that one remind me to not spend so much time on the questions of "Did it happen?" but rather to ask "Does it happen?"  In the case of mob violence, rape, torture, retributive violence, the answer to all is, "Yes, it does happen."  While not taking any definitive stand, Amy at least invited those assembled to think seriously about texts in which violence (especially retributive violence) is chalked up to the command/desire/will of God, and to reject those who use such texts to justify their own violent behavior.

While the workshop didn't really go there, my wife and I left that small tent by the French Broad River feeling more sure than ever that the current Revised Common Lectionary needs serious attention.  While I know there is a movement afoot to add a fourth year, I somehow doubt that stories such as those found at the end of Judges made the cut for the fourth year.  If there is to be a churchwide emphasis on truth telling, it makes one wonder just how far to take a lectionarial revolution.

"Politics in the pulpit"

These words mark the header in the "The U.S. at a glance..." section of this week's issue of The Week Magazine (a great way to get your news in a quickly digestable form).  Apparently a group of pastors who are part of a group called Alliance Defending Freedom (whatever that means) plan to endorse political candidates from their pulpits on October 7th, and then send videos of said endorsements to the IRS, basically daring them to remove their tax exempt status.

I hope the IRS throws the book at them, and I don't want to hear anything about how oppressed Christians are in our hedonistic culture, blah, blah, blah.  The law is clear.  Churches and other non-profits are exempt from paying any income tax or sales tax as long as they don't endorse particular candidates.  Throw the book at 'em.

Are you telling me that there aren't enough major issues facing the world today that those preachers could preach about? 

Besides all the legal stuff, to stand in the pulpit and endorse a human candidate for office smacks of idolatry and lack of faith to me.  As Christians, we are first and foremost citizens of the Kingdom or Realm of God, not the United States of America.  The voice of the prophet is one who calls us to follow the ways of God, especially as we witness God's actions in Jesus Christ.  To do otherwise is an abuse of the privilege granted to those of us who dare to stand behind a pulpit (or music stand in some cases).

Open questions to those pastors: In whom does your faith lie?   

A week of atonement

This week is brought to you by A Better Atonement.

This post is inspired by three things:

• Listening to an episode (Hunger Games and A Better Atonement) of the Theology Nerd Throwdown podcast produced by the guys over at Homebrewed Christianity in which they interview Tony Jones about his book A Better Atonement.
• Thusly reading Tony Jones book A Better Atonement (e-book on Amazon for 2.99 or free for prime members). 
• Attending an event advertised as a worship service.

Within the podcast and in his book, Tony Jones offers wonderful, articulate, valid critiques of many traditional theories of atonement, especially Penal Substitution Atonement (PSA).  Basically, he challenges his readers to consider alternative ways of explaining just what meaning we make out of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  I'll let you check him out to learn more.

Then, I attended an event advertised as a worship service.  It consisted of standing in a room with a band leading us in song for over an hour.  Two scripture passages were read that were seemingly unrelated to any of the songs we were singing, and no attempt to expound on said scripture was made.  Practically every song promoted PSA (you know, Jesus took the blame, God's wrath is satisfied, Jesus-you're awesome because you died for me), or talked about elevating God above everything else, or threw around holy, worthy, and glorious so much they lost all meaning.  To be fair, we did sing Be Thou My Vision, and My Hope is Built on Nothing Less.  The final hymn to go home on was How Deep the Father's Love For Us (find the lyrics here) in which we are reminded of our wretchedness, our blame for the crucifixion, and about the unspecified reward we have received because of the gruesome event of the cross.

I left feeling convicted that there is a great need to introduce people, through song, liturgy, and preaching to alternative views of the incarnational event and thus the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

I found myself wondering if God might actually be a bit embarrassed by some of the so-called praise songs that are sung in God's name.  Does God delight in "Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other Our God is Healer, awesome and power Our God, Our God..."?  What happened to Christ being found in the least of these? Does God want us to sing about how wretched we are to God except for Jesus changing the channel with the cross?

To quote Tony Jones as he addresses those who claim the wrath of God: "So it seems odd to first have to convince people that God's wrath burns against them, then to convince them that Jesus lovingly took on that wrath."

Just like the movie Dave

Tis the season for children to buy notebooks, pencils, erasers, and Trapper Keepers (OK, maybe not anymore) in preparation for the return to school.  Working parents breathe a sigh of relief, knowing their children will be in school for the bulk of the day, while stay-at-home parents make plans to put the house back together after a summer of good times.

Well, this isn't the case in Sumner County, TN.  The school board submitted their annual budget to the county commissioners, and they waited until the week before school to say, "Nope.  You need to do it again, and this time cut 7.5 million dollars."  They did this after asking for similar cuts for the past few years.  The school board pushed back and said they are already running at minimum capacity and that further cuts will adversely affect education of students.  Currently, school is on hold while the school board and county commissioners try to work out a deal.

And now I'll get to the title of this post.  I have become utterly convinced that many Americans, especially the Tea Party, No More Taxes, and No Big Government types think that all government agencies, including school boards just need to call in somebody's loveable family accountant to look at the budget and find all of the ridiculous spending that's clearly ridiculous and wrong headed.  This happens in the movie Dave, starring Kevin Cline, and he's able to find 10 million dollars or so in the budget to fund a a program for needy children. 

Here's the problem, though.  That's hollywood and this is the real world.  I would imagine that if the loveable family accountant were to sit down with the school board and work through their budget, he/she wouldn't find much that's clearly ridiculous.  The county commissioners suggested lowering teacher pay.  Seriously?  Because they're really raking it in.  Somehow we're all fans of eliminating teacher tenure and placing government mandated restrictions on what they teach and how they teach, while also placing a cap on how much they get paid, and yet when one makes the exact same argument for running health care that way, people throw a total hissy fit.  Let's compare the rhetoric surrounding health care and education:

Health Care:
"Nobody will want to be a doctor if you limit pay. We have to pay the most money possible to get the best possible candidates!"  "I don't want a gu-ment bean counter controlling my health care!" "Rationing health care is bad."

Education:
"We need to get a handle on what those public schools are teaching our kids." "Being a teacher is a calling...they should understand that we can't afford to pay them very much." "Make due with limited resources and outdated equipment/books/supplies"

OK, I'm about to seriously go on a rant, so I'll wrap it up for now.  I would simply love for some logical consistency as people make their arguments for or against the role of government in society.

Atonement vs. Reconciliation

Today's Daily Lectionary reading from the Old Testament is Leviticus 16:20-34 in which instructions continue for how Aaron, as the priest of the Israelites, will deal with the sins of the people. This is where the practice of the "scape goat" is established. I've been using the newly published Common English Bible for my daily scripture reading/prayer time, and I am often pleasantly surprised by the choices made by the translators. For example, verse 30 reads, "On that day reconciliation will be made for you in order to cleanse you. You will be clean before the Lord from all your sins." In the NRSV, the word is atonement, not reconciliation. As the passage continues, Aaron continues to make reconciliation instead of atonement.

To my knowledge, this translation is the result of the input of many scholars from varied traditions, and they claim to be making an effort at an accurate, readable translation. When they vary from the Greek or Hebrew, they note that (unlike the NIV which just changes it). While some Hebrew scholars might take issue with reconciliation as a substitute word for atonement, I think it's a wonderful move. It implies the healing of an ongoing relationship rather than the payment of some debt owed. I wonder how different discussions of salvation and the removal of sins might be if we rooted ourselves in the word reconciliation instead of atonement.

For additional reading, check out Tony Jones blog series on rethinking atonement: Tony Jones Atonement

Sow it on the Mountain

I'm currently reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.

As a side note, I was able to download it for free to the Kindle app from my public library for three weeks. Technology can be so cool.

As McDougall meanders through stories of ultramarathoners and other long distance running junkies, he circles, time and again, through the notion that the great runners simply love running and find joy in its simplicity. So far, the people highlighted seem less concerned with all the physical/technical aspects of running. They simply love running and find it to be a great adventure. They also tend to be adverse to promoting themselves, and often go out of their way to lift up other runners.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a joint middle school and senior high choir concert. The middle schoolers sang Sow It On the Mountain with the following lyrics:

Chorus
Sow it on the mountain, gonna reap it in the valley
Sow it on the mountain, gonna reap it in the valley
Sow it on the mountain, gonna reap it in the valley
You’re gonna reap just what you sow.

Verse One
If you’re feeling lonely,
Won’t you be a friend to someone? (3x)
You’re gonna reap just what you sow!

Verse Two
If you’re feeling hungry,
Won’t you share your bread with someone? (3x)
You’re gonna reap just what you sow!

Verse Three
If you’re feeling weary,
Won’t you lend a hand to someone? (3x)
You’re gonna reap just what you sow!

Somehow, those lyrics find their way into my consciousness as I'm reading Born to Run. Many of the stories so far take place in the mountains, so that has something to do with it, but it's more than that. These runners are sowing seeds of peace and joy as they run, and then then reap those seeds in other areas of their lives.

Many times, I find running serves a similar function in my life. When I feel particularly stressed or bound up about something, I like to lace 'em up and head out for an hour of simply putting one foot in front of the other. I typically spend the first mile or two mulling over the pressing issues, but as time goes by, the wide open sky forces my mind to let go of whatever issue/situation is pressing in on me, and as time goes on, I find myself having big thoughts and exploring lofty dreams. I feel myself loosen up physically, mentally, and emotionally. It is often the peace I experience on a 5-miler that carries through to my day to day engagement with the world.

Reading Presbyterians Today

I'm finally catching up on reading the last few issues of Presbyterians Today, which sounds like a daily paper, but isn't. The July/August issue cover touted stories about High Tech High Touch Finding the Balance. Amidst well-written articles by Kathy Wolf Reed about the use of technology in our congregations and Cary Estes about how to reflect creation care in our church facilities, I found an article entitled "Virtual World Congregation." This article takes a look at 1st Presbyterian Church of Second Life (1PCSL), an online worshipping community. I was intrigued by the various comments offered by those who participate in this community. It made me wonder if this kind of virtual worshipping community might be a forecast of things to come, and if it is, I wonder how those of us in professional ministry might adjust our thinking and practice when it comes to leading congregations.

At a recent meeting of the Committee on Theological Education (COTE), we discussed many issues facing theological education both in seminaries and in the church at large, and while distance learning came up, I don't recall anyone talking about virtual community. It seems that we might need to encourage seminaries to take a serious look at how our traditional models of theological education come to bear on the non-geographical, non-physical, probably non-denominational world of Second Life and similar online communities.

For now, I think I'll make an attempt to explore this online worshipping community and find out how it might feed my own need for spiritual nourishment.

A ridiculous Jesus Is My Boyfriend song

I was cruising along with the windows down on this beautiful fall day here in Middle Tennessee, scanning the radio for fun music, when I came across a peppy little tune I knew I had heard before. As the girl with Colbie Callet type voice began singing, I remembered that the song is entitled "Hold Me" and the girl singing was Jamie Grace. I think this song wins the prize for the most blatant "Jesus Is My Boyfriend/I wrote a peppy romantic song and decided to make it about Jesus to make a profit off the Christian market" song I've ever heard. Some sample lyrics:

I’ve had a long day, I just wanna relax
Don’t have time for my friends, no time to chit-chat
Problems at my job, wonderin’ what to do
I know I should be working but I’m thinking of You and
Just when I feel this crazy world is gonna bring me down
That’s when Your smile comes around

Oh, I love the way You hold me, by my side You’ll always be
You take each and every day, make it special in some way
I love the way You hold me, in Your arms I’ll always be
You take each and every day, make it special in some way
I love You more than the words in my brain can express
I can’t imagine even loving You less
Lord, I love the way You hold me

And the sappy love song, oops, I mean praise, no wait, sappy love song goes on and on. I don't really have time to get into a long tirade about why I dislike using contemporary romantic imagery to discuss one's relationship with God, but I'd like to go on the record as saying this song is utterly and completely ridiculous.

Efficiency in the church

"We take a task that we could simply pay someone to do, and we divide it into fifteen parts so that everyone has a job. Is it efficient? No. Not if all you care about is getting the job done. But in the church we should care less about getting the job done and more about the people doing it. We are not in the efficiency business. We are in the business of making disciples."
--Page 116 in This Odd and Wondrous Calling by Lillian Daniel and Martin B. Copenhaver

I came across these words during my weekly restorative reading time yesterday. Thanks to Lillian Daniel for offering such wonderful insight. I remember, as a youth, serving on the National Presbyterian Youth Ministry Committee (yes, the name was too long) and wondering if the process of bringing together a youth and adult from every Synod in our denomination for an annual meeting for four days was the most efficient/helpful/productive way of "doing youth ministry" for the PCUSA. I've had similar thoughts while sitting in planning team meetings for the Montreat Youth Conferences. Over time, I've come to understand that efficiency wasn't the only priority. The leaders of those groups also prioritized leadership training, spirit-led group process, hearing many voices, and bringing people together who might otherwise never meet, just to name a few.

In my current context as a pastor in a local parish, I sometimes wonder if we might be more efficient if we got a handful of like-minded, passionate, hard-working folks together and made all the decisions. We might be, but we would miss out on the voices of those with whom we disagree or who simply has the church-life-transforming idea bubbling up inside of them.

As I reflect on the biblical witness, it doesn't appear as if God always chose the most efficient people or methods:

• Was building an ark and gather animals all that efficient?
• Moses had a speech impediment
• 40 years wandering in the wilderness. I mean, come on!
• King David was kind of a runt and "ruddy faced"
• On the heels of Lent and Good Friday, I wonder how "efficient" the passion narrative and cross of Jesus were.

So, maybe we can let go of efficiency the next time we walk into a church meeting and reflect more on making disciples.

Invisible Realities

"Our worship is often centered on the expectation that our words will change things. Our liturgies remind us of invisible realities that may not be clear in our ordinary lives but become apparent when we gather together." Carol Howard Merritt, Reframing Hope

These are beautiful words about the power of the language we use in worship. To be reminded of those invisible realities of grace, mercy, compassion, etc. each week is powerful.

I wonder why some of those invisible realities are only made apparent when we gather together.
I wonder why we walk out the door, get into a conversation about where to have lunch, and quickly forget about all that was present in the liturgy.
I wonder why our refrigerators aren't more full of bulletin clippings
I wonder how much more extra-ordinary our lives would be if we made those invisible realities more front and center in our minds each day.

Finally, I wonder if anybody even notices the extra-ordinary language of liturgy.

Thoughts on Rob Bell

It's been at least two weeks since I went to hear Rob Bell speak at Belmont, but I just finished his book, Love Wins, last week, so his words are still rattling around in my brain. Here are some thoughts from the night I heard him speak:

Kung Fu Commentary: While talking about the discussions that often ensue among pastors and in some Sunday school classes, Rob used the term "Kung Fu Commentary." I sometimes catch myself in the midst of an explanation realizing that I've dissected somebody's question in a hundred different ways, and then I wonder if I've been helpful at all. I also wonder if so many sermons in mainline churches sound like Kung Fu Commentary? I'd also like to see a move with that title.

"For it to be real, you have to own it. For it to be authentic, you may have to wrestle with it." While I don't remember what "it" Rob was talking about, I like these words. There are plenty of platitudes that we "Christian" folks like to throw around, but I wonder how many of us actually take the time to wrestle with our theological platitudes so that they become authentic to who we are and how we see the world.

"The thoughts come in a certain rhythm." When asked about the format of his books, particularly all the white space, Rob said that he formats the book to match the rhythm that his thoughts take. It makes me wonder about how I write. Instead of simply hitting the space bar twice after each thought, maybe I ought to be hitting the hard return.

Evolution instead of a flood

This afternoon I joined a group of Harpeth Youth for coffee and muffins.

As a side note, while we were there, Brad Paisley walked in. His producer, Frank Rogers, is a church member, so as they were leaving I made sure to get his attention. One of the girls with me went ahead and greeted Brad as well. Good times.

The topic of conversation for today's coffee meeting was the authority of Scripture, not that the youth would have said that. "We talked about whether the Bible is true" is probably the report they gave their parents. As were were talking about how we understand Scripture and how we seek to interpret it for our lives today, the topic of evolution came up, as it inevitably does when I have this conversation with youth. In the midst of that conversation, Cayla Jones, a sophomore, said something like, "I see evolution as God's way of changing everything instead of using the flood to wipe everything out and start over." Now, I imagine somebody has made similar theological statements, but I thought that was a pretty cool idea, that God, following the flood, would find another way to bring about change in the world. There's no doubt that humanity continues to find ways to mess up God's plan, but maybe nature is right on track. In any case, I wanted to give Cayla props for offering a great idea and making me see things in a new way.

Nice Weather and Summer Memories

Yesterday evening I was driving home from work with the windows down, and I got a whiff of diesel fumes. I know that for most people that wouldn't be such an enjoyable experience, but it immediately took my mind to the summers of 1997 and 1998 when I stood around buses and trucks while marching with The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps. I'm sure fellow drum corps folks will attest to the powerful ability of diesel fumes to transport them to some random parking lot in Anywhere, USA.

For the sake of this post, though, I want to reflect on the thoughts that quickly followed my nostalgia for the wonderful world of drum corps. I remember sitting in some high school gym on a rainy day near the end of pre-tour rehearsals and somehow "realizing" that I was about to be a part of that 49th iteration of The Cavaliers Drum and Bugle Corps. At that moment I was mindful of the thousands of young men who had gone before me, and was full of excitement to join the stream. I had the privilege of being a part of that particular present. As we marched around that summer, the performances of Cavaliers past set the foundation, and yet they had no bearing on how we 128 young men would come together in those summer months.

For a variety of reasons, those two summers with The Cavaliers reflected very purposeful times in my life. The particular present I was called to embody was clearly set forth by the routines, goals, and rituals of the organization of which I was a part. I awoke each day knowing what I was there to do.

It isn't always so clear in the "real world," though, is it? We find ourselves pulled in so many different directions. Mindfulness of the presence gives way to analyzing the past and making plans for the future. We are at once a part of so many organizations or groups of people who vie for our attention and focus.

You will never hear me say that drum corps was "easy," but I do think there was a simplicity to that life that adds to the nostalgia. I imagine we all have our days when moving to a monastery or cloister sounds quite nice. I wonder, though, if we might find ways to simplify, even in the midst of our daily lives. I wonder if we might take opportunities each and every day to pay attention to the particular present to which we have been called.

Much to think about lately

How is it possible that I haven't published a blog post since November of 2010? I apologize to anybody who's still keeping an eye on this thing. I've had a number of opportunities lately to hear great speakers or read great stuff, so for the next few days my goal is to share some reflections.

YCHRCH
This was an event sponsored by the College and Young Adult Ministries Unit of my presbytery. We invited author Carol Howard Merritt to come and speak about her books Tribal Church and Reframing Hope in which she addresses the issues surrounding young adults and their participation in churches in the early part of this century. While I haven't read Reframing Hope yet, I thoroughly enjoyed Tribal Church and every young adult I speak to who reads it says that it's "spot on" in describing their experience of the church. While I'm not going to summarize the book here, I do want to share a thought she offered during her time at YCHRCH that was particularly meaningful, in my opinion.

During a discussion of social media, Carol took issue with the prevailing idea that those who blog, twitter, or use facebook are simply narcissistic fame-seekers. Instead, she talked about how she used to join her Mother and Aunt on the back porch to help in the preparation of fresh vegetables for cooking. Actually, as I've thought about this, I may have translated her words into my own memories of sitting on the back porch of my grandparents' house with my own Mom and Grandma. Anyway, she recalled the stories that her Mom and Aunt would tell about their lives, and how great that was for a child to hear. Then, as time marched on and air conditioning became more prevalent, as well as cable television, the chores moved indoors in front of a television. At that point, her Mom and Aunt let the professionals of TV tell the stories. As Carol watches her nieces and nephews now, they sit around together with laptops and smartphones, and, as she posits, they seek to reclaim the role of story-teller. I think the idea of blogs, twitter feeds, and facebook status updates as taking back the story from the professional media is quite wonderful. Instead of lecturing the youth and young adults of our churches about the harmful effects of all that faceless social media, maybe we could be inviting them to share more and to help us reclaim the story of our communities. Maybe the cyber-voices of young people with their consistent insistence on narratives of hope, acceptance, love, and compassion are re-shaping the world around us. Maybe our church websites could be less full of calendars and staff directories and instead contain more story-telling by saints of all ages.

In the days to come, thoughts and reflections on what I heard from Rob Bell at Belmont University this past week.

Ongoing Reflections at NYWC

I arrived at the convention this morning in time to hear Tim Eldredge speak about the importance of including youth in all areas of planning and implementing youth ministry. His message was nothing new or even that revolutionary, but it was a good reminder and a kick in my butt. Even though I’ve implemented a youth council at church, I’ve been reticent to give the youth responsibility for everything. Well, that’s not exactly true. I would love to give them more responsibility, but I worry that if they don’t follow through and things start falling through the cracks, I’ll have people in my face asking me how I could let things fall apart. For example, I’d love for the youth council to actually choose/write curriculum for Sunday nights, and for them to take that next step of sorting through the lessons and decide exactly what we’ll talk about on Sunday nights. I’d be more than willing to walk them through that process the first few times, but I have this feeling that they would lose focus and drop the ball as time went on. Maybe I don’t give them enough credit. In any case, I walked out of there feeling convicted to hand over more and more responsibility to the youth of Harpeth.

Props to Jeremy Camp for singing “our God” instead of “my God” in the songs he led this morning.

Tony Campolo spoke this morning as well. It was mostly his spiel about red-letter Christian replacing Evangelical as a term for those who seek to follow Jesus’ teachings and put them into practice. At one point he said that right-wing Republican Christians and left-wing Democrat Christians focus on the same problems, then listed some of those problems, and said that right-wing Republican Christians simply don’t believe the government should be involved in solving those problems. The only item on the list that I took issue with was war. First of all, I’m not sure that all right-wing Republican Christians are totally opposed to war, especially in “the real world.” Second, who has the power to end wars other than the governments who start, encourage, and continue funding for those wars? Finally, if so many right wing Republicans are opposed to war, why on earth would George W. Bush have been re-elected by those same people? In principle, I agree with Tony that there is more than unites Christians of various political stripes than divides them, but I don’t think we can simply dismiss the differences as being about government involvement.

National Youth Workers Convention-Nashville-2010 Day One

It's been a couple of years since I've attended the National Youth Workers Convention put on by Youth Specialties. I decided that since it was in Nashville this year, I didn't have much excuse for not going. I've just exited the opening session where David Crowder encouraged us to be loud, and that Sandman guy did amazing stuff with a backlit layer of sand. My first half day or so at conferences like these always seem to bring about the same observations:

1. I may not be hip enough to be a "youth worker." There are lots of folks wearing trendy Christian band t-shirts, girl jeans, Castro-style ball caps, and a myriad of other hip clothes.
2. Worship seems to be an interesting mixture of participating and observing. It doesn't seem like many people around me are singing, not that I would be able to tell, because the band is unbelievably loud. Now, I know that sounds like and old fart kind of thing to say, but I've seen bands that lead worship and do so in a way that invites participation so that their sound is joined by the worshiping voices.
3. OK, this one might get me in trouble, but I'm going to throw it out there. It appears as if there are a large number of youth workers who are very overweight. While I understand that youth ministry can be a stressful profession, and there are plenty of opportunities for eating and drinking, I wonder what kind of example we set for our youth when we seemingly make unhealthy choices. Anyway, let the bashing commence.
4. HAS NOBODY HERE EVER HEARD OF INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE???? I mean, seriously. You can't substitute God for the He pronoun every once in awhile. While David Crowder Band does a decent job using communal language, they fail miserably at using gender-inclusive language.

OK, that's all for now. We'll see how the rest of the convention goes.

Psalm 65

I've been fairly disciplined lately about reading the Daily Lectionary texts along with prayers and canticles provided in the Daily Prayer version of the Book of Common Worship. One of today's Psalms was Psalm 65. Verses 5-13 (text below) really spoke to me today, especially in light of this time of year as we turn our eyes from summer and head into fall. I was moved by the juxtaposition of the image of a mighty, strong, awesome God who offers deliverance and established the mountains with the image of a visiting, field-watering God who intimately cares for the earth and its inhabitants. God the farmer. God the life-giver. God, the one who knows how much water we need and when to offer it and how to offer it so that we grow just so.

I somehow got lost in thinking about the final stanza in which hills gird themselves with joy, meadows clothe themselves with flocks, and valleys deck themselves with grain. As my wardrobe turns from shorts, t-shirts, and ball caps to blue jeans, sweaters, and stocking caps, I not only join the other people who do so, but I join the earth who also changes its wardrobe based on the seasons of the year. And, in the end, we all join together in shouting and singing together for joy in response to the abundant provision and grace of God.

So much beauty and deep theology in 13 verses...

Psalm 65:5-13
By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
⁶ By your strength you established the mountains;
you are girded with might.
⁷ You silence the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples.
⁸ Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.

⁹ You visit the earth and water it,
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide the people with grain,
for so you have prepared it.
¹⁰ You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks overflow with richness.
¹² The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills gird themselves with joy,
¹³ the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they shout and sing together for joy.

Tribal Church

I'm close to finishing Tribal Church by Carol Howard Meritt, and I think I can safely say that any church that has any inclination to reach out to young adults should have folks reading this book. It raises many good questions and challenges the church to be intergenerational its focus. With its words rattling around in my brain, I observed some wonderful thing at Harpeth Presbyterian Church last night:

• James Peeler and I took a group of middle-schoolers to Stratford High School yesterday afternoon to help prepare a newly renovated space for tutoring provided by Martha O'Bryan Center. At one point, Peeler was standing in a dumpster making sure we got every last bit of old carpet in there. James Peeler is the kind of man any parent would want spending time with their kids, whether their kids are 4, 14, or 24.
• We returned to church to see little Asher Brown (age 2) walking down the hallway screaming and crying for some reason. Two teenagers saw him and rushed to his aid and swooped him up and made sure he felt loved as his mother chased him down. Those teenagers treated him as a little brother.
• Our church choir has teenagers, college students, young adults, young parents, empty-nesters, and retirees who all gather each week to prepare as worship leaders. There's a buzz in the room as all of these generations spend time together. As rehearsal was gearing down, I looked over and saw the hand-written prayer that our un-official (yet official) chaplain, Carol Bradley, had prepared for the evening. Each week she shares a prayer that she has written and all those generations are enriched.

Is Harpeth perfect? No. Are there ways for us to improve the way we reach out the young adults? Yes. Yet, in many ways, I'm proud of Harpeth for valuing the input of all of God's children, whether they be 2 or 92 or somewhere in between.