A Super Man

As a life-long Dallas Cowboys fan (um, yeah, I know...) it's pretty much impossible for me to cheer for the Steelers in the Super Bowl Sunday. But truth be told, I do really like their team and how they play the game. But, I'm definitely pulling for the Cards this year. In part, because it's such a novelty that they're there. But it's mainly because of Kurt Warner. I know his story of "former grocery store clerk to Super Bowl MVP" has been told ad nauseum, but it's so incredible, how could you not be down with a guy like #13? Kurt's willingness to put "first things first" (as the name of his foundation states) and give all honor and glory to God first is so refreshing. Especially in this day and age of pre-meditated touchdown dance celebrations and $137 million dollar contracts.

I ran across his personal testimony on his website which just makes me pull for the guy even more on Superbowl Sunday...and beyond.

Kurt Warner's Testimony

"I believe that the Lord has a plan for each of us that's better than anything we can imagine--even if that plan isn't obvious to us at every stage. He prepared me for this over a long period of time--in lower-profile locker rooms and the grocery store and in Europe, through all the personal tragedies and in spite of the people who doubted me along the way," Warner explained. "Whether I'm a Super Bowl Champion or a regular guy stocking groceries at the Hy-Vee, sharing my faith and glorifying Jesus is the central focus of my time on this earth. And the fact that I now have a podium, I believe, is no coincidence. I want to be a role model for Christ in everything that I do. Living my life for Him and showing people the beauty of that reality is my mission in life."

"Before I could devote my life to Jesus and start living my life for Him, I had to go through a lot of personal struggles, including a period a few years ago where I got a little caught up in things that aren't important--fame, money, lust...."

Warner suffered a series of disastrous setbacks in his career. He faced financial problems, family problems, even the sudden and tragic death of his wife's parents. All the hurts and the heartbreak caused Kurt to take a good hard look at his life--and what was missing from it. "Growing up I'd always put my life on one side and my relationship with God on the other. I knew God was there, but I only called upon Him when I needed Him or felt compelled to thank Him. Eventually, I realized I needed to live every day for Him."

No matter what happens on Sunday, Kurt Warner will be a winner in my book.

Velvet Elvis

I love that feeling when you read just the right book at just the right time. When the words somehow jump off the page and sink deep within your soul. When you truly grieve the moment that you turn the last page.

It's only happened to me a few times. When I read Wally Lamb's "I Know This Much Is True." The first (of many) times that I read "The Catcher in the Rye." And it recently happened again with "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell.

Two months ago, I had never heard of Rob Bell. Now I think he's probably the most inspiring, talented Christian preacher/teacher/evangelist of our day. Especially for us hipsters from Gen-X who have at some point bought into the myth that if you are a Christian you have to be boring. Wrong!

A 2006 article in the Chicago Sun Times predicts Rob may become the next Billy Graham. I'm not sure about all that. I am sure that he is onto something. Rob graduated from the same seminary school as Graham (Wheaton College) but says he never got good grades in his courses because "he was always more interested in coming up with creative ways to share the Gospel."

And man, is he creative. He used to play in an indie rock band. He looks more like he'd be hanging out at a coffee shop or a Cold War Kids concert than in a pulpit. And maybe that's (part of) what makes him so effective. He does those things. But he also posseses an incredible knowledge of the Bible and the Jewish traditions and world Jesus lived in. Most importantly, he knows how to translate all that into a way that's relevant for us today. His teaching style inspires without being judgemental. Brilliant!

In 1999, he and his wife founded Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Michigan. Today it attracts over 10,000 people per service and is one of the fastest growing churches in American history. Many people also download the weekly Mars Hill Podcasts which feature sermons and messages from Rob and other top notch speakers. I highly recommend you check them out.

I also recommend his work through Nooma.com. Nooma is a series of short films with a contemporary look that explore contemporary Christian issues and perspectives. They are beautifully shot and edited. The music is hip. The messages are powerful and inspire, uplift and really make you think.

In short, they work in ways that all other Christian "educational" videos don't. It's more like watching a Ken Burns documentary than Driver License safety video, if you get my drift. I recently did a 4 week study with my Sunday School class (to date there are 17 different Nooma films, each one is about 5 minutes long). It inspired awesome discussion and we are going to do the rest of the series in the near future.

It was during this study of these Nooma films that I picked up Rob's first book, "Velvet Elvis." In it, he explains his vision of the Christian life. "The challenge," he says "is to live with great passion and conviction, remaining open and flexible, aware that this life is not the last painting." He talks about how he became a preacher (he didn't see it coming) and some real struggles he's faced. It's packed with insights on how a story that's 2,000 years old can make sense in today's TiVo'd world.

It's funny. It's eye-opening. It's inspiring. It's one of the best books I've ever read. I hope you'll read it, too.

(Side note: This fall, Rob Bell is going on a speaking tour, called The Gods Aren't Angry It's described as "part anthropology, part history, part deconstruction - featuring new material that Rob hasn't taught before." I'm going to check it out Novemeber 19 at The Tabernacle in Atlanta. I'll blog about that road trip for sure!)

Fresh Ink

The new girl at my work is cool. We seem to have a lot in common. Her son and my daughter are close in age. She's way into music which is always a big plus for me. In fact, used to run a ultra hip jazz club here in town. And, as my latest barometer of coolness: she's a BIG fan of "The Office." Very cool, indeed.

One other thing that makes her stand out is she has tattoos. Lots of tattoos. Not that I've seen them. We work in a very traditional, buttoned-up atmosphere. She's very good at her job, and is always dresses very professionaly. And in a manner that covers up her ink.

She's gotten 2 tats (that I know of) in the past few weeks alone. She once mentioned to me that she "thinks she has about 20 tats." Which is, oh, about 20 more than I'll ever have.

My point is she has a lot of ink. And while that's not how I roll, I still think she's cool and we seem to get along pretty well.

Which brings me to a story she told me.

We were talking about faith and going to church and all those good things. Like so many people, she went early and often as a child, only to drift away from organized religion. I can relate. The point that I drifted away was also known as my college years.

At any rate, she had gotten away from the church. She had gotten married, had a child and gone through a divorce. It happens. At some point she moved back to her hometown and took her young son to her childhood church. She says that after a service, she along with other members of her family were in line to talk with the preacher.

It seems the preacher talked to everyone except my friend. She says that he wouldn't even look her in the eye or acknowledge her presence. It got so bad that he son asked out loud why the preacher was doing that.

I've got to admit I couldn't understand it either. When I asked her why someone, ESPECIALLY a preacher would do that in church she said "because I had been divorced...and because I have tattoos."

Is this what Jesus had in mind?

The answer, of course, is no. While there is always two sides to a story, it seems this preacher at the very least was making some very big judgements on who should and who shouldn't be in "HIS" church. What's so dangerous about this is that we all have labels that could be used to exclude us.

Some people have tattoos. Some people have no money. Some people have too much money. Some people have AIDS. Some people have dark skin. Some people don't think "The Office" is funny.

The point is, anytime we get to judging who should and who shouldn't be included, things get very messed up. Which is why I think Jesus tells us not to do it.

In Luke 15 the Bible says:

"Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

During this time tax collectors were considered the lowest of the low. And the sinners included everybody else. The Pharisees were the most powerful, respected force of the day. And they couldn't believe that Jesus would "lower" himself to associate with this crew.

Jesus goes on to tell three famous parables: the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son. In all it describes how we rejoice when we find something we're missing.

Much the same way, God rejoices when we find our way back to Him. We're all lost at some point on this side of heaven. Life can be hard and questions, tough questions, often get in our way. But for those who keep searching, who don't stop trying to find God and strengthen their faith, Jesus promises that we will find what we're looking for.

It's for those reasons that as believers we should be supportive and encouraging to everyone. Even if they look different or dress different. Even if they've been married before, or heaven forbid, have a few piercings or tattoos. If those sorts of things wouldn't matter to Jesus, they shouldn't matter to us.

One final note about my friend. One of her tattoos that I have seen is on her left wrist. It's a very cool symbol that she tells me represents the trinity. I wonder what the preacher who dismissed her would think of that.

The Gospel According to Whitesnake

What's heaven really going to be like? Will the streets be paved in gold like in the book of Revalation? Will it be filled with marshmellow like clouds with a God that cracks wise like George Burns in "O God" or Morgan Freeman in "Bruce Almighty"?

Who knows. Humans have been asking questions about what heaven is really going to be like since the beginning of time. So we're probably not going to find any definite answers in this blog. But that shouldn't stop us from trying, now should it?

One of my closest friends, Phil (whom I will no doubt reference often in this blog as he is one of the most profound examples of living a life of faith I have) has a great concept about what heaven is going to be like. I will share an email he sent me where he came up with this image of heaven while on a recent business trip to Denver. I like his picture of heaven for many reasons. One, it paints a picture of heaven as not some far away image of "pearly gates" where we will sit around all day long strumming harps and bouncing on clouds. It paints an image that heaven will be a lot like the best parts of our life here and now. Those wonderful, inspiring moments that are so beautifuly described as "slices of heaven."

And I like Phil's concept because it involves Whitesnake. Hey, all those years of listening to cheese metal in the 80s should account for something. Here's what he wrote, edited somewhat to protect the innocent.

"We took a car into Boulder last night to go to a brew pub. All the local breweries around our hotel area are "chains," so we got a driver to take us into Boulder. We ate dinner at one place and drank beer at another place. The "another place" where we drank beer was the coolest bar I've ever been into, not because of the decor, but because of the guys working there. Imagine a bunch of college guys, not quite hippies, but more the outdoorsy backpacking set. There's about 10 of them in this place about the size of our downstairs and garage area.

So anyway, here's a description of the place off their menu (I asked them if I could keep a copy):

"Welcome to the Mountain Sun Pub and Brewery. We believe our approach to the service industry is unique and worth noticing. Your server today may be cooking your food tomorrow, or even managing. Each employee does every job here. Our "team system" also means that we take initiative to bus each other's tables, run food, do dishes, help you to a beer at the bar, or put you on the wait list. So feel free to ask any of us how the food is prepared, your estimated wait time, or where to find Yahtzee."

So anyway, we actually go into this place when we first get downtown. Each of us except John Doe orders a beer (he gets tea) and we stand around drinking them since there aren't any tables. As we're drinking, somebody notices a sign that says they only take cash or checks, no credit cards.

So, since none of us has a lot of cash, and even if we did we wouldn't want to spend it when the company is paying for our dinner, we tell one of the guys there that we're leaving, but that we'll be back later. He asks us why we're leaving, and we tell him about the whole "no cash" thing. So, this is what the guy says, not verbatim but close......

"You can eat here, and we'll give you a self-addressed envelope with the bill, and you can mail us a check when you get back home." We looked at him like he had monkeys coming out of his ears. We were pretty stunned, but we thanked him for the offer and said we'd go eat somewhere else, then bring our meager cash back for a final beer of the night. He was pretty persistent, but we promised him we'd be back later.

So we go out into the rain and start trying to figure out where we're going to go eat. John Doe had left earlier to try to scope some places out since he wasn't drinking beer. So we ask around, jump into a couple of other shops and figure out there's another microbrewery about 10 blocks down the street. So we hug close to the sides of buildings, getting under awnings when we can, and make our way to the other brew pub. When we get there, we realize that it's a "chain," but we were wet and hungry, so we went in anyway. The beer there was pretty boring, and our steaks were all over-cooked, but it's hard to complain too much when you're not paying for anything.

So we finish up our meal and go back to "Mountain Sun," the brewpub mentioned earlier. The guy is happy to see us, and strangely enough the place isn't very crowded. We all get beer and start playing Boggle without keeping score, which to someone like me, is kinda tough to do. It's even tougher when the folks I'm with start making up words that don't actually exist, so I'm having to turn off my strict "we've got to do this by the rules or it isn't fair" filter and just have a good time. It was tough, but I managed to work my way through it.

So it's getting close to 9:30, the time we asked our driver to come back to pick us up, and we ask for the check. The guy we'd met earlier told us there was no charge -- NOTHING -- for what we'd just drunk. Again, we were all stunned. So we each pitched in $5 and gave the guys there a $20 tip. In retrospect, we should have probably left them more. I'm telling you, it was the coolest thing that's ever happened to me in a bar.

So we leave the bar and our car guy shows back up, right on time, to pick us up. I didn't mention this earlier cause it's going to sound like I'm bragging, but he's driving a Cadillac Escalade. He has satellite radio, so we have him put it on an 80's station for the drive back. We listen to a Whitesnake song. We're driving down the road, I'm singing at the top of my lungs, and all of a sudden I realize that all this fun that I'm having right now is a complete and total gift from God. I'm hearing words in both the Whitesnake song and "Lean on Me" that can easily be turned into worship, and I realize that God is smiling and enjoying the fact that I'm having -- that all of us in this small community inside an Escalade are having -- a good time. It made me realize that what I'd experienced in the brewpub was a tiny picture of what our life is supposed to be like here on earth, that that sense of community and relationship and trust is exactly what God had in mind when he talked about the living in "community" and how we're supposed to get along in the world. To say I was blown away by the whole thing -- seeing God at work in a brew pub and in the back seat of a truck heading down the highway playing 80's music -- just really doesn't do it all justice.

I know this sounds weird, but here's the lyrics to the Whitesnake song:

I don't know where I'm goin
but I sure know where I've been
hanging on the promises in songs of yesterday.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time
but here I go again, here I go again.

Tho' I keep searching for an answer
I never seem to find what I'm looking for.
Oh Lord, I pray you give me strength to carry on
'cos I know what it means to walk along the lonely street of dreams.

Here I go again on my own
goin' down the only road I've ever known.
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time.

Just another heart in need of rescue
waiting on love's sweet charity
an' I'm gonna hold on for the rest of my days
'cos I know what it means to walk along the lonely street of dreams.

Here I go again on my own
goin' down the only road I've ever known.
Like a hobo I was born to walk alone.
An' I've made up my mind, I ain't wasting no more time
but here I go again, here I go again,
here I go again, here I go.

I know all of it doesn't apply, and I certainly don't feel "alone" in my life, but the part about "Tho' I keep searching for an answer, I never seem to find what I'm looking for..." spoke to me about how I'm always praying to God for answers, and sometimes I get the feeling He's being kinda quiet about stuff, but my response shouldn't be to worry and to fret about it, but just to keep on walking.

And then there's the part that says "Just another heart in need of rescue, waiting on love's sweet charity. An' I'm gonna hold on for the rest of my days, cause I know what it means to walk along the lonely street of dreams..." where I'm thinking that our faith journey means we're called to just hang on even when we face uncertainty about what our life's going to be like in the future.

For you and me, we don't know what life will be like when we're taking care of our parents, or where we'll be working in 10 years, or even if the dog will still be tearing up the house and ruining carpets. For us, it just means that we need to trust God to take us where we want to go, and to try our best to enjoy the ride while we're on it. Sometimes it'll be a Cadillac Escalade, and other times it'll be a 1972 baby blue 4-door Ford Gran Torino, but the important thing to remember is that it is just a ride, and we need to enjoy what God has given us along the way, even when the road seems to get a little bumpy."

Amen, brother!

Now, in future posts we'll see if we can come up with "The Gospel According to Def Leppard"