Back to Back: Jim Fleming and Rob Bell this weekend!

I'm psyched. I get to see two of the most intelligent, engaging and talented Christian speakers at it today back to back. Jim Fleming and Rob Bell. Awesome!

Dr. James Fleming is Director of Biblical Resources Study Center in Jerusalem, Israel, and the President of Biblical Resources, which produces audiovisuals for teaching Bible history. He is also one of the most informed and inspiring speakers I've ever seen. He's given an annual lecture series at my home church, Church Street UMC in Knoxville, Tennessee for like the last 8 or 9 years and he never disappoints. He's the type of guy who has forgotten more about the Bible than I'll EVER know, but comes across so down-to-earth. A truly gifted teacher.

Anyways, his next lecture series at my church is this Sunday-Monday (Nov. 18/19) at Church Street United Methodist. For more information about this year's series and schedule click here. If you're in the Knoxville area and have the chance, do try to catch him.

I will be at Dr. Flemming's Sunday lessons, but not Monday's, because I will be taking a road trip with some friends to the ATL to catch Rob Bell on his "The Gods Aren't Angry Speaking Tour."

I've blogged about how Rob's first book (Velvet Elvis) has inspired me. I just finished his latest book (SexGod) and it was just as outstanding. Evidently at this event, he'll be covering all-new material, so I can't wait.

I'll blog next week with updates and thoughts from both events.

Blessings

Lessons from Steve Nash

To paraphrase Kurtis Blow, basketball has always been my favorite sport. And I think Steve Nash is now my all-time favorite player to watch.

The man is amazing. In a land of NBA giants, he often dominates games even though he's usually the smallest guy on the court. He's won 2 of the past 3 MVP awards, prompting none other than Magic Johnson (!) to say that Nash is playing the point guard position "better than it's ever been played before." And he's from Canada! Not exactly a fertile breeding ground for elite NBA talent.

Like I said, the man is amazing.

So I was especially geeked to see Mr. Nash gracing the cover of the Novemeber issue of Men's Journal. The feature story proclaimed Nash as the man who made the NBA fun again. Amen to that.

It was also a fascinating read on what made Nash tick, both on and off the court. I came away inspired and with some interesting tips to apply to my daily walk of faith.

• Be into assists Guys love to play on Steve's team, because he's all about making them look/play better. In fact, last year every regular player on the Suns had a career year in scoring. That's because, in Steve's words, "he'd rather get the assist than score it himself." It's no wonder his teammates love playing with him! He's all about putting their needs before his own. Now, granted, this isn't a new concept - Jesus covers this with the command to "do unto others." But it was a great reminder of how to apply this in everyday life. What if I was more concered about my co-workers' problems and more willing to lend them a helping hand with their projects? What if I were more interested in my elderly neighbor's yard that needs to be raked than I was my own? What if I was more interested in what my kids or my wife wants to tell me than the sporting event on TV? Things would be much better if I would go around everyday like Steve does on the court and look to "dish out more assists."

• Spiritually Cross-Train Steve's first passion was soccer. In fact, according to the article, he didn't even start playing basketball until he was a teenager because he had always played soccer and hockey. (He really IS Canadian!) He says at first, basketball felt like cheating because he was "allowed to use his hands." But those skills kicking the ball on the field and passing the puck on the ice transferred to hoops. Now he's able to see the court, anticipate movements and make plays unlike anyone else. (His terrific jumper doesn't hurt, either) In the offseason, Steve puts the basketball down and goes back to his first love: playing soccer. The article says he's able to dribble a soccer ball on his foot 625 times. (!) Bruce Arena, the coach of the New York Red Bulls, says that Nash could play right now in Major League Soccer. He stays in supreme shape and goes back to his roots every offseason by playing with the world's best soccer players. All this got me thinking about the benefits of "spirutally cross-training." All to often, I think Christians get too comfortable with the status quo. Now, I'm all for tradition and honoring your past, but it's too easy sometimes to get into the routine of going to the same church, sitting on the same pew, talking to the same people week after week. I am guilty as charged. I think Jesus calls us to constantly be growing and deepening our faith. So to take a play out of Nash's playbook, maybe that's joining a new Sunday School class, going on a mission trip, or introducing yourself to a complete stranger. Maybe it's going to a service at a different denomination or a service at a different faith entirely. Let me be clear: this isn't a call to abandon the Christian faith, but to really explore your beliefs. To not be in a rut. To have conversations and experiences outside of your comfort zone to challenge you and make you better.

• Give back One of the things I love about Nash (besides his mad skills) is that he just seems like a real guy. That rare NBA superstar that travels without an entourage. By all accounts, he's a family guy and a devoted father of twins. He's also using his celebrity status to do some great things. He started his own foundation that his sister helps run. This past summer, he staged the third annual Steve Nash Charity Classic in Vancouver, a two-day event that raised hundereds of thousands of dollars for children's health and after-school programs. He recently contributed to a pediatric wing for a hospital in Paraguay (where his wife is from). He's also passionate about addressing global warming issues. He recently opened a gym in Vancouver that was LEED-certified (The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification is the most rigorous eco review in North America.) Steve says it best, "We can't wait for science to bail us out. We havve to do the little things everyday."

Chalk up another great assist to Nash for those words of wisdom. Now if he could only help me straighten out my jump shot.

Memories of My Grandpa

My mom called me this morning to tell me that my grandfather, Paul McCluskey, passed away at 5:17 this morning. At 95 years young and on hospice care for the past few months, it was not unexpected. But still there is that pain of sadness. Sadness to see my father go through losing his dad. Sadness (and fear) about what I will do when it's my turn to go through this. A pain for lost memories of simplier days. Days where my grandfather was the picture of health and the life of the party.

There is also joy. Joy because he lived an amazing life. He was always on the go and an avid golfer until he was 89! He was always a very social man - handsome in the way that Carey Grant and other movie stars from the past were. Dashing. Classy. In fact, after my grandma passed away it was always a running joke with my family about how many "girlfriends" grandpa had at any one time.

There is a joy of precious memories. Every Christmas was spent at his house. The time when he took me and my cousin to his golf club to let us drive the cart. Our 8 year old minds were blown away. I also remember at each and every family meal we'd all hold hands around the table to say the blessing - his favorite joke was to, after the prayer, squeeze your hand until you said "amen." The man had a crushing grip that squeezed tears from my eyes. I may have been 60 years younger, but he was twice as strong.

Sadness and joy. Joy and sadness. Today I feel both. But today I also feel a peace and assurance that this is a blessing. He is in Heaven. He's at perfect peace with a body that will never grow old. But hopefully still with that warm smile and twinkle in his eye that always let me know he was glad to see me.

Thanks for running a good race, Grandpa. I love you.

Picking Up The Joysticks

Throughout the Gospel, Jesus does some pretty amazing things. Turning water to wine. Giving sight to the blind. Forgiving sins. Walking on water. From raising the dead to feeding a crowd of 5,000 with a few pieces of bread and some Blue Gills, Jesus performed many miracles in a period of about three years. (Forgive the understatement)

But to me, one of the most amazing things he did was also one of the dirtiest: He washed his friends' feet.

Here's the setting: (John 13: 1-17) Jesus is about to have his last meal. He knows that in just a few short hours, his closest friends are going to betray him (Judas), deny him (Peter) and leave him alone to die an excruitating, painful death (all of them). If I were in a similar situation, I would be a basketcase. What I would NOT do would be to get down on my hands and knees to wash my friends' dirty, nasty, road-weary feet. But that's exactly what Jesus did.

Wow.

I mean, I love my friends, but I really can't imagine doing this. Can you? And we live in a modern world with paved roads and lots of shoe options besides open-toed sandals. In Jesus' day, washing guests' feet was a job for a household servant to carry out when guests arrived. So Jesus - God in flesh, the maker of stars and architect of the universe - wraps a towel around his waist (a symbol of what the lowliest slave would do) and washes his disciples' feet. Amazing.

And this type of selflessness and servantitude is what he expects of us.

Gulp.

I have always struggled with this passage and this concept. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy doing nice things for other people. You know, as long as it fits into my busy schedule. And it isn't too dirty. Or hard. And of course, as long as it doesn't involve washing someone's nasty feet.

Obviously, I have some hang ups in this area. So leave it to God to give me a wakeup call and show me that yes, he expects me to serve others in this way. Even if it's unpleasant. Even if it involves dirty feet. Or worse.

It was at my daughter's last birthday party. My wife and I were preparing for an onslaught of about 15-20 hyped-up 5 year olds to invade our home. (is there any other type of 5 year old?) The only entertainment we had secured was one of those giant inflatable jumpy thingys. Like a trampoline on steroids. I must admit I was looking forward to "testing it out."

I knew we were in trouble when it was 3 hours before the party and the guy we had rented the inflatable from still hadn't called to get our address. 2 hours before the party, I finally reach him and he assures me he'll have the thing set up on time. Oh, but he's "running a little late."

I tell the guy that there can't be a "little late." You ARE the party.

30 minutes before the party is supposed to begin, still no inflatable. My daugther senses our tension and starts getting upset. I can't tell if I'm going to hug the guy or strangle him if he ever shows up. Probably both.

During this time of nervousness and anxiety, is when God taps me on the shoulder with a stunning visual. My dad has taken it upon himself to go out to the back yard where the (still missing) inflatable is supposed to be. To pick up dog poop.

We have a 70 pound dog. This is no small endeavor. Literally.

In our family, we call this chore "Picking Up the Joysticks." Why the phrase "joy" is in there, I will never know. And, as anyone in my family will quickly tell you, I've never actually participated in this ritual. Call me crazy, but when it comes to picking up dog poop or doing, oh, about 16,834 other things, I'll do one of the the 16,834 other things.

But here, in this moment of tension and unease, my loyal, loving father takes it upon himself to grab a bag and some gloves and pick up a yard's worth of dog poop, so the kids won't step in it when they play around the still missing inflatable.

No one asked him to do this. He just did. And as I stood in the window watching him, I swear I saw a smile on his face the entire time.

I felt a peace. I felt God telling me to relax - the inflatable would get there when it got there. I felt blessed to have a beautiful, healthy 5 year old birthday girl. I felt grateful for having a dad who would serve in a way that Jesus would.

Oh, and the guy showed up with the inflatable literally 5 minutes before the party began. My daughter had an amazing birthday party, and we jumped on the thing all day long.

It was a joyous day, in more ways than one.

Waiting Turns To Never

Just read an awesome article in the latest issue of Men's Health (November 2007, the one with a super-inked up LeBron James on the cover). The article is "Last Words To Live By." Writer Mikel Jollett spoke with 15 men with life-threatening illnessess. Here is a sample of some of my favorite quotes. All profound. All inspiring. All packing a lifetime of wisdom into a sentence or two.

"Enjoy fatherhood. It has many, many valuable assets. It's also a terrible pain in the ass sometimes."
— Nat Posner, 92 (congestive heart failure)

"A bad diet will start to haunt you in your early 30s; a good diet will pay you back for the rest of your life."
— Mark Madden, 39 (congenital cardiomyopathy)

"Money never made me happy. You can buy a house, but you can't buy a home."
— Gary Garnesek, 53 (liver disease)

"A man with integrity will draw more business than a man without it."
— Mark Gillard, 46 (HIV)

"God gives me hope. That might seem corny, but when I'm sitting alone in a room and I know I'm not going to survive this, I feel comfort. I do not fear death."
— Tracy Thompson, 53 (ALS)

"You can't be a good father without being a good husband, and you can't be a good husband without being a good father."
— David Hewitt, 43 (melanoma)

And my favorite...

"Appreciate the time you have with your children. At the stage I'm at, you wish you had more time and wish you would have done more. There's never going to be enough money, so quit thinking about the things you want to do with your kids and just do them. Waiting turns to never."
— Bryan Woodward, 37 (leukemia)

Now those are some words to live by.

ARIGATO! New John Davis CD just released! Superdrag back on tour!

John Davis has always been one of my barometers for what is truly cool. There were two dominant forces on campus when I attended The University of Tennessee in the early 90s: our football team and John's band, Superdrag.

The first time I saw Superdrag they were playing a random keg party in Fort Sanders. I remember being blown away by their originals, and ended the evening with a cool cover of Modern English's "Melt With You." The fact that I could remember ANYTHING the morning after a Fort Sanders kegger was a testament to how brilliant this band was.

I immediately checked out their next live show at the legendary Mercury Theatre. Truly a watershed moment for me. As I stood packed like sardines with all the other scenesters in the ridicously overbooked Mercury, I was transfixed by the songs that would become the band's first record, "Regretfully Yours." At one moment, the band's roar dissolved to a silent whisper and John sung a cappella, off microphone. It was a beautiful, brilliant moment. I stood amazed at how talented he was. How great the songs were. I was overdosing on aura and knew this band was onto something big.

Things got very big very fast. Their anthem "Sucked Out" made it into the Buzz Bin on MTV. They toured everywhere. They made one insanely great album after another. But just like any great VH1 "Behind the Music" episode teaches, it all came at a price.

I don't know John Davis. I won't pretend to know what addictions he faced. But in this Metro Pulse article he talks about many of his demons. He also says:

"I was raised in church; I was baptized as a kid. It was part of who I was. Then I spent a long time trying to run as fast as I could in the opposite direction."

These words I can relate to. During the same time that John was running away from his faith I was following the same path. Of course, I didn't have to face any of the trappings of fame, like he did, but I made do. Church and faith and devotionals and praying just seemed so...lame. They sure didn't hold much allure during my college years when there was an endless stream of parties to make and kegs to tap.

(Not that there's anything wrong with a good party. Jesus himself enjoyed them. But let's just say moderation was not my strong suit on the campus of America's #1 party school.)

Eventually, Superdrag goes through several lineup variations and ultimately breaks up. I started hearing that John Davis was about to release his first solo album. This news was fantastic, but every post I read or conversation I heard inevitably had an interesting undertone to it. That was because John had become...of all things...a Christian!!! Gasp.

Many of the cool kids that loved Superdrag weren't quite sure what to do with this latest development. I mean, sure, he was sober, seemed to be happily married and have kids, but what if the music sucked now? What if it was all the booze and drugs and confilt in his life that made him a great songwriter, instead of his God-given talent and spirit?

And in their defense, I had some doubts, too. I mean a lot of Christian music is brutal.

But his first (self-titled) solo album was amazing. And it was a God-send for me. It came into my life at a time where I was getting over the hang-over (literally) of my college lifestyle and (trying to) embrace my spiritually. I had a wife, a child, a family. And while I still had more questions than I had answers, I wanted God to fit into the equation, too.

The songs on John's first CD were fantastic. One in particular really pulled me through some struggles. "Jesus Gonna Build Me A Home." is a beautiful, inspiring piano-based song that reminds me at a deep South tent revival or small, country church choir. The chorus goes:

"Everybody gonna reap what they sow. Jesus gonna build me a home."

I can't tell you how many times I listened to this song. In fact, my daughter has heard it so much she asks me to sing it to her when I'm tucking her into bed (I sign it nothing like John does.) This song spoke to me at a time that I was going through many spiritual battles. I was going through a traumatic situation at work, where a new job that looked perfect on paper was quickly becoming a nightmare. I was going through the trials of having a newborn and the realization that my wife and I may never sleep again. I was going through a bunch of stuff that didn't make sense.

But, somehow, this song helped everything make sense. The song struck a chord on all those levels, and reminded me that God cares about our struggles and work here on Earth. And that he notices the work we do, even when nobody else does.

I was able to thank John briefly for this song and his decision to share his talents in a way that serves God and the rest of us. He and his band performed at Barleys last year. The band was tight. Just before they played "Jesus Gonna Build Me A Home" he gave a disclaimer to the crowd by saying that the next song was about Jesus, and if that made anyone uncomfortable, they should leave. No one did. And it was like the greatest church services that inspire you and provide a peace that transcends all human understanding.

John's second solo album, ARIGATO! was just released, and he and the original members of Superdrag are on a reunion tour, and will be playing two shows at Barley's in downtown Knoxville this weekend.

Thank you John, for sharing your faith and your songs with us all. Thank you for using your God-given talents in a way that gives Him glory, and encourages others to smile. And for showing me that there's really nothing cooler than that.

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!)