Keytars, Super Mario, and Poker During Worship?

Man do I have blog fodder, probably for weeks to come. I am in Atlanta at Thirsty 06. I just got back from a session where David Crowder played a Keytar during worship, later they managed to work the Super Mario Brothers theme into their set, yes the one from the original. A grand time was had by all. I figured I would leave a short post from the road. More to come.

Special Plans For Wednesday March 29

Hey, Check it out. No Kevin this Wednesday! The Nameless Thing will be at Miller's Ale House at 8:45. Go eat, have fun, bring friends. No big talk, no deep study, just have a good time. Bring FRIENDS.

Dorcus, What a Funny Name (If your name is Dorcus, sorry. But you have to admit it is pretty funny.)

Here is a point to pontificate on. This new focus on being more apostolic in our understanding of church has made me think of something. What does it mean to be apostolic in your understanding? A good question with a number of answers, depending on who you ask. Personally, I like the idea of being apostolic. I mean, what could be better than a church that is organic, without many years worth of tradition and learned behavior so easily influencing present behavior? Simply a church that seeks to love God and people and do all which that entails seems like a great example to follow. I mean the apostolic church was lead by the apostles, the very folks that knew Jesus personally in a they could smell Him way. It is a good thing. These folks were going out into the community and seeing God work in all kinds of ways. They just lived their faith and followed Christ.

The difference here is not that we don't live our faith in the present day. We do, and in many ways it is not dissimilar to what the apostolic church did. But the apostolic church did not have the years of established church behavior to influence their decisions. I doubt they would find themselves in the following scenario, "What do I think about situation 'X'? Um, I am Baptist and Baptist think this about situation 'X', so I guess I will think that way too." They only had Jesus' example to guide them. Of course, why reinvent the wheel every few years. I do not advocate reinventing the wheel, but relying on church to give you your understanding of situation X can easily take God out of the equation.

So, this is the main question I am working my way up to. Do we simply remodel our church (not Parkway, but the church proper) after the church we read about in Acts? I maintain that would be entirely too simple an answer. While, I think it is good to know how they did things and handled situations, I think to model behavior would be no different than asking the previous question about situation "X" but changing Baptist to apostolic church. Rather, I think we gauge our present day experience with Christ to their apostle day experience with Christ. They don't so much serve as patterns as examples of what a life following Christ looks like.

We read stories of the early followers doing amazing things. We read stories of them standing down people that would ultimately decide if they would live or die; Stephen in this example, who did not live to tell the story. We read of people being arrested and freed by angels (Acts 5:1-11). We see ordinary people doing things like the healing of Aeneas (Acts 9:32-35). Eutychus fell out a window because Paul preached too long and died, Paul restored his life (Acts 20:7-12). Paul was unaffected by the viper that bite him (Acts 28:3-5). And who could forget Dorcus, I mean Dorcus what a name, she died and Peter prayed for her and she got undead (Acts 9:36-41).

Seems to me that when we follow Christ closely, the kind of follow where we finally admit that it is totally about what Christ wants and that we are not the one in control, we will see things more like God sees them. Can you imagine coming up on the body of a friend and praying to see them wake up? Personally, I cannot say that I would be able to do what Peter did. Just praying a prayer to give someone their live back seems too... preposterous or maybe laughable. Kind of like God will just say, “No, you cannot pray that, you silly little boy, go back and cry with the widows.” Of course, the million-dollar question here is if Peter felt that way when he began to pray. Can you imagine going to God with that request? What a vulnerable position? I suppose that is why he sent the crying widows out of the room (9:39). Of course, we don't know exactly what Peter prayed; he may have been as surprised as Dorcus and the widows. Of course, we also see instances in Acts where no miracle happened. Stephen was stoned and died (6:8 - 7:60) and Paul never got over his thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:7-10) to name two.

What we see in the apostolic church are people that followed and where open to the Spirit. They did not seem to second-guess as much; they did not seem to depend on precedent as much. What is more, it almost seemed that they expected to see things that might be a little unusual in our day. They did not so much depend on planning events and programs. They seemed to live a faith that was very real and obvious.

So, hear is the point where you are about to stop reading because I am about to stop writing. You, having read all this and had your own ideas and thoughts will comment on what my little pontification made you think about. Keep this in mind. I welcome and look forward to your thoughts. That is the good thing about a blog. I don’t just throw ideas out there with no hope of feedback. Most of you know that I have never claimed to be some renowned theologian. I am just a man who enjoys his relationship with God and wants to see Him glorified. I know that I don't know all that there is to know and I can get things wrong. I just hope to spur thought and feedback. I learn a lot from your comments and enjoy them, please comment away.

Hey Yo, Help Us Oot Saturday

There is a Garage Sale Saturday March 25. All proceeds go to benefit Hartsfield Elementary School. This an oppurtunity for us to smear some love out there. The sale starts at 9:00, ends at 1:00. There will be poeple at the church at 6:30 am to start setting up. If you can help, come on by.

We eat at the Loop tonight at 5:30. Come on by.

You Finish (oops) This One

Have you ever stopped to think about the number of times God displayed His mystical side in the bible? I have read story after story in the bible where God did something miraculous and they never seem to connect. I mean, the stories are in the bible, I believe they are true, but some how there is a disconnect. I cannot imagine some kind of mystical display happening when I am there to see it. Think about the stories; Peter walking on water, water turning into wine, jail cells opening on their own, dead people becoming undead. All that happens in the bible. But what if it happened tomorrow? It would knock us over.
We have this idea in the church that God has given up on mystical type things in the past 1800 or so years. The mystical happened when Jesus and the apostles walked the earth, but God has traded the mystical in for nice new modern traditional ways of doing things. He uses the denominational literature to show His people His renown, He uses the right kind of praise music, a preacher that preaches the gospel every week, youth workers that train our young people in the way, a benevolence offering, and good deacons to have encounters with His creation? You say, "Dang man you’re cutting on everything we do at the church." Well, to respond to your statement all I can say is "Yes, sort of kind of I am." We do things with good intentions and also good outcomes. Who can argue with a benevolence offering to help feed people in need? Good music is great; I myself truly enjoy singing to God in a group. Denominational literature saves a lot of people a lot of time and helps them do a better job teaching. So, the things in the list are good practical church things.
Here is the point I hope to make. Those tools are merely tools. A hammer has no heart, only a head and a handle. God works in the heart. While He also works in the head, but never there alone. The things in the list tend to lead us to a misplaced dependency. This is by no means a new concept. Those that follow Christ have had to deal with that since about an hour after Christ ascended.
See, we can depend on the things in the list to respond to our command on an instant. Denominational literature is there, it is organized, and it is put on the calendar, ordered a month before we need it. It is in your hand, it is opened when you need it, you read it when you have time, and you use it to teach your class at your church to your students. Now, you probably noticed an inordinate number of one particular pronoun and its respective possessive form in that preceding discourse. We control the literature to the fullest extent. I feel I probably need to say this before I forget, denominational literature is getting picked on, but that is just because I do not want to list the things in the list over again. Even then, the things in the list are getting picked on because I don't really want to list all the things we use that we have complete control over. Now, having said that, what's the point?
When it comes to God, we are not in control. The things in the list, the tools, can easily turn into a crutch. We depend on them and then say God does not use the mystical anymore, He traded it in for tradition and liturgy. It is sad that it is so easy to miss what that really means. God traded in mystical expressions of Himself, which He controls, for tradition and liturgy, which we create and control. Of course, it is for God that we do these things so that makes them ok, right?
The apostles knew the God of miraculous displays. It was nothing to them. In fact, many of God’s miraculous displays were typically not big public spectacles. There where some of those, but many times they where God doing things that only He could in the life of one, are a few followers as the followers followed.

Now, I could go on, but this is a blog. I will let you carry on the thoughts in this post. It is getting long anyway.

Say what you think.

We go see Kyle on March 22. UPDATE

Now we will no longer meet at the church. Kyle volunteered his living room for the first excursion of our nameless thing. So, next Wednesday, or this Wednesday depending on when you read this, we will meet at Kyle's house. He will put directions in a comment on this post. We will start doing this every week so start thinking now if you can and want to host the nameless thing one month.

Also, keep in mind the volunteer opportunity we hope to have at Hartsfield. Heather and I will get together and go across the street to ask if we can help.

It is fun. I really enjoy this. You folks are a joy and I am seeing God bits in our endeavor. Have a great day and enjoy the sights.

Kyle's Mapquest Directions

Some Things To Think About

I can almost here my momma saying, "Kevin, go do your blog!" It seems like a month sense I made a post. I was a scant peckish last week so I have been out, but never fear, the blog rolls on.

Here is what you Parkway type college types need to know. Wednesday night we will discuss some things I feel are important to the development of our little Wednesday night thing. So, this week let your collective brainpower conjure some thoughts. This will lend it self quite well to bullet points, so I will go all power point on you with this:

• We will start to meet other places. I feel that it is important to the nameless thing that it does not become attached to the Parkway building. This will present a logistical challenge. I mean it is just easier to meet at a familiar place, which is paid for, with air conditioning, a coffee maker, and good strong floors and walls. But, it would probably be good if we could move it around.
• We must discuss future plans. This might seem strange to you to talk about now. I mean our group is fairly small and manageable. But if God chooses to bring others our way it would be good if we talked about some practical growth issues up front. I know, I am reading this as I am writing and it sounds like a snore. But, lend me your ears Wednesday; you will see better my concern.
• I have some thoughts as to the nature of our nameless thing. I have come to determine that it is more than just a bible study in the traditional sense of the word. This is an exciting concept. There again, we will discuss it in greater detail Wednesday.
  

There are three points. Think about them and bring your thoughts Wednesday. This Nameless Thing is getting exciting. It is cool to read your responses to what you have seen in the blog and hear your stories on Wednesday night. I hope that we always go where God goes and follow His lead. That is the fun and, as Peter thought us 2000 years ago, scary place to be.

Peter Got His God Goggles

Give it up for Erwin McMannus, the author of the barbarian book (The Barbarian Way) I spoke so much about a few weeks back. He has managed to offer me a new perspective on a verse I have seen many times in the past. You probably know it too. Read, if you will?

Then Peter got down out of the boat,

walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and,

beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"

Matthew 14:30

I have read that passage so many times that I am almost ashamed to admit that I never noticed this very obvious fact. Apparently, Peter had the uncanny ability to "saw the wind". I can only imagine that I have over looked that because I assumed that it could only mean that he saw the effects of the wind. They where surely trying to indicate that the waves and rain and tossing and heaving and other such activity was present because of the wind. But, I decided to do a little extra curricular work on this one. Seems the Greek word for wind in this passage is the same word used Matthew 14:24 to say the boat was "buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it." We also see this word used for wind in Matthew 14:32 where we learn that "when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down."
So, having done this little word study I was sufficiently convinced that when they said wind here they meant air moving from here to there wind, not merely the combined observable effects of the wind.
I though this was interesting for this reason. Who sees the wind? I have never seen wind. I have seen leaves blow in the wind. I have seen trees bend because of the wind. I have even felt the wind push on my body. In some towns I have even smelled stank being carried around by the wind. But never have I ever seen wind.
Seems that two pretty amazing things happened "not" in that boat that night. In fact, there where really three pretty different type things happen that night. First, the disciples some how managed to see Jesus. Typically at night, during a storm, in a era before electricity, things are very hard to see. Second, and probably most obvious, Peter walked on water. Of course, so did Jesus, but He does have that God thing going for Him. Finally, in all my shame, Peter saw wind!
That is amazing to me. Seeing wind, who does that? Well, what hit me as the truly amazing thing here is this. When we approach God, get out there and put all our safety and hope in things that are not boats, we see things different. Peter saw God and His creation in an amazing way that night. Peter stepped on water that held his wait and some how managed to see moving air. It is a little easier to understand how He got scared. All or a sudden he saw creation in a completely new way. It is quite possible that for a brief moment he saw things the way God sees things. It freaked him out big time. The next thing he knew he was sinking and Jesus was pulling him up out of the storm.
Jesus was teaching them, and us by proxy, some thing that night. He could have very easily stopped the storm before he started walking out to the boat. I cannot imagine walking on a storm tossed sea is a particularly easy task. I could imagine it would be like walking on a swimming pool full of jello during an earthquake that is happening during a hurricane.
The closer we get to Christ the better we understand the way he sees things. Not to mention we get the opportunity to do amazing things; fun, cool, memorable, and scary as all craziness things. Imagine the overwhelming exhilaration and fear coursing through Peter’s body. Did I fail to mention that Peter asked Jesus to call him out on the water? Oh yes, the whole thing was Peter’s idea, “Lord, if it's you tell me to come to you on the water." Jesus said come on and I can only imagine that Peter was never the same.

Check Out That Big Ole Neighborhood

I read some interesting figures today. I have an interest in interesting figures. Somehow it seems to claim my inquisitive nature. However, I usually let what I learn pass on into some purgatory for facts until the neuron they live in finally dies. So, I say all that to say, these new found facts will live on gloriously in the text of this blog and hopefully challenge you in some challenging way. Now, here you go.

Interesting fact number one.
The population of the earth currently stands somewhere in the neighborhood of 6.5 billion. While that number is, in and of itself staggering, what I find truly a "dang" moment is this. In 1900 the total earth population was somewhere around 1.5 billion. That was the first time the population reached that mark. In all the time humans have been running around on earth it took until 1900 to reach 1.5 billion. So, in however many years it has been since Adam and Eve did there thing until 1900 the earth population did not grow as much as it did in the 106 years. Doubled twice in 106 years!

Let's bring it home: Interesting fact number two.
Intrigued by my initial studies I went wild and crazy and used Google for all it's worth. Com to find out our fare city, the great and mighty Tallahassee found a stash of population fertilizer. In 1950 Tallahassee's population was 27,237. In 2000 the population was 150,624. Now, I’m slow with percentages, so I will help you out if you have not figured it out by now. That is a population increase of 453% in fifty years. A little perspective: Tallahassee ranks 134 in size compared to other US cities. None of the top 4 US cities grew anywhere close to that percentage. New York, biggest US city grew by only 1.5%, number 2 Los Angeles grew 87.5%, number 3 Chicago shrunk, number 4 Houston grew 227%.

Our Challenge
Facts and figures may numb your brain but mine was challenged big time. We have a tremendous opportunity. At no other time in human history have there been some many God created people breathing the same air. We Christian types live in an exciting time, both scary exciting and wow exciting. We are present for a time of great opportunity for love. The gathering of believers have an opportunity to love a huge world full of God's humanity.

Love the Lord your God with your X, Y, and Z. Love your neighbor as yourself. We got a whole lot of neighbors.