Easter is over and so is the month that is "birthday month" in my house. Kayla, Kirstyn and then Syl all celebrate in March. I can hear the sucking sound of $$$ leaving my wallet. We had a great party for Syl on Saturday, which included a coffin filled with beverages and ice. It was very funny. Syl liked it. Lots of people dropped in to show their love for Syl,... good times.
On another note, I have been thinking this week about how we live our lives in sound bytes and "film clips". This has been in regard to how we speak about each other. When we make negative comments about each other in the presence of others we help to paint a picture of that person. If someone hears enough of these sound bytes(and often one is enough), they develop an impression of who that person is. That impression is always false because it is two dimensional. Whatever the criticism is, it is not the sum of who that person.
Proverbs likens this kind of criticism and gossip to putting a hatchet in the victims back, which amounts to murdering them. We are also encouraged to bless and not curse others. It amazes me sometimes that we can be so double minded, asking for grace and mercy from God and not extending it to others. Kind of like that guy in the parable who is forgiven a huge debt, only to go out and be merciless to a guy who owed him change.
We often believe the sound bytes we hear on TV, let's pay more attention to the ones we produce.
peace,
K
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Good Shot
That was the title of an email I got today from a senior FM pastor. We were discussing the church's response to homosexuals. He was arguing that "church" accepts "them" fine, but they reject the truth. I don't disagree with some of what he says(except the church accepts them fine part), but it was the way he said it. He came across kind of arrogant and so sure he was right.
Another pastor wrote about his experience and his email showed compassion and grace toward the gay community.
I basically compared the spirit of the two emails and commented on how one was compassionate and the other cold. I also suggested that if we want to know how well we treat gay people, we might be wise to ask gay people how they think we treat them.
This pastor became very defensive and accused me of attacking him, which is exactly what I felt he was doing to Tony Campolo and the gay community. I thought we were just having a conversation.
So, here is what I learned; One of the big differences between emergent and regular church leaders, is that emergent leaders are willing to entertain the idea that we don't have all the answers. We don't have to have all the answers. We can wrestle with scripture and not lose our salvation. We can question our execution of the truth.
The part I have to work on is being gracious to some old farts who use their age as a measure of experience and dismiss anyone younger than them. I do not want to be disrespectful, but I do want the freedom to explore the issues without being badgered by someone who thinks they have the corner on the market when it comes to truth and how to live it.
Peace,
K
Another pastor wrote about his experience and his email showed compassion and grace toward the gay community.
I basically compared the spirit of the two emails and commented on how one was compassionate and the other cold. I also suggested that if we want to know how well we treat gay people, we might be wise to ask gay people how they think we treat them.
This pastor became very defensive and accused me of attacking him, which is exactly what I felt he was doing to Tony Campolo and the gay community. I thought we were just having a conversation.
So, here is what I learned; One of the big differences between emergent and regular church leaders, is that emergent leaders are willing to entertain the idea that we don't have all the answers. We don't have to have all the answers. We can wrestle with scripture and not lose our salvation. We can question our execution of the truth.
The part I have to work on is being gracious to some old farts who use their age as a measure of experience and dismiss anyone younger than them. I do not want to be disrespectful, but I do want the freedom to explore the issues without being badgered by someone who thinks they have the corner on the market when it comes to truth and how to live it.
Peace,
K
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Niiiccce
God is amazing. Last week we were kind of scratching our heads wondering where the $$ was going to come from. On Rock has had a few donors leave us in the past few months. We had $6000 in payables and $400 in the bank. Well, God certainly is Jehovah Jireh. By the end of last week we received $10,000 in donations to the ministry. Most of it was given anonymously. I hate the fact that God makes us depend on Him. I love the fact that He is dependable.
Peace,
K
Peace,
K
Friday, March 11, 2005
Christian Music Pirates
This post appeared on the beliefnet blog concerning Christian music piracy.
Wow, the Christian Music industry is concerned about morals. Since
when? Since their pocketbook is the bottom line. I am amazed that
Christian music is being pirated because alot of it is just a bad impersonation
of the secular market. The industry hasn't been too concerned about
their artists who abuse drugs and alcohol or pick up groupies after the
show, which seem to be much bigger issues that downloading music.
Don't get me wrong, I do not agree with piracy, however, it is hard to
take this seriously when the sharks are complaining......
peace,
K
Wow, the Christian Music industry is concerned about morals. Since
when? Since their pocketbook is the bottom line. I am amazed that
Christian music is being pirated because alot of it is just a bad impersonation
of the secular market. The industry hasn't been too concerned about
their artists who abuse drugs and alcohol or pick up groupies after the
show, which seem to be much bigger issues that downloading music.
Don't get me wrong, I do not agree with piracy, however, it is hard to
take this seriously when the sharks are complaining......
peace,
K
Thursday, March 3, 2005
Worship Music Rant
I listened to the new Kutless CD yesterday. What a piece of trash. With originality is mind, I am sure, they decided to put out a disc with rehashed worship music on it. Wow, that's never been done before. Imagine, a rock band putting out a CD of worship songs. Talk about going for the easy sell. "Now maybe my pastor will like Kutless too". Others are no better. Sonic Flood(are there any original members?) just put out another CD. They are a label fabricated band of hired guns, who are choreographed au but. If you are skeptical go see two concerts in a row. A worship leader from England once said that America would exploit worship music, and well, look at what's going on. How many times has Vineyard Music rehashed the same 30 songs. Just the Touching the Father's Heart series was about 40 CD's, Then the "acoustic" series came out, then the celtic series,... what is next. WOW.
Many Christians complain that Christian music sucks, and that their friends don't like it. No kidding. You are never going to see Green Day do a Motown tribute record. Why not,... duh. Where is the original music. Where is the NEW worship. Let's find some Christian artists that have the conviction to do what they are good at, and not what sells. I am sick of it. We can only vote with our $. I have stopped buying worship music. I was tried of paying %20 for two new songs mixed with 9 I already have on 7 other CD's. While I am at it, shame on the Christian record labels for subjecting us to such bullsh*t. There has got to be a special place in,... heaven(maybe) for labels that exploit people's love for God and desire to worship Him. You label types need to take your head out of your butt and figure out who you are serving. Money doesn't last forever.
Lately I have found myself worshiping to other music. U2 for example. They are original, love God and follow their convictions. Amazing, I know.
I am done.
Peace,
K
Many Christians complain that Christian music sucks, and that their friends don't like it. No kidding. You are never going to see Green Day do a Motown tribute record. Why not,... duh. Where is the original music. Where is the NEW worship. Let's find some Christian artists that have the conviction to do what they are good at, and not what sells. I am sick of it. We can only vote with our $. I have stopped buying worship music. I was tried of paying %20 for two new songs mixed with 9 I already have on 7 other CD's. While I am at it, shame on the Christian record labels for subjecting us to such bullsh*t. There has got to be a special place in,... heaven(maybe) for labels that exploit people's love for God and desire to worship Him. You label types need to take your head out of your butt and figure out who you are serving. Money doesn't last forever.
Lately I have found myself worshiping to other music. U2 for example. They are original, love God and follow their convictions. Amazing, I know.
I am done.
Peace,
K
Tuesday, March 1, 2005
The Heart of God
A friend who is searching came to me the other day with one of those hard passages from The Book. You know, the ones that make us squirm and make God look like a bastard, when read in isolation. That was the whole problem, my friend read the passage and took it at face value without understanding the person of God. They don't know alot about Him, so at first glance, his direction seems very heavy handed.
I explained that taking a verse out of The Book in isolation is like listening to a media sound byte. It is easy to take out of context, both what the person is saying and who the person is. My 13 year old does the same thing when she tells her friends, "my parents won't let me",... They don't hear the explanation. They don't know us, so they don't see the love we have for Kikki. They don't have the luxury of "the bigger picture", so they think we suck.
This is where many stand with God, we don't always know His heart. We forget His love for us. All we can see is that He is telling us something we don't want to hear and we don't like it. So, we quickly paint Him as a cosmic killjoy and go about our way.
Our first challenge as people on a journey with Him is to remember who He is and how He feels about us. We need to remember that, like it or not, the "rules" are there to protect us. They are bourne out of love, not a desire to torment.
The second challenge we have is to communicate this to the world at large. It is a challenge to change years of bad christian teaching and present God in the light that He deserves. It is important to talk about motivation and character, when we have conversations about God, because this is where the rest of the story stems from.
Peace,
K
I explained that taking a verse out of The Book in isolation is like listening to a media sound byte. It is easy to take out of context, both what the person is saying and who the person is. My 13 year old does the same thing when she tells her friends, "my parents won't let me",... They don't hear the explanation. They don't know us, so they don't see the love we have for Kikki. They don't have the luxury of "the bigger picture", so they think we suck.
This is where many stand with God, we don't always know His heart. We forget His love for us. All we can see is that He is telling us something we don't want to hear and we don't like it. So, we quickly paint Him as a cosmic killjoy and go about our way.
Our first challenge as people on a journey with Him is to remember who He is and how He feels about us. We need to remember that, like it or not, the "rules" are there to protect us. They are bourne out of love, not a desire to torment.
The second challenge we have is to communicate this to the world at large. It is a challenge to change years of bad christian teaching and present God in the light that He deserves. It is important to talk about motivation and character, when we have conversations about God, because this is where the rest of the story stems from.
Peace,
K
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