outside is better

Worship as Narrative Resistance

My message from this past weekends Christmas Carol service

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In the last few weeks Time magazine has announced their “person of the year”. Past folks who have held this title have been John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr, Both George Bushes, many other presidents and Mark Zuckerburg, the founder of facebook.com. A few years ago it was even “you” with a mirror like cover showing the face of the person looking at it.

This year, they did something rarely done to announce the person of the year. They selected a grouping of people, who they felt made 2011 a monumentous year. The person of the year is The Protestor. From the sands of North Africa to the concrete streets of the United States, this has been a year marked by protest.

You might wonder why I am talking about protest during a Christmas Carol service. But what I wanted to share with you was the reason we sing. The image of the protestor is perfect for understanding the power of Christian singing in the face of a world filled with death.

In songs, we are agreeing together on the foundational principles of Christian faith. If we were to try to explain such complicated theological concepts in sermons, or casual conversations I think many of us would quickly change the subject. But the words of these songs matter very much.

When we sing these Christmas songs, we are declaring to the world that Christ has come. The Son of God has descended from heaven, came to earth through the womb of a young woman and is here to cause light to overcome darkness. The prophets were true...they told the world to prepare, because the kingdom of God has come.

While these songs give us great memories, warm feelings and are fun to sing together during the season, we need to remember that they contain very dangerous words. These songs and the message the contain, and from our belief, shake the foundations of hell. They mark the time when the light that was before all men, Jesus Christ, came and overcame darkness.

In worship, we make an outpost of the Kingdom. These songs show we are not allowing the world to write our story, but we are part of Gods story. We are rehearsing the great narrative of Christ and his Triumph of the Word becoming flesh and dwelling amongst us.  We declare that this space does not belong to the world...but belongs to a heavenly kingdom where Christ sits on the throne.   In this room, tonight, we are retelling a story of the greatest act of resistance that has ever and will ever take place. When God himself came to this world to bring his people back to him. Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

 

 

Advent Voices: Joshua Toepper

My good friend Joshua has a great Advent post up. Joshua really hits home the idea that in Advent we are celebrating the fact that God walks among us. In Advent, the Godman has arrived. As Joshua puts it "If your God is so Great, why doesn't he speak my language?"!

Josh then gives an extensive quote from Timothy Tennent about the power of Bible translation into indigenous languages. The incarnation radically changes our lives and Christianity must always be functioning within the theological concept of "God with Us"!

Check out the rest of the post here.

The Advent Highway

I'm Expecting

My use of this phrase might sound odd. Usually, it is reserved for the fairer sex to announce the anticipation of a new child. It can be made plural, as in “we are expecting” as well, with the same connotation. But for me, a male, to say “I’m Expecting”...you probably think I have lost my mind.

But expectation is the best way to think about the Advent season. Expectation (in the pregnant sense) entails a season of hope, anticipation and preparation. A body of emotions is wrapped up and fulfilled in a specific event. At that point, everything will render unimportant as the birth comes. The season of hope will be fulfilled in the joy that comes. The anticipation is finished and any anxiety or nervousness has past. The preparation is finished, because it has to be. The time has now come and “all hands on deck” is the order of the day.   

We are ready for the coming of the Son of God. We celebrate hope and the promises of God. We an- ticipate the season and the change it makes in our hearts. We have also prepared ourselves for it by recognizing both our own individual sin and the sins of humanity as a whole. The ancient liturgical prayer called the Rorate Coeli (based on Isaiah 45:8) expresses the hope, anticipation and expectation of the prophets and priests of the Old Testament and becomes part of our prayers;

We have gone astray; in the multitude of our sins we have been made unclean. Fallen, fallen, stricken as leaves of autumn. The storm wind carries us away, the tempest of our evil deeds. You have turned us from the face of your mercy, and our iniquity has crushed us like a potter's vessel. O Lord our God, look upon your people in their affliction; be mindful of your promises. Send us the lamb who will set up his dominion from the rock of the wilderness to Zion, enthroned on her mountain. There is no other whose power can break our chains and set us free.

 As somber as this might seem, as Christians we understand the hope and glory contained in the glorious thing called The Incarnation. Christ and his passion brings us to a new place. Isaiah 40:1-5 (NLT) gives words to that sense of expectation;

    “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned. Yes, the LORD has punished her twice over for all her sins.” Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the LORD! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God! Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places. Then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The LORD has spoken!”

This is a highway of expectation. It is a highway that leads us home. Christ, in his life, death and resurrection leads us along the straight path into the loving arms of the Father. Advent is an active celebration of the church. Let us prayerfully go through the range of emotions which are part of expecting. On Christmas day, we can welcome our savior in the fullest way, because our hearts have hoped, anticipated and prepared for him to come!

Come Lord Jesus!

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This was my article in our Churches Advent Devotion. If you want to see the entire piece, cruise over to our Issuu page and read it.

Reading Scripture in Advent

Earlier today, my good friend Jonathan mentioned he is reading through both the New Testament and St. Athanasius's "On the Incarnation " this advent season and was looking for others interested. I had read through the prophets in the last month before Advent and had been thinking of how I would be reading scripture this season and was really excited to see Jonathan's reading plan. It is ordered a bit different from the standard cover to cover, so I am happy to see a little change.

You can see Jonathan's reading schedule here. We are also reading through a marvelous work by a Church Father, Athanasius. I am excited about spending this season reflecting on the radical idea that Jesus Christ is truly Emmanuel. He is God with Us!

 

There are a handful of us reading along this season. If you want to jump in let me know. You can get "On the Incarnation" free online through the CCEL.

So far our list is: @chaddbrooks, @bamahank, @jonboy017 and @aaronmansfield2

Advent Resources: Christian Reflection Journal

On of my favorite journal publications is Christian Reflections, published by Baylor University. A topical journal, I look forward to every issue. What is really rad though.. it is a free subscription. They even post each entire journal online!

Last year I mentioned journal #37 Advent Ethics. This quarter is titled "Christmas and Epiphany." You might be wondering why I am pointing you toward a resources for Advent that is seemingly not about Advent. But the newest issue is written in tandem with last year and focuses on the "original trajectories of Christmastide and Epiphany, so we can celebrate them faithfully and winsomely today."

If our congregations struggle to really understand Advent apart from Christmas, it is up to leaders to show the differences and mark the time changes. Our worship cycle tolls the bell for when our posture changes. Advent should be Advent. But Christmas should be Christmas.

Christian Reflection #41 jumps into these issues. Read, pray and talk about the difference and how we can be leading congregations to a better pattern of worship during the Church year.

The Skinny on 90 Days in Scripture

Earlier this week, I mentioned on twitter and instagram that I finished another cycle of reading the bible in 90 days (disclosure..it took a little longer this time). I received several tweets and other questions asking for information on the whole idea...so I thought I would put together a quick info page on what I do.

The Plan:
Zondervan sells a fancy bible that makes it really easy...but why pay for a new Bible. I know of two ways to make it super easy. The first is to simply download the bookmark with the readings on them. The image to the left is said bookmark. The file is a .pdf and has three bookmarks. The second is to use youversion.com's plan. I have done this as well. It is identical to the paper version, but utilizes their bible app.

How?:
Alot of folks tell me it sounds really intense. I guess it is...a little. I spend about 45 minutes reading. Building a pattern of scripture was more important than watching a King of the Hill re-run. In the mornings I read my 90 day plan. That evening, I do a more devotional reading. With the expanse of the 90 days, I find it really important to have a second reading time that is devoted to prayerfully and deeply reading a smaller portion of scripture.

I would also encourage you to find a person or two that will join you. My first time around this kept me on track. My pastor talked me into it and we had a ball discussing it through the week. There has been some discussion of a few people starting together on January 1 and then group blogging through it.

Thanks for being interested in reading more scripture.

For my own experiences with the 90 days here are a few other posts.
Creating a Rhythm of Scripture
Digitizing Devotion...my latest experiment
90 Days through scripture...my ending thoughts
90 days in scripture...take 2

 

Advent 2011 Readings

Advent is my favorite season to design worship for.  Every year I combine different Advent resources I find and try to share them. Today, I was putting all of the lectionary readings into a document for my design team and I figured I would share them with you. I have a few additional thoughts in there as well. You can download this booklet Download Advent 2011 or just use it through scribd.com. Feel free to share this with others. Have a great season of worship.

 

If you are looking for even more Advent resources, check out the entire category.

 

Advent 2011

Big Candy Bar Church: A meditation on Halloween

I grew up in a neighborhood full of rent houses. They were all flash built in several years. It was the perfect place to raise children. Almost every house had a kid my age. Consequently, these circumstances meant it was a horrible place to trick or treat. Between a bunch of broke young families not having the money to really do it up AND having their own children to cart around...we had to go offsite.

Everyone remembers doing this. You head over to the rich part of town on October 31st. These are the houses that have all sorts of surprises.Guys in costume jumping out and scaring you, automatic ghosts falling out of the tree and Big Candy Bars. You know, not this fun size nonsense...but full size Gas Station candy bars.  Those houses are remembered. They might even be marked on a map by some grubby hands covered in nougat and caramel.

How do our churches fit into this scheme? Are we known for starlight mints, the mini Reece's cups or a big Butterfinger? This isn't about how much $$$ we give away...but the gospel message we deliver. Do we talk about an abundant life with God or bemoan the loss of a previous Christian culture? Are we pushing forward to better express the life of the sacrificing Son of God?

As Christians, the call to the Kingdom of God should be ever present in our vision. The writers of the Gospel show us this message is a reality we can hardly comprehend. We need to express this fullness in every way, shape and form. In each community this looks different. What works for me will be different from you.

But we need to load the deck. Fill up the proverbial bucket with the good stuff. Don't hold back. People remember who gave them the best.

New Music: The Opiate Mass

Last week I stumbled upon this really interesting musical project. The Opiate Mass is comprised of several worship leaders/pastors/artists and musicians in Washington State. I have to say that I really love their music and attitudes towards how worship can be contextualized to younger generations who might not respond to Chris Tomlin or David Crowder. The embedded artistry really amazes me and has served as the soundtrack for several times of personal prayer already. I just hope Catalyst doesn't find them.....

 

Ryan Adams, Worship and the power of participation

Fans of singer Ryan Adams are familar with the stories of canceled shows, pitched fits and other forms of toddlerly surrounding Adams not being satisfied with the vibe of his concerts. I love Ryan Adams, but have never had the chance to see him live. Gwendolyn Elliott did see him last week and wrote a scathing review of the concert and attenders in the Seattle Weekly.

Part of the mystique of Ryan Adams is his temperament, drug abuse and overall odd behavior. Elliott mentions how Adams has trained his fans to forget they are at a rock concert and instead sit around on pins and needles. The author describes the night like this;

"...And since when does being five minutes late to a show and talking quietly mean you're out of line--is this a rock show or catechism class?...We had to leave shortly after that. We were too determined to have a good time and wound up having a wild night--you know, the kind of night you only hear about in a Ryan Adams song."

The article isn't critical of Adams but it points out how the evening simply didn't live up to the hype because of the attitude of the fans. Her closing comment regarding how she ended up spending her evening really speaks to the idea of expected participation. The event simply didn't communicate the scenario...and it was up to her to actualize it later on that night.

Many times worship does the same thing. For the sake of formality or production we forget worship at its definition is an event involving multiple people. Yes-there are leaders (the preachers, readers, musicians, dramatists, artists...etc), but worship depends on the response and actions of the people. The beauty of a good rock show is how you are able to share the event with those around you, singing the words, responding to the band, buying merch and generally taking in the environment.

When worship leaves us feeling like nothing happened, was it really Christian worship? Have we sometimes forgotten how to respond?

When designing worship we need to create a culture that values participation over presentation! This happens when people feel what was sung, spoken and preached about actually happened. It takes the person to a new place and causes them to leave with a new life...every time. Worship exists as experience. The whole idea necessitates the work of the people.

Worship at its root is a shared event. As leaders, we need to communicate our place of leadership.