RESSOAR 2012
In just two weeks, myself and a team of nearly 30 will be descending to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil to host another Resound Conference and serve the poor in several slums around the city. This trip is not about hopping on the ‘justice train’ and instagraming photos of the team with impoverished children. This trip is not about patting ourselves on the back and producing a tear-jerker video to show to family and friends upon our return.
The purpose of the trip is to impart the love of the Father and partner with the Church that is already moving there. I’m excited for another chance to be humbled and transformed by Jesus, while he uses me to bring transformation to others.
If you are reading this, I’d ask that you please pray for me and the others for strength, power, humility, wisdom, and expectation!!
This last week, I had the privilege of attending Don Miller’s Storyline Conference in Nashville, TN. To tell you the truth, I did not quite know what to expect and may have not gone had I not won free tickets. But the experience was invaluable in many regards and I can’t wait to really begin to apply the things I learned.
Essentially, Storyline is a life planning process that uses the elements of story. You may be familiar with the slew of personality tests that are offered in many businesses and educational institutions. Many of those tests which categorize us into a handful of personality types are designed to make us more efficient and productive at work - which is a result of the Industrial Revolution. Using ‘story’ as a guide for life isn’t meant to make our lives more productive, it is meant to make our lives more meaningful. (Though it could be argued that once we know what we want in life, we become more productive.)
Here are a few nuggets from this weekend. I’d love to unpack these ideas further, but I thought I’d throw them out there to see what resonates.
Are any of these ideas intriguing to you??
[video]
Made with Paper
A couple weeks ago, Megan and I had the opportunity to go see a pre-screening of Blue Like Jazz, the new film adapted from Donald Miller’s book of the same name. We were invited because we contributed to the film’s Kickstarter campaign last year, and helped it become the largest grossing crowd-sourced film to date. In total there were close to 4,500 people who contributed to the making of the film, and it’s cool to be a part of such a movement. The screening in Denver was one stop of the film’s promotional tour. It was super fun to meet Don, the director Steve Taylor, and the lead actor Marshall Allman and be able to hear from their hearts what the film meant to them.
I didn’t quite know what to expect going into the film. I read the book several years ago, and nothing I remember about the book seemed like it would fit well into a movie format. Though, like Don admitted in his book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, much of the details of the movie were fabricated so there would be an interesting and straightforward story line. So, fans of the book the are anticipating a direct translation to the big screen will be largely disappointed in the accuracy of details. However, all of the themes and sentiments captured in the book are present in the movie.
In short, the story is about a kid (Don) who grows up in deep Texas and caught in the loony sub-culture of evangelical Christianity. As he begins to question his faith, he follows his father’s advise and enrolls in Reed College in the liberal northwest. Upon, attending Reed he gets sucked into a new culture where he questions his faith and begins to run away from who he is. He finds out his friend Penny is a Christian, and he sees her passion for what she believes in. The movie ends with the poignant confession booth scene where Don decides that He really does love Jesus but is embarrassed for everything Christians are known for. He begins to confess of all of his own shortcomings, including his judgements towards Christians. He also confesses the shortcomings of Christianity starting from the Crusades to U.S. foreign policy.
I thought the movie was well done, funny, smart, and intriguing. However, I felt that the character, Penny, who represented the “committed Christian” fell a little flat. I’m not sure that if I met her in real life that I would be compelled to follow Jesus. With that said, this movie is really going to connect with disillusioned, un-churched twenty-somethings. I’m praying that it really does strike a chord with others in my demographic.
What I connected with the most was the heart of the writer, director, and actor in the Q & A following the movie. They were able to share their hearts and vision about what they’re hoping to accomplish with this movie. In short, they are trying to redefine what a “Christian” movie can be. From Steve Taylor’s words, the following values are the norm for what we know of as the Christian film industry.
For this reason alone, I feel that the movie is worth seeing and supporting. I believe Christians should be known for honesty and quality of workmanship along with redemption. Most “Christian” movies are made for Christians, not for everyone else. They can be encouraging but still exclusive. This film is going to ruffle A LOT of feathers because it doesn’t fit nicely into our evangelical sub-culture. There is cursing, drunken party scenes, and a lesbian protagonist - all realities of Reed College. I don’t imagine many churches are going to get on board by selling tickets at their weekend services.
However, I want to see more movies like this made. And really the only way to make a difference is to buy a ticket for the opening weekend which is this Friday, April 13th. Hollywood doesn’t care about the intentions and ambitions of filmmakers. They really only care about two things - dollars & cents. The only way to be heard in Hollywood is to sell tickets on the opening weekend. I’d encourage you to find a theater near you, and purchase a ticket for you and your friends.
Megan & I are going to try to see the movie again on this Saturday night, April 14th at 7:10 p.m. at the AMC in Westminster, CO if anyone wants to join us.
Here is the trailer…
Just after I graduated high school in 2001, I was working at a Barnes & Noble Bookstore and still involved on the worship team at my church in Ft. Wayne, IN. I didn’t have much of a sense of what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to do nothing, so I started taking a few classes at a local community college. All I knew was that I loved God and I loved music. Still do.
Around that time, a friend of mine named Adam who played guitar at my church handed me a plastic Kroger bag full of nearly a dozen tapes. And by tapes I mean cassettes. Yeah, you heard me. Each tape had a title and name printed on the front - “Tabernacle of David by Ray Hughes”. Not only did I have no clue who Ray Hughes was, but I wasn’t too familiar with the concept of a Tabernacle. It sounded Mormon to me.
Fortunately, I lived in an era when I actually had a cassette player built into my car. So I opened the plastic Kroger bag and searched each tape, looking for the tiny inscription that would tell me which one was the first. I inserted cassette #1 and started a journey. After I got past Ray’s thick redneck voice and all of the ‘hit or miss’ southern jokes, I was hooked. For the next two weeks I listened to these tapes everywhere I drove - about 8 hours in total.
His teaching came at a time, when I was needing some confirmation that all this stuff actually matters - worship, prayer, music, sound, & ministry. I knew it was in my blood, but I needed to be reminded that these things were much bigger than playing guitar for the youth group on Wednesday nights. Ray’s teaching on Old Testament Hebrew music, the physics of sound, and the implications of releasing a sound of worship were astounding to me. I understand that those concepts might seem like a bunch of hullabaloo and it might not light your fire, but it did for me.
Much of this inspiration is what led me to move out to Colorado in 2002, and start my ministry training internship at Vinelife. And a few years later, Ray’s teaching helped spark the name for what many of us know as “Resound”. This video that we made a few years back captures the heart of it.
Last November, I was able to meet Ray for the first time as we had him come as a guest speaker at the Resound Conference here in Boulder. I was immediately impressed with his humility and passion for young people. His delivery style is interesting. He doesn’t prepare notes. He just starts talking. If you can track with him, he drops these priceless nuggets of wisdom and revelation that come from years of study and time with Jesus. After the conference, we had people contact us from other states saying that what they received from Ray’s teaching revolutionized their church ministries.
With all of that said, I’m excited that in just a few weeks, Ray Hughes will be back with us for the Resound: One Night event. This will be a single evening of music & worship followed by some in-depth teaching by Ray. As always, we are praying that Holy Spirit awakens hearts to life in Christ (Eph. 5:14).
The night is affordable, and I’d love to invite you to come join us…
Today is Ash Wednesday. On the historic church calendar, this day marks the beginning of Lent and the 40 days leading up to the Resurrection of Christ. Lent is a time of fasting in correlation to the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert preceding his public ministry. Ash Wednesday marks a time of fasting, repentance, and contemplative worship.
Now, I probably won’t attend an Ash Wednesday service today (though I just googled traditional services happening in Longmont), but I was drawn to read the passage of Scripture that launches us into the season of Lent.
In the book of Matthew we read a beautiful passage all about the inauguration of Jesus. As He was getting baptized by John the baptist we read that they Holy Spirit descends visibly in the form of a dove, and the Father audibly speaks His words of affirmation to His beloved Son, Jesus.
What happens next is what is surprising.
In Matthew 4:1-11, instead of launching into a ministry tour of Israel to celebrate this new season, Matthew tells us that the Holy Spirit actually leads Jesus to the desert, and more specifically to Satan. Not only does Jesus take 40 days to fast and pray and spend time with the Father, but He is purposefully led straight into the tempter’s hands. It wasn’t that Jesus just found himself in the same place as the devil. It says he was led there. Really?
We don’t often see this passage as a “selling point” of the Spirit-empowered life. “Be filled with the Holy Spirit and the first thing He will do is lead you straight to the devil.” This is not what we say to our kids when we tuck them in at night!
But never-the-less, this is what needed to happen for Jesus to be fully prepared for public ministry. Though we celebrate Jesus as FULLY God, our comfort is that He was also FULLY man. Jesus himself was tested in character, integrity, and needed to be sure of his identity. And His identity is exactly what the devil attacked 3 times. Jesus transcended these temptations by announcing the truth of Scripture even though he technically could have done everything that the enemy tempted him with. Jesus was sure of His mission on earth and was given the opportunity to trust the voice of the Father and lean into the power of the Holy Spirit.
This passage has many applications, but I take comfort today in the fact that Spirit-led life doesn’t mean the absence of obstacles, opposition, and temptation, but the provision of grace and power in the face of those things. I am reminded today that just as the Holy Spirit led Jesus to a place of where His identity was tested, He does the same for us. God’s intention for us is to grow in the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ (Eph. 4), and His method is by taking into hard places for spiritual formation.
So, in the face of tough conversations, relational hardships, hurt, and grief - be reminded that God is at work. He is developing character, strength, & the identity needed for greater works. And just as Christ was victorious over temptation and sin, we too through the power of the Spirit and the resurrection power of Jesus are able to walk in supernatural peace and joy, right now.
This last year at the Resound Conference, I sat in on a workshop with friend Tim Coons. He was talking about all of the preparation that a pastor or worship leader puts into planning a weekend service for a church….all of the volunteer coordination, song selection, sermon prep, prayer, etc.. Then he asked a poignant question:
If you’re planning a worship service, is your process as worshipful as the event?
The weight of the question hit me. I was immediately convicted and admittedly, I may have shed a couple tears. I had to ask myself, “With all of the worship conferences and services that I help plan - does my everyday living, thinking, and relational interactions carry the same heart and message as the event I’m leading toward?
Then I realized that this same question applies to our other processes and journeys in life. Maybe it’s not an event that we’re working towards, but we have other destinations in mind.
I spend a lot of time thinking the type of person I want to be later in life, and dream about a variety of things I’d like to do or be known for. We often call these goals, and goals are good. Goals give us vision for what could be. But I’ve found I have this extraordinary ability to always see my goals as something for another day. And that my job is just to get to that day.
I have dreams for my future and think about what life will look like around the time I will retire. I don’t say these things but I often think “When I get older, I want to be a __________ kind of person” or “Later in life I want to do ________”.
But it’s funny how I think of these things as if I’ll just wake up one morning when I’m 55 and suddenly decide to be generous, or out of nowhere just write a book. I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the road and process it takes to get there. But if the question above also applies to my other goals then I could say…
For most of the things that are on my list, If I cannot learn how to live in joy, generosity, and satisfaction amid the tensions of TODAY, there’s a pretty good chance they will not be a reality later in life. And I’ll still be left dreaming of future day when everything will come together.
What are those things for you? What are the attitudes and decisions that you can make now rather than waiting for the stars to align later in life?
If we can take steps towards our destinations now, then there’s a good chance we’ll arrive there later. And if we can start thinking this way, I’m pretty sure we’d find that the process isn’t just the means. The process IS the destination.
“For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline” - 2 Timothy 1:7
I went to a book writing workshop this last Saturday with a handful of other areas pastors and leaders. Jonathan, the guy who came in to teach the workshop owns his own boutique publishing company called Rhizome.
I learned several important principles about writing and the book publishing industry, but I loved a story that he shared towards the end of the workshop.
Then he told us about a time he went to pitch a book idea to Michael Hyatt, the CEO of Thomas Nelson. As you can imagine, if you’re the CEO of one of the 6 major publishers in the U.S., you get a lot of requests to review book proposals and pitches. That’s why I love Mr. Hyatt’s approach…
For each request, he invites these hopeful authors to go jogging with him in the morning. If they can pitch the idea to him during the jog, then he’ll give them the time of day and possibly some helpful suggestions on their idea.
Jonathan, with around a dozen other authors, joined Mr. Hyatt on his jog on this particular morning - each of them waiting for the split second, the moment where they could get a word in edge-wise. One of these guys wasted no time and started into his pitch from the get go. As they began jogging, the rest of the authors waited and waited. Mr. Hyatt was going back and forth with this one author for several minutes. Though most of them were out-of-shape, non-runners, they were all hoping the jog was at least 5 miles so they could get a shot at their pitch. Only 2 miles later, Mr. Hyatt stopped jogging after listening to one guy use all of the time on himself. He then said to the group, “Sorry guys, that’s it for today.” Mr. Hyatt then said this to the disappointed group, “Let this be your lesson for today. If you cannot pitch your idea in under a minute, it is not an idea.”
That’s worth the price of a jog.
That’s a vital exercise in any creative process. It is especially important for a new generation of artists, writers, and speakers who all feel like they have something to say. In an age where everyone is busy, overwhelmed, and highly distracted, we have to master the discipline of stating our message simply and succinctly.
It’s not enough to label your blog post “Ramblings”. Nobody wants to sing a song that incorporates so many themes, metaphors, and adjectives that it’s about everything and nothing all at once. There are select few people who can get away with being vague and random. But probably not you or I.
So, before you hit “publish” on your blog post, before you call a song finished, before you deliver your talk, make sure you can state the big idea in a phrase that is an irreducible minimum. This will help refine your art, and sharpen your message until it is unmistakeable.
I still struggle with this exercise - especially when I always have one more story or insight I could “fit in”. But I’m convinced, that our world doesn’t need more messages. We need clear and convicting ones.
One prayer that I’ve found myself praying this new year goes something like this…
“God, search my heart and dismantle every other kingdom but yours in my life.”
It’s a good prayer that finds its roots in Matthew 6:33. But the more I think about it, the more I realize how dangerous that prayer really is. What if God actually took me up on that offer? Do I really mean those words? Could I bear to see that there are other kingdoms competing for real estate in my heart?
The truth is - He has already accepted this invitation. In fact, He’s been doing this for some time now.
Over the last couple years, I’ve been catching God at work in the caverns of my soul. I use the term “catching” because I am largely unaware of what He’s doing in me on most days. But at some point in the work He clues me in. Naturally, I pretend I knew all along. He just smiles.
It’s like my life is a giant renovation project of which I have not seen the complete blueprints. I get glimpses of what He’s up to, but am often left waiting in faith. It’s like walking through a construction zone with a blindfold. You can hear the noises of demolition and the sounds of power tools, but still be clueless about what’s happening. You just know there is some kind of deconstruction and reconstruction.
In those deconstruction times - the moments where He is kicking down an interior wall, I often have no idea why He would do such a thing. All I know is that I liked that wall. It was a pretty color. I have memories with that wall. I even hung shelves on that wall to display my trophies. And then He destroys it without asking me first. That wall is usually an inferior way of thinking that has worked for some time, but no longer.
Or even more frustrating are the times when I decide to join in on the renovation. Without asking about the plan, I pick up my tools and decide a wall would look good on that side of the room. I start framing the wall, and then He comes by with a saw and cuts it in half….again, with a smile on His face. All that work - only to be dismantled.
This last year I can point to so many times where I thought I had the best ideas for His church, for the conferences we do, for the people we reach, for my own family. But the Lord, in His mercy, always found a way to rearrange things in a way that I wouldn’t expect, but in the end have proven more fruitful and left me with more peace.
He seems to like doing that. Not destroying our lives, but removing the things that get in the way of His plan, His blueprints, His kingdom in our lives. It’s only because He is good and knows that only He can be our deepest joy. For that reason, He gladly accepts invitations to eliminate other plans that don’t start and end with His Kingdom. Then he rebuilds us with a foundation of righteousness, peace, and joy.
With that said, what prayers are you praying these days? Do you really mean what you pray? Are they safe prayers or dangerous prayers? What would happen if God answered your most dangerous prayer?