Alaska Bound

I’m trying very hard not to gloat as I write this. Actually … that’s not a true statement. I’m not gloating because I am scrambling to get everything done before going very away for a little over a week … and once I get back into town I will face a mad scramble to get ready for Sunday morning in a little over a day.
I will not post this publicly until after I’m home, but we are leaving for Charlotte before the sun comes up in the morning to catch a flight to Seattle. Friday we will board the Celebrity Infinity for an Alaskan cruise. My parents, my sisters, my brother-in-law, and my niece and nephew will be with us as well (courtesy of my mother’s inheritance from my grandmother). It’s been about 3 years since we’ve all been together. Getting together is hard when you’re all scattered about like we are.

Joanne Harwell (Blake’s mom) sent me a piece of music last week that she thought I might be interested in looking at. All I’ve had time to do so far is just to read the text … but the text is the most important part of any choral music for worship. If the text is lousy, then the piece is lousy … no matter how spectacular the music is.

The text is John Claypool’s benediction, and goes like this:

Depart now in the fellowship of God the Father
and, as you go, remember:
By the goodness of God you were born into this world.
By the grace of God you have been kept all the day long,
even unto this hour.
And by the love of God fully revealed in the face of Jesus,
you are being redeemed.

I’m really looking forward to reading through the choral setting of a marvelous, humility-provoking text.

That’s enough to think about for now. The peace of Christ to you.

A New Book! A New Book! A New Book!

Blogger's Note: from my Wednesday evening rehearsal handout 6/2/10

You all know that I always have at least one book in progress. Dawn commented in the first few months of our marriage that she thought I would pay her more attention if she had words printed all over her. She still thinks that. I am a pretty insatiable reader. Once I’ve finished one book I’ve several others waiting to be read.

Much as Dr. Gouge would not expect me to understand a chemistry text book, I wouldn’t expect someone who is not in my line of work to connect deeply with some of the stuff I read. There are other books that people have recommended for me that I don’t connect deeply with either. As a staff we’re working through Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore. I highly recommend this story of the friendship of a homeless black man and a millionaire art dealer to absolutely anyone. When we finish with it in our staff discussions (this Monday), it’s going home to my family for required reading.

Having just finished Alan Roxburgh’s Missional Map-Making: Skills for Leading in Times of Transition, I’m starting on Francis Chan’s Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God. I’ve not gotten far into it yet, but in his preface there was one sentence that grabbed me by the throat. It follows a paragraph that has some necessary set-up. Chan writes:

God put me in Simi Valley, California, to lead a church of comfortable people into lives of risk and adventure. I believe He wants us to love others so much that we go to extremes to help them. I believe He wants us to be known for giving – of our time, our money, and our abilities – and to start a movement of “giving” churches. In so doing we can alleviate the suffering in the world and change the reputation of His bride [the church] in America.

Most of you who read this probably love the church. It may surprise you to learn that there are many in America who do not hold the church in high regard, but it’s true. Here’s the sentence that grabbed me by the throat:

We need to stop giving people excuses not to believe in God.

Think about that a minute. The obvious question that comes to my mind is this: What is it about how we are living as followers of Christ that gives people excuses not to believe in God? I started to make a list, but then I decided that the log in my own eye might be clouding my vision. Instead, I think each of us needs to make that question personal: Is there anything that I am doing (or not doing) that gives anyone who knows me an excuse not to believe in God?

That’s enough to think about for now. The peace of Christ to you.