Church is a team sport

A lesson I learned long ago, that I still am working on putting into practice is the principle of the team. This morning I was reminded of that when a story was brought to my attention featuring Kevin Durant, one of the most promising and impressive players in the NBA.

You can read the story here.

To sum it up, it goes like this: Kevin Durant is the best 20 year old in the NBA. Check that, he is one of the best ever (only nine have reached the same statistical level at his age, ever: LeBron James, Magic Johnson, et al.) But his team performs much better when he is off the floor, than when he is on it.

The reason, according to the article of the author, is that his pick and roll (a classic basketball teamwork move) is very shaky. Often he will not pass efficiently, or he will take a shot he could have easily passed for a statistically more probable bucket. What this boils down to is this: Durant trusts his shot (which is amazing) over his pass and his teammates. But the stats prove, this distrust is his current downfall.

Likewise, I need to keep working on my pass. I need to help those around me make the easy buckets.

That is where I am this week.

Flashback of the week

Hearing God

One of my favorite TV shows is House. In the second season, an episode I love called House Vs. God features one of the most fun of all quotes. House says to his team: "You talk to God, you're religious. God Talks to you, you're psychotic."

The connotations of his statement are amazing. But the assumption is something we shouldn't overlook. The assumption is, based on his character, atheism. Of course an atheist would believe that you can't hear God. To them, that would be the same as someone saying they had a conversation with the tooth fairy.

However, I eventually find myself concerned that many 'Christians' feel the same way about hearing God's voice as House.

The Apostle Paul actually states talks about people with this theology. He says that they have "[A] form of godliness but deny its power," and warns, "Avoid such people" (2 Tim. 3:5).

I suggest that we follow Paul's command. I have seen, in church leadership, men and women appointed because of faithfulness to people rather than faith in God. There form of godliness elevated them, Paul says we shouldn't celebrate the form - but the power. I suggest to any (present or future) church leaders that may be reading this: watch carefully who you call 'elder.' Steward wisely your authority.

I think 'form' godliness is the biggest problem in the church today. Plenty of churches have plenty of attenders. But, perhaps our problem is that we've accepted the form of church attendance as godliness and denied its power to transform our communities, families, and own lives.

So what do we do?

We MUST be connected with Jesus Christ. We must pray, not just to speak to him, but to listen. We must grow in wisdom and in spirit. We must take faith risks for the hope of his fulfillment. Faith without works is dead, wrote James the brother of Jesus. Faith without power is as well.

Mormonism

Last night during our youth service I said some controversial things about Mormonism. Being what it is, a cult, Mormonism is no stranger to controversy. I said three statements about Mormonism, all of which ended up being contradicted by a mormon student who was present in our meeting.

In good faith, I said I would share where the information came from at a later time, this blog is that time.

The comments on Mormonism were in passing, though they had a key role in my sermon Jesus

According to Jesus. I shared views of cults, world religions, celebrities, and others about Jesus and I finally ended with things Jesus said about himself, so that those listening could hear what Jesus has to say - not just the critics.

Finally, to the statements I mentioned about Mormon "Christology."

First, in regards to Jesus being a man who became God:

"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man" (Teachings of Joseph Smith, 345).

"The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's: the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit" (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22).

Finally, Joseph Smith wrote in an article for the newspaper Journal of Discourses:

"I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined that God was God from all eternity. These are incomprehensible ideas to some, but they are simple and first principles of the gospel, to know for a certainty the character of God, that we may converse with him as one man with another, and that God himself; the Father of us all dwelt on an earth the same as Jesus Christ himself did . . . what did Jesus say? ... Jesus said, as the Father hath power in himself, even so hath the Son power; to do what? Why what the Father did, that answer is obvious. . . . Here then is eternal life, to know the only wise and true God. You have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves; to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you-namely, by going from a small degree to another, from grace to grace from exaltation to exaltation, until you are able to sit in glory as doth those who sit enthroned in everlasting power." (Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, 6:3-4)

To paraphrase: God became God by starting as a person and working his way up the ladder. Jesus is pretty high up the ladder. Now you should walk up the ladder and become God, too.

So, yes, Mormonism does believe Jesus was a man who became God.

The second statement: Jesus is portrayed as a polygamist

Official Mormon sources will tell you that whether or not Jesus married was unknown. However, Brigham Young, one of the most famous LDS 'prophets' taught this:

"Now if any of you will deny the plurality of wives, and continue to do so, I promise that you will be damned," (Journal of Discourses, vol. 3, p. 266). Also, "The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy," (Journal of Discourses, vol. 11, p. 269).

In other words - Jesus whom we would call God, or the Son of God, in order to reach such a place must have been a polygamist. Though Mormons would not call Jesus the only God they would say he is a God. Do the math. No Mormonism doesn't say Jesus was a Polygamist, they just strongly imply that.

Finally, I said that Jesus is the half-brother of Satan.

"Jesus and Satan are Spirit brothers and we were all born as siblings in heaven to them both." (Mormon Doctrine p. 163).

"The Devil was born as a spirit after Jesus 'in the morning of pre-existance'" (Mormon Doctrine P. 192).

Finally, in the Pearl of Great Price a Mormon "Scripture" Satan's fall from brotherhood with Jesus is shown in Moses 4:1-4.

So, I will take the punch and say I was slightly off on this piece of Mormon Doctrine. The resource for the quote regarding Jesus being the half-brother of Satan is from Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. However, since both are respectable scholars, I will leave myself open to correction on this retraction.

Based upon my best knowledge of this Mormon doctrine Jesus and Satan are fully "Spirit Brothers." Not half-brothers. My mistake, though I don't think it is an improvement for their stance for Jesus to graduate from half-brother to "Spirit Brother."

In this blog I owe the following source materials:

The Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin

Carm.org

Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears.

Mark Batterson

The post below was taken from a blog by Mark Batterson. He's a pretty honkin' rad guy.

I shared a story this weekend about Honi the Circle Drawer.

He lived in the first century BC and he was famous for praying for rain. During one draught, the people of Israel asked him to pray and hedrew a circle on the ground and stood inside and prayed, "O Lord, of the universe. I swear before your great name that I will not move from here until you have shown mercy upon your children."

According to tradition, it started to sprinkle. Honi prayed, "Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain that will fill the cisterns, pits, and caverns." It began to rain with violence. And Honi prayed, “Not for such rain have I prayed, but for rain of goodwill, blessing, and graciousness.”Then it rained in moderation.

We need more circle drawers. Honi was almost excommunicated because his prayer was perceived by some as dishonoring to God. But the truth is this: God loves it when we pray desperate prayers, bold prayers, ridiculous prayers. I don't think its dishonoring, as long as we're praying them for the right reasons. In fact, nothing is more honoring. And God honors circle drawers.

Example

Have you ever thought about what it means to be an example?

A leader?

I do often. Years ago Pastor Brandon Berg would tell me about youth ministry - "You pastor who you are." This is kind of a chicken and egg type of conundrum for me.

What he meant was that your character shortcomings would be revealed in those who follow you, and your strengths will likely be theirs as well.

Well I can see that being created in those who follow you by virtue of their following you, I wonder how much of that is due to the fact that in many ways you are who you hang with. The people closest to you determine your future.

I've been wondering if I am who I want to see follow me.

I think it is time for a revolution in my soul.

Old favorite

Wide Awake

Are you settling for a life that puts you to sleep? Wouldn't it be better to dream with your eyes open? Is the only reason you keep our job because it's the one you've got? The only reason you have your career is because it made sense at the time? I think a lot of us are not on a path; we're in a rut. We have confused comfort with peace, belief with faith, safety with wisdom, wealth with blessing and existence with life. And for many of us, our dreams will be buried under the epitaph, "I refused to let go of what I had."

Erwin McManus

Wide Awake

The Keys to the City

I honestly am at a turning point in my youth ministry.

As I have prayed and examined the city, it appears that one of the keys to reaching young people in this city will be to be present with them. Moreover, I have found the place that I should have been serving for a much longer period of time - the youth center.

A recent article in the Daily Record (Ellensburg's local newspaper) discussed the blended reputation that the youth center has created for itself. It helps a lot of kids and encourages many of them to grow, but in doing that it brings in a lot of the kids most people aren't comfortable with. The student center is known for being a second home to a lot of kids that tend to be rebellious, tough, and rough around every edge.

It is in light of this that later today I'm going to hand in a volunteer application and make myself available to serve in whatever way I can. I want to see the young people of this city making Jesus the priority in their lives, in their families, and in their schools.

I think that in reaching some of these kids, we will reach many in this city.

Flashback

My favorite band a decade ago

Free parking lessons

Leadership Lessons from a six year old

Adventures in the life of a one-week parent: Part 1

Yesterday, God dropped a bomb on me. Funny enough, it was through a 6 year old and in a McDonald's play place.

We were up in the sky tubes. You know, the dirty little plastic things that kids love and their parent's knees dread. I had chased Dianna up the tube (by chased, I mean that I fought my way up and while Dianna ran laps).

We played up top for just a minute when Dianna announced, "I'm the leader! Follow me!" Upon saying this she crawled down the tube you climb up to enter, aka the tube that would destroy my knees to go down. So I watched her run down the tube and do what she wanted to do with us alone.

God spoke to me in that instant and said, "That's the leadership you need to grow in Ryan. You can't announce what is to be done and encourage others to do it while you sit on the sidelines cheering on."

All at once, I realized what was wrong with my leadership. I've been trying to figure out my systems (which have plenty of room to grow), ministry roles and rotations, and so many details. But my character - the part of it which dreams - needs exercise in action.

I can dream and I can call towards a predicted future, but what good is a prediction if you aren't at the head of the action.

I remember hearing stories of a successful military leader, I think it was Alexander the Great. When the battle came, he didn't call orders from the back of the army like most military leaders do. He charged into battle at the front of the infantry.

Right now, leadership for me needs to look like this - running to the front of the army screaming "Forward!"

Daddy for a Week

They say the best part of being a grandparent is giving the kids back when you're done. Christine and I get to test that theory out this week.

Dianna, Christine's little sister is coming to Ellensburg this week.

For those of you not familiar with Christine's family, allow me to explain - Christine has a little sister who is 16 years her junior. So, Christine in a lot of ways has played mom for Dianna for a few years.

This week, the main difference is location. Dianna is leaving Hillsboro and her real parents to spend some time in our world.

I'm quite excited, and mildly nervous. I don't know anything about raising a child. Worse than that, Dianna being raised around four adult figures (sometimes more) is like the Godzilla of kids with Only Child Syndrome. When things don't go her way and you don't do what she wants, watch out! She is generally very sweet, however, and is a lot of fun. So while there are nerves for the downside, there is positive emotion for the good.

Dianna can be loads and loads of fun, and I'm excited to spend this week playing daddy.

Question Night Intro Video

A few months ago I began encouraging my kids to ask questions. To wonder about their faith, their world. So, I put out a jar and I told them to put any question they want an answer to in the jar. Since then I've begun answering questions before preaching every week, to warm things up.

This week is our first ever question week. No planned sermon, nothing but honest, unfiltered questions and answers. Some will likely be deep, others will likely have the imagination and humor of a sixth grade girl. But, either way, I aimed to be ready. So, I got help from a couple of my students (and my lovely wife, who let me bench press her) to be ready for the questions.

Below is our video documentation of the training session.

Powerful, with moments of goofiness

Kind of like my life.

Stupid in America

John Stossel is a genius.

What do you think?

Worth Waiting For

That picture above this text is my wife. I know, I am a very lucky man.

Before Christine is a list so long I almost wretch in shame recounting it. That is the list of girls I chased. Girls I pursued. Thankfully, though some got close and others got too close, I can be thankful in knowing Christine is my one and only.

Nine months into this thing called marriage and I can happily say she is the one I waited for.

I love this woman.

Deliberate Simplicity

I recently finished Deliberate Simplicity by Dave Browning.

The book chronicles the rise of a unique movement of churches called Christ the King. They have spread like wildfire all over America (particularly the Pacific Northwest) and the World by refusing to have bigger services.

What do you mean refusing to have bigger services?

Well, Browning and his team has instead focused on planting. Meaning, rather than constructing buildings to further house people coming into the church they send teams out to start new sites/churches/services elsewhere. The distance could be a matter of blocks or international. But the plan is always the same, when more people attend - divide.

This is a shift from the methodology of a church being the place to go to the people who go. This is a church that does what I have dreamed about for years. The ethos of the community is defined by their desire to be constantly planting, constantly sending.

I love it.

I underlined one great line that pretty much defines their approach: "The time to start a new location is when we have the leadership to execute it rather than the people to attend it" (page 142).

Ministry leaders read this book, or just go plant something.

Started an Official blog

Why not?

I haven't blogged in a while. So, this will be my start.

I will do my best to make this blog a part of my regular routine, to share my thoughts and insights of life, love, God, music, politics and all things interesting to me.

Welcome.

Laughing With

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor

No one laughs at God when the doctor calls
After some routine tests
No one’s laughing at God
when it’s gotten real late
And their kid’s not back from that party yet

No one laughs at God when their airplane
Starts to uncontrollably shake
No one’s laughing at God
When they see the one they love hand in hand
with someone else and they hope that they’re mistaken
No one laughs at God when the cops knock on their door
And they say “We’ve got some bad new, sir,”
No one’s laughing at God
When there’s a famine, fire or flood

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God-themed joke or
When the crazies say he hates us
and they get so red in the head
You think that they’re about to choke
God can be funny
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus

God can be so hilarious
Ha ha, ha ha

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
when they’ve lost all they got
And they don’t know what for

No one laughs at God on the day they realize
that the last sight they’ll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re saying their goodbyes

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party while listening to a good God-themed joke or
When the crazies say he hates us and they get so red in the head
you think that they’re about to choke
God can be funny
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie
Who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
(repeat)
No one’s laughing at God in a hospital
No one’s laughing at God in a war

No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor

No one’s laughing at God
(repeat)
We’re all “laughing with God”