Month: September 2008

One of my favorite comic strips is the usually funny and occasionally disturbing Pearls Before Swine. Yesterday the resident bad guy (aptly named Rat) is singing the John Denver song “Country Roads”. When asked what he is doing Rat answers that he is planting “earworms”. An earworm is a term for a portion of a song that becomes “stuck” in your head and you cannot get it out of your mind. Soon you are literally out of your mind. A survey of several hundred students came up with a list of the most insidious earworms.

Chili’s “Baby Back Ribs” jingle (“I want my baby back, baby back, baby back…”)

Who Let the Dogs Out (“Who let the dogs out…woof, woof, woof, woof…Who let the dogs out…woof, woof, woof, woof…”)

Kit-Kat candy-bar jingle (“Gimme a Break …”)

The Lion Sleeps Tonight (“We-de-de-de, de-de-de-de-de de, we-um-um-a-way – drum fill – We-de-de-de, de-de-de-de-de de, we-um-um-a-way…A wimoweh, a-wimoweh a-wimoweh, a wimoweh”) Note: That also makes your spell check go nuts.

“It’s a Small World After All” (“It’s a small world after all…it’s a small world after all…it’s a small, small world…”)

From the Disney earworm file I would add the Pirates of the Caribbean (“Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me…”)

I have to confess to a really bad Christian moment. I have been known to hum The Chicken Dance in a crowded office space and then listen for the earworm to take root. Someone will start humming the song and catch themselves. Depending on the setting it will be followed by cursing  or perhaps by Christian cursing.

“Dadgummit you skalawag!”

I know. I am a sinner. But it is pretty funny to watch.

 

There are lots of other songs that you absolutely hate to hear because you know the “earworm” will bury deep in your brain for the rest of the day. But musical earworms are generally just annoying but not really dangerous. There are other earworms that damage our relationships and even our walk with Jesus. These are the portions of our life history that get stuck in our heads. You know what I mean. Those old tapes get played and the spiritual battle earworm takes hold.

“You will never change.”

“Why even try? You will just fail again.”

“You are not enough.”

“You are faking and everyone knows.”

“Everyone is doing fine except you.”

“You are not smart enough…pretty enough…tough enough…whatever enough”

“God is tired of your failures and He is tired of you.”

Satan is even meaner than me humming the Chicken Dance. He will plant those damaging earworms in your heart and mind. And if we don’t have a defense plan they will rob us of our peace, joy and relationships. I will defer again to my friends at TrueFaced. Their book and principles have helped me to recognize and repel Satan’s earworms. When I hear those old tapes start playing I simply think or say out loud this simple statement of fact.

“That is not who I am anymore.”

Because of Christ I am a new person. I have been changed. And my mission is to allow God to love me and mature me into what is already true about me. I am a saint who sometimes sins, not a sinner trying to become a saint. So when the earworms of deceit and destruction start in your mind you can shut them down by simply stating the truth.

That is not who I am anymore.

Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. (I Corinthians 5, NLT)

By the way…it is okay to let that passage get stuck in your head. In fact, I recommend it.

 

 

 

 

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The group Casting Crowns is a consistent favorite of mine. One of my favorites from the group is a song is called “Stained Glass Masquerade”. The title says it all. This song speaks powerfully to the all too human desire to be phony at church so that the others (who are also acting phony) will not think less of us. To have an impact in this culture we have to be genuine, real, authentic. Young men and women have a phony detector that is tuned to pick up the smallest deceit. I am tired of the phoniness. I am tired of the masks we wear. Just reading the lyrics will not give you the total power of this song but it will give you a taste. 

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin’ so small

Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they’ll soon discover
That I don’t belong

So I tuck it all away, like everything’s okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I’ll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the part again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them

Chorus

Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation’s open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain
On our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone who’s been there
Are there any hands to raise
Am I the only one who’s traded
In the altar for a stage

The performance is convincing
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
Can we really fall apart

But would it set me free
If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
That you imagine me to be

Would your arms be open
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay

Wow. Thank you to “Casting Crowns” for writing and performing such an honest and transparent song. The message strikes straight to my heart. The body of Christ (the church) must be real to work as it was designed. It is up to you and to me to drop the stained glass masquerades and have the courage to be transparent. The Apostle John outlined a strategy that could go a long way to stopping the destructive masquerade.

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. (1 John  4, NLT)

To love one another like John describes mean giving grace to others when they fall short and being willing to receive grace and quit covering up for your own weaknesses. Carly Simon sang “We Haven’t Got Time for the Pain” in 1974. Thirty-four-years later we haven’t got time for the pain of trying to be happy plastic people under shiny plastic steeples. I am committed to dropping the stained glass masquerades. Can you trust God and others with who you really are? Until you do it is just a sad and destructive masquerade.

The morning walk with dog friend Hannah and my trusty iPod generated some thoughts. A tune by Kenny Chesney is chock full of catchy rhythms and bad theology. The song is called Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven but the underlying theme is that nobody wants to go there right now. I think that is true for most of us. As long as God allows I want to live and serve here while I enjoy family and friends.

But what caught my ear was the theology. I am aware that Kenny Chesney is not a theologian so I am not throwing him under his tour bus. I found it interesting because the song reflects the theology of many people and churches in this nation. It used to be mine.

Preacher told me last Sunday mornin`
Son, you better start livin` right
You need to quit the women and whiskey
And carrying on all night

My issues might not have been whiskey and carrying on all night but I had plenty of my own. And that was my church upbringing. Preachers telling me I had to do better, shape up, quit sinning and live right. It was always mixed with a large dose of what if. If you don’t live right you won’t go to heaven. If you sin you will lose your salvation and you won’t go to heaven. If you don’t believe the doctrine of this church you won’t go to heaven. So getting to heaven meant conforming my behavior to earn God’s favor.

The problem in the message of this song and my upbringing is that the onus falls on the sinner to shape up and quit sinning. Good luck. Can’t do it. The next verse also suggests that we can do something to manage our sin debt.

Said preacher maybe you didn`t see me
Throw an extra twenty in the plate
There`s one for everything I did last night
And one to get me through today
Here`s a ten to help you remember
Next time you got the good Lord`s ear

Donations for past or future sins won’t get it done. The problem is not a list of bad behaviors. The problem is sin. No word as powerfully communicates any behavior that separates me from a Holy God. The law did not convict me of blunders, slip-ups and shortcomings. The law convicted me of sin. When we reduce the power of the concept of sin we negate the awesome gift of grace. You don’t need grace to rescue you from idiosyncrasies. I haven’t been moved by a hymn that says…

Amazing Grace. How sweet the sound,
That empowered a dysfunctional but spiritually seeking and fundamentally good person like me.

Somehow John Newton’s original line about saving a wretch like me hits a little closer to my story. I am not talking about self-bashing and looking for fault. I am not talking about the potential false humility of spiritual groveling. I am talking about the mind boggling prospect of facing a holy and sinless God with the resume that I would have to present. Am I a good person? Yeah, I think so. Am I up to that appointment without the redemptive endorsement of Jesus? No way. The classic hymn He Took My Sins Away by Margaret Harris would lose some luster if many in our current culture were writing it today. Here is the refrain as she wrote it in 1901.

He took my sins away, He took my sins away,
And keeps me singing every day!
I’m so glad He took my sins away,
He took my sins away.

One hundred and seven years later it might go something like this…

He recognized my dysfunctional past, He helped me find my inner voice
And showed me it was not my fault
I’m so glad He understood my syndrome
He took away my responsibility.

Same verse…everybody sing along now.

Sin breaks the covenant between a Holy God and myself. God doesn’t have scales to weigh our sins versus our good deeds. Sin separates me from relationship with God. I had a sin problem and I needed that fixed. Jesus came to fix it. That gift of forgiveness is incomprehensible. Jesus called sin by it’s name. And He said if we believe in faith that He came to deal with that sin debt then He will call us by another name. His child. All it takes is accepting the gift of salvation. That is how you get to heaven.

Don`t you wanna hear him call your name
When you`re standin` at the pearly gates
I told the preacher, “Yes I do”
But I hope they don`t call today
I ain`t ready

No matter when the call comes you can be ready. Trust Jesus. Let Him help you change your habits. It is a whole lot easier that way.

A buddy sent me a link to an interesting site. You enter your birthdate and you find out what the number one song was on the day you were born. While my top rated tune was not exactly a song for the ages I do think it might have had some influence in my life. The number one song on April 6 in 1953 was….drumroll please….

“How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?” by Patti Page.

Hmmmmm.

The lyrics are an amazing study in banality.

How much is that doggie in the window? [Arf, arf]
The one with the waggly tail
How much is that doggie in the window? [Arf, arf]
I do hope that doggie’s for sale

I actually remember the fine contribution of the backup barkers that added the “arf, arf” to the chorus.

“The one with the waggly tale” is one of the great lyrical moments in history. Right up there with the rock group America’s insights about the desert as they sang about a horse in the witness protection program.

“There were plants
And birds
And rocks
And things”

Not gonna lie to you. That is genius. That lyric stands right alongside the classic line from Macarthur Park as a tortured Richard Harris seems completely unhinged that someone left the cake out in the rain. Perhaps he left his meds out in the rain as well.

As we go back to the number one song on my birthday we get a thoughtful lyrical explanation for the pursuit of the doggie in the window.

I don’t want a bunny or a kitty
I don’t want a parrot that talks
I don’t want a bowl of little fishies
You can’t take a goldfish for a walk

Actually you can take a goldfish for a walk but it won’t enjoy it very much. So that was the number one song playing on the Philco radio when I arrived home. I never understood my love of doggies over bunnies and kitties and fishies until I realized just today that I was brainwashed with this song. Who knew?

Perhaps because of that subliminal musical influence I have been enjoying companionship and gleaning spiritual insight from my canine family members ever since. This excerpt from “Bring’em Back Alive” documents an experience I had with our now deceased Golden Retriever Charlie.  It gave me a little insight into how my relationship with Jesus should work.

Charlie developed a large benign tumor under his front leg that made walking difficult. We took him in for what would be a rather serious surgery at the ripe old canine age of twelve. The vet did a masterful job in removing the growth and taking care of Charlie. We were called to the animal hospital to pick up the old guy. We waited as they brought him out. He shuffled slowly out and I was taken aback by his appearance. Charlie was trembling, frightened and appeared to be in some pain. His head was down and his perpetual motion tail was strangely stilled. He seemed confused and disoriented. Then I walked over to Charlie and simply touched him. Almost immediately he quit trembling and he made a valiant attempt to wag his tail. We carefully got him into the car and took him home to heal.

As I reflected on that scene it struck me that Charlie’s reaction to my touch and mere presence was a wonderful illustration of how Jesus comforts (or desires to comfort) me. When I (his master) touched Charlie he was comforted. His pain was not gone. He was still frightened. He was still a bit disoriented and unsure. Charlie’s circumstances hadn’t really changed at all. But he knew that his master was there and that made it better. He trusted me and knew I would take care of him. What a picture that is of how the touch of Jesus enables us to respond when we are frightened, in pain, disoriented and confused. We need to remind ourselves that Jesus never promised that all trouble would vanish when we believe in Him. Jesus did promise that He would be there and that would be enough. But the tough question arises…do we truly believe that?

I recently quoted  my friends at Leadership Catalyst. and their definition of the abundant life.

“The abundant life is comparing God’s character, faithfulness and ability with my particular circumstances and believing that God’s character trumps my circumstance.”

As we face uncertain times I am leaning more and more on that truth. God has proven trustworthy in my life over and over. I remember hearing the verse about how the yoke will be easy and the burden light when we believe in Jesus. I used to wonder how that could be true or what was wrong with me that I hadn’t experienced that to be true. I missed the first part of the verse…

Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Jesus is saying to bond in relationship with Him and trust that His character, faithfulness and ability will trump my circumstance. And then I will find the burden is light and I will find rest for my soul. Like our frightened Golden Retriever I can learn to seek the touch and reassurance of the master and my spirit will improve.

My prayer for myself and for you today is that we will seek, realize, and be comforted by the touch of the Master. As I learned with Charlie, it doesn’t really matter what the circumstance might be, it is the knowledge that the master is there that makes all the difference.

 

I am dismayed and disgusted with Democrats, Republicans, campaign spokespersons and spinpersons, the media and countless others in the current political race. I suspect I am not alone. The tone makes it nearly impossible to stay engaged. I wish I could hire Dr.Evil (played by Mike Myers) from the Austin Power movies. Whenever he was tired of the conversation he would employ this technique.

Scott Evil: It’s no hassle…
Dr. Evil: Sh!
Scott Evil: But…
Dr. Evil: Sh!
Scott Evil: I’m…
Dr. Evil: Sh!
Scott Evil: All I’m say…
Dr. Evil: Sh!
Scott Evil: There gonna get a…
Dr. Evil: Sh!
Scott Evil: I’m…
Dr. Evil: Sh!
Scott Evil: I’m just…
Dr. Evil: Sh!
Scott Evil: Would…
Dr. Evil: Sh!… Knock-knock.
Scott Evil: Who’s there?
Dr. Evil: Sh!

To both campaigns that are engaged in attacks and half-truths and complete untruths I would love to be able to say to all of you.

SH!

I have had it. When you examine the candidate’s ads at factcheck.org you will see how comments and facts are taken out of context to create a partisan message by both campaigns.

I am tired of it and I suspect most of the nation is tired of it. I wish both campaigns would care enough about America to stop the political and partisan nonsense and discuss how they will help this great nation navigate the difficult waters ahead. Even as I write this piece the news commentator is saying the Obama campaign feels that it needs to respond with more ferocity to the McCain attacks.

Sigh.

I want to know the following things.

What do you plan to do to combat terrorism?
What do you plan to do to get the economy moving forward?
What do you plan to do to increase our domestic energy resources?
What is your foreign relations approach toward countries like Iran, North Korea, Russia and the like?
What is your position on the sanctity of life?
How do you plan to control spending in the government?
Will you raise taxes?
How will you change the maddening partisan tone of Washington?
How will you lead our representatives to care about the nation instead of their party and phony baloney jobs?

I don’t care anything about these things.

Computer skills.
Celebrity endorsements.
Mistakes or mispeaks by spouses or other family members.

The list of what I don’t care about could go on and on but you get the point. The deeper this campaign goes the more I want to focus on where hope and change have come from in my life.

Trusting and following Jesus changed my life and gives me hope. Both candidates have given a political thumbs up to Jesus but they “approve” messages far from His teachings.

What makes me most sad is that so many people really seem to be placing their hope for happiness on a political candidate. I do believe that leaders make a difference. I care deeply about making an informed and prayerful choice. But I never place my hope or desire for change on a politician. The word hope is used about 80 times in the New Testament. The first appearance of the word in the NIV translation pretty much lays out my belief.

 “In his name (Jesus) the nations will put their hope.”  (Matthew 12, NIV)

Paul wrote about the hope that I have in his letter to the Romans.

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Colossians we read this from Paul as he relates how hope based on the eternal God should make a difference.

For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God’s people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.

That is a hope that I know will not disappoint. As for change, I would be pleasantly surprised if our leaders in Washington would work together for us. But I will not be surprised if they do not. The important change for me has already happened.

I have hope that is real. I am changed because of Christ. Because of those two facts I can deal with whatever happens in this election. I learned my lesson in previous elections. I thought our country was doomed because my candidate did not win. Yet God’s plan did not cease. People continued to come to faith, grow in faith and serve Him in ways that gave real hope and change to others.

I wish the candidates could focus on what matters. Thank God the rest of us still have the freedom to do just that.

 

 

 

The current state of discourse in this nation makes me want to put on the Bose headsets and resurface in mid-November. The internet can be a wonderful tool but too many writers have chosen to use the tool only as a chainsaw or hammer. I wrote a piece pleading for grace in the debate. After grace my next biggest gripe is the lack of accuracy in the debate.

This quote from George Eliot is not in the Beatitudes but Jesus might have thought about including it.

“Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact.”

Might I add blessed is the man or woman who takes a moment to confirm as fact what they forward as fact. May I suggest that forwarded e-mails are not the greatest source of truth available to mankind. The automatic forwarding of e-mail warnings is a real pet peeve of mine. About every other week I have to send an e-mail to a wonderfully well intentioned friend to let them know that they are forwarding a half-truth or flat out lie. I feel a little uncomfortable when I do that because I know it is embarrassing to them. And I have to be honest that once you have wasted my time by forwarding a untrue e-mail I am likely to send your next effort to cyber purgatory.

For Christians this is an important issue. When we forward false information it can (and often does) do damage to the image of Christianity and to the very name of Christ. It makes Christians appear lazy and uninformed (restraint Dave…easy). How about the poor receptionist who fields thousands of irate calls for something that is not even valid like the FCC hoax mentioned below? By the way, you would be amazed at the less than godly content of some of these calls.

Here are just a few of the hoaxes that crossed my inbox in recent months.

ACLU objects to Marines Praying –  False. The ACLU causes enough problems without making stuff up.
Al Gore calls Christians blight on environment – False. The quote is fabricated.
Harry Potter was written to recruit children to witchcraft – False.
James Dobson is pleading for our help because of a petition to stop the reading of the gospel over public broadcasting outlets – False.
This has been dead since 1975 but continually gets repackaged and reforwarded. And when it does the Federal Communications Commission must field thousands of calls and e-mails (at taxpayers expense).

The political campaign has caused an explosion in Compulsive Forwarding Syndrome. I am begging you to check the facts at a site like factcheck.org or truthorfiction.com to see if the content is true.

A couple of recent political forwards that concerned citizens sent without checking:

Obama shunned U.S. Soldiers in Afghanistan-Fiction!
Senator Barack Obama is a Moslem-Fiction!

And on the other side of the aisle:

Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin Banned Books-Fiction!
Sarah Palin NRA Poster Girl?-Fiction! (no link on this one…it is too tacky)

Here are my requests and suggestions (forward these to five friends and you might win something from somebody)

1) Be naturally suspicious. Your credibility is at stake.
2) Verify the story. Check before you forward. Please.
3) Be gracious.
5) Apply Proverbs 2:11 to your cyber-ministry. Discretion will protect you and understanding will guard you.

James has a nice little take on wisdom.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.  (James 3, NIV)

I could go on but I just received a personal note from a doctor in Nigeria. He needs my help and he promised me 5 million dollars. Don’t worry, I’ll tithe!

 

A fitness challenged film producer said that Hurricane Gustav disrupting the Republican Convention was “proof that God has a sense of humor”. At that point we did not know how devastating the storm might become. I thought the remark was tasteless given the timing but I didn’t get too exorcised over the comment.

Both sides of the aisle seem to try to enlist God’s judgment when it is appropriate to support their positions. But the question that always comes up when disaster strikes is a tough one.

Is God judging America?

I have a definite and authoritative biblical position on this issue.

I don’t know.

When Jesus was asked about some tragedies that occurred He did not establish blame…

About that time some people came up and told him about the Galileans Pilate had killed while they were at worship, mixing their blood with the blood of the sacrifices on the altar. Jesus responded, “Do you think those murdered Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you too will die. And those eighteen in Jerusalem the other day, the ones crushed and killed when the Tower of Siloam collapsed and fell on them, do you think they were worse citizens than all other Jerusalemites? Not at all. Unless you turn to God, you too will die.”   (Luke 13, The Message)

If Jesus had a chance to establish blame and did not do it then I am going to be extremely careful about deciding whether God judged New Orleans with Katrina or the Southeastern USA with recent storms. Some followers of Jesus want God to validate their goodness by punishing those who revel in actions that are not godly. The reaction is not new.

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village. (Luke 9, NLT)

That should be the template for how we respond. Let God decide on judgment in His timing. We should never be surprised when sinners sin! Jesus wasn’t. He reserved His condemnation for the religious. Would God be more inclined to take out New Orleans because of it’s hedonism or would He be more likely to judge my city of Dallas for it’s materialism and greed and lack of caring for the disadvantaged? How can I know? Perhaps a Holy God is more upset in how we have squandered great wealth than in how some behave in New Orleans. Is neglecting the widows and the poor less egregious to God than drunken Mardi Gras partying? I am not smart enough to know. But Scripture seems pretty clear we should be taking care of those in need both physically and spiritually.

There was another time when Jesus could have let us know how judgment is dispensed here on earth.

Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, “Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?”  Jesus said, “You’re asking the wrong question. You’re looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do.   (John 9, The Message)

I would suggest it is time we stop looking for someone to blame. I am not going to try to figure out if God is judging New Orleans or any other city or state. According to Scripture God sends rain on the red states and the blue states. Okay…that is a bit of a paraphrase from Matthew 5 but you get the point. Instead we should look for what God can do. What God can do is use the tragedy of natural disasters to show His love through His people. We are His hands and feet on this planet. If we are the body that is what we should be doing. What I can do is ask the question what can I do? We are too often asking the wrong question when we look to find blame. God can decide who deserves to be judged without my help or yours or a portly film maker. Our biblical response is to pray and put action to those prayers.