The Psalms are a place for those who are downtrodden and besieged with troubles to find refuge, for the writers of the Psalms call out and point to God, who is our hope.

The more the worship team and I pray for the congregation to engage the Lord each Sunday when we come together, the more we see the faithfulness of our great God. The value of our time is immeasurable, but often, corporate worship can be misunderstood, or even go without contemplation. It is a beautiful, refreshing thing to be with God's people, celebrating His grace, singing His praises, and praying to Him. In an age of quick, easy information, we can often miss jewels like this. If you can spare three minutes and twenty two seconds, this link about corporate worship from John Piper will be worth your attention span. It would be helpful to read at least the first five or six verses of the psalm before watching the video.

I pray we worship God collectively, in unity, with joy and expectation for our King to bring people from death to life . Of course, it is not corporate worship that we thirst for, but for God, the living God, who alone can satisfy.

The highlight of the morning was watching the launch team work together as the body of Christ. Everyone had a responsibility and everyone served with joy. It reminded me of Paul's description of the different parts of the body working together for the glory of God (1 Cor 12). Much thanks to those in the Mandarin congregation who are sending us. Your prayers and love are felt and appreciated. May we continue to fix our gaze on Jesus as he does more than we can ask or imagine!

-Keith Dickerson

The launch team continues to meet in 6 different community groups on Sunday evenings for dinner, fellowship, and Bible study. These groups are spread throughout the city, each reaching out to its own community. We have seen a great work of the Holy Spirit in these groups on a number of levels. First, believers are learning to live life together. Of course, when Christians are intentional about digging beneath the surface and really getting to know each other's hearts, there is friction. But, the most intimate Christian communities are those that have had to work through conflict. Absence of conflict is not a sign of community, but of isolation. Second, we are seeing a number of non-believers engage the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the first time in these groups. For many, it is the first Bible study they have ever been a part of. The reason that they are interested is because they have built a genuine friendship with a believer on the launch team and want to know more about this Gospel that they have seen lived out in front of them. Third, we are seeing spiritual attack as the light of Jesus penetrates darkness. Satan does not give up territory easily. While the attacks, which manifest themselves in different ways, are difficult, they are evidence that the kingdom of God is on the move.

We continue to work towards locking downing meeting space for Sunday mornings in the fall. It has turned out to be a slow, and sometimes frustrating, process of negotiating space, price, and other needs. But, God has secured space for us. We are just waiting on his timing to unveil it. The beautiful part of this is that the church, the body of believers (not brick and mortar), is already functioning as such. This has been the plan all along, that we would be the church and function as the church before we ever have our first worship service.

The launch team has been so encouraged by the prayers and support of Christ Church Mandarin. We truly do feel "sent" by you and we cherish our unity as one body and one church.

-Keith Dickerson

Actually, a "sabbatical" --in academic or ministry circles--is not a vacation at all, but a time set aside for active study, reflection, and production of a kind not possible during the high relational demands of ministry. A sabbatical allows for the sort of deep study and reflection essential to enable those who teach and write to stay fresh, filled with the Word and Spirit, and to stay engaged with our shifting world and culture. Boards or Sessions that grant their teaching elders time for sabbatical study and refreshment are far sighted, and actually blessing the church far into the future. I thank our elders for this foresight and their gracious grant.

Here are my goals for this year's Study/Writing sabbatical, to be taken from July 12 -- August 12:

1. Write a keynote article for publication in Tabletalk, Ligonier's fine monthly devotional. I've been invited to write on Preaching Christ from the Old Testament.

2. Write a more scholarly book review for publication in Christian Renewal, a theological journal of opinion published in Canada. The book under review is ¬Cursillo: Little Courses in Catharsis, by Dr. Brian Janssen. It might interest you to know that one of the ministry subsets of the Cursillo movement is the Kairos prison ministry. Given our church's journey with that ministry, I thought a careful study and publication on the subject would also bless us with perspective.

3. Assist Paul Devakumar's ministry by developing brochures to serve as print resources for new US board.

4. Write discipleship materials and plans for Christ Church.

A. Prepare a course on an overview to Scripture, to be offered this Fall.

B. I particularly wish to examine Randy Pope's Journey discipleship curriculum (a 3 year intensive relational course that is well written, but also appears to be unused in many settings because of the demanding schedule requirements.) I would like to see if it can be adapted for use locally, and particularly in growing a generation deep thinking and committed men of God.

I humbly invite you to pray during this time!

-John

So, maybe a more fruitful and productive approach to evangelism is to invite non-believers into the community of faith where they can see Jesus' command modeled before their very eyes. Yes, there is a cost. Yes, there is a difference in lifestyle. But wow, I've never experienced the deep joy and contentment that I see in this community of faith. Nor have I ever been loved like this before. Then, when someone trusts Jesus Christ for the first time, they know exactly what they are getting into. Follow up is natural because they are already involved in the community. Now they know the Christ behind the community.

This is exactly why we are putting such an emphasis on community in the new congregational plant through community groups. It is also the reason why we are pushing community groups here at Mandarin. If you are not in one, please let us know so that we can get you plugged into one. And if you have a desire to lead one, we are always looking for new shepherd leaders to start new groups.

-Keith Dickerson

John

The worship of God is an activity so awe-inspiring that it ought to make us tremble. Think of it: earthbound people, filthy with sin yet wrapped by faith in the white robes of righteousness, actually breaking through into the presence of the King of heaven! Heaven actually breaking through into earth!

Such is an activity that ought to engage our whole persons—heart, emotion, mind, voice, and will. And such is an activity that ought not to be engaged without seriousness of purpose, involving intent, planning, and much preparation.

We at Christ Church do not merely want to worship the King of Heaven and Earth in a way that is comfortable to us. Nor do we want to worship the King of Heaven and Earth in a way that is casual and thoughtless. Rather, we want to worship in a way that honors His glory and preeminence, that celebrates his work on earth, and that shows the deep love we have for Him because of His love and grace to us.

In short, we want to worship in a way that is shaped by the Bible, in a way reflective of its theology. In what follows, we “think out loud” about that theology and its impact on worship. And we offer some conclusions that will shape the way we hope to worship the Lord.

BIBLICALLY, WORSHIP IS GLORIOUS

“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9-10)

We’re tempted merely to say: “Enough said!” Such a picture of worship gets at the heart of it all: a redeemed and washed people “standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.” That we do this glorious worship on earth, with limited earthbound vision, must not change the simple truth that we worship Him for who he is and what he has done. He is the audience!

BIBLICALLY, WORSHIP IS OFFERED BY A DIVERSE YET UNIFIED PEOPLE

When the Apostle John gazes into heaven he is struck by the universality of the fame of God. Beyond the vast, sprawling expanse of the heavenly host, the first thing that strikes John is the diversity of the worshippers. The ethnic mix and the cultural array before the throne must have been almost unfathomable to him, who in his younger years saw all of life in black and white (Jew and Gentile). But the scope and splendor of their diversity is wrapped in one single bold and brilliant fabric, the mix of cultures has found one constant, the diverse people one shared identity: they all wear white robes. St. Paul put it this way: “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ.” (Galatians 3:26-28) This is immediate to us: we diverse people share a common identity: we have sinned but have been redeemed; we have rebelled and are forgiven; we stand before the throne of the Holy God blameless in the righteousness of Christ.

BIBLICALLY, WORSHIP IS MISSIONAL

This diverse and yet unified people also have one glorious mission: to worship the God of glory! We like what John Piper said:

“Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.”

At Christ Church we view worship as our ultimate and highest calling. And we see corporate worship each Sunday as the time and place where we should most fully experience the reconciliation of the races, the redemption of Jesus, the communion of the saints, and, most importantly the presence of the glory of God. C.S. Lewis called corporate worship is a “thin place” where God’s ultimate reality breaks into our world. Hear John Piper again:

“Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal in missions. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God…But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can’t commend what you don’t cherish…Missions begins and ends in worship.”

These stirring words have practical implications. First of all, worship must be God-centered: we hear from Him, and respond back to Him in prayer, song, gifts, and vows. Second, worship involves the heart, and thus reflects our deepest emotions; not merely an academic enterprise, it embraces our whole being. We should not fear the freedom to represent a wide spectrum of responses to God’s grace and love. Third, we acknowledge that although worship is an activity of the redeemed, we pray that our worship will impact non-Christians who will be present at our worship services. We acknowledge that if they are not in Christ, they themselves do not actively worship in Spirit and in truth. But, in love, we must take care that what we say and do is intelligible to all, aware that our faith uses an internal “language” (verbal, liturgical, and musical/cultural) that can become an obstacle to understanding. If our worship is made to be lovingly understandable, “he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his own heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, ‘God is really among you’.” (I Cor 14:24-25)

BIBLICALLY, WORSHIP IS CENTRAL TO LIFE

At Christ Church we have a passion for worship. Our corporate worship each Sunday is the heartbeat of our life together. Our liturgy, music, preaching, and voices must blend in ways that reflect the heavenly and biblical, the beautiful and the holy, and should be honest and indigenous to this city and its culture. We have no more compelling or useful or powerful or gentle vision to offer Jacksonville or the world than the same beautiful Glory we love.

But worship does not end with the corporate gathering of the church. We long to see our families worship God together in their homes. We pray to see young lives in the inner city get a glimpse of God’s glory through us. We want to see our small groups sing and pray to the glory of God. We want to sing music—and write music and paint and sculpt—in ways that reflect the beauty of God and his world. In fact, we want all of our worship to rise out of hearts set on fire with a passion for God’s glory and with a delight to be in His beautiful presence. We like the way Eugene Peterson says it:

“In worship God gathers his people to himself as the center: ‘The LORD Reigns!’ ” Worship is meeting God at the center so that our lives are centered in God and not lived eccentrically. We worship so that we live in response to and from this center, the Living God. Failure to worship consigns us to a life of spasms and jerks, at the mercy of every advertisement, every seduction, every siren. Without worship we live manipulated and manipulating lives. We move either in frightened panic or deluded lethargy as we are, in turn, alarmed by specters and soothed by placebos. If there is no center, there is no circumference. People who do not worship are swept into a vast restlessness, epidemic in the world, with no steady direction and no sustaining purpose.”

BIBLICALLY, WORSHIP IS POWERFUL

One of our most basic convictions is that if you believe the announcement of grace, you’ll sing. You’ll also pray and listen to God’s Word and eat at Christ’s sacramental table. In other words, a community of grace is compelled to worship in response to God’s being and works. Some think that political action will change the world; others are sure that social action will transform the city. We believe that worship changes (transforms) people, and changed people transform homes and neighborhoods and offices, and eventually cities and beyond.

We dream of seeing individuals, families and our city being transformed by passionate worship: entering into a personal-intimate relationship with their Father through prayer, meditating on His Word, “getting into His promises”, cherishing the greatness of Jesus Christ, and practicing face-to-face gospel community. Transformed individuals then create families that are learning to repent of the way they have served and worshiped idols and who are now learning to worship and serve the true God through family worship, corporate worship, and the “liturgies” of service and mercy and hospitality. Transformed families change churches by bringing a passion for the glory of God to corporate worship and witness and thus infect the entire congregation with their passion for God. Transformed churches (who have as their chief end the “glory of God” and “enjoying Him forever”) impact the city by injecting into it an “alternative city”—what St. Augustine called the City of God—that shows a different heart motive and seeks a different glory. Christ calls it “the kingdom of God”, his new regime; it is a “taste” of a whole new way of being human.

Based on these theological principles, the following core values will shape the way our worship leadership team will labor and serve (including pastors, instrumentalists, vocalists, and IT and A-V support staff).

Gospel-Driven
The gospel (the big good news that God is reconciling all things to himself by grace through the death and resurrection of Christ) must always be at the center of all of our work and relationships. We must worship out of the joy of the gospel, work together in the forgiving grace, patience, trust, and truth-telling of the gospel, and build each other up in the truth of the gospel. We don’t bring worship merely out of a sense of duty. We certainly don’t bring worship out of a sense of artistic pride. If we lose the gospel in our relationships—with God, with ourselves, with each other as servant-leaders, and with the congregation—we lose everything.

Ancient/Future
The Lord’s church is old; it has worshipped Him since the very beginning of the world (Gen 4:26). But the Lord’s church is always emerging, raising up new worshippers to love and serve him in the generations to come. It is critical that the worship of God’s people recognize this ancient-future character of God’s redemptive work. God has a history with us, one that is ancient and thus one that tracks his faithfulness through centuries of worshippers. But God speaks a redemptive Word to this world, right now, saying something meaningful and lasting to this and future generations. At Christ Church, we desire to worship God in ways that reflect this dynamic. This will be evidenced in music selection that uses the best from every age. We will love and cherish the God-centered psalms and hymns and the old creeds, but we will also embrace the best of music written in this and recent generations and in a variety of cultures, music that fuses praise with prayers, songs with confessions of sin, chants with creeds. An ancient-future commitment will thus be evident in the structure, liturgy, and atmosphere of our services, as we work to craft an experience of worship that unites all components around the themes of the gospel, not merely work through a pre-planned liturgy.

Creative
It is our desire to worship creatively, so that the worship of this congregation is offered as a gift to God who created us in his image. We desire do so authentically, so that the worship rises up from our people; we want to create the sounds and play (if not write or arrange) music ourselves, using our own instrumental and vocal gifts. This will require that we identify, help train, and unleash such musical gifts for this and future generations of worshippers.

Team-Led
The gospel creates a team of brothers and sisters who work together for the glory of God. We want to build teams of musicians who work together, practice together, and grow together as individuals and as musicians. We want this to be a collaborative effort, with the diversity of gifts and passions coming together to create beautiful and powerful worship. We want this to be an effort of selflessness and humility, where all praise is directed to the God who has given us life and a new song to sing.

Congregational
The gospel builds community; we are a spiritual family called to live out an alternative kingdom. This means that our music and liturgy ought to engage the entire congregation in worship. Sadly, sometimes music divides a congregation into “camps”; we want our music to lead our congregation to unity as we embrace the very presence of the King among us. While we may employ a choir, praise team, solo voices and instruments, and while we may sing music from all generations, we will always focus on leading the whole congregation to worship. A word on leadership is important here. In many churches, the congregation merely “observes” the real action that takes place up front where “worship leaders”—pastors, choirs, musicians—lead the service, “directing” the congregation in its responses. In the approach to worship we wish to cultivate, the congregation is not directed but led humbly into His presence. “Worship leaders” give way to “lead worshippers” whose face, voice, prayers and even tears expose their own hearts and draw the congregation into the worship of God. The servants will diminish before the eyes of the people so that the Living Word himself will be exalted in our presence.

Theologically Articulate
The gospel is the truth of God. Worship must reflect this; it must be theologically articulate. Whether songs are simple or complex, old or new, they must be Biblically true. Many familiar songs and hymns (old and new), sadly, are not. Many are purely sentimental in their text and artistically sloppy; others are purely individualistic, and thus do not reflect the communal nature of covenant life in Christ. Still others embrace inaccurate understandings of God and his ways. Whether we use ancient lyrics or songs written by our own people, we want our worship to reflect the truth of God revealed in the scriptures.

Out of Revelation’s glorious vision for worship as a “thin place” where heaven and earth converge, and out of the values just identified that will shape how the worship team will develop our worship ministry, we are now able to affirm the following 4 key elements that will give shape to the worship of Christ Church.

Missional
Christ Church is on a mission, first and foremost, to be a worshipping community—bringing to the Triune God the praise and adoration which is rightfully and joyfully his. We want the worship services of this church to be so rich, welcoming and beautiful that believers will be encouraged to say, “Now this is what I need, and this is what my non-Christian friends need to hear and experience!” Christians who share their faith with friends must be confident when they bring them to church that believer and unbeliever alike will hear the gospel in a challenging, yet welcoming atmosphere. We want our love to be genuine, our language (including our musical language) to be understandable, and our message to be clear. Missional worship is the most critical event in the ministry of the church.

Indigenous
We want to bring God worship that is rooted in the eternal, and yet is culturally indigenous to this time and place. This means several things. While Biblical integrity in the texts we sing is our guiding principle, we will value a unique blend of music that includes sounds and rhythms from acoustic to classical, from the ancient, transcendent and mysterious to the contemporary Christian, from far away cultures to those of 21st century America, because all these sounds and rhythms pulse through the cultures of Jacksonville and Christ Church. The rich psalms and hymns of the historic Christian church will be cherished as the anchors of our praise, but they will be supplemented by other music, and may be creatively arranged to communicate in the musical language of today and for the church of tomorrow.

Reformed
As Christians we are part of a catholic (i.e. universal) church. We aim to represent the ancient-future communion of the saints through the use of ancient and modern liturgies, and songs and creeds that represent a faith that is world-wide and stretches through all generations. Yet we cherish our unique heritage as Reformed believers, a heritage that grounds us in a deep understanding of the redemptive storyline of Scripture, a gospel marked by grace, an understanding of redemption as cosmic and transformational, and of life as a Kingdom/covenant enterprise. Our worship will reflect this confessional framework.

Excellent
Worship demands excellence. This is true for mission-critical reasons, and because our God deserves the best of our gifts. Applied to worship, a commitment to communal excellence reflects genuine love, honest respect, and a spirit of grace shown to one another and those we seek to bring into our fellowship. A commitment to theological excellence puts God as the focus of our worship, and stands on His Word (rather than felt-needs of people) as that which guides and shapes it. A commitment to musical excellence frees us from slavish obeisance to the style du jour (whether purely traditional or driven by the latest CDs). And a commitment to artistic excellence suggests that our music should be authentic and creative, an offering to the Lord from a whole people that makes use of the many gifted musicians in our church to create our own unique sound, the best we can offer. We believe that such excellence is attractive. We pray that Christ Church will lead the way in creative, God-centered, grace-soaked worship in our city, and that the quality and passion of our worship will draw many to know our God.

In the Old Testament, worship was carefully prescribed. The sacrifices were specifically defined, carefully timed, and punctuated with sufficient history as to frighten any who would take them lightly. The death of Aaron’s priestly sons because they offered “unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command” (Lev 10:1) makes the point clearly. The annual festivals of Israel, which Christ Church has studied before and which we will review this year during the annual redemption calendar, make another point. That point is that all of Israel’s worship pointed forward to, and found its meaning in, Jesus the Messiah. Jesus didn’t just validate Jewish feasts by attending them or keeping them. Jesus gave the feasts their meaning. In the Hebrew language, the feasts were “miqra qodesh”—“rehearsals” of the coming Messiah. The point of all of them was that Messiah Jesus was unique, the focal point of redemptive history. He was the light that cast the shadows and forms back through history to the ancient people. Once he came, the festivals lose their meaning. We study them to learn of him.

Through the centuries, there has been an interesting tweak on these things. A major strain in Christian worship has been occasional ceremonies that “re-enact” moments in Christ’s life. Who could be against such things? After all, they celebrate Christ, right?

Such “re-enactment” practices have been so common that all have become accustomed to:

• Palm Sunday re-enactments of the entry into the city of Jerusalem (either in the ancient city itself, or replicated elsewhere, or echoed more modestly by children waving palm branches in our morning services – usually with no clue of the meaning of what they do)

• Maundy Thursday re-enactments of Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet

• Good Friday re-enactments of the crucifixion (“stations of the cross” physically enacted in some places, artistically celebrated in others; in Latin America and the Philippines, actual crucifixions of volunteer devotees; parading a life-sized crucifix “giving something up” for Lent, a form of self-denial in honor of his

• Easter sunrise services, attempting to re-enact what cannot actually be done by (at least) being up at dawn

• The Lord’s Supper understood as a “re-sacrificing” of Christ, the meal thus explained as a re-enactment of his death

While the history of these practices is long and liturgically rich, such re-enactments can easily confuse God’s people and become theological distortions. The simple reason is that the redemptive activities of Jesus the Messiah are unique, once-and-for-all. They cannot be copied with any redemptive value. Trying to do so wanders, inevitably, into superstition – the belief that mimicking what he did will somehow benefit us today. Ultimately, faith is not necessary for mimicry.

Palm Sunday, for example, is often misunderstood to be a ‘triumphal’ and victorious celebration. Yet it is often forgotten that Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was misunderstood by the crowd. The king who came did so for the explicit purpose of submitting to examinations by those charged with testing the Passover lamb. The king who entered his own city would be crucified days later to the demands of a mob that had just heralded him. And the kingdom of which he preached would not deliver Israel from the Romans by force, but would deliver from sin and death only by the death of the king.

I encourage you to reflect, these holy days, on what is unique about Christ. Meditate on the irreducibly unique events in his life and ministry. Worship him precisely because you cannot copy him, cannot possibly know how he felt or really know what he went through. Worship him because stands alone, unique as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

John

Whatever expectations were, the experience was a delight to all. And now…we breathe.

Everyone who was involved was tired even before the opening night performance. I was writing in May, Mo, Temple and I met in June, there was Palmer Home in July, and we held auditions in August. September saw the beginning of two weekly rehearsals, plus Saturday dance rehearsals. Fold in two major holidays, stir vigorously with basketball schedules and sickness, and you have a stress cocktail. Chill for a week, yields four performances.

Everyone loves positive attention, and needs it. It was gratifying to receive, and see it bestowed lavishly upon others.

A man came in to photograph the show and do a story for his local paper, and he said it was a “beautiful” thing. I paused, and somehow saw it through his eyes at that moment. I wasn’t watching for proper cues, or making sure the sound was loud enough, but looking at all the people from 5 to 55 in the show; every class, background, status, gifting, all working together in harmony, and glorifying God. It was a lovely picture of the body of Christ.

There were stories about grandmas who came because they were having a birthday party at the library, saw the poster, and decided to come with the entourage to our play. There was a young homeschooled boy who studied the book, and to finish his studies, he came to the show. There were strangers there, guests, old friends, family.

You might think I’m leading up to say there was one person who was indispensible, without whom the show would have fallen apart, and not been the same at all. You are correct.

Every single person fits that description. If a mouse was gone, it threw out the balance. If a weasel was late, we missed her. If a certain director was out of town, we felt a tangible loss of nurturing care and cohesion. If the guy who pressed the button for fog to roll in wasn’t there, you missed it. Everybody counted, and everybody mattered because everybody worked, and everybody committed.

I’m blessed and tired. I can’t wait to do it again.

Semper Bufo

This week, Presbytery met at Christian Study Center in Gainesville. It's a vigorous think tank in the U of Fl neighborhood. In short, it's awesome. Has a great coffee shop inviting engagement with individuals. Has a small but strong library challenging students to think deep about why they believe/think as they do. And its director, Dr. Richard Horner, edits a quarterly newsletter entitled Reconsiderations. It's a great read.

December's article was awesome. Headline article by James Lynch, MD, running with the notion that the news makes us dumb, since it has become a mere "product"--a commodity to be sold-- one that does not cultivate wisdom. Below a short quote, with a link to the site.

For today, this simple but urgent pastoral observation: our ministry at Christ Church must aim to cultivate wisdom in the people we serve. We must never be content with "transactions" (pray a prayer, walk an aisle). We must never aim merely at wisdom (learn a catechism, master a book). We must cultivate Biblical Wisdom based on an intimate relationship with God. Wisdom is transformed living, the product of knowledge plus faith cultivated in a gospel shaped community.

James 1:5 reminds, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God…and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith…" Let's pray for Wisdom now and always!

Here's the quote and the link:

"In 1999, C. John Sommerville published an insightful book entitled, How the News Makes Us Dumb (InterVarsity). In it, he asserts that when print news became corporate and adopted daily publication, information became “news product,” a commodity that had to be sold. In order to sustain demand for the daily paper, information was no longer framed with deep thought, but rather with the intention of making the reader buy the next day’s paper. Sommerville identifies the chief casualty of this transformation in the book’s subtitle: The Death of Wisdom in an Information Society. As our culture moves toward an even greater reliance on minute-byminute updates with things like Twitter and Facebook status updates, Sommerville’s conclusion that an overflow of information leads to wisdom’s demise should be even more unsettling.

-James W. Lynch, M.D. (Hematology/Oncology, Founding Board member of Christian Study Center at U of Fl) in Reconsiderations: Exploring Christian Thought in the University Community.

For the full article (only 4 pages), see http://christianstudycenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/9_1.pdf

John

I did not spent a great amount of time in the series talking about giving. That was intentional. Research for the series revealed that so much of what is written and spoken these days about stewardship has to do with how much people should give, whether to give a percentage, what the percentage should be, and whether to give that percentage from the gross or the net income. Frankly, I was irritated by the focus because it misses totally the heart of worship that must lie behind all stewardship.

Yet, giving is an important part of the Christian life. When people are not "giving people", they are nothing more than self-centered consumers of resources. Such lives reveal ugly hearts.

So, I encourage all of you to read the attached article by Dr. Christian Smith, a believing sociologist who has studied the giving patterns of contemporary Christians. What he has found is disturbing. What he writes is worth a careful read!

John

Click here to download article PDF

There were gunshots, bow and arrow shots, slingshots, cheap shots (ever played corn-hole?) and snap shots.

Of all the moments that were grand (not every moment was, some were beautifully mundane), perhaps all pale with the sight of boys engaging in impromptu leg wrestling; two opponents lay down on the ground, lock arms, and then on one, two THREE!, they lock opposing legs and try to flip one another over. Got a vision yet? Close enough. This is what boys do. They play, they wrestle, and dads watch in delight, and relief that they are not stretching forgotten muscles in a grassy, uncoordinated display of manhood. Trey Pitts was a particular delight because whether he was losing or winning, he laughed. Not chuckled or giggled, mind you. Laughed. Times were had.

The heart of this campout was to bring sons and dads together, and it is evolving into a time of bringing men and boys together. There was a lot of idle chatting, a lot of fishing, a lot of dirty faces, and a lot of joy. Thanks to Ken Magee for heading things up this year, Amy and David for campout cuisine unlike any other, and The Skinners for the guns, the land, the cabin, the….you know. As always.

I received this note from a teacher in an “upper low income” school, encouraging us as a church in our commitment to invest ourselves in the city in which God has placed us. Her letter is powerful in showing us just how wealthy we are, and reminding us how responsible we are with those blessings. I hope it impacts you as it did me.

"Hey John!

I really support the way you are trying to get people on board with helping the inner city community. God has not given us all the blessings we have for our own use. I strongly feel that we should use our wealth for God's glory. However, I don't think our church gets it! I wanted to give you some statistics of what is going on at my school. We are a title one school, certainly NOT the poorest. I would say we are upper-lower class. Most of my parents work and some students have two parents that work. One child has a mother who works days and a dad who works nights. Most of my students have the support of both parents, working and involved. Most of my class went to VPK last year. ALL of my class is on free or reduced lunch. 89% of the kids at our school qualify for free and reduced lunch. Most of them are receiving free lunch. Not one student in my class has a bed - not one! I am not talking about the poorest in Jacksonville, just the poor. The students in my class sleep on the floor, the couch, with their mom and dad, on a mattress without sheets, share a bed with a sibling of the opposite sex. Not one has their own bed with sheets and a mattress. Most of the students come with shoes that are several sizes too big or too small. Their clothes are either too big or too small. I have five students who wear clothes that fit, but they wear clothes for the wrong time of the year, which is common among the poor.

Below are the requirements for income for free and reduced lunch. Remember this is the highest amount they can earn to still receive free/reduced lunch. Most of the students in my class come from families who do not make higher than $20,000 annually. I know that they pay $467/month for rent and $100 at least for utilities. I think we need to do a mock budget to show our church how meager $20,000/year is for a family of 4 (one mom and 3 kids) to live on! The families are in survival mode all the time.

I know a lot of suburbanites think that the schools are the same and we are all getting the same education, the poor just aren't taking advantage of their opportunities. Well, let me tell you that if a teacher gets an evaluation of less than satisfactory he/she is given an administrative transfer. This means that the principal basically fires them, but they are not allowed to be fired so they are placed at another school. Because of the union, they are not eligible to be fired or surplussed at the new school until after two years of lots of paperwork. You can imagine at what schools they get placed. On top of that, good teachers get sick of the stress and transfer out. I have too many examples to list of how different the schools are from the south side of town, but if people think they are the same, they haven't had their eyes open."

FLORIDA INCOME ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES

FOR REDUCED PRICE MEALS
REDUCED PRICE MEAL SCALE: Effective from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010

HOUSEHOLD SIZE, ANNUAL, MONTHLY, TWICE PER MONTH, EVERY TWO WEEKS, WEEKLY
1 20,036 1,670 835 771 386
2 26,955 2,247 1,124 1,037 519
3 33,874 2,823 1,412 1,303 652
4 40,793 3,400 1,700 1,569 785
5 47,712 3,976 1,988 1,836 918
6 54,631 4,553 2,277 2,102 1,051
7 61,550 5,130 2,565 2,368 1,184
8 68,469 5,706 2,853 2,634 1,317
For each additional family member, add 6,919 577 289 267 134
Remember: The total income before health benefits, social security, taxes, union dues, or other deductions, must be reported.

INCOME THAT MUST BE REPORTED
EARNINGS FROM WORK PENSION/RETIREMENT/SOCIAL SECURITY
Net Income from self-owned Pensions
Business or Farm Retirement Income
Strike Benefits Social Security
Unemployment Compensation Supplemental Social Security Income
Wages/Salaries/Tips Veterans Payments
Worker’s Compensation

WELFARE/CHILD SUPPORT/ALIMONY OTHER INCOME
Alimony Payments Annuities
Child Support Payments Cash Withdrawn From Savings
Public Assistance Disability Benefits
Welfare Payments Income from Estate/Trusts/Investments
Interest/Dividends
Net Rental Income
Regular Contributions from Persons Not Living in
Your Home
Any Other Income

Si surge la necesidad por una applicacion en Espanol, el telefono de contacto es - 904-390-2202.

Non-discrimination Statement: This explains what to do if you believe you have been treated unfairly. In accordance with Federal law and U. S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (Voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TTY). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

While I must confess there are elements of Ultimate Frisbee that I don’t miss, some are crying out within my soul, echoes of recreational hunger that regular exercise just can’t slake.

It also made for decent blog fodder, of which I have been remiss, both blogging and fodder. Blame that on the Project for Local Arts and Youth production of Wind in the Willows. What a mind blowing experience this is turning out to be…when you write something like a play, you have many parts in your head, a vision, you might say. When you involve other people, unless they are on automata, suddenly it takes a life of its own, and what you thought you wanted pales to what they breathe into it.

The children are one thing; speaking with really good British accents (really!), dancing, smiling, being quiet when they are supposed to, and learning about acting…it’s remarkable, and that owes up to the servant heart of Mo, who nurtures all of us when we are up there. She sees things that are impossible for me to see, and has a gentler edge than I. Then there is Temple, who works all day and comes to rehearsal anyway. She is extraordinarily gifted in dance and movement, but she also sees opportunity for character expression and business for the kids to do…she’s also been known to pick up where others leave off. ;-) Consider Sarah, who after much reflection and prayer took on an important role that now I can’t see anyone else performing…she is not a person of few burdens or responsibilities.

It’s quite a team. I can’t even factor in the behind the scenes people who will make it truly come alive with enormous willow trees, cardboard mansions, backstage management, sound cues and lighting. It has been overwhelming of late, and a great lesson to give things away for others to do. It’s amazing how much better something becomes when a lot of hands get on it

So, the absence has not been bad, but know that I am reflecting on worship during this time, and seeing more and more how our lives are a sacrifice. Whatever we do, let us do it to the glory of God.

My prayer this week is that we would move on in God, seeing his hand in everything around us, his purposes beyond us, and his grace that completely surrounds us.

Blessings,
Jason

Here’s more from Myers, this week on the importance of asking students/children questions that guide them to mature problem solving, instead of providing them quick answers that don’t require them to grow. -- John

“If the one I am mentoring (my child, my SS student, a church member, a mentee) believes that I can solve all his problems, then he stops thinking for himself and becomes passive. This is a bad outcome. After all, the point of passing the baton is that they can go somewhere with it. My real purpose should be to unleash the person, not create dependency.

(So, Myers developed a series of questions to cultivate problem solvers, not create dependents. Here are some of the questions he uses with young people, questions aimed to get them to think through life’s issues, both large and small, and begin to grow in Biblical wisdom. These are great for SS teachers, pastors, and parents—all who mentor the rising generation.)

• What would you like to see happen?

• What do you think you need to do?

• Why do you think that is the appropriate response?

• What assumptions are you making?

• What does God say about this?

• Who are the people who can help you with this?

• How do you get to them?

• When will you act?

• What barriers do you face?

• How can I support you?

• What resources do you need?

“When I started teaching full-time ten years ago, I had the wrong idea about how to influence the next generation…My mistake was to assume that what happened in the classroom was my greatest source of influence. (Good reminder for preachers, SS teachers, too.) I reflected back on the teachers who had made a difference in my life and realized that I was not like them. Whereas they invested personally in me, I always privileged the large, superficial kind of influence over the small, intensive kind. Over the next few years I began looking for opportunities to genuinely influence students. I visited with them in the halls, I met them for lunch, and when they asked for counsel, I found time to get together…In the process, I discovered a whole new source of blessing. I mentored many wonderful young people. My wife and I hosted students in our home and had a delightful time. I began looking forward to walking with my students. My creed used to be, ‘Reach as many people as you can, as quickly as you can.’ It’s different now… here are some parts of it:

• Life is a relay. I only win when I pass the baton to those who come after me—first to my children and then to others through an expanding sphere of influence. (This is the Biblical Hebrew model of making a disciple: personal investment of time over mere transference of information. How did our modern view of teaching become so shallow?)
• I teach what I know, but I reproduce who I am. (That’s good. Cat Stevens’ “Cat’s in the Cradle,” is hauntingly true). I seek genuine influence, not as a burden to carry but as a gift to give away.
• I constantly kindle my own fire of inquisitiveness. I am a teachable teacher. (remember: ‘listening, not talking, is the most important part of communication’)

In the coming decades folks will assess our generation based on how we passed the baton with so much at stake. What will our generation’s story be?”

(more next week)

Last year we had a glorious time with the Father/Son campout. I think all who participated would agree that it was a weekend of feasting, playing, fishing, shooting, large flames of fire and outdoor euphoria. Times were had.

After the hype of the moment, all were eager to participate again, however over time there may be the need to warm up to the idea and think of clearing your schedule. It is work, and takes planning and preparation. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I had help. The connection between fathers and their sons was sweet, and is so necessary in this busy age.

So, I’m taking your pulse. Please let me know about your level of interest. I think it is indispensible to fathers and sons, but some fathers have daughters…we want to be sensitive to that. Some mothers may want to go, and we are more than open to that idea as well. Please review the video below to see what a time we had, and comment, email, or whatever and let us know how interested you are.

Some details:

It would be in November.
There is a registration fee to cover food costs: we eat like royalty.
Yes, we sleep in tents.
We provide checklists for those to whom camping is new.
It is open to friends in your neighborhood, especially unbelievers.

Thanks for reading, and let us know!

(please give the video a few seconds to load)

A corporate prayer we will share this week.

O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

I’m struck by the phrase “your love is better than life”. I think we miss the gravity of that sentence. The cares of this world so often seduce us into wrapping our attention and energies in them. Yet these things that we chase are the very things we wish to find refuge in God from as we become weary, thirsty, aching in this dry and weary land. By default, we become swept away with the same life-choking distractions day after day. But God does not require that we get our act together before we approach Him. My favorite way of saying that of old is “you don’t get cleaned up to take a bath”. You come with the garbage and dirt of life on you, and he cleanses you. How many of us think we are too guilty to come to God? Aren’t you sick and tired of guilt? God does not close the door to us, but rather clothes us in grace, saying “come”.

So, on the Lord’s Day this week, come as you are. Come weak, come thirsty, come hungry, come wounded, and be nourished, fed, watered and clothed by Father.

Jesus said in Luke 14:12-14, when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. He’s not looking for people who think they can repay him. Who could begin to, anyway?

Let us worship in spirit and truth, as the Father seeks and requires.

In the interim, and to cement this sedentary effort, I’ve become a Facebook member…please look me up and be impressed by my cyber-presence. I have friends! I have 18 friends who basically know how much time I spend on Facebook. Next subject.

Project Willow is starting up, and loads of people are excited, and uninterested people are doing other things. I predict we will not be able to house the crew for the next one. Expect a wonderful time.

Other than that, reading Psalms 51 about a contrite heart, and praying my way through worship for this week and the projects that lie ahead.

Please pray for the church, not that they will experience worship, but experience God. It is so easy to evaluate what we do on a consumer level and forget to seek God.

When I was being interviewed in February, 2008, Don Roberts asked me a tough question: “What can you do to overcome the consumer mentality of the church and the culture?” My answer was safe; true, but safe. I said it was a heart issue, and only God can change those hearts. Don was unsatisfied. I find myself asking the same question now. Now, all I can do is pray for our hearts, mine and yours. And I have that same lingering dissatisfaction…I don’t want the worship of God. I want God. I need Christ, because the experiences I have fade away, and Christ’s glories fill the sky and are endless. Now I see Don’s question as a heart cry for the fallen state of the world…seeking the things of earth rather than the Creator. I don’t know who could have provided the right answer or what can be done, but I know it can be a prayer of our hearts. That was a great question that perhaps I balked at because I knew I didn’t have the answer or know how to fix it. The broken leading the broken? Maybe. This explains my sojourning in Psalm 51. Go there this week. It tells you what please the Father.

Let us worship in spirit and truth, as the Father seeks and requires.

Because of their commitment, I was able to complete (during 2007-8) a book on the Festivals of Israel this past year. That volume, entitled Meeting Jesus at the Feast: Israel’s Festivals and the Gospel, will be released this Fall jointly by The Reformed Fellowship in Grandville, MI, and by the Publishing house of the Brazilian Presbyterian Church in Sao Paulo, Brazil (Portuguese). When available, we’ll put a link to the publisher on our web site.

Because of their commitment, I was privileged to teach a Doctoral Seminar (in July of this year) at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte. That course, entitled Leadership and the Mission Dei engaged 9 D. Min. students representing 8 different denominations (including international students) in an intensive study of leadership in the strategic charge of the gospel into a shifting culture in the 21st Century. Taught in 30 class hours in an intensive week, the course was demanding yet extraordinarily invigorating.

Because of their commitment, I will have one more teaching opportunity this year. I will be teaching a Master’s level course at Mid America Reformed Seminary in Chicago. That course –on Catechesis in the Church Education/Discipleship division—will begin just after Labor Day. Mid America is arranging the schedule so that I will not miss any Sunday worship services.

Thanks to the Session for their vision. Thanks to Keith Dickerson for covering for me during the study absences, and for his faithful preaching of the Word when I am out of the pulpit. And thanks to the congregation for your understanding, patience, and support.

John

I think it is worth mentioning that I won a game of ultimate Frisbee, and yes, scored the winning point. I’ve come a long way from my aching, panting, heaving approach to this sport, and it’s been great. My only complaint would be the height of one Larry Kaye, who always seems to be behind me with his extra 13 inches of altitude to receive the pass intended for me, and his comments of “you’ve gotta want it!”. Oh, I want the Frisbee, Larry. I’m just shorter.

I’m thinking of Edmund in 2005’s The Chronicles of Narnia, the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, when the white witch promises seductively “I can make you anything you like”, to which a hopeful Edmund answers “Can you make me taller?”

No.

Take for instance Keith Dickerson, who was preaching downtown at First Presbyterian. John Sittema is teaching a doctorate class at RTS Orlando. Those are two sets of large shoes.

It was one of those days you realize that the church doesn’t operate unless you have people like Bob Bush who does everything, David Mosby who does all things culinary, and so on and so on.

And then there’s Tommy Myrick, who brought a powerful message from Hebrews about Jesus as our sympathetic high priest. I was strongly encouraged and shaken by the message, and I know many others were as well. Well done, Tommy. If the gospel is central to your messages in the future like this one was, Christ will be glorified every time you speak to the body.

I missed Mo and Temple, too, but I was thrilled to have Edna and Jimmy singing while the other faithful musicians were flowing along.

Yesterday conveyed the importance of training others to serve in the church and preparing them for ministry. Who are the future Johns, Keiths, and Tommys? Where are the next Bob Bush and the next David Mosby? Children, to be sure, are an easy answer. But we must also consider our youth. The people who were gone in the largest number yesterday were the ones on the Palmer Home Mission trip. There is the next future. Who will take your place when you are gone? As leaders, we must always be as Paul and have our Timothy.

Hopefully, not many of us were distracted by the numbers and were able to worship God…It was a sweet time, despite the slide fiasco that I take responsibility for…well, in part. The rear projector blew out (not my fault), and we used our words on the sheets in front of us. That’s why your words were different, because we rely on the projector screen too much (my fault). If this caused your ability to worship to be impacted negatively, I do apologize.

Anyway, that should be repaired this week, and can you guess who is going to get on the lift and fix it? I’ll give you a hint: his first name rhymes with job, and his last name is Bush.

First of all, the forgetting of names can be called a mild offense, but usually that is the argument of the offender. To the offendee, if I may so coin, the offended for those of you spellchecking and not embracing creative lexicon, it can be of great offense. I have had to calm people for whom a misspelled name was a major faux pas. Reactions differ according to personality. In other words, sizes may vary.

To dispense with all the setup, in the last blog about Frisbee I called Jim Tosh David Tosh. This was never discovered by anyone until last night, while I was desperately trying to get Jim…to pass the plastic disc my way. Another soldier on the lawn with a verified birth name of David was, how do we say, confused. You see, he was on the opposing team and did not have the Frisbee in his possession and could not understand why I was calling frantically for it while not looking at his face nor being on his team.

This may sound like some brilliant tactical scheme to distract and disorient the other team while we stomped on to victory, but I assure you it was not. Jim, with grace and style, merely said it was fine, as if he’d answer to anything. You see, that’s the problem. Jim is so quiet, I could have called him Linda and never heard about it from him. Part of the burden of being ‘up front’ is not knowing everyone’s name…selecting a random name or a name that seems to suit someone is not good form. Lesson learned.

Onto the games; I lost every one of them. If you are praying for me, there’s a new request. There were less amazing plays, but more teamwork (on both teams) than last time. It’s as if the first game was a grouping of jazz soloists; flashy, awe inspiring, and all over the place. This second outing was more of a symphony; understated, but working together in unassuming harmony.

The climax of this here blog is that I dive bombed and rolled three times. I must also point out that my wife pulled up in the van just in time to witness my Batman antics and she was impressed. I got the thumbs up from my son and daughter as well. I did roll, though, and that was a rush. You see, after you’ve not leapt athletically for so many years, you forget that you can.

I’m not sore today, but I probably will be tomorrow, as my colleagues have prophesied.

Join us if you can, if only to be called Linda.

After some political chat, their conversation turned to the subject of religion.

“Didn’t see you in church ‘smornin Ned”.

“Nope, my ox was in the ditch.”

“Missed a good sermon there Ned.”

“What about?”

“Sin.”

“Yep”, said Ned, “that’s always a good thing for preachers. Was he fer it or agin it?”

“Agin it”

“What sorts a sin? Smokin and chewin and cussin and the like?”

“Nope. He was mostly discussin lyin about where yer ox is on a Sunday, I think.”

Then there are the prayers and creeds…sometimes people don’t like a lot of words: think of a child who’s been raised on television, who, when faced with a book, cries sincerely, “Where’s the pictures?” Maybe it’s not “alive” enough (read: entertaining). I understand the seduction, but I need more than spiritual entertainment…yech! That even sounds bad.

I love the structure we employ, though I’m not counting it as perfect. It certainly has purpose, and a Gospel centered focus that, at least I pray each week, will lead the worshipper to God and his Christ, his death and resurrection on our behalf. I need the reminding, to be sure.

Perhaps one thinks that liturgy deadens our worship. I would disagree. Sin and the absence of true worship do that well enough.

What do we need to worship God? A cool song we were just listening to, or an old hymn that I “don’t really know what it means, but my grandmother taught it to me...” That’s like someone saying “pizza” and then you get hungry…or at least you think get hungry. Hearing the word pizza does not cause hunger, but it does stir something up. Something temporary. True hunger comes from within, and you search until it is satisfied. Yes, my stomach is growling a little now, too. I’ve got to stop blogging before lunch.

We need the structure, the repetition, the silence (you have noticed that we are taking time to be silent, yes?), to lead us to our God. My heart is so devoid of pure love and my head can get in a twist so quickly, I thank God for the order of worship as guides me…providing ‘bumpers’, as it were.

So does following a pattern or an order of worship take the “spontaneity” out of worship? Yes and no. It does, rightly so, provide order (1 Corinthians 14:40), and makes the worship somewhat easier to follow to the visitor or non-believer. If a skeptic comes in and can’t make sense of anything, what are the chances of speaking to him about what he’s encountered? Who knew that an order of worship could be evangelical? On the other hand, when we use scripture as our base and the Gospel as our axis, we do have emotions which should be used in worship, and indeed when we face the truth that we are sinful, damaged and need a savior, and behold! We have one! What response is there but adoration, joy, gratitude, and brokenness?

The use of emotion is to be avoided. We do not manipulate. We look to God, and He moves us.

This is what I’m thinking about today. Let’s worship in Spirit and truth this week.

In our church, a sizeable group of us are involved in mentoring children in at risk schools in the city. One of the focal points of our mentorship is helping students in Grade 4 improve their reading skills. Challenging students to read is a desperately important thing.

But what surprises me is how little well-educated people read.

I am aware of all the reasons for the decline in reading: our schedules are insane, TV and computers have changed the way we gather our information and find our entertainment, the relentless impact of visual media has actually changed the way our brains process information. (People who are glued to TV, computers, and other video communication devices do not have the same capacity to process sequential logic as people who read the closely reasoned arguments in books or even listen to speeches in audio format. Want proof? Read Abraham Kuyper’s 1899 Stone Lectures on Calvinism delivered at Princeton University. Today, most find that reading them is a bit of a challenge. When he delivered them, he received thunderous applause for closely-reasoned speeches that lasted well over an hour each.

It is compelling to me that “the Word (not “the Picture”) became flesh and dwelt among us”. While “logos” (the Greek word for “Word” in John 1:1) actually means more than the English word for “word”—meaning both Christ himself and the written Word about him—faith in Jesus the Messiah is undeniably linked to the written Scriptures which proclaim him to us.

Improving reading isn’t just a personal pet issue of mine. I’m absolutely convinced that as reading diminishes, faith becomes lightweight. A non-reading church will be weak and flaccid. So I’m on a mission to get our church reading more!

Here are some specific challenges:

1. Read the Bible more. Beginning with the new church year (September 1), I’m going to be challenging the church to read the Bible through in a year. We’ll be printing a Bible-reading schedule in the weekly bulletin; we’ll link daily readings on our web site.

2. Read to and with your children or your spouse. Leverage time in the car to read. Read at the family meal table instead of racing through dinner to get to the TV. Make outings to the public libraries or to Chamblins Bookstore (downtown or Riverside).

3. Read something that makes you think, then talk about it. Join or start a great books club. We recommend a book of the week on our website, and have compiled a list of books and magazines here. Don’t ignore fiction, either; here’s a great article to get you started on why Christians ought to read more of it. www.breakpoint.org/listingarticle.asp?ID=11853.

Pastor John

Going with the flow…fitting in…these are easy actions when we hurt as we do. We can’t help wanting to belong (or wanting something)…after all, the sin in the garden made outcasts of Adam and Eve. The close fellowship they enjoyed vanished, leaving an ache that only the Creator could fill. But in a wide world of sight, smell, touch taste and hearing (a beautiful world that God created), there is so much we could and do put inside, trying to fill that void…that hunger.

But Jesus came and satisfies our hunger, right?! Well, you tell me. If Jesus is here to make me feel better, to make my life happier and my account richer, I must be doing something wrong. If Jesus came to satisfy my dreams and make me beloved by human kind, I must be doing something wrong still. This is why I hate the prosperity “gospel”. It’s not gospel at all.

See, I think in my heart I want to be back in the garden, but I’m usually hungry for things that don’t last, convinced they will satisfy me; If I can just achieve this success, I’ll be happy. If I could sing like this person, people would like me more. If I were as educated as others, people would take me seriously. If I were wealthier, I could buy whatever I want. If we worshipped like this other church, then we would really be worshipping God. If my relationships were healed, then I would be happy. If I could be good enough, God would accept me. Our falleness runs the spectrum.

So what does it mean for Jesus to satisfy us? I’m not really sure, but I think I don’t know because I think too much like the world and too much of it. The secret must lie in loving the world less and Him more…and that’s scary. We might lose some of the things we love…he may ask too much of us. But didn’t he say laying down your life will help you find it? He offers drink to those who cannot buy. Those who are thirsty, and hungry, and have no way to pay are invited. Let’s not eat garbage and drink swill. Let’s feast on God.

From Isaiah 55

1 "Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.

2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

3 Give ear and come to me;
hear me, that your soul may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David."

To further punctuate with credentialed thought:

"Human beings have been so seriously damaged by evil that what they need isn’t simply better self-knowledge, or better social conditions, but help, and indeed rescue from outside themselves. We should expect that in the quest for spiritual life, many people will embrace options that are less than what would actually be best for them. People who have been starved for water for a long time will drink anything, even if it is polluted. People kept without food for long periods will eat anything they can find, from grass to uncooked meat. Thus by itself, “spirituality” may appear to be part of the problem as well as part of the solution."

Simply Christian, N.T. Wright (edited)

We selected two captains, David Tosh and Lawrence Kaye. Then they selected teams, school playground style. I was chosen last. Stop grinning.

If you don’t know what Ultimate Frisbee is, a brief description:

Your team tries to throw and catch it in an “end zone” to score a point. There is running, there is jumping, and there is pain.

We had a healthy first game; there was laughing, battle cries (“What we do today, echoes in eternity!”) and the chaos of trying to remember who is on your team.

In the second game, we had some fouls, some competitive angst, and I saw more air out of some of these people than I knew was possible. I usually talk to people who are in chairs or standing in front of them, so to see people dive bombing on the grass to catch a $5 Frisbee was a little surreal at first. It was like an action movie, and I was there, but I was still only watching it. Its not that I don’t want to dive bomb, but I’m so used to having a moderately painless day, I didn’t think it was worth the gamble, having recently taken inventory of my Tylenol supply at the house.

I ran and ran, made some scores, some great passes, and some great blunders, and got my heart rate up.

At the end of the day, it was wonderful to be outpaced by Kaye, out caught by McGee, and out everything by children who are half my age. I can’t wait to do it again.

You should come, too.

Yeah, me too.

But we try. We eat every meal (some Friday nights we’ll watch a movie and have pizza on the couch) at the table. We play cards. There is a particular advantage to homeschooling in that you “have time” because you’re all there, and can pray and read God’s word together. Sometimes we do things we don’t even think of as worship. Sometimes the prayers are merely “Thank you Jesus for this food, A-men!” Then, a feeding frenzy.

It would be wrong to suggest that there are 7 Steps to Family Worship. There is no formula because each family is unique, and each person in the family is unique. Ironically, we all need the same thing…the One God. We need to worship Him together.

If you think that I’m suggesting that you sing hymns together, you’re not far off. I think the days of asking “what’s wrong with this family?” are wearing thin and smelling stale…its time for action, especially with the voice of the world and its disbelief getting louder. How will your children stand in the faith when they have their own children? It doesn’t start now, it already started.

In the recent Pixar film UP, young Russell recounts to an elderly acquaintance the things he remembers doing with his dad, one of which is eating ice cream, counting cars, and sitting on a curb. Pretty boring, but it’s the “boring stuff I miss the most”.

We can’t simply start cold turkey. To do away with all schedules and hobbies, activities and routines with an order of worship would be unwise, unpopular, and unfruitful. But just begin to do something together, and I would argue that you fight for that. Then, you begin to renew and redevelop lost or damaged, or perhaps neglected relationships.

We should pray together, no matter the awkwardness. Keep in mind that worship is not merely singing, but responding to God. Taking time to honor Him in the home could begin to heal many of the seemingly incurable social diseases that have crept into our families.

We should talk about God with each other. Ask questions, but let questions be asked, and if you don’t know, find out together. There is no harm in saying “I don’t know”, but “I don’t care” is quite damaging and can be said without words.

Your kids, your wife, your husband, your mother, your father, your family sees what you value and honor.

I pray for your families, that you worship God and honor him by honoring each other, and pouring into each other’s lives, even if you feel empty. Love gives and gives and gives.

Joshua 24:15 (New International Version)

"But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

It’s hard to write like this because most popular songs (especially Christian songs) are about how one feels because of God, and how they’ve been “saved”, though the songs can’t articulate what they were saved from. Usually it’s some drivel like “myself” or “finding my place”. Bah.

On the other hand, I do not wish to drift into hymn or music snobbery which is just as abominable…I like ear candy, too. Sometimes. How do we melt these facades so that we get to the diamonds? I dunno.

I’m too old to be cute enough to sing worship songs as the Backstreet Boys would, and too young to throw out the guitars and drums. I’m sure some of you have the answer…It can’t involve kitchen chairs on the stage, though. ;-)

The copyright is implied. Words in italic are temporary, while I reach for better ones.

May the good news of the Gospel strengthen you.

The Works of God are Great-

The works of God are great, formed by his word and hand
The starry host, the endless sky, the roaring sea and land
Life and motion thrive and cease at His command
The being that we have is His alone to understand.

The love of God is great, confounding all the wise
The shroud of man he takes Himself, rejected and despised.
Tempted, filled with pain, He weeps with earthly eyes
The glory of His throne He leaves to win the dearest prize.

The cross will ever be, a relic of his death
There bleeding by the ones He saved, forgiveness on His breath
The clouds above grew dark, as He flew to the depths
He rose again victorious, defeating Hell and Death.

The will of God is sure, His Kingdom, like the sun;
We see it now, and by it see all that His love has won
His song shall never cease, it graces every tongue;
‘Majestic and Unshakable, the Uncreated One!”

CJason Woods 2009

Let’s turn the page but not leave the chapter and consider rest in our lives…if we work all the time, never pausing, never resting, we create disharmony. God created for six days, and on the Sabbath, He rested, initiating the rhythm of created order. He commands us to rest, yet we rebel against Him at times. God forgive us.

Silence, rest, and pauses combine to create a rhythm to life. Music is the perfect picture, but to further clarify, please consider a play; bad acting usually has no concept of pauses…if the lines are rushed with no dynamic expression or room to breathe, the moment is not merely lost, it hasn’t even begun. Rests, or pauses, convey so much thought when used where needed. Sometimes the pause is more powerful than the spoken word.

It’s funny: when we work, we want to play. When we play, we think of work. Hopefully we will rest when needed, and value the silence. May we speak when needed, and quiet our mouths when necessary. Psalm 39 is a stirring read…

1 I said, "I will watch my ways

and keep my tongue from sin;

I will put a muzzle on my mouth

as long as the wicked are in my presence."

2 But when I was silent and still,

not even saying anything good,

my anguish increased.*

3 My heart grew hot within me,

and as I meditated, the fire burned;

then I spoke with my tongue:

4 "Show me, O LORD, my life's end

and the number of my days;

let me know how fleeting is my life.

5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;

the span of my years is as nothing before you.

Each man's life is but a breath.

Selah

*Silence is no guarantee for a happy life, obviously. But note how after he holds his tongue, when he speaks next he acknowledges that God holds his life, and how much greater God is than he.

May God be glorified in our music, our work, our worship, our play and our silence.

Let us worship in spirit and truth.

Mix that with the heat from the lights, a sport jacket that sees the occasional church service or funeral, the sometimes hurried preparations on Sunday morning, and you get a recipe for a quick exit.

Thankfully, that didn’t happen. I’m reticent to talk about how I felt or what goes on “behind the scenes” because I would truly rather have people thinking about God, and not the people up front. Well, hang that. We are people, and sometimes things are tough. We need your prayers, and we need your involvement.

While I was sweating from environmental and staffing concerns, it occurred to me that I needed to make a hasty exit during a chorus of Majesty, there would be no piano. No lead-instrument (Kakie is our accomplished and gracious pianist, but she was out of town).

So to all of you that think we have all we need, its same old same old, or it’s just too big of a commitment, please stop thinking that. To all of you who think it has to be at a certain level before you will get involved, you’ve got it backwards. We need you. There are all manner of reasons and excuses to not help. There is one reason to help.

If you’ve contemplated serving but have some issue, please let me know. I’d love to talk it over with you, give you room to serve and see others blessed by your gifts and faithfulness, and shore up the vision for worship at this church. It may be for an offertory, the choir or on the team.

None of us are indispensible, but all of us are necessary.

Consider yourselves scolded in love.

Up is the story of Carl, a would-be adventurer who finds himself paired with some unexpected allies, all the while tied to his house with thousands of helium filled balloons. Sound crazy? Well, it works.

The good stuff: There’s much to tell, but I won’t give away too many details. I’ll boil down the appropriate content for the kids and sensitive parents: There is no language or sexual content, as is the case with Pixar’s past masterpieces, but the violence is questionable. There is a crazed villain so driven by his long lost quest that it is more than strongly implied that he has killed past intruders and will do so again. He wields a sword, ties a boy to a chair with the intent of letting him plummet to his death, all for the sake of capturing a wild animal and reclaiming his reputation. The PG rating is pretty spot on this time. I wouldn’t trust the rating system on most movies, I mean, who decides what is appropriate, parents or complete strangers who have no apparent Christian concerns or ethics? You, the parent, are the best critic. There are two deaths in the film, one implied and one implied quite strongly. By the latter I mean if the viewer has the most basic concept of gravity, its not hard to put together what happens to the ill-fated character.

Now to the really good stuff. There is a hilarious talking dog. No, make that lots of hilarious talking dogs. I thought it was a gimmick at first due to previews, but it turns out to be great. They could have just made the animals talk, but this puts a new spin on it, and the gag doesn’t really wear thin. Russell is a Wilderness Exploring kid who needs a father figure. His delightful animation and great voice (kudos to the casting crew) make him so likable, you want to scoop him off the screen and give him the badge he so wants on his Wilderness vest. Then, there’s Carl, the old man who is on a mission with his house, and here’s the real heart of the story…

But you’ll have to see it to get it. This is a story I respect, and I can’t give it away. You will care.

There are deep themes, and scary moments where you are so drawn in you will be frightened for the characters (and the things they cherish) you have come to love in a short time. The themes you will experience are loss, death, grief, coping, and moving on. Powerful stuff from a cartoon, eh? I can’t recommend it enough.

There is a short film before the main event called Partly Cloudy in which storks deliver babies to doorsteps that they have retrieved from face and limb bearing clouds who create them with lightening…if your children don’t grasp creation or where babies come from, be warned. I did not think the feature was harmful, but kids could get lost. I did like that the characters tried to make the best of their situation, but Pixar has better than this up their sleeve. Also, since the movie is PG rated, they can advertise PG-13 movies in some theatres.

The new Star Trek is gritty, and at one point I thought how can a Star Trek movie be this good? It is a reimagining, nodding to its predecessors, taking slow bus turns, so that no fans get thrown out, and so that newcomers may climb aboard

You need to know there is a lot of bloodless science fiction violence (except for a face pounding moment in a bar), a scene of indecency and promiscuous attitudes are heaved around. The expletives are less than 10 (yes, I count at movies), and the Lord’s name is taken in vain once. Before you get upset, I’m not advising you to see it. I am letting you know what to expect, and I’m trying to make a point:

I did not find the gospel to be anywhere in it, which is true to form of Rodenberry’s vision from the ‘60’s, right when culture got thrown in the spin cycle. I usually look for the unintentional message of the gospel in the movies I watch (think Wall E), and was left wanting here. I’m sure deeper thinkers could find what I could not, however. I had a good time, though.

Anyway, this is not a critic’s corner, but some are sensitive to the content of movies, and may be embarrassed to ask. Consider yourself updated.

It produces words, sometimes multitudes, and Proverbs 10:19 says in the multitude of words, sin is not absent.

It creates an outlet for your thoughts, a way to see what you are thinking…C.S. Lewis says when you write something, say it and “see” if it sounds good.

Lastly, it may bless others. John Sittema has encouraged me to write, saying “we can only bless to the extent that we publish”.

This means putting yourself out there, risking something, being wrong, sharing a thought that you might not have later in life.

John’s comment made me see that it can be a giving away of yourself.

We are never writing anything new…Put on your fedora, grab your whip and imagine we are archeologists, deep in a cavernous treasure room, hidden for ages. It has always been here, long before you, and you are holding a torch, occasionally shining it on something you haven’t seen before. We enjoy illumination by God’s grace, not revelation. We discover, we do not invent. We are discovering more of the Gospel, not creating new doctrines…Ecclesiastes 1:9. If anyone ever tells you they have something new, grab the whip. Sorry, but I had to wrap that cinematic reference up somehow.

So should we write? All signs and mentors point to “yes”.

May these and future words direct you to Christ, glorify His Gospel, and be absent of sin, abundant in grace, and hopefully brimming with truth. *cue Raiders’ theme music*

But there is such a thing as the Gospel, which changes everything.  I'll take the latter, please, because if it changes everything, it changes perspectives, longings, frustrations, worship and me.  Perceptions on worship and praise are all over the charts, but there is no subjectivity with the Gospel.

Let us worship in spirit and truth.

Do you realize, then, what Jesus is teaching? Neither son loved the father for himself. They both were using the father for their own self-centered ends rather than loving, enjoying, and serving him for his own sake. This means that you can rebel against God and be alienated from him either by breaking his rules or by keeping all of them diligently.

It's a shocking message: Careful obedience to God's law may serve as a strategy for rebelling against God.

Contrast that with the initial visit. The engine went out in mid air right after takeoff in Atlanta (after some sharp angles we returned to the runway sitting in silence, which I broke by asking loudly, "Does this mean we don't get a snack?"), the tour of Jacksonville was cut short because of this delay, and I had a great meal at the Robert's house, followed by a "grilling" from the search committee. But we had a sweet time of worship the next day, after church at about 2:00 pm. I was asked about the choir, hymns, traditional music, and if I had sold my house.

The impression I left with was "gracious" and "genuine".

Krystal and I were taken with some people in particular, and I somehow remembered their names from then on.

And now, it's been a year. A year of learning, trying, succeeding, letting down, surprising, being forgiven, being loved, growing...especially growing.

What I'm left with now is a greater desire for us to worship in spirit and truth. I'm not sure what your expectations were when I arrived, and as I've said, I didn't know mine. I hope that you have encountered God in real, authentic ways, and that His grace has become more visible in your life. That's what has happened to me. Our times of corporate worship have been sweet and rich, and your loud singing is encouragement to the team!

Has it all been smooth? For the most part, actually, yes. What I did not realize when I arrived is that you had been left unprepared, but thank God you had the strong leadership of John Sittema and Jim Dickenson. Perhaps there were wounds and disorientation. I thank God that He has healed those wounds, and given focus where needed.

I hope that we have taken turns slowly, changed what we needed to change, and been patient where we need to be, all with prayer and care for you and the work of God.

Thank you for allowing me to serve here, to learn, try, succeed, let down, surprise, be forgiven, be loved, and grow.

After all, if what we engage in does not produce true worship which is one of the two requirements from the Father of His worshippers(the other being in Spirit) John 4:24 , isn't it then inappropriate? Well... yeah.

I'm speaking of only a small slice of the worship pie here and of course its music. The Worship Wars are rarely fought over giving God due praise, but rather, sadly, over justifying the use of the music we want to hear. I know, because I've done it. God forgive me.

I've had people tell me "I haven't been able to worship in years at church...the music was so lame." "I can't worship...its too upbeat." That's pathetic. I've had others say, "That song makes me worship!" Really? Songs help us as tools, to be sure. But they are not and can never be the catalyst. It must begin and end with the Gospel.

The litmus is not the style, but the heart, the proper ascribing of glory to God, and the evidence of the Gospel in it. If you worship mere music, you will starve yourself. This is a seductive practice, and it takes time to realize that it has you in its grasp. It can last for years.

However, if you encounter the Gospel in a song, prayer, creed or silence, you will be astonished, and your mouth will hang open, not delivering a soaring note from a hymn, but displaying your dumbstruck awe at this enormous good news: Christ has paid it all, and brought us back to the Father Colossians 1:19-23. Don't be a soldier in the worship wars! Defect now!

We are in an age of faith marketing. Let us repent, cleanse ourselves, let us pray, and let us worship in Spirit and Truth.

What's wrong with this? Several things:

Allow me to explain this last item. The word "example", as we typically use the term, comes not from Scripture but from the non-Biblical ideas of the Greek philosophers. Dualists, they believed that there were two realms of life. In the upper realm, the gods lived out their super-human lives as ideals for lesser humans to follow, models of character for mortals in the natural world to emulate. Copying the ideal, following the example, means that you have to do the work.

The modern use of "example" builds on this secular basis. But in the Bible, the words that are translated "example" mean something different. One is "type", and it means a different "kind" or "category" of person/people because God molded them through his Word and Spirit to be what they now are. They can't be copied by human effort any more than you or I can look at a mountain, study it well as the ideal to be emulated, and then make another mountain by trying hard.

What God does, by his Spirit and through his Word, is not to call lesser humans to copy the behavior of earlier and greater humans (as if there were such a thing), whether the lesser/greater refers to faith, obedience, character traits, or anything else. What God does in Christ, by his Spirit and through his Word, is to make a different kind of person. Such persons are people of a new creation, citizens of a different realm known as the Kingdom of God.
If God does the work, giving a person "birth from above", and then forms his character by his Spirit and Word, even using pain and suffering to shape that character, it doesn't make sense for you or me to "copy" what only God can do. But it does make sense to understand and believe that in Jesus the Messiah and through faith in him, He can and will make us into that new type or category of people-he calls it the "new creation"-that others in Christ already are (II Cor 5:17).
Are we not called to imitate Christ, and Paul, and others? Yes, we are, but not as Greek ideals that we copy. Rather, the Spirit works in our lives following the earlier prototypes of His work, types of the new creation that is coming. This involves prayerful humility, willing obedience, and always "keeping in step with the Holy Spirit", whose workmanship we are.

John R. Sittema

Rolling Stone: Don't you think appalling things happen when people become religious?

Bono: It's a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the Universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between grace and karma.

RS: What's that?

Bono: At the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, you put out what comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics every action is met by an equal and opposite one. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that. Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I have done a lot of stupid stuff. I would be in big trouble if Karma is going to finally be my judge. I am holding out that Jesus took my sins to the cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity.

RS: The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe that.

Bono: The point of death is that Christ took the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of Heaven.

Spurgeon is saying that if you are going to ascribe glory to God, do it well! But even that will be insufficient. The focus is too often the praise, the offering or, ultimately, it's us. What we like, what we relate to, what we prefer. How many battles and divisions over music have wounded the church at large? But the center of it all is really the Unknowable Wonder, Who baffles all attempts to sing worthily, yet welcomes us with grace. Spurgeon has said praise well, but even your best is not enough. How shall we worship then?

We have to stop acting like consumers and become worshippers.

Let us worship in spirit and truth.

I have several comments. First, there are two "curbs" we have to steer between if we are to keep a balanced understanding of the gospel. On the one hand, we must strongly retain the Biblical teaching of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, by Christ alone, and not by works. This is the core of the gospel, as every New Testament book stresses.

But there's another curb to keep us on point doctrinally. It is one that many contemporary writers don't talk often enough about. Yet without it, the Christian life becomes one sided. We live among a generation of people like that: they "got saved" by grace, but now live without holiness, without Spirit-filled lives that reflect self-control and discipline. That second but necessary curb is that good works do matter. They are important, not as a means to salvation, but as evidence that our salvation is genuine, as fruit that demonstrates that we have been transformed from the inside out, that we have been given a new heart and infused with new motives, that we live for Christ. Justification is dynamic; it brings forth sanctification. Good works are not the means of our salvation, but they are the purpose of our salvation (Eph 2:10). James writes of that, too, when he reminds us that "faith without works is dead." (As several teachers taught me, James does not speak of faith or works, or of faith and works, but of faith that works.

This leads me to comment on the concept of the "reward of works" in I Cor 3:8. In this passage, Paul is speaking of his own role in the gospel ministry compared with the role taken by Apollos and other servants. He reminds the Corinthians that some plant seeds, others water, but that all are servants of the God who gives life. None is more important than another; the project is God's, and they serve him. Each servant will be "rewarded" according to his role, yet the unstated truth is that God receives the glory, for God grants the growth.

What is the "reward"? Clearly not salvation: Paul, Apollos, and each believer already possess that. Nor is "reward" some kind of ethical bookkeeper's bonus: the better you behave, the larger your bonus in heaven. Rather, the reward is the joy of our Lord, the delight of our God in the service that has willingly been rendered by his servants. Nothing pleases believers more than his joy. God himself said as much to Abram (Gen 15:1): "I am your shield, your great reward." Yes, rewards are individual ("each will be rewarded according to his own work"), for each of us are unique individuals, with unique gifts and opportunities with which to serve the King. To speak in Paul's context: the seed-sowing evangelists (like him) will delight the Father with the work they do. And the Father's delight will be Paul's deepest reward. The disciple-makers (like Apollos) will delight the Father's heart with the grace-based faith they train into disciples entrusted to them. That and that alone will be a sufficient reward for Apollos.

I have no hesitance to expand this to suggest that the musicians and artists among us will be rewarded with the Father's delight in art that reflects beauty as his heart defines it. The engineers and architects among us will be rewarded with the Father's delight in their culture-building creativity that serves both man and God. Likewise, parents who nurture children well-who read and pray and study how to do that, and then do it well-will be honored by the Father's delight in their children's faith and maturity and service. For all of us who fulfill faithfully the roles in life that God assigns to us will please his heart.

Rewards in Scripture are not childhood's collection of cheap plastic trophies, made up of worthless stuff that won't last. Nor are rewards some ego-inflating titles or bestowals that exalt one above another. Were that the case, heaven would be a reversal of the gospel, taking us backwards from grace to merit.

No, God's delight is our only reward, his pleasure our highest goal.