The Blacksmith

The Blacksmith

Hammer falls

to strike hot steel

gold-hot sparks fly

and red metal anneals

High heat and pressure

and fire and strain

hard metal shaped

blows rain again and again

Merciless hammer

of iron and oak

beat into new shape

on stroke after stroke

Sword and shovel

nail and screw

the same burning forge

shapes me and shapes you

Trials and losses

struggles and pain

mold us to much more

through striving and strain

Give thanks to the hammer

the anvil, the flame

we grow that much stronger

our beatings no shame

Each sharp blade or strong tool

proud of its purpose and role

began its new life

in the flames of the coal

When now you question

if troubles are vain

remember today’s hurt

will tomorrow be gain.

The blacksmith that forms us

seems cruel in his art

but his loving intention

sets him apart

For the steel stays weak

if no fire and no folding

and we are no better

without his careful molding.

Ten Things I Struggle With in the Bible

Ten Things That I Struggle With in the Bible

Maybe you’ve met people with all the answers. Maybe you are someone who has all of the answers. I am not one of those people. In fact, the more I learn, the more that I realize that I don’t know nearly as much as I thought I did. I hope it is OK if I am that unflinchingly honest with you about this, because sometimes people expect Pastors to have all the answers.

There are things that I know, things that I am sure of, and things that I have faith in. But there are others that I just don’t know or at least am not entirely sure about. I am very careful not to be dogmatic when I am unsure.

When I was younger, in my late teens and early twenties, I knew everything. I was an expert on lots of things and was very willing to tell people just how wrong they were, whether they were listening or not. I’ll admit it, I was an overbearing, know-it-all jerk. I have softened with much with age. I hope that I am humbler now.

The Bible is full of some wonderfully clear things, but it also contains some things that are less clear, things that scholars have more than one point of view on. Often these are the things in which people loudly offer simple answers for complex questions. In my experience, the louder they are, the less likely they are right.

I just want to let you know that it is OK to question and wonder.

It’s OK not to have all of the answers.

Even pastors and scholars don’t know everything.

Here are just some of them that I struggle with:

Number Ten: 1Timothy 2:12 – 15. Paul telling women that they cannot teach or exercise authority over a man. I struggle with this in light of Debra, Priscilla, Lydia, and others. I struggle with this in light of many gifted teachers that I have had that are women. There are different points of view taking all of 1Timothy 2 in context. In addition, there is Phoebe. Romans 16:1. In some translations, Phoebe is referred to as a servant. In others, she is referred to as a deacon. The Greek word is διάκονος or diakonos. That is the same word we use for deacon. Was she a leader in the church or just someone who helped out? Does this mean we could have female elders and deacons? How much of this is culture?

Number Nine: James 3:1. Teachers of God’s word will be held to a stricter standard of judgment than everyone else. This one scares me a little bit especially when you consider this very list. I am a teacher and preacher, and thus I will be held to that stricter judgment.

Number Eight: Job 1:8-12. God allows Satan to screw with Job, killing his ten children, and taking away all he had. Now Job was a faithful man and God allowed all this and more before Satan was done. I struggle with the enormous injustice that seems to be here.

Number Seven: Exodus 11-12. The tenth and final plague of Egypt. This was the first sermon that I preached to the main church and though I found some timeless truths in it, I struggle with the fact that God killed children just to make a point of his power. Not just the children of Pharaoh and his officials, but every first born son from the most important personage down to the lowliest slave.

Number Six: Acts 15:1-20. The Jerusalem Council. The message of Jesus and the message found throughout the New Testament is one of release from the Old Testament Law. Yet, in Acts 15, they choose to keep a tiny part of the law for the Gentiles. This seems like they came to a bad compromise.

Number Five: 1John 3:4-10. The suggestion that somehow we will stop sinning completely as a follower of Christ. It repeats this twice in 1John. It just doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the Gospel and with observation of real people. It is also confusing based on other statements that he makes within such as 1John 1:8.

Number Four: Romans 8:29-30 & Ephesians 1:5-11. Predestination. Despite the common refrain of ‘Free Will’ by many Christians, there is much more evidence that God chooses who will be saved. Yet, it also says that God wishes all to be saved in 2Peter 3:9. This is the start of the whole Calvinism vs. Arminian arguments.

Number 3: Matthew 25:31-46. The Sheeps and Goats judgement. Does this mean that some Christians won’t be good enough despite believing or does it mean that some non-believers will be given a second chance because of the good works they have done. Either is problematic in light of the Gospel message.

Number 2: Genesis - Malachai and Matthew - Revelation. Canon. I struggle with the methodology of choosing scripture. I have no problem with leaving out goofy things like the Gospel of Thomas which is so popular with pseudo-scholars like Dan Brown. But, it does take a step of faith to consider what was left in and why.

Number 1: Matthew 5:44-47. Love those who persecute you. Love your enemies. OK, I can handle this with regard to the jerk who cuts me off in traffic or my old boss who hurt people and messed with their lives. But… Terrorists? Child Molesters? The guy that just beat his girlfriend’s three year old to death here in Phoenix or the guy who poured gasoline on his little girl and lit her on fire? The guys who flew the planes into the twin towers? Hitler?

There’s more than ten things on this list, but I’ll stop at this point. Now, if you are one of my fellow pastors, seminary professors, or students in Bible college, please don’t comment with explanations of these. I have come to some sort of understanding on each of these and I do know the arguments and the orthodox views. If you are honest with yourself, I know you struggle with some things. I’m just being honest about some of the things I struggle with.

An excellent book on this subject is, “The Blue Parakeet.” by Scot McKnight.

Tomorrow: Ten Verses that People Always Seem To Get Wrong.

The Greatest Battle Ever Fought

It’s summer camp. Junior High Summer Camp. If you’ve never been to one, those words may not conjure up the mess of feelings and ideas that it does for those who’ve been there. It’s kind of like the old guys who went to Vietnam said, “If you weren’t there, you wouldn’t understand.” I’m pretty sure that there are Green Berets that have seen the most hellish jungle warfare that would shy away from volunteering at Junior High summer camp.

If you’ve never been there, Junior High Summer Camp is a week of crazy fun, boredom, escape from the city, hormones, first loves, first heartbreaks, daredevil antics, water balloon fights, climbing rockwalls, marshmallow roasts, prison camp accommodations, burping contests, late night conversations, surplus cafeteria food dating back to the Korean war, bugs, and Bible studies.

To really get an idea, close your eyes and try to get the sound and smell of 150 pubescent teens packed into a small room with no air conditioning, dancing around to screaming loud praise music. The sound is enough to wake the dead. The humidity from sweat make the air fetid like a Louisiana bayou and the smell is something like a large goat farm. Body odor, sweat, and hormones mix with Axe body spray and 273 types of body lotion, hair products, and perfumes. (a side note here, when middle school boys see the Axe commercials where a guy sprays himself and then a dozen girls attack him, they assume that if they triple the amount, then even more girls will attack them. I’m pretty sure God has a special punishment in mind for the makers of Axe.)

Junior High Summer Camp. Ministry here is raw and cutting edge. You have to be able to face anything and everything from an invasion of millions of ants in the cabin to arguments over who gets to ask out the cute boy from the other church. There’s the kid who seems to disappear every time we are supposed to go into worship and the other one who seems to pick a fight with every kid who crosses his path. One girl slips off of the rocks she wasn’t supposed to be on hurting herself and another finds it funny to pull pranks on the youth minister. And then, one night around church group time, one kid shares how his parents fight all the time and are getting a divorce. Another has a father who pressures him constantly. Another lost her parent last year and still doesn’t know how to cope. Another has had sex with her boyfriend and wonders if Jesus could ever accept her after that.

It is easy to think that kid’s problems are silly and childish. It’s easy to laugh off the first heart break because, as an adult, you’ve been through dozens. “Wait till you grow up Kid, then you’ll know what real life problems are.” "It's too far from your heart to kill you."

The reality is that wherever we are in life, our problems are really intense. Whatever battle you are facing is terribly real to you. It doesn't matter if you are in Junior High or you barely remember Junior High because it was so long ago. As Pastor Chip so wisely says, “All life is Junior High.”

It’s always easy to solve someone else’s problems, especially since they aren't yours. Junior High Summer Camp taught me to listen as people of any age share their problems without belittling them, but offering them an understanding friend who can support them as they fight the greatest battle of their life.

Next time you hear someone tell you about the problem they are facing, take a moment and shut out that self-absorbed little voice inside you that says, “You think you got problems, you don’t understand what I am going through.” Don’t try to solve their problems for them or tell them how little they really are. Instead, put your arm around the other person and tell them that you know what it’s like to fight a great battle too. Then pray with them. Maybe then, they will do the same for you.

I pray that you have someone to fight at your side as you fight the greatest battle of your life.

Welcome to Junior High.

Will the band play on?

This blog originally posted Tuesday, April 7, 2009 at 2:50pm

If you haven’t seen the movie, “The Matrix,” I strongly urge you to go see it. Put your thinking cap on and take some time to process it. Watch it with someone who likes to discuss ideas. Science fiction may not be your thing, but trust me, this is worth your time.

The movie tells the story of a guy who realizes that there is something more to the world that he is living in, that something about it isn’t right. He meets a group of people who help him to wake up to the fact that the world that he thought he was living in isn’t real and that he is actually living in an ugly world that is at war. The syncretism and pop-philosophy of movie has been much discussed, but the one part that I firmly believe that the creators got right, is the concept of two worlds existing simultaneously.

The first world is the one that we put on like a set of ultra-hip sunglasses and an iPod. It wraps around our eyes and blocks our ears, letting us see and hear only the most pleasant things, while filtering out the harshness of reality.

It is the world of entertainment that we cover our eyes with.

It is the world of toys and fun and busy-ness.

It is the world of Myspace and March Madness.

It is the world of Mortgages and Soccer Moms.

It is the world of corporate ladders and promotions.

It is the world where the things that Paris Hilton or Brittney Spears do matter.

It is the world where the coolest car, the nicest house, the most money, make a difference.

It is the world where you care what team won the game last night.

It is the world where you want to know what is going to happen tonight on “Lost,” or “House,” or “American Idol.”

It is the world of desperate dissipation that we grip tightly over your eyes so that we don’t see that other world… The real one.

The other world, the real one, is the world where choices are hard and bad things do happen. It ain't pretty. It is where your Mom is sick. It is where someone you know commits suicide. It is where a sweet little eight year old girl skips down the street to her murder. It is where a strange, lonely man opens fire on hopeful immigrants.

Genocide happens in this world over and over and over again and no one stops it. Moms and babies are hacked to death with machetes for being from the wrong tribe or religion. Men are beaten to death and beheaded for believing something different from their persecutors. Children in this world are forced to fight on the front lines of battle between drug lords or petty dictators. Beautiful young pre-teen girls are raped repeatedly in forced prostitution so that their starving families might be able to feed their brothers and sisters. Immigrants trying to find a new life, die of thirst in the desert while people argue of the ‘problem of illegals.’

Here in this world, children are born to struggling single moms and grow up knowing only crime and abuse to continue the cycle with their children. Here, elderly people languish in their own soiled clothing because family members are too busy to see them or help. Here, drugs and alcohol reap a terrible toll on the bodies, minds, and souls of their victims. Here, people die of AIDS, abandoned by their family for their lifestyle choice and by their friends out of fear of contracting the disease themselves.

Earthquakes happen. Wars go on. Lives are destroyed. Evil exists..... In this world.

In this world, hope dies a thousand deaths every day.

All this, while we close our eyes tightly, cover our ears and yell “la, la, la” at the top of our lungs so we don’t have to have our precious first world disturbed.And, if you do peek from between your eyelids and notice the other world, or, God forbid you call attention to it, there is always a man in a dark trench coat and shades, looking suspiciously like Timothy Leary there to hand you a blue pill and urge you to go back to sleep in blissful ignorance in the first world. Chill out. You take things to seriously. Don't worry, be happy.

The story goes that, as the Titanic sank, the orchestra realized they could not be saved. So they took out their musical instruments and played music as the ship was sinking.

For me, the most poignant scene in The Matrix is when Cypher betrays the others and makes a deal with Agent Smith so that he can return to the first world, the Matrix. He says, “I don't want to remember nothing, and I wanna be rich. , you know, someone important, like an actor.” He chooses a pretend life of escapism over the reality that is there.

I took the red pill years ago and sometimes I want to scream, “WAKE UP!!!”

I watch parents encourage their kids to play in every sport, to join every extracurricular activity, as if any of it matters. I watch men ignore their families to devote their lives to work so that they can get a little more money to buy toys that they will hardly have time to use. I watch women sink their lives into their children, living vicariously through them, trying to grasp the youth that they once had. I watch young people party like mad, trying to drown reality in beer bongs and unattached sex. I watch adults and teens get sucked into an online world where they can pretend to be anything they want to be and have ‘friends’ that never truly know who they really are. I watch people that I care about drowning in busy-ness and stress.

Yet, every once in awhile, the real world intrudes. The doctor says, “It is cancer.” Your Grandma calls and says she has been diagnosed with Alzheimers. The friend you had lunch with last week was just killed in a car accident. The letter arrives telling you that the bank is foreclosing.

This is your opportunity! Break out of your self-centered, entertainment-ridden, life of dissolution. Take the red pill. Wake up!!!

Your life on this earth is short. Turn off the television. Log off the computer. Throw away that magazine. Don’t sign-up for that next club sport. Put the golf clubs and fishing pole in the closet. Sell your toys and give money to the poor. Grab your family and hug them. Take the money that you would have spent on a movie or a cup of Starbucks or a new iPod and give it to someone in need. Meet your neighbors and really get to know them. Call up that friend that has slipped away because you have both been too busy. Have lunch with the lonely person, hold the hand of a sick person, read to a child, volunteer, go on a missions trip, serve someone. Go to church and get right with God.

or………take the blue pill………go back to sleep………rejoin the matrix………let the band play on………

But, I promise you this, you will be pulled, kicking and screaming into the real world eventually.

As this real world crushes you without pity, you may get a momentary glimpse, where you realize what a waste it has all been. You could have a moment to savor the taste of regret before you are extinguished. You might just receive the split-second of knowledge that neither your life, nor your death will ever matter.

We each have a choice - We can ride the edge of reality or fade away in dull self-indulgence.

Will the band play on?