Awake, O Sleeper

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

"“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

"Since you have been raised to new life with Christ"

"conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ."

"'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind" and

"fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame"

"that your sins might be wiped out."

"Offer your bodies as living sacrifices,"

and "do everything for the glory of God."

"Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

Amen.

Eph 5:14, John 3:16, Col 3:1, Phil 1:27, Luke 10:27, Heb 12:2, Acts 3:19, Rom 12:1, 1 Cor 10:31, Hew 12:1

A Prayer for Vision

O Lord, it is faith, not sight that allows us to perceive reality,

so please grant me faith, that I may understand reality.

That I may know the reality of my depravity and Your grace.

That I might trust You fully and completely,

hating the thought of trusting in myself.

That I might be consumed by You,

seeking You and Your glory above all else.

Breathing Your name, and inhaling Your grace,

that I might decrease, and You might increase.

O Lord, I want to want You more than anything,

but my flesh seeks anything but You.

So tear these fleshy desires out of me and create me anew;

with a spirit of yearning,

a heart of seeking,

a mind of understanding,

eyes of perceiving,

and hands of doing,

that You might be glorified in my life.

O Lord, make the incarnation the reality of my life today,

not a myth I smile fondly back on.

Give me one desire Lord,

and make it You.

Trusting the Storyteller

Ya know who I really don’t want to be? I don’t want to be that annoying “movie guy” who asks a question every 5 minutes. Nobody wants to watch a movie with him because he ruins the entire experience. Every time I watch a movie with “movie guy” and he keeps asking “why would they do that” or “why did she say that,” I’m always tempted to scream at him, “hang in there, I promise the movie will explain itself. I promise the writers knew what they were doing and if you just watch the whole movie, it’ll make sense.” But he never listens…he just keeps asking.

Here’s the problem though – As I watch my life unfurl before my feet, I am that “movie guy”.

The problem with “movie guy” is that he isn’t willing to look at the story as a whole, but instead looks at small isolated events within story and freaks out when he cannot understand them. He wants and needs every second of the movie to make sense because he isn’t willing to trust the storytellers. So when something hard or confusing happens, he can’t handle it. He isn’t willing to wait and trust that the movie will explain itself, so he feels the need to ask questions every 5 minutes to attempt to understand. When we watch a movie we should trust that the story will be cohesive and makes sense as a whole even if there are confusing aspects, but “movie guy” doesn’t do that. If he is confused by a part of the story he immediately doubts the legitimacy of the story and begins to question the plot. However, while you may not be “movie guy”, we can all at least partially relate to this problem. Check out the clip I video and you'll begin to understand what I mean.

When you watch Lion King and you see Scar kill Mufasa, you’ve got begin to question the movie. That moment of the movie doesn’t make much sense – why would the good and noble king get killed by his weak and wretched brother? You love Mufasa, and you hate Scar, but Scar is the one who comes out on top. It doesn’t make any sense…until you watch the rest of the movie. The death of Mufasa never ceases to be painful, but if you watch rest of the movie you see that in the end, the story makes sense and is a good story. Simba journeys through his pain to become a noble king himself and goes back to defeat Scar. (Sorry to over analyze a Disney movie, but I’m a big Lion King fan, and I can't think of anything more awful than Mufasa's death)

I live life like “movie guy”. Every time something difficult or confusing arises in life, I quickly turn to doubt rather than trust. “Why is this happening God? Why would you do this? It doesn’t make sense. You’re supposed to be good, but this doesn’t make any sense.” But here’s the thing, God is a good storyteller, and if history is a movie, it’s a good movie (like Lion King). Even though there are hard parts to His story, it is a good story, in fact, it is a great story. Sure there are deaths, and there are bad guys, and there is pain and struggle, but doesn’t every good story have those things? We question and question and question…but God has written and is writing a good story, and while certain events are confusing and painful, in the end the story makes sense and is a really good story. The good guys win, the bad guys lose, and the journey through pain and strife is beautifully redeemed. All things are redeemed.

So let’s trust. Let’s live life as characters in God’s story trusting that He is the Great Storyteller and He knows what He is doing. This doesn’t mean we don’t grieve in trials or weep in sorrow; we do, because those hardships are real parts of the story. It doesn’t mean we should pretend pain isn’t real – because it is real. It doesn’t mean we don’t wrestle with God in confusion, plead with Him in our desperation and pray to Him in struggle. It doesn’t mean we pretend everything is “fine” or that we never get angry, frustrated, or confused. It simply means we trust. We trust, because He is the Great Storyteller. We trust, amidst the pain, the tears, the sorrow and the frustration - we trust. We trust because God is the storyteller and in the end, His story, which we are characters in, is a good story. So endure the pain with faith, enjoy the laughter with gratitude and look forward to the ending with joy.

Living the Story

No one wants to read a boring story, no one wants to watch a boring movie, but yet most people go through life without ever thinking of the fact that their lives are stories also. Just as we don’t want to spend some time watching a boring, movie, like all of those indie films that you watch and end up going “huh? That’s it?” There are three things that every good story has. I bet you can think of what they are: car chases, vampires, and zombies. Well maybe not all of the good stories have those three things. But really, all stories have three essential elements: a character, who wants something, and overcomes conflict to get it. Think of a movie that you have seen that does not have those three elements. I bet if one of those elements were missing you would walk out of that movie theater and demand a refund. Even the Bible, has these three elements. In fact, in the Hebrew translation Saul drives a Hummer chasing David on a motorcycle, how do you think Moses turned the Nile into blood…vampires, and who was Lazarus? Zombie, that’s right. But really, Jesus is the author, producer, director and star of the story that is the Biblical narrative. What does he want? He wants His people to turn to Him, glorify Him and make His name great. There is plenty of conflict in the Biblical narrative, just read Judges. So again, without a character, wanting something, and overcoming conflict to get it, you get nothing.

The first element of a good story is the character: the character has to sacrifice. The character will do something for someone else that makes the person watching the movie feel for the character. You have to empathize with this character. The character can have flaws, but you have to care about this character and that comes from doing something for someone else. You ask yourself the question, “Do I care that this character succeeds?” If you don’t care that the character succeeds then your story will fail. I watched “The Expendables” this summer. The movie had all sorts of explosions and more body parts flying in every direction than any movie I had ever seen. But, throughout the movie I kept asking myself, “Do I really care if these characters succeed?” I had to answer no, and despite all of the conflict or explosions in the movie, I left the theater disappointed.

The second element is to want something. If at any point in the story you do not know what the character wants, then you. Will. Get. Bored. It also matters what the person wants. If your character’s goal in life is to die with the most cars in his garage and the character goes the whole movie accumulating vintage import cars from far and wide and you get to the end of the movie and no one is crying. Why? What the character wants is not meaningful. The character should want something great. The character should want something meaningful. Rocky wants to be the World Heavyweight Champion, Luke Skywalker wants to bring balance to the force, and Edward Cohen wants blood…and Bella.

Finally, the character has to overcome conflict. We assume that we are not supposed to have conflict in our lives. If I could only have the new iPad then my life would be complete, I would never want again. I don’t even know what an iPad does, but if I had one I could die happy. We are taught by our culture that if there is conflict in our lives there is something wrong. God intends for there to be conflict in our lives. Conflict was present even before the fall. Genesis 2: Adam is lonely, incomplete, to say it another way: he wants something. I am not saying that conflict is easy. Conflict is difficult and can even be painful. What comes along with conflict? Fear. And fear leads to hate and hate is the path to the dark side. Conflict also brings meaning to what we want. If something is easy it is rarely worth pursuing. Anyhow, we do desire that the conflict ends, and that happens at the Act III climax. When does that happen in our story? When Jesus returns. The Jews, when they saw Jesus expected him to be the Messiah who would bring about that Act III climax, and they thought that the story would essentially be over. The Kingdom would be upon them there would be judgment, return of the exiles, and they would receive land, the temple would be restored and a number of other promises. So we live in a strange chapter of this metanarrative. We know the end of the story, Jesus wins and Satan is defeated. But we still experience conflict because of the already but not yet nature of how Jesus inaugurated the Kingdom.

So, live a good story. Be a meaningful character in the story that God is telling. After all, it is the greatest story ever told. Sacrifice for the sake of others. Don’t run from conflict but live fully in it. Let conflict give meaning to your life. Finally, at some point in your life, get in a car chase where you are hunting down a team of zombies and vampires. The end.

The Romance of Christ

I’ve got to be honest with you, I think Valentines Day is kind of weird. Now many of you will simply accuse me of being a bitter single young man, but I really just find the whole day sort of bizarre. Once a year on this one day everybody must celebrate their love in a special way. Now I know its not bad because my Dad takes my Mom out for Valentine’s day, and he’s not being insincere at all – He really loves her a ton. It's just weird we institutionalized a day of love. On the flip side, I do love getting all candy that it brings, although Valentines Day is notorious for bringing out the worst candy of all time…even worse than Twizzlers. I swear those little nasty heart candies are literally be made of chalk. Sidewalk chalk.

Anyways, Valentines Day made me ponder what romantic love really is from a Christian perspective. Now seeing as I’m not married or dating, I’m probably not a very reputable person to pursue this thought process, but I did so anyways. Obviously romance is very important, since God is the creator of romantic love. The Bible is full of romantic love (Song of Solomon) and romantic stories (Ruth and Boaz). Romance is the original foundation of mankind’s interaction with one another as marriage, not cities, government or friendship, lays the groundwork for human society in Genesis. In fact, romance is so important that the passionate love Christ extends to the Body of Christ is described as the intense love found in marriage between a husband and wife. We see a beautiful picture of romance in Christ standing as the groom, and we his bride. Clearly, romance is important to God and to Christians.

Yet, I think we often miss out on what romance is. We have bought into the worlds skewed vision of romance as something that is “sexy” rather than something truly beautiful. The world’s romance is a weak and hollow shadow of the deep and mysterious love that Christ extends to the Church. If you ask somebody what it means to be romantic most will probably croon a sentence littered with the words “cute”, “sweet” and “adorable”, but few talk about sacrifice or serving. We have taken romance and “sexed” it up by dressing it in jewelry, bouquets of flowers and chocolate. Now I’ve got no problem with chocolate, but we have far too many men in the world buying lots of chocolate but failing to sacrificing everything to love their wives in radical ways for the glory of God. Buying flowers is great, but “loving your wife as Christ loved the Church” is a whole lot better. Now I’m not married and certainly don’t claim to be an expert on love, romance or relationships. I don’t know much about any of that. But I do know Jesus, and I know how He has pursued me. I know how He sacrificed EVERYTHING to love me, and serves me with radical humility. I know he shed blood that I might breath life, and I know he took a beating that I might be safe. I know he experienced incomprehensible pain simply so I wouldn’t have to. I know He died for me, so that I could live – and I think this is romance.

I know gifts are a great way to express love, and I know that nobody is perfect and able to love exactly as Christ loved. But I do think we could focus a lot more on humbly serving our loved ones. I think the image of Christ washing his disciples feet is a better image of romance than a massive boquet of roses. It’s not that roses are bad at all, I just think laying down your life is whole a lot cooler. No need to pick and choose though - buy the girl her roses, but then wash her feet and serve her with radical humility.

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.”

Ephesians 5:25-27

Maybe this is romance. It is strong, it is powerful, and it transforms. It refines and it sanctifies, and it brings God glory. Or maybe I’m wrong and romance is something else altogether, but I’m pretty sure it’s not chocolate, and it’s certainly not those nasty candy hearts made of chalk. Seriously, they are so bad…

Spoken Into Love

In the beginning, there was nothing. Then God spoke, and there was something. The words of God have the power to form, create and define.

God created ex nihilo - out of nothing. There was literally nothing in existence, then He spoke and creation took form. His words create. They give form and definition. They give matter and speak the essence of a thing. Light had never existed before but when God spoke it into existence it found its form, its purpose, its definition, its substance and its very essence.

Speaking creation into existence is remarkable; a beautiful miracle that clearly reveals the authority, power and creativity of our God. However, the power of God’s words to create brings us to a new level of awe when we begin to ponder the implications of what God has spoken to us.

God has called us His “Beloved” (Romans 9:25). We were enemies of God, dirty and filthy, drinking damnation upon ourselves. We were prodigals sons hiding in the shadows where we might feast and fulfill the lusts of our heart. We were lost in the wilderness, wandering aimlessly wherever our cravings led us. Yet, God did not abandon us in our wretched state, but instead God has called us His “Beloved”. He has called us Beloved, so that is what we are. That is our identity. God said “let there be light” and there was light, and so when God says “You are my Beloved”, we are his His Beloved. It’s as simple as that. His words create, they form and they define. God speaks, and it is so. So, when God calls us His Beloved, something remarkable happens. I true transformation, or recreation occurs. Though we were once enemies of God, that is no more, and we become new creations who are clean and loved. We become God’s Beloved. Not for what we do, but simply for being - it becomes our being.

God’s Beloved. This is our identity. It is our essence and it defines our purpose. We are His Beloved, his friends, his children. Our sin weighed heavy on our souls and we sunk deep into the mire, but his voice called out to us amidst the darkness and now, under this new name we become an new creation as God once again spoke the impossible into reality. With the burden of sin tied securely to our back there was no way to become lovable, but then out of the silence He spoke and we emerged as new creations. Children of God who are cleansed and loved. He has spoken, we are new.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

2 Corinthians 5:17

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I read an article by Henri Nouwen that was really encouraging in this thought process. Also check out this blog written by somebody MUCH smarter than me here.

Morning Prayer: Prescious Lord, Take My Hand

Precious Lord, take my hand

Lead me on, let me stand

I'm tired, I’m weak, I’m lone

Through the storm, through the night

Lead me on to the light

Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home 

When my way grows drear 

Precious Lord linger near

When my life is almost gone

Hear my cry, hear my call

Hold my hand lest I fall

Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

When the darkness appears 

And the night draws near

And the day is past and gone

At the river I stand

Guide my feet, hold my hand

Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home 

Precious Lord, take my hand

Lead me on, let me stand

I'm tired, I’m weak, Lord I’m worn

Through the storm, through the night

Lead me on to the light

Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

Platt, Piper and Lockridge

Here are 3 videos for your edification and entertainment. Enjoy.

The Wandering Man

A weathered man wandered down a dusty road heading to nowhere. Indifferent trees loomed overhead as he trudged uphill silently, and the bitter ground gnawed at his bare feet. At night, the wind would whisper in his ears, reminding him that he was alone. During the day it was even worse – it was silent.

One day the Wandering Man stumbled across a man nailed to a tree. The man simply hung there, beaten and broken, blood dripping from his mangy hair. His somber eyes were filled with fire, and a crown of thorns christened his brow.

“Who are you?” asked the Wandering Man.

“Who am I?” replied the Man of the Tree.

“I am The Forsaken Man who, for the sake of man, forsook heavenly glory to hang on a tree that dead men might live. I am the Known Unknown who knew no sin, that you might be known as a child of God. I am the Eternal Word who spoke all things into creation, then became a creation to speak grace to the saints. I am the King of filthy beggars whose dirty rags are cleansed white in my crimson blood. I am the Son of God who died for men, that men might become sons of God.”

“It was long ago that man plucked sin from that tree, so now I hang here on this tree that you might put your sin back up on a tree. Man’s debt was infinite, so infinity became finite to pay the impossible price. Man had sinned against God, so He sent the God-Man to reconcile creation to Creator. Now nail your sin to this tree, and you shall be cleansed.”

The Wandering Man heard this, pondered it for a moment, and then he replied with sorrow, “My travels have left me filthy, I cannot be cleansed. I was born of the dust, I have walked in the dirt, I have wallowed in the mud, and I will die in my filth.”

The Man of the Tree replied, “Your wretchedness runs deep, but my blood runs deeper still, and now in your death you will find life, and in your life you will find breath. I came to be sin for the unholy, that sinners might be holy. I have tipped this world upside down; the lost are found, the blind can see, the dirty are cleansed, and those who kneel will be exalted.”

“I have become your unrighteousness, now go, O man, and be righteous. Put your sin back up on this tree, and wander no more.”

Morning Prayer: Lord of All

For the beauty of the earth, 
for the glory of the skies, 
for the love which from our birth 
over and around us lies; 
Lord of all, to thee we raise 
this our prayer of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour 
of the day and of the night, 
hill and vale, and tree and flower, 
sun and moon, and stars of light; 
Lord of all, to thee we raise 
this our prayer of grateful praise.

For the joy of ear and eye, 
for the heart and mind's delight, 
for the mystic harmony, 
linking sense to sound and sight; 
Lord of all, to thee we raise 
this our prayer of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love, 
brother, sister, parent, child, 
friends on earth and friends above, 
for all gentle thoughts and mild; 
Lord of all, to thee we raise 
this our prayer of grateful praise.

For thy church, that evermore 
lifteth holy hands above, 
offering up on every shore 
her pure sacrifice of love; 
Lord of all, to thee we raise 
this our prayer of grateful praise.

For thyself, best Gift Divine, 
to the world so freely given, 
for that great, great love of thine, 
peace on earth, and joy in heaven:  
Lord of all, to thee we raise 
this our prayer of grateful praise.

Sound of the Week - S. Carey

For all you Bon Iver fans, Sean Carey will be a welcome sound. Carey plays drums and sings backup vocals for the indie folk band, and has now branched out on his own solo project. While his voice isn't powerful, it does have a haunting beauty to it, and for the drummers first whack at his own record, Carey did pretty good. If you're a fan of Sufjan, Bon Iver or Iron & Wine, he's probably worth a listen.

So here is "In the Dirt" by S. Carey

Learning from Wishing

When I was 8 my Christmas wish-list was littered with Lego’s, Nerf Guns and a Nintendo, though I knew my mom would never get me one. This year, my wish list consisted mostly of books, CD’s and a movie I really wanted. Clearly things have changed. It’s been interesting to reflect on the different types of things I’ve asked for over the years, and so, for your convenience, I’ve broken down the different wish-list era’s many of us went through over the past 20 years:

The Oblivious Era (0-2 Yrs) – You were a baby, and thus, you didn’t know anything. You just took whatever you were given, probably tried to eat it and certainly slobbered all over it.

The Golden Era (3-11 Yrs) – These were the golden years of wish-listing. You would scan the Lego magazine and Toys’R’Us catalogue, marking your favorite item on every page. Your list was full of fantastic toys even if you knew there was no chance of getting them. Every so often scary things like Furbie’s would sneak onto your list, but overall, this was the highlight of your wish-listing career.

The Confused Era (12-15 Yrs) – This was an odd time in the wish list era. You were still young enough that you wanted to ask for Lego’s and Nerf Guns, but unfortunately, you also falsely believed you were too cool for these fantastic toys, and thus were ashamed to ask for them. So instead, you asked for boring thing.

The Awkward Era (Could come any time, but usually around 13) - Beginning to realize how weird and awkward you were, you did your best to hide this reality by proving you were actually very “cool”. This means you asked for “cool” clothes that were actually funny looking, and music that nobody really liked but everybody listened too.

The Practical (Lame) Era (16 -20 Yrs) – Rather than trying to prove how “cool” you were, you now began to pride yourself on being “mature”. This means your list was absent of anything fun, and filled with practical things such as a new dress shirt or a pair of running shoes. Totally necessary…but also pretty boring.

The Redeemed Era (21-? Yrs) – You’ve now realized you’re neither cool or mature. In fact, you really are pretty awkward…but that’s ok because everybody else is too. You’re growing more “ok” with who you are, and you’re figuring out what you really do like. So once again, your list is full of things you really enjoy like books or music. It’s a good list.

While this list is exaggerated and silly, I do think we can learn something from it. I am now 22 years old, fresh out of the Practical Years, and I’m proud to say my list had no clothes, toothpaste or gas cards. Sure, it still looks a lot different from those fanciful wish lists from when I was 9, but then again 22 year old Kyle looks a lot different than 9 year old Kyle. By God’s grace I’ve grown over the years, and I’m no longer so worried about trying to prove how “cool” or “mature” I am. Instead, I’m now facing the difficult task of simply learning to be Kyle, and, more importantly, learning to appreciate being Kyle. I’m trying to figure out who I am in Christ and learning to appreciate, and even love, who God has made me to be.

Constantly changing and growing, it turns out this silly list epitomizes life, as we ourselves undergo constant change and growth. As the years pass, we change, but the beauty of life is that we do not experience this growth alone. As I look back on the growth I’ve experienced, I am encouraged to see that God has actively been working in my life every step of the way. He is near, and He cares. The most profound truth in all of reality is that God loves us, yet sadly, this truth is so incomprehensible that many people struggle to truly believe it. This is where reflecting on our past becomes an incredible tool because in the clarity of hindsight God’s love becomes more recognizable as we see God graciously working in our lives.

As Christians, we must hate sin, because God hates sin. Sadly, in an attempt to hate our sin many of us begin to hate ourselves, but in this we underestimate the power of the Cross. We must remember that in Christ we are reborn, creatures of the Spirit, children of the Light.

In our sin we wadded deep into the mire, and it’s difficult to believe that God could love creatures of such filth. Yet, those in Christ are no longer drowning under the weight of sin because our lives are now hid “with Christ one high”. So as you look back on old wish lists and reflect on the growth you’ve experienced over the years, thank the Lord. Thank Him for His faithfulness in the past, His sanctification to come in the future, and His grace encompassing all. Thank Him for saving you, for cleansing you and for loving you.

Now begin enjoying Him.

Morning Prayer: Joyful, Joyful

Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in Thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blessed,
Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us, brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward in the triumph song of life.

Morning Prayer: Valley of Vision

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory.
Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine;
let me find Thy light in my darkness,
Thy life in my death,
Thy joy in my sorrow,
Thy grace in my sin,
Thy riches in my poverty,
Thy glory in my valley.

Serving to Death

Good leaders serve. They do so, not to gain recognition or to be praised by their peers, but simply for the sake of serving and loving their followers. As Christians, when we lead we should serve and love because Christ first served and loved us. However, this idea of servant leadership is radically different than what we usually see in the world.

We see leaders who seek the limelight, yet Christ performed miracles and told people to keep quite. We hear leaders who say only what pleases the masses, yet Christ offended so many people that they crucified him. We have leaders who seek their own gain, yet Christ came and served until they killed him. We watch leaders operate by striking fear into the hearts of the people, yet Christ came and loved people. To become a great leader, we must not pursue charisma, power or popularity, we must seek humility. As we humble ourselves, as we lower ourselves, we will rise to be great leaders who lead people to a place where they can see Jesus more clearly. We lead, not to be powerful or likeable, but to bring people to a place where they can see the beauty of the Cross and wonder of God’s grace. We must lead like Christ.

He humbled himself to the point of death, as a way to lead people into life. The Great Shepherd lowered himself to become a lamb to be sacrificed for our redemption, and in His blood we are clean. He leads us to God’s grace by serving us, and we must lead in a similar manner that others who are lost in their sin may come to know His grace.

To Reality, And Beyond…

One of the greatest draws of Pixar movies is their ability to arrest the imagination of adults and children alike. While they are each great, none of the movies have captured those common childhood fantasies as perfectly as Toy Story. In the world of Woody, Rex, Slinky, and Hamm, toys exist and live for the sole pleasure of their boy. Although there is a world outside of Andy’s house, the characters only care about one ultimate truth: They are Andy’s toys. This world creates a community where they share a common goal, they live to fulfill their only purpose, and they love their toy friends in a utopic society.

You know the story: One day a self-absorbed, rubber-headed space cadet arrives on the scene. Although they are all in Andy’s room, Buzz Lightyear lives in a different reality. Engulfed in his mission to defeat the Evil Emperor Zerg, Buzz dutifully ignores the signs that he is delusional. The other toys, impressed by the new-toy-on-the-block, become distracted from their goal and purpose. Even Woody, Andy’s most faithful toy, begins to lose his way.

At the low-point of the story, Buzz and Woody are lost. They wander away from Andy—one fueled by ignorance and the other by jealousy—and they are captured by the delinquent neighbor boy, Sid. Fleeing from the maniac schemes of Sid, Buzz finally discovers that his world is a farce. Realizing the lie (which he had believed from his inception), Buzz begins to self-destruct. All seems lost until Woody (realizing the same truth in a deeper way) begins to repeat message he had known all along: “You are Andy’s toy!” With this truth ringing in their ears Buzz and Woody embark on their unified pursuit to return to Andy.

The plot of the story speaks for itself but another contour must be acknowledged. Until the moment that Buzz realized his true purpose, he had been living an existence that was ultimately self-destructive and joyless. Afterwards, Buzz flourishes in his uniqueness as a toy and only then does he experience the intended fullness of life.

Twenty-three years ago, a baby boy was born. Although I was pretty cute (as babies tend to be), I was born into a life of ignorant delusion. Accepting a reality that fabricates personal value and purpose, I was enslaved to a fantasy that is ultimately self-destructive and joyless. As time went on I began to see that my pursuits were meaningless vanities made only to stroke my own ego. Until the delusion was shattered and the truth was shown, I could not pursue the intended fullness of life. Look to Christ. We can only taste and see the fullness of Life through the truth of the One who was in the beginning.

Toy Story Theology

Yes yes, cutesy names are just about as annoying as tantrum-throwing children being dragged by their ankles down the cereal aisle at the grocery store. That said, I am embarking on a several part (five as of now) blog series that explores my thoughts on this time of year. The newly-finished Toy Story Trilogy is a great story that I will use analogously for some of my musings. As a warning (or incentive, depending on what you think about my series title), half the posts won't have anything to do with Toy Story; it's just a vehicle. Please stay posted as I hope to publish a new part every two days or so. The first will come later today or tomorrow.

Morning Prayer: The Prayer of Zechariah

"Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, 
for he has visited and redeemed his people 
and has raised up a horn of salvation 
for us in the house of his servant David, 
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, 
that we should be saved from our enemies 
and from the hand of all who hate us; 
to show the mercy promised to our fathers 
and to remember his holy covenant, 
the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, 
to grant us that we, 
being delivered from the hand of our enemies, 
might serve him without fear, 
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; 
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 
to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, 
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high 
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, 
to guide our feet into the way of peace."

"She left him; and they parted."

One of the struggles of English Language Learners (ELL students) is a lack of basic "active" reading skills. If you grew up reading, then you have likely developed active reading skills: you pause momentarily as you read, you note important details, re-read key passages, or even tab a page to return to after you finish the chapter. Sadly, my students grew up and thought reading was "passive" reading; in passive reading, the main goal is to read as many words out loud as quickly as you can. Some tests assume that if you read quickly, you are an effective reader; often, however, if you read quickly as an ELL student, you're missing major (key) points and have limited comprehension.

This is especially problematic with a novel like A Christmas Carol because you need to stop after every paragraph to understand the ponderous weight of each word. A key example that also provides a larger message during the Christmas season is in Stave Two of A Christmas Carol, when Belle releases a younger Scrooge from their engagement.

We never learn how Scrooge met Belle. Both poor, they fell hopelessly in love. Eventually, as Scrooge gained wealth, a golden idol replaces Belle.

Belle releases him from his engagement. She says:

I would gladly think otherwise if I could," she answered, "Heaven knows. When I have learned a Truth like this, I know how strong and irresistible it must be. But if you were free to-day, to-morrow, yesterday, can even I believe that you would choose a dowerless girl -- you who, in your very confidence with her, weigh everything by Gain: or, choosing her, if for a moment you were false enough to your one guiding principle to do so, do I not know that your repentance and regret would surely follow? I do; and I release you. With a full heart, for the love of him you once were."

A few short lines of dialogue later, and the narrator tells us that "she left him; and they parted." At first glance, it seems like a simple statement. But if you pause and read carefully, the words "and they parted" reveal far more about the moment of heartbreak. Scrooge does not chase after Belle; he lets her leave, and even walks the other way. [After this pause an explanation, my students were shocked that Scrooge would act so foolishly.]

And so I ask you, dear reader, to pause when you are reading. Studies show that as you have read this blog post, you only truly read the first paragraph (I'm sorry that it was a boring paragraph). By the time you are reading the last paragraph, you will likely read THIS but not this, since you skim only the right hand side of the page as you scroll down.

But most importantly, make sure you pause in life. It would be a true tragedy that in a rush to read the pages of your life story, you missed the most important moments of the novel.

Morning Prayer: Come Thou Fount

Come Thou Fount of every blessing tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it, mount of God's unchanging love.
   
Here I raise my Ebenezer; hither by Thy help I'm come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger, interposed His precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!
Let that grace now like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above

O that day when freed from sinning, I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen how I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry, take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry me to realms of endless day.