Your Life Centers Around Something

19 hours ago

2 Min Read

Y

Your life centers around something. There is some organizing axis around which everything spins, a magnetic center that holds it all together.

Moses told the Israelites that their center was the Law:

They are not just idle words for you—they are your life.

Many Christians also say this of the whole Bible. And it’s solid advice: Don’t treat the scriptures flippantly! Let’s not consume them the same way that we would a magazine off of the grocery store checkout rack, or a reel in our Instagram feed.

But the New Testament writers recognized a fatal flaw in this paradigm: The Law was never strong enough to hold the center. Or rather—to put it another way—humans were never strong enough to hold the Law at the center. And the Law had no power in itself to hold on to them when they got off balance.

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Your Story

1 day ago

2 Min Read

Y

Sometimes you need someone to tell you your story.

By “sometimes” I mean more often than you might think. And most essentially in those seasons when you feel unmoored and aimless. If you lose the plot, then it’s hard to remember your role and to develop your character.

By “someone” I mean someone else. Not you. We humans are famously inept at seeing ourselves, our contexts, and our stories with unbiased clarity. If you’re the only one ever telling you your strory, it’s probably merely the story you want to hear.

“Your story” means the the whole grand narrative. The whole big mixed bag of wins and losses, peaks and valleys, heroes and villains. The unvarnished version. The one that includes your mistakes, your parents’ mistakes and your grandparents’ mistakes. If it’s too highly edited, then it’s fiction rather than reality—and the aim of the spiritual life is to live in Reality.

Somewhere in the telling, as you just sit back and listen to your story as it is retold to you, and if you can receive it as freely as your life came to you in the first place, you will catch glimpses of your true self. And in catching glimpses of your true self, you will also catch glimpses of God.

(See Deuteronomy 32:1-14, 18)

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Melody Has A Power

3 days ago

2 Min Read

M

Melody has a power to make words stick. Songs rise up within us when we least expect them. They have a way of singing themselves within our own hearts and minds. Neuroscience can explain this quite well, but it doesn’t take a neuroscience to feel the power of music.

Songs teach. “A, B, C, D, E, F, G…” ingrains in children the basic building blocks of written human language.

Songs focus. “Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere,” helps distracted little minds to stay on task.

Songs celebrate. “Happy birthday to you!” rejoices that someone who at one time did not exist, then came into the world, and is still—thankfully!—present in our lives.

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How to Pray in the Desert

3 days ago

2 Min Read

H

The Psalms are a tried and true guide for prayer for two key reasons: They teach us how to pray from right where we are, and they invite us to pray beyond where we are.

More than once, David found himself hiding out in the Judean wilderness like a fugitive. One time, he was fleeing King Saul, whose jealousy of David had taken a murderous turn for the worse. Years later, after being crowned king, his own son, Absalom, staged a coup, sending David on the run, barefoot and weeping.

Though the exact occasion is ambiguous, Psalm 63 contains this prescript:

A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.

Nothing like writing a song while you’re running for your life! Yet, as is often true in the arts, the most harrowing experiences often give birth to the greatest beauty.

David begins begins thirsty in the desert, but does not stay there. His own song carries him away…

To the good old days in God’s glory.

Lost in God’s love—better than life itself!

Hands and voice lifted in praise.

Soul fuller than a belly after Sunday supper.

Heavenly dreams in the night.

Singing like a baby bird under its mother’s wing.

Holding on to God; held by God.

(See Psalm 63:1-8).

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The Power of Opinions

5 days ago

2 Min Read

T

You don’t have to voice your opinion.

About who your sibling marries. About who gets to be the leader. About where we go from here. About what’s on the menu. About how someone runs a program. About the quality of the performance. About the font in the document. About the way the teacher teaches. About the songs sung in church. About the color of the carpet.

It is possible to form no opinion on this matter and not be troubled in one’s mind; for things themselves are not of such a nature that they can create judgements within us.
—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Often, our opinions cause us more trouble than they’re worth. Not because they’re wrong. Not because they’re right and the wrong people are angry. But because opinions take on a power all their own.

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In All Your Travels

5 days ago

1 Min Read

I

God’s presence appears in different ways in different light. His guidance comes in different forms in different seasons. Part of the spiritual life is learning to discern when a fire is just a fire. When a cloud is just a cloud. When a bird is just a bird. When a dream is just a dream. When a hunch is just a hunch.

And when, despite all the hundreds of other similar fires, clouds, birds, dreams, or hunches you’ve experienced, this one is different. This one resonates with divine nearness. This one pulls you into the wilderness like a magnet.

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Anything Worth Building

1 week ago

1 Min Read

A

Anything worth building is worth building well. The details matter.

Anything worth building is worth making beautiful. The artistry matters.

Anything worth building is worth involving others. The community matters.

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On Creativity

1 week ago

1 Min Read

O

We humans are inherently creative creatures. Because we bear the image of the Creator, we simply can’t help ourselves.

Someone always has a song to sing. A book to write. A scene to paint. A figure to sculpt. A screenplay to draft. A garden to plant. A building to design. A product to develop. A business to found. A line of code to engineer. A community group to form. An initiative to launch. A lesson to teach. A dish to cook. A lesson to prepare.

Do you want to create something beautiful and useful for others? Here’s some quick advice:

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Being With / Doing For

1 week ago

1 Min Read

B

The most important thing a church leader can do is to simply meet with God. Solitude. Silence. Listening. Intimate fellowship with the divine.

The second most important thing that a church leader can do is to take a younger leader-in-training along with them to meet with God.

The most important thing that a younger leader-in-training can do is to learn how to meet with God. To apprentice in the ways of solitude, silence, listening, and intimate fellowship.

The second most important thing that a younger leader-in-training can do is to stay in “the tent of meeting” long after the older leader has left. To double down on meeting with God rather than rushing out into all the busyness of ministry.

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Risky Worship

2 weeks ago

2 Min Read

R

“Aslan is a lion—the Lion, the great Lion.”
“Ooh” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion”…
“Safe?” said Mr Beaver… “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Musical worship has become quite an industry. Our pop worship tends to be rather “safe.” In order to promote more streams and sell more tickets and VIP concert packages, all the rough edges must be smoothed off. Don’t be too edgy or avante garde. Play it relatively safe if you want to make a buck.

In our local congregations, we prefer the songs we know and love. We like our hymns sweet, our praise choruses encouraging, and our rock and roll loud and driving. If you want us to sing along, make us feel good by playing the tunes we know the way that we’re used to singing them.

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