Remembering Rich Mullins

Rich Mullins passed away 20 years ago today. In a world where far too many Christians have aligned themselves with the Pharisees, we need to hear his voice and his music more than ever. The world  needs Ragamuffins. Here's what I want you to remember about him...

In August of 1990, I got to spend a week with singer-songwriter Rich Mullins in NC. We were together at a Quaker youth conference, where strangely enough Rich was the speaker and I led music and worship. That week changed my life (you can read more by clicking here). The last night of the week Rich performed in front of the entire conference, both youth and adults.  We all assumed he would play songs off his newest project, or perhaps his biggest hit, Awesome God.  Instead, he sat at the piano and performed Sing Your Praise To the Lord, a song he had written but that Amy Grant had recorded, and Elijah, a song from one of  his first albums.  As always, Rich sang not to sell tapes, but to praise God.  The next morning, as we said farewell, we prayed together one last time, and then he said he had something for me.  I had told him about our TNT program at Springfield Friends Meeting and how we gave away door prizes, with the best prizes often being tapes or CDs.  He gave me a box of his CDs and tapes, and another box of T-shirts to use as giveaways. This was part of the way he made a living- and he just gave it away.  Another lesson learned in my life.

His influence would be felt in so many ways in my ministry in the days and years that would follow.  My students who had been at North Carolina Yearly Meeting came back fired up and ready to follow Jesus!  From that day forward I taught the 10 Commandments and the Beatitudes at least once a year, and tried to find ways to get the youth really into learning them.  He inspired me to start taking groups of students to work in our local soup kitchen on a regular basis, and later would inspire mission trips.  Soon everyone at Springfield was listening to Rich's music and wearing one of his T-shirts.  The two shirts carried serious messages. One said "Live like you'll die tomorrow.  Die knowing you'll live forever!"  The other simply said "Alrightokuhhuhamen," the title of one of his songs (Another thing Rich taught me- AMEN means YES- not "the end.").  The song was all about saying YES to God.  I made banners to put up in youth room at Springfield and in "The Attic" in Kissimmee with just Alrightokuhhuhamen printed on them.  By Kissimmee, we were singing Awesome God and Sometimes By Step on a regular basis.  His impact on my ministry was tremendous.

So was his influence on my life.  Along with Mike Yaconelli, Rich was one of the two guys I was ever around who just oozed Jesus.  Listen to this quote from one of his final concerts: 

"Jesus said whatever you do to the least of these my brothers you’ve done it to me. And this is what I’ve come to think. That if I want to identify fully with Jesus Christ, who I claim to be my savior and Lord, the best way that I can do that is to identify with the poor. This I know will go against the teachings of all the popular evangelical preachers. But they’re just wrong. They’re not bad, they’re just wrong. Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in a beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken..."  

He moved out of the music scene in Nashville in 1991 to Wichita, Kansas, where he attended Friends University and received a B.A. in music education.  He and fellow Ragamuffin Mitch McVicker (the Ragamuffins were the band he had formed in 1993) moved to a Navajo reservation in New Mexico in 1995 to live among the Native Americans and teach music.  For Rich, "What Would Jesus Do?" was not a bracelet- it was the driving question of his life.  And because I knew that, his music was a moving force and a comfort in my own spiritual journey.  At times when I struggled with my faith his song Creed reminded me "I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am."  At the lowest points of my life, when I had let down everyone who loved me and everyone who believed in me, his words reminded me that "There's bound to come some trouble to your life, just reach out to Jesus and hold on tight..." As I lost so many of the things that had been important to me, I found myself praying his words daily:  "Hold me, Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf.  You have been King of my glory, won't you be my Prince of Peace?"  So many of his words showed me the light of Jesus in my darkest times.  No matter how bad it seemed, I knew I was still in"the reckless, raging fury that we call the love of God..."  Even his final project, The Jesus Record (see picture at top), promised me that "our Deliverer is coming..."

Rich was killed in a car accident on September 19, 1997.  I cried, but Rich himself had already written about going to be with Jesus in his early classic Elijah- "When I leave I want to go out like Elijah, with a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire.  And when I look back on the stars, it'll be like a candlelight in Central Park- and it won't break my heart to say goodbye..."  He left such a legacy in my life.  I am a Ragamuffin, a bum who is only important because of the love of Jesus.  And now, more than ever, I understand that my life belongs to God.  He still has a plan for me, and I will say YES when the time comes.  As the song says "You can argue with your maker but you know that you just can't win...so say it... Alrightokuhhuhamen!"  

Because of Jesus,

Follow Jesus- I Dare Ya!

Today I invite you take a look at why following Jesus is ALWAYS a little bit dangerous...

A scene from the 1989 movie, Parenthood:
Grandma: You know, when I was nineteen, Grandpa took me on a roller coaster.
Gil: Oh?
Grandma: Up, down, up, down. Oh, what a ride!
Gil: What a great story.
Grandma: I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn't like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around. Nothing.  I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it...

Among the life-altering things I remember reading in Leonard Sweet's 1999 classic SoulTsunami, was a section about what it is like to really follow Jesus. There is nothing risk-free about following the Christ. Yet so many pastors (especially those appearing on TV) seem to teach that the quickest path to the "good life" is becoming a Christian. They make it all sound so predetermined and orderly. Follow Jesus and you will quit sinning. Quit sinning and God will bless you. When God blesses you, life will be full of rainbows and unicorns. It's as simple as that! Well, no...it's not. There is nothing orderly about following Jesus, because in fact, the Good News is chaotic!

I have checked the gospels pretty thoroughly, and I can say with some confidence that Jesus never said any of the following:

"Come follow me, and I will give you perfect health."
"Come follow me and that girl will FINALLY love you!"

"Come follow me and I will give you power and wealth."

"Come follow me and I will put a steak on your grill and a Jacuzzi in your backyard.  OH- and a beach volleyball court!  Everyone loves beach volleyball!"

What he did say was to leave everything behind, take up your cross, and follow Him. The notion that your life will be all peaches and cream once you follow Jesus is just total BS. If you follow the living God, you will be tested. There will be risk. Just think about some of our biblical heroes and what they went through. Jonah was tested with a vacation in a fish. Noah had to build an ark ("What's a cubit?") while his neighbors laughed at him. Joshua marched around Jericho (Thank you, VeggieTales, for always making me think of French Peas pouring slurpees on them as they march...) for no apparent reason. Joseph was ambushed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused of hitting on Potiphar's wife and thrown in prison (not to mention losing a technicolor dreamcoat in the process) just to prepare him for what God actually had in mind for him. John the Baptist lost his head for Jesus- literally! Saul was blinded and went through a name change before he was ready to serve. Easy street? Low risk? I don't think so...

Jesus often taught that in order to make things right, we must first turn them upside down. He wants us to transform the first into the last, the weak into the powerful, the lost into the found. But all of that starts with the things we do with our own lives. If we really want to follow Jesus, we are going to have to get a little WILD! Psalm 115:3 reminds us that "our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases." We sing "our God is an awesome God" and then proceed to try to confine God with our own limitations. His creativity and unpredictability are beyond our comprehension. Remember Isaiah walking through town naked (Isaiah 20:2-3)? That was God's idea. Remember the Angels appearing to shepherds in the fields and singing them a good Christmas song? God again. Sacrificing his only Son so that we might live in community with Him? Only God. 

All of this leads me to wonder about my own life. I have always prayed for safety, comfort and low-risk opportunities to serve my Savior. In fact, to be a Jesus Freak is to pray for the opposite. It is to pray that God would turn my life upside down and lead me to risk everything in the name of the One who saved me. It is to welcome the trials that God will send my way. I believe more and more that the invitation to follow Jesus comes with an "I dare ya!" They are dares because when we truly follow His example, the people around us will look at us like the boy at lunch who used to eat bugs on a dare. Jesus dares us to love the way he loved. He dares to us share meals with the most offensive people around us. He dares us to believe that all things are possible with Him by our side. He dares us to love our enemies. He dares us to let love flow from our hearts even when we don't understand it. And Jesus dares us to follow -really follow- by taking up our crosses and following Him where He leads instead of constantly begging Him to join us where we are.

Many of us do not hesitate to get on a roller coaster that travels 90 mph down an 85 degree slope and flips us upside down and corkscrews all around. We love it. It excites us. And once we've experienced it, the merry-go-round does seem pretty lame. Thus it is with becoming a radical follower of Jesus Christ. Get risky and try it- I promise you'll never want to be just a "church member" ever again. Get DANGEROUS with Jesus...I dare ya!

Because of Jesus,

What If?

I have always been a fan of the question "What if?" In light of the turmoil, weeping and gnashing of teeth coming out of the General Conference meeting of the United Methodist Church over the past week or so and the general state of affairs in organized Christianity (an oxymoron if there ever was one!) this question has been on my mind. I'm not saying I'm right- that's what separates me from most of our leaders- I'm just asking. "What if?"

During the time of Jesus' earthly ministry he was surrounded by a very unique crowd of people. The religious leaders, the political leaders and the people who thought of themselves as righteous didn't care much for the Nazarene. Those who "took up the cross and followed him" were a pretty motley crew. Fisherman, tax collectors, prostitutes, Samaritans, radicals and (gasp!) women were all included in the entourage of the Christ. His 12 disciples were often foolish failures. Jesus himself was the subject of almost constant ridicule. Even his mission- dying for us- was a little cra-cra. None of his earthy life happened the way WE would have planned it or involved the people WE would have chosen. It all sounds a bit ridiculous.

In 2016 much of the Christian community is up in arms over the inclusion of people they have deemed unworthy. The LGBT movement is fighting for the right to be a fully functioning part of the both church and society. Women are asking for more inclusion and leadership roles. Young radicals are challenging the notion that the church should have more influence on Jesus than Jesus has on the the church. Politicians manipulate our congregations for support, and many Christians are buying the BS (not even realizing they are once again ridiculing the Messiah with their words) even as the Jesus Freaks remind us that God is far important than country. Many of these things are being loudly condemned as modern Christianity going to hell in a hand-basket. But "What if?"  What if all of these things are simply the Holy Spirit guiding us back to the days of Jesus. Back to the days when grace was the rule and judgement was the thing that was condemned; when all were included, no matter who they were or what they had done; when community meant taking care of those around you, no matter the need;  and when the son of a carpenter became the only man on earth who really mattered, pissing off the powerful in ways we can barely imagine. What if all of this current turmoil is simply the Kingdom of God being brought back into our churches by the One who died so that we may truly live?

Like I said, I am not saying I'm right. But I do believe it's a "What if?" worth asking...

Because of Jesus,

The Sermon on the Hill

Recently I worked my way through the wonders of Matthew 5-6, once again exploring the wondrous words of the Sermon on the Mount. For far too many Christians, these familiar passages are undervalued. This is Jesus at his most radical, turning the world upside down with his words. Just think of all the teachings included in this magnificent message. The Beatitudes, which the late, great Rich Mullins referred to as "the condensed version of everything Jesus wanted us to know." Jesus' teachings on salt & light. His constant reminders that "you have heard it said, but I say" as he explained that he had come to fulfill the law and the prophecies. His admonitions to let our word be our bond, to turn the other cheek and to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Teaching us to pray with the model we call The LORD'S Prayer. Reminding us not to be hypocritical or flashy as we serve others, give to the needy and fast. His much ignored teaching that earthly treasure is worthless in heaven. And finally, his reminder that we need not worry, because his Father - our God - will take care of our needs. This amazing set of teachings must have had the Pharisees pulling their beards out, because it was such a departure from the legalism of the day. And to be honest, it is a departure from the legalism often preached in the 21st century church as well. Jesus calls us to radical action and love. We prefer the words of Paul, which give us guidelines and rules we can argue about. Jesus is blunt, to the point, and preaching a lifestyle change that most of us try to avoid. The Sermon on the Hill is a blueprint for how to be a Jesus Freak. And that scares us.

But it should also give us hope. The sermon is a reminder that God's love is available to one and all, no matter our situation and no matter our sins. Check out these words from Philip Yancey:

“Thunderously, inarguably, the Sermon on the Mount proves that before God we all stand on level ground: murderers and temper-throwers, adulterers and lusters, thieves and coveters. We are all desperate, and that is in fact the only state appropriate to a human being who wants to know God. Having fallen from the absolute Ideal, we have nowhere to land but in the safety net of absolute grace.”   ― The Jesus I Never Knew

Philip wrote another great book called What's So Amazing About Grace?, and his words above answer that question. Grace, given to us in the form of the love of God whose name is Jesus, is always there. We cannot earn it. We will never deserve it. And yet it is always there to catch us when we fall. The Sermon on the Mount teaches us how to live in grace and share it with the rest of the world.

So here is my challenge to you today. Read Matthew 5-6, and read it slowly. Soak in it. Think about how world changing it must have been to stand on that hillside and hear those words. Think about what they mean to us as Christ-followers. And then get serious. Memorize The Beatitudes. They should be written on our hearts. Let's put the power back in the words of Jesus, and to the call he puts on our lives. It's time to get radical...

Because of Jesus,

Alrightokuhhuhamen!

For those of us who are Christ-followers we understand the architect of and our guide on the #NarrowRoad is Jesus. There is no one on earth, either in the past or present, who is like him. But for me, Rich Mullins came closest. I met Rich in 1990 at a youth conference in NC where he was the speaker and I led music. Yeah- I led music with Rich Mullins in the building. God does have a sense of humor! Rich's influence would be felt in so many ways in my ministry in the days and years that would follow that event. My students who had been there with me came back fired up and ready to follow Jesus!  Rich taught us all that if we wanted to be Christians, we needed to understand the basics. We studied the 10 Commandments and the Beatitudes at his feet. From that day forward I taught the 10 Commandments and the Beatitudes to all of my youth groups on a regular basis. He inspired me to start taking groups of students to work in our local soup kitchen and later would inspire mission trips. Soon everyone at Springfield Friends Meeting (and then later at other churches) was listening to Rich's music and wearing one of the dozens of T-shirts he gave me. The two shirts carried serious messages. One said "Live like you'll die tomorrow. Die knowing you'll live forever!" The other simply said "Alrightokuhhuhamen," the title of one of his songs (another thing Rich taught me- AMEN means YES- not "the end."). The song was all about saying YES to God, and how that can change the way we see the #NarrowRoad. I made banners to put up in the youth room at Springfield and in "The Attic" in Kissimmee with just Alrightokuhhuhamen printed on them. They were great discussion starters. By my Kissimmee years we were singing Awesome God and Sometimes By Step on a regular basis. His impact on my ministry was tremendous. His guidance for following Jesus was even better.

Along with Mike Yaconelli, Rich was one of the two guys I was ever around who just oozed Jesus. Listen to this quote from one of his final concerts: "Jesus said whatever you do to the least of these my brothers you’ve done it to me. And this is what I’ve come to think. That if I want to identify fully with Jesus Christ, who I claim to be my savior and Lord, the best way that I can do that is to identify with the poor. This I know will go against the teachings of all the popular evangelical preachers. But they’re just wrong. They’re not bad, they’re just wrong. Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in a beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken..."  Rich LIVED those words. He moved out of the music scene in Nashville in 1991 to Wichita, Kansas, where he attended Friends University and received a B.A. in music education.  He and fellow Ragamuffin Mitch McVicker (the Ragamuffins were the band he had formed in 1993) moved to a Navajo reservation in New Mexico in 1995 to live among the Native Americans and teach music. For Rich, "What Would Jesus Do?" was not a bracelet- it was the driving question of his life. And because I knew that, his music was a moving force and a comfort in my own spiritual journey. At times when I struggled with my faith his song Creed reminded me "I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am." At the lowest points of my life, when I had let down everyone who loved me and everyone who believed in me, his words reminded me that "There's bound to come some trouble to your life, just reach out to Jesus and hold on tight..." As I lost so many of the things that had been important to me, I found myself praying his words daily: "Hold me, Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf. You have been King of my glory, won't you be my Prince of Peace?" So many of his words showed me the light of Jesus in my darkest times. No matter how bad it seemed, I knew I was still in "the reckless, raging fury that we call the love of God..."  Even his final project, The Jesus Record (see picture at top), promised me that "our Deliverer is coming..." We all need people to inspire, to direct us, to comfort us and to mentor us on the #NarrowRoad. For me, both up close and from a distance, in his life and since his death, Rich Mullins was often that person.

Rich was killed in a car accident on September 19, 1997. I cried, but Rich himself had already written about going to be with Jesus in his early classic Elijah- "When I leave I want to go out like Elijah, with a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire.  And when I look back on the stars, it'll be like a candlelight in Central Park- and it won't break my heart to say goodbye..." He left such a legacy in my life. I am a Ragamuffin, a bum who is only important because of the love of Jesus. Rich (along with Brennan Manning and so many others) taught me the more we come like Ragamuffins the clearer we see the #NarrowRoad, and the clearer we see the purer our hearts become. "And the pure in heart shall see God." I know that God still has things for me- yes, even ME- to do, and if I follow the path of Jesus then I will say YES when the time comes. As the song says "You can argue with your maker but you know that you just can't win...so say it...Alrightokuhhuhamen!" 

Because of Jesus,

Get Out of the Boat

We have spent over 6 months talking about what it is like to try and live life on the #NarrowRoad. At least one answer we have come to is this- it ain't easy! There are challenges to following Jesus, both in our daily walk and on our long-term spiritual journey. But if we think following Jesus on dry land is tricky...

In Matthew 14 we read of the time Jesus walked on water. There was great surprise and even some fear on the part of the disciples in the boat he was was walking towards- they thought he was a ghost!- despite all they all previously witnessed from him. But once his identity had been established and their fears calmed, Simon Peter did what Simon Peter always did- he tried to jump to the front of the line. "Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you on the water." When the Master replied, "Come" Peter was off and walking. What a moment earlier had seemed impossible was now being done by the official screw-up of the 12. He took several steps on the water before it occurred to him that this was actually pretty ridiculous. He was walking on freakin' water!!! He panicked and began to sink before Jesus reached out to save him (because that's what he does). The Messiah asked Peter why he had doubted and had so little faith, and there is no record of Peter's reply. But I know what mine would have been. "Little faith? Dude, I just walked on water. You say little faith- I say 3 steps no one besides you has ever taken before! I may have stumbled, but at least I got out of the boat. You called and I came to you in the waves. I ROCKED IT!" What had just happened was amazing and they all knew it. Which is why in verse 33 they bowed in worship, saying "truly you are the Son of God!" 

Whether on dry land or in the water, life on the #NarrowRoad was never meant to be safe and humdrum. Jesus calls us all to be different, to be radical and to be risk takers. It is indeed very difficult to walk on water if you never leave the boat. What does it look like for Christians to metaphorically get out of the boat? It means loving people the world doesn't love. It means giving up things that are important to us so that others may be blessed. It means that when Jesus says "come to me" that we go- no matter where that leads us. Just like with Peter, taking the first steps to do these things will scary. We may sink. Sure, we can stay in the boat, go to church on Sundays and be safe in our faith. But we are warned in the Revelation of John that being lukewarm is a really bad thing. Being lukewarm- having a half-a**ed faith- can get you "spewed out of God's mouth." We are called to go for it, to dive into life with the Savior. We will fail if we think we can do it on our own. But walking with Jesus, we can accomplish the improbable. We will no doubt stumble at times. But stumbling is better than sitting in the boat. I want to take those steps. I want be able to scream to the heavens, "I am not Jesus, but I seek to be like him. I took 3 steps. WOOHOO!!!" And if I keep my eyes on Jesus, perhaps I really can do things I never dreamed possible.

What boat do you need to step out of today? Where (or to what) is Jesus calling you that you are afraid to go? Who is Jesus calling you to love today that makes you feel uncomfortable? If our lives on the #NarrowRoad makes us feel all safe and comfortable, chances are good we have wandered off the path again. Get out of the boat. And then trust in Jesus to carry you through the storms.

Because of Jesus,

Thunder Road

"Heaven's waiting on down the tracks 

Oh-oh come take my hand 
We're riding out tonight to case the promised land 
Oh-oh Thunder Road oh Thunder Road..." ~ Springsteen

When talking about the #NarrowRoad that we walk when following Jesus we often think of it as peaceful and serene place, a place where we walk in quiet solitude. This is not always the case, and scripture makes this very clear. Over the weekend I was reminded of this and also of one of the greatest nicknames ever bestowed upon human beings. In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 3, we read a synopsis of Jesus calling the 12 disciples. If you are like me, the disciple you can relate to the most is Simon Peter- because he was as big a screw-up as we are, yet Jesus built the church on his faith. Who wouldn't love to be a Simon Peter? But also among the 12 are the brothers James & John, the sons of Zebedee. Let me press pause and say that if the story ended there, James & John would already be awesome, because Zebedee may be the best name ever! I would have fought to name my son Zebedee, but I enjoyed living with my wife and didn't want to spend all of my time praying to the patron saint of lost causes. Still, just being the sons of Zebedee would have been cool enough. But Jesus gave them a nickname that transformed them into rock stars. He called them "Boanerges," which means Sons of Thunder. While no explanation is given in scripture, it is assumed by scholars (and me!) that this nickname was a reference to their bold and zealous personalities - illustrated by a later incident in which they wanted to "call down fire from heaven" to destroy the people of a Samaritan village who had refused to allow Jesus and His apostles to pass through on their way to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51-56).  These guys knew what it meant to be passionate for Jesus. They had the fire in their eyes. These guys understood that the #NarrowRoad sometimes needs to be Thunder Road!

And clearly their Master appreciated this in the two brothers. James & John were always there (along with Peter) when Jesus needed his "inner circle." James would go on to be the first of the disciples to be martyred (Acts 12:2) and John would write his "revelation" from prison on the island of Patmos. These were men who gave their lives to Christ, not just in word, but in deeds- in big, honkin', passionate deeds. 

So it seems to me that walking the #NarrowRoad may require us to be a part of a 21st century chapter of the Sons of Thunder. This would be a group of believers who understand that following Jesus is everything. They would understand that being a people of love, grace and peace is not a weakness, but a bold stance for our Savior in this world we live in. The modern Sons of Thunder would be a radical presence for Jesus in our communities and a passionate thorn in the side of the institutional church. I am not much of a joiner, but this is a group I want to be a part of- and soon! How about you? The team would be filled with folks (male & female!) with the cajones to call down fire from heaven when the occasion calls for it. To join is to understand that if Jesus were walking the earth today he would be hanging out with the most unlikely people, demanding peace and justice, confronting false idols and fake teachers and calling us to do the same. Accepting such a call is not without risk. Your passion may offend your neighbors and other Christians. Your churches may be among the first to disown you. The love and grace you offer to others may baffle them. You will almost certainly be called upon to sacrifice for the cause. You may receive a vision from God that will confuse people for the next 2000 years. But when it comes to following Jesus, I am ready to make some noise. It's time to bring the thunder...

Let's be bold together and change the world. Let's be radicals for Christ. The 1st century Sons of Thunder helped turn their world upside down. A modern version could do the same. If you're in, leave me a comment and let me know. Seriously. It's going to be a wild ride on the #NarrowRoad. And we're going to have AWESOME t-shirts...

Because of Jesus,

A Modern Prophecy

There was a Flashback Friday post all queued up for today, but last night God gave me a new plan and a different kind of flashback. I was listening to my iPod and heard the classic Larry Norman song The Great American Novel (1972). The late singer was one of the first prominent voices of the Jesus Movement of the early 1970s and a pioneer of contemporary Christian music. To my mind he was clearly a leading voice of that generation and I have long loved his music. But as I heard this song last night the lyrics overwhelmed me, just like hearing it for the first time. The song seems to have been written for a time such as this. No matter your politics or your point of view, the words are like ants in your underwear- uncomfortable, irritating and hard to shake off. There are lines that make me angry, yet are difficult to refute. In scripture, prophecies were always painful to hear. This 43 year old song speaks to NOW in ways that can only be called prophetic. Listen & watch. Think about the lyrics. Squirm a bit. And don't miss the truth and the hope found in the very last line of the song. Then get down on the knees of your heart and pray for my country. As another prophetic radical once said, "Let those with ears to hear...hear!"

Because of Jesus,

It's Time to Bother Jesus

Jesus & Zacchaeus

Stop me if you have heard this one-"Christians are nice." For many people in the 21st century, "nice" has become the defining characteristic of the followers of Jesus. People who are wild, different, rude or aggressive can't possibly be Christians. Christians are polite and that is what sets them apart in this rude world we live in. Christians may not love the people around them and they may condemn them under their breath, but we are always nice to people so they will think we love like Jesus loved. We would never want them to feel inconvenienced, and we certainly don't want to trouble God with our worries. When did this happen? When did followers of Jesus quit being wild-eyed, radically counter-cultural world changing & dangerous disciples and start being "nice?" And more importantly, how do we fix it? How do we get back to being Jesus Freaks?

In Luke 8:40-56 you can read the story of the Jewish leader Jairus and his daughter who is on the verge of death. He goes to see Jesus, to ask him to come to his home and heal his daughter. Jairus has great faith that Jesus will make her whole again. As Jesus begins to follow Jairus home they are interrupted by a bleeding woman who also seeks healing from the teacher. After the delay, as they are about to continue their journey, word comes that the daughter is dead. The messenger ends his statement with these words (Luke 8:49):"There is no need now to bother the teacher." It is a message that we modern believers have taken to heart.

I believe that we have quit being world changers in great part because we have decided not to bother the Master. We concentrate on doing things we might be able to do without him- like being nice. After all, the Creator of the universe doesn't really have time for our petty needs and prayers, does he? In fact, not only does Jesus not mind being bothered, he LOVES it! Think about some of the people in scripture who went out of their way to bother Christ. Blind Bart. The leper at the gate. Zacchaeus.The friends who lowered their paralyzed friend through the roof. Mary and Martha when Lazarus was dying. Nicodemus.The bleeding woman who grabbed hold of Jesus' robe. Jairus and his daughter (she lived!). None of these folks were polite. None of them waited their turn. All of them practically screamed at Jesus for help. And he did miraculous things in every case. Each of them decided that bothering the teacher was the only option they had left, that Jesus and ONLY Jesus could help them. And help them he did...

I don't know about you, but I think it is time to bother Jesus. It's time to pray big prayers and dream big dreams. It is time to return to the faith of those first followers of Christ who knew that in order to change the world they had to be radical believers. If we want to be like the church found in the book of Acts and turn this world upside down then we need to quit being so polite. I want to treat people with love and respect, but I don't want to be known for being nice. Nice is not a fruit of the Spirit. We cannot change the world on our own. It is time to bother Jesus.

Because of Jesus,

We're Mutts!

In honor of National Dog Day yesterday...

We're Americans, with a capital 'A', huh? You know what that means? Do ya? That means that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent country in the world. We are the wretched refuse. We're the underdog. We're mutts! Here's proof: his nose is cold! But there's no animal that's more faithful, that's more loyal, more lovable than the mutt.   - John Winger  (Bill Murray in Stripes) 

The above quote is part of a hilarious scene from the great 1981 comedy, Stripes. But there is also a great deal of truth in the speech. And, I'm afraid, it is a truth we have forgotten. It seems to me that far too many of us here in the good ol' US of A have become elitists. Instead of mutts, we see ourselves as the pure breeds. Not only do we no longer embrace the role of underdogs, we are dismissive and often afraid of those who do. We worry about who we let live in our country. We worry about who we might have to sit next to on the bus or in a restaurant. And worst of all, we worry about keeping the riff-raff out of our churches.  

I read a story recently of a man who was thrown out of a church service on a Sunday morning when someone in the congregation recognized him as one of the local panhandlers. The pastor told the ushers to ask this homeless man to leave. He didn't belong there because his presence was upsetting the "good people" who were members of that church. I hate to break it to that pastor and his flock, but when that man left that building, Jesus went with him. Read the gospels and you will be overwhelmed with the number of people Jesus hung out with who would be banned from our churches today. We often claim it's a safety issue. More often than not it's a love issue. We love the people who are like us, forgetting that Jesus came for the sick, the lost, the lame, the sinners and the homeless. He came for the felons, the illegal immigrants, the unwashed and the ugly. Jesus came for the mutts. And the sooner we in the church remember that Jesus loves the "least of these" every bit as much as he loves the saints, the sooner we can actually show the world what a Jesus Revolution looks like.  Everyone matters.

I see commercials all the time inviting us to adopt stray dogs and give them the love and attention they need. That's a great idea- for the church. Let's start adopting mutts. You can start with me. My name is Carl, and I am part of "the least of these." I have been a "notorious sinner." My nose is cold, and my heart is faithful.  Jesus loves me.  How about you?

Because of Jesus,

#DangerDays: Let It Go

Unless you have been living under a rock...and I mean a REALLY BIG ROCK...then you are aware of the hit Disney movie Frozen. If you know families with small children, then you also know that most of the world's kids have memorized the Oscar winning song Let It Go. The song is everywhere. Parents run headlong into the #DangerDays when they try to take the Frozen soundtrack out of the car CD player. Fortunately, it is a great song, especially as sung by the incomparable Idina Menzel (or as John Travolta calls her, Adele Dazeem). The song is all about being yourself, about letting go of the things you have always pretended to be and allowing your true gifts shine through. The song has a powerful message about self-esteem and grace. If for some reason you are not familiar with it, here's my personal favorite version...

Frozen is great. But as the great Arlo Guthrie says halfway through his 20 minute opus Alice's Restaurant, "that's not what I came here to talk about." I want to talk about our identity as Christians.

For many years one of my pet peeves about Christianity has been the ways we identify ourselves in this world. For instance, we often identity ourselves by our denominational affiliations. Think about it. How many times when someone asks you "what religion are you?" do you respond by saying Baptist, Methodist, Catholic or Unified Church of the Peons? I have asked that question quite often in my life and gotten a wide variety of answers, but the number of times that answer has been "Christian" is remarkably small. It seems to feel safer to most Christ-followers to share the tradition they are part of over the Radical Man who started it all. And by using the standards and practices of these small sects, it is far easier to keep out the riff-raff who are not worthy of being part of our churches. Seriously- there are more people than you think who think that way.

Another way we often identify ourselves is by listing the things we are against. We are against gays, against war, against abortion, against wearing white after Labor Day and against anyone who doesn't agree with our point of view on any of those sorts of issues. We boycotted over the suspension of a character from Duck Dynasty, for Pete's sake!  These battles - the Culture Wars - have become one of the single biggest identifiers we have to those outside of our walls. Patriotism and political party alliances have as well- which is fine unless those things are pre-requisites for admission to our Jesus Club. For years now many Christians have been much happier to identify themselves by the labels they wear, the lists of rules they follow and the issues they fight rather than by their affiliation to Jesus. I mean after all- that Jesus dude was kind of a wild hair, wasn't he? Taking him literally about all of the loving stuff could get you in big trouble...

But recently...very recently...I have felt a new hope for the Body of Christ in USAmerica. Pope Francis gives me hope. By his words and deeds he has demonstrated a clear understanding that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing- and that the main thing for the Church is the love of God whose name is Jesus. I firmly believe he would identify himself as a Christian who happens to be Catholic, not the other way around. I feel the same way about the Bishop of the United Methodist Church here in Florida. Ken Carter is opening doors and encouraging churches to love their communities in a language that is clearly recognizable as that of the Christ. Ken is a dyed-in-the-wool Methodist. But he is a Christ-follower first. On Twitter, I read more and more of my brothers and sisters in Christ understanding that we have been majoring in the minors for too long, and that it is time to turn back to actually following Jesus himself instead of  worshiping those who write and preach about him. He is where we find our identity. He told us 2000+ years ago that the world will know we are his disciples by the way we LOVE. We've been too busy trying to prove we are "nicer" and more morally upright to have time to show the world that kind of radical, overwhelming, unconditional love. But the tide is turning!

However...finding your identity in Jesus means walking straight into the #DangerDays. Loving the hurting, the lost and the seemingly unlovable is very scary stuff. We are used to praying, "God I want to serve you by starting a new ministry at the beach" and feeling like we are open to God's leadings. Jesus says FOLLOW ME, which turns our prayers into "here I am LORD; send me!" We are used to excluding people to "keep our churches safe and pure," when Jesus (and the 5 Man Electrical Band!) says "everybody's welcome, come on in, kneel down and pray!" Following the Christ means being a servant, not a leader. It means making people more important than possessions or ideals. It means losing our lives so that in him we can find them. And that scares the crap out of us.

Is your identity as a Christian wrapped up in things other than Jesus? Then let it go! Just like in the song, dropping all of the pretense of "acting Christian" and really finding your identity in Christ will freak people out, make them nervous and leave you stepping into the #DangerDays in a whole new way. When you love like Jesus taught us to love there will be people who simply do not understand. When you turn your back on the normal and find your identity in Jesus, you may feel rejection from doubters and Pharisees- but so often Christ comes to us in the storm. Even fellow Christians may act like you have lost your mind and give you the cold shoulder. But when your life is defined by the Risen Savior, you can "let the storm rage on...cold never bothered me anyway!" For me, there is only one identifying factor for Christians- they will know us by our love. All that other stuff? Let it go...

Because of Jesus,

Taboo

ta-boo: proscribed by society as improper or unacceptable

Over my years in student ministry we often talked about the radical nature of Jesus. We sang songs like Radical Man. I heard gifted teachers like Tony Campolo tell me about the radical nature of following the Christ. We talked about becoming radical ourselves- maybe extreme enough to be considered Jesus Freaks. But most of us shrink from those thoughts in a world where following Jesus is becoming taboo. I'm not talking about being "christian"- just take a stand against the right things and for the right politicians and you can claim to be "christian." I'm talking about standing strong and telling the world who Jesus is and why He came. I'm talking about living like the resurrection actually happened and like Jesus is alive. And perhaps most importantly, I am talking about loving people the way Jesus told us to love each other. God does not care what country you are from, who you voted for or if you protested the "right" issues. According to Jesus in Matthew 22:37-39, the greatest commandment is to "love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And the second is like it- love your neighbor as yourself." If we truly believe that Jesus is "the Way, the Truth and the Life," then we will let nothing stand between us and living like we know Him. So be improper and unacceptable. Love the unlovable. Offer peace when the world wants aggression. Forgive when the world wants vengeance. Almost everything Jesus taught goes against the "normal" of the society we live in. Are you ready to be taboo?


Read these lyrics. And answer for yourself the last question posed- "Do you claim Jesus' name as the ultimate truth?" Have a blessed Sunday!

Taboo-  Ian Eskelin (from the album Save the Humans) 2004

For the sake of argument
Say Jerry Springer were the president
“No Inhibitions!”
The national theme
There’d still be one thing
Makin’ Donahue scream

“Taboo!”
We’ve come to the last
Taboo
There’s an audible gasp
When you claim there’s a God
Who’s objectively true
It’s taboo

Party on, let freedom ring
For the shock jocks and the gangsta kings
But mention Jesus in the public square
The tables turn and the tempers flare

Taboo
That’s a no-can-do
Taboo
The A.C.L.U.
Say when we sneeze
Could we please
Drop the ‘God bless you’
It’s taboo

God isn’t really dead
He’s under house arrest
Will Amnesty protest?
No I don’t think so

I could kiss a kangaroo
Sic my Spitz on your Shih Tzu
No one blinks at anything I do
Until I claim the resurrection is true

“Taboo!”
I’m breaking the last
Taboo
How about you?
Do you claim Jesus’ name
As the ultimate truth?
It's Taboo...

Because of Jesus,

#DangerDays - Going Against the Flow

This is another post in my series on the theme of #DangerDays.  Be sure to come back next Tuesday for a great guest post from Jason Huffman. God's gonna get busy up in here!

Back when I was a youth pastor (1978-2007) I almost always had a poster on the wall of my office, the youth room or the hall outside the youth room that said Go Against the Flow. The pictures were much like the one here, with a one cute fish (or in this case the actual "Jesus Fish") swimming upstream into the path of oncoming sharks and barracudas. It was often accompanied (as this one is) by the scripture from Romans 12:2 about not conforming to the world. The message seemed appropriate and straight-forward to me as it applied to teenagers. Don't give in to peer pressure. Be your own person. Be different. Follow Jesus. And the church (and youth group) were places where you could find love, support and encouragement to live the kind of radical, against the flow kind of lives that Jesus calls us all too. I loved those posters. They were decorations with a message!

But lately the idea of going against the flow has taken on a very different meaning for me. I am beginning to understand more and more that in our USAmerican society today, the flow that Jesus is calling us to go against is often the institution of the church itself. Not the Church of Jesus Christ, but this "thing" that we have created in our own image, full of politics, traditions and power struggles that have little to do with the Messiah. There is no doubt our world is a mess, and any Christ-follower who clings even a little to "the ways of this world" is clearly missing out on the abundant life Jesus came to bring us. It's the attitude of the church itself that scares me more. When Jesus began to swim upstream in his earthly ministry, the sharks and piranhas he encountered were most often church leaders. Pharisees. They were into judgement and using God's law to selectively condemn those who didn't fit into their vision of what a religious person should be. Jesus made it very clear that he came to call people to God by loving them, by offering forgiveness and grace and by serving and sacrificing. He spent his time with the very people the Pharisees were busy rejecting. While the Messiah was busy blessing the poor, the humble, the peacemakers and the merciful, the Pharisees were busy seeking power, money and an air of superiority they could hold over everyone. Jesus was their worst nightmare.

I see far too many "Friends of the Pharisees" in church leadership today. Christian leaders with the most power and prestige and with the loudest voices are far too often the very people seeking to create restrictions on who belongs in the family of God. They are judgmental and condemning, and have tried far too often to turn the message of Jesus and his church into a political one. Trying to find salvation and relationship with God through law failed miserably- that's why Jesus was necessary. Christ did not die so that the US could be a great nation. Christ did not die so that the rich would inherit the church or so that we could live comfortably and be free from persecution. Jesus did not sacrifice himself to teach us that gluttons, shellfish eaters or divorcees were the worst of sinners, anymore than he taught that homosexuality is the worst of all sins as we seem to keep screaming at the world today. Jesus died because God so loved us- every stinkin' sinful one of us- and wants us to spend eternity with Him. He came for the hurt, the lost and the seeking. Christ did not come to condemn the world, but to save it. Too many modern church leaders seem content to condemn first and hope that will lead to salvation. We want people to be like "us" before they enter into relationship with Jesus. And that's just wrong. In this day and this time I am becoming more and more convinced that following Jesus and following church "leaders" are often two very different things. And I want to go against the politically correct flow. I want to follow Jesus.

So what does this revelation mean to me as far as being bold, stepping out in faith and living in the #DangerDays? I currently have no standing or position of leadership in any religious organization - no mountaintop from which to scream. But I do have friends. I have pastor friends who have been exiled from ministry because they have stood up for the outcasts and were found to be "unworthy" themselves. I have friends who feel unwelcome at churches because they do not fit the mold of today's political Christian stereotype, but instead feel led to follow the example of Jesus and feed the hungry, take care of those in need and serve s peacemakers in our world. I have friends whose faith puts my own to shame who have been told their voices do not matter because of their lifestyle. And while I can't change any of that by myself, I can go swimming. As these friends fight their way upstream and face the sharks in Pharisees clothing, I can go first. I can swim interference, like a blocker leading a running back into the line. I can risk my own "standing" among Christian leaders by taking a stand for my friends who are hurting because they decided to live life with the outrageous love and grace that Jesus commands of us. I must...I WILL..speak out in their names and in the name of Jesus! I can now understand a deeper meaning for Romans 12: 2- "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." It's time to get dangerous. It's time to be a Transformer. It's time to go against the flow- even if that flow is driven by some of the famous voices in Christianity. The only voice that matters is that of Jesus. And his leadings will ALWAYS be dangerous!

Because of Jesus,

"I'll Have What He's Having!" (A Vintage Post)

(Originally posted 02/28/2010) - and Happy Birthday Lisa Jewett!

One of the great stories told about the late Rich Mullins in the book  An Arrow Pointing to Heaven concerns his time in the pubs of Ireland. Rich loved Ireland, and loved to spend his evenings mixing and mingling with the people at their local watering holes. Irish pubs are famous for their vitality and hospitality, but there was one odd thing about Rich enjoying them so much. He was a teetotaler- Rich did not drink alcohol at all! But still he would be in the pubs, telling stories and laughing with the people. And almost every night, according to author James Smith, Rich would be honored with the ultimate pub salute- patrons yelling out, pointing to him and saying, "I'll have a pint of what he's having!" They could see that Rich was overflowing- with the love of Jesus.

Over the years my youth groups were often accused of being the "life of the party." We were always very visible; we were often very loud. There was never any doubt that when we were together, we were having fun. Other youth groups were often jealous of the joy and freedom we shared. People we didn't know often weren't sure what to make of us- we never seemed "pious" enough to be a church group to them. We seldom had rules and regulations; we had a shared respect born from a love for one another. This often freaked parents out, but it made our ministry special and different. And people saw this difference in us. Every motel and every restaurant we ever booked invited us back and commented on how much they enjoyed having us- even the ones that were scared to death of teenagers! It's not that we were angels; I made bazillions of mistakes and we did not always represent Christ as we should have. When we did fail, we would address the mistakes, forgive each other, and move on. The band Stellar Kart once described grace with the words,"There will always be second chances and you'll always be on your first try." We tried to live out that kind of love. We were far from perfect, and we were sometimes obnoxious. It's just that we were Jesus Freaks, full of life, love and joy. We knew how to SHINE (Make 'em wonder what you've got, make them wish that they were not on the outside looking bored. SHINE, let it shine before all men, let 'em see your works and then let them glorify the LORD- Newsboys)!


There are so many people who have a view of the church as boring and joyless. It is my prayer that from New Garden to Springfield, on to Kissimmee and Chicago, Tampa and Waycross, that people who encountered my groups in restaurants, malls and everywhere else found themselves wondering where our joy came from. The answer, of course, is Jesus.  I hope that after they encountered me, surrounded by teenagers and singing Lean On Me in line at Disney World that people young and old looked at each other, smiled, and said, "I'll have a glass of what they're having!" - and that through our actions. silliness and love for one another Jesus was glorified! "They will know we are Christians by our love..."

One last thought- if you think that following Jesus is boring, I suggest you try reading your New Testament one more time...

Because of Jesus,