Throwback Thursday: The Legend of the Country Quakers

Happy Throwback Thursday! Yesterday was the great Tony Campolo's 80th birthday. Tony is one of the great storytellers our our time, quoted in sermons on a regular basis. But to celebrate here, I thought I would share my favorite story (originally posted in 2009) ABOUT Tony. It's one for the ages...

In the late 70's or early 80's (those years really run together in my mind!) Alan Brown showed up at my house one day having written most of a song about a blue pick-up truck. It was the type of song where heartbreak is all around- a true parody of country music. I helped him (very little) finish it, and it became legendary around Quaker Lake Camp and NC Young Friends events. As time passed, Alan was not around those events much and I took to singing it by myself. In 1986 I sang it at New England Yearly Meeting and it killed. It seemed that people everywhere could get into this song.

At the 1987 National Youth Workers Convention in Atlanta there was going to be a "talent show" at the annual Wittenburg Door Banquet. I had brought my guitar with me, and at some point Terry Venable, Ray Luther and I decided we would audition for the banquet and sing Blue Pick-Up Truck. The three of us had never performed the song together before, but we would be bound together by history. Ray would follow me as Youth Pastor at Springfield Friends Meeting, and then would follow Terry as Senior Pastor there. He was still Pastor there until December of 2014. Ray was by far the best singer of the group; I knew the verses; Terry was there for moral support! We auditioned under the name The Country Quakers. They let us sing part of the song and then told us we would get a call letting us know if we were in. The call came, and we would make our debut in front of 800  or so youth workers. 

The Wittenburg Door Banquet was a wild affair each year, and 1987 was no different. We were sharing a table with some Mennonites who were wearing suits and hotel shower caps. People dressed crazy, acted crazy and had lots of fun, all without the benefit of alcohol! Wayne Rice did his Sinatra impression ("I did it His way...") and Mike Yaconelli made fun of everyone. Before we knew it, it was our time to take the stage, one of the final acts of the night.

I introduced the song in my usual way- "How many of you like country music?" After the cheer went up in response, I said, "Well then you will hate this..."  It got a good laugh and started the song. The first verse and chorus passed with some laughter, but we had no indication of what was about to happen. People began to clap along with the music. After the second verse, as we started the chorus again, I jokingly yelled out, "Sing it if you know it!"  To our shock, they did!  "There's a blue pick-up truck where my heart used to be" rang out like Born to Run at a Springsteen concert! The place was now rocking, and we were really getting into it. Everyone in the place was standing and clapping along. The room itself was pretty dark, with candles on every table. Sometime during the final verse we noticed that someone at one of the front tables was standing in a chair and waving a candle. Others began to copy him, until he and some of the crowd were actually on the tables singing and waving candles. We couldn't really see at the time, but when the lights came up we discovered it was Tony Campolo, world renowned speaker and teacher, who had been the lead dancer! We received a huge standing ovation, and Wayne Rice told me he thought we might be the biggest hit in the history of the banquet. Tic Long, who selected the acts for the night, told us later he had chosen us because he thought we would get booed off the stage; we were supposed to have been the "Gong Show" act of the night! I just hate that this was before the days of video phones; I would love to have a tape of it all!

The next day we were full-blown celebrities. Everyone wanted to say hi and offer congratulations. Yohann Anderson wanted to publish the song. Tony himself stopped me in the hall to tell me how much fun it had been for him. The Wittenburg Door Banquet was discontinued shorty thereafter, so that was my one and only bit of  NYWC fame. It was also the one and only performance of The Country Quakers.  Always leave 'em wanting more, right? 

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,

A Gift For Youth Workers

This post first appeared October 23, 2010.

In the early 1980's David Bills introduced me to a magazine called The Wittenburg Door.  The name was a parody of the famous door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg that the great theologian Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to in 1517.  I immediately fell in love with the magazine, which was edited in those early days by Mike Yaconelli.  The publication was billed as "Christian satire," which made it a kind of MAD Magazine for the church.  It poked fun at the church and many of the people in it, pointing out our tendency to take ourselves far too seriously.  Each month they gave out the Green Weenie Award to the person who was found to be most embarrassing to the church.  The issue pictured here (from 1985) was one of my favorites.  In it they defended Tony Campolo from charges of heresy coming from church leaders- primarily because Tony chose to take literally the words of Jesus instead of their words.  It was a great read- if you could find it.

You see, The Wittenburg Door was not only published by youth workers in those early years, it also functioned just like us.  It was printed on plain paper- nothing glossy about it.  And you never knew when it was coming.  I subscribed for a number of years, and you could expect the January/February issue around June.  Later on it was sold and became a real magazine known only as The Door.  The "Wittenburg" has now been returned to the title, although I confess I haven't read an issue in many years now. 

The Wittenburg Door was considered a subversive rag by many church leaders back in the day- which was one of the reasons I loved it so much.  You almost felt like it should be mailed in a plain brown wrapper so no one would know you received it.  But it was treasured by many youth pastors- especially the ones who were a part of the Youth Specialties family.  The National Youth Workers Convention used to include a Wittenburg Door Banquet each year, with speakers and a talent show.  In 1987 (click here for details) I performed and had a a blast.  Upon returning home, I wrote a song parody of the Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show classic The Cover of the Rolling Stone, written by Shel Silverstein.  I intended to sing it at the next banquet- but never had a chance.  The banquets were dropped from the NYWC schedule. 

So today I reveal to you the words of this never before sung or seen tale of youth ministry.  Aside from changing one outdated reference, it's the same song I wrote in 1987.  It's meant to be tongue-in-cheek; being on the cover would more likely have gotten you fired than made you rich.  For everyone who has ever given of themselves in ministry with students, this song is for you!  Sing along!

Well we're big-time youth workers, tryin' to serve our LORD
And we're oh so very sincere
We sing about Jesus and we teach about truth
For three thousand dollars a year
We work with Bobbys and Jills who give us all kinds of thrills
But we're not sure what it's all for...
'Cause we won't get no richer 'til we see our picture
On the cover of The Wittenburg Door

{Refrain}
Wittenburg Door
Wanna see my picture on the cover
Door
Have to hide the copies from my mother
Door
Wanna see my smilin' face
On the cover of The Wittenburg Door

I've got some great volunteers who are up in their years
But they do everything they can
I've got a poor old gray-haired lady
Drivin' our worn-out van
Now it's all designed so God can blow kid's minds
And to strengthen their spiritual core
And they'll know who to go to when they see my photo
On the cover of The Wittenburg Door

{Refrain}

We got a lot of little teenage blue-eyed groupies
Who don't do a thing we say
We got a Purpose Driven guru
He's teachin' us a better way
We got hundreds of youth who come to us for the truth
Yeah they're breakin' down our doors
But I'll go out of style if they don't see my smile
On the cover of The Wittenburg Door

{Refrain}

Because of Jesus,

The Sheep & the Goats

The Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)

Jesus is speaking:
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.  All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'  "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'  "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'  "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'  "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'  "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Cute...but EVIL!  :)

I often told my youth groups over the years that when it comes to following Jesus, it is important to remember the following truth- Sheep are good, goats are bad. This teaching comes from what has always been one of my favorite scriptures (see above).  But for many in the church, this is one of the scriptures it is difficult to wrap our minds around.  Surely, we think as we read, Jesus meant something else.  He couldn't possibly have intended to say that how we treat those...those LOSERS!...is how we treat him.  Tony Campolo was once accused of heresy for saying that this scripture is indicating that we should treat everyone we come in contact with as if they are Jesus.  Not that everyone IS Jesus- that we should treat them as if they are Jesus.  What else are we to take from these words of the Christ?  The bigger question becomes this- what would happen if we actually lived out these words?  The world would be a very different place.  "The least of these" are the very people our world chooses to despise and ignore.  Not only do we not take care of the people Jesus is speaking of, we turn from them on the streets.  We accuse them of not trying or being lazy.  We tell them to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps"- even if they no longer have any bootstraps!  We think, and sometimes even say, that they are just getting what they deserve. (I thank God everyday that I don't get what I deserve, and you should too!) The roots of all racism and prejudices are found in the way we treat "the least of these."  This would not be true- this COULD NOT be true- if we were following these instructions from Jesus.


Jesus told us in various places in scripture to love our neighbor, to turn the other cheek and to love everone.  And yet Matthew 25 is often treated as if it was added to scripture by someone else.  Tony C. has often pointed out that this is the ONLY place in scripture where Jesus himself tells us what it will take to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The sheep- those who take care of their fellow man and treat others like they would treat Jesus- will join Jesus for eternity.  The goats? Let's just say they are in trouble!  We talk about faith and belief and understanding the Bible and so many things- but where is our compassion?  Where is our realization that there is "that of God in everyone" as the earliest Quakers believed?  Wearing a christian t-shirt, being against the right things, listening to christian radio and attending church on occasion will never replace loving and caring for the other humans with whom we share this space.  You'll still be a goat!  And goats are bad...


In Genesis, after Cain murders Abel and God asks where Abel is, Cain responds by saying "Am I my brothers keeper?"  In Matthew 25, Jesus emphatically answers that question with a YES!  So join the revolution- be a sheep!  Offer love and help and care to the very people who scare you, the people who make you nervous.  Lend a helping hand to the people society devalues.  God's love can and will change the world- but only if we share it with EVERYONE!  So join in everyone- BAAAAAAA!  I wanna' be a sheep- 'cause sheep are good!


Because of Jesus,

"It's Friday, But Sunday's Comin'!"

My Summer 101 series will return next Friday. Today we remember the ultimate sacrifice of the Cross.


The great Tony Campolo loves to share the story of the sermon he once heard preached on Good Friday in a Philadelphia church.  The pastor would tell a fact about the events of the day of Jesus' crucifixion, and then remind the congregation "but that was Friday...and Sunday's coming!" By the conclusion of the service the pastor was just screaming"FRIDAY," and the crowd would reply "SUNDAY'S COMING!!!" I once wrote a responsive reading for an Easter sunrise service using those words.  Here is part of that reading:
Reader:  It was Friday, and my Jesus was nailed to a cross.
Congregation:  But that was Friday...and Sunday's coming!
Reader:  It was Friday, and the guards gambled for Jesus' robe.
Congregation:  But that was Friday...and Sunday's coming!
Reader:  It was Friday, and the veil of the Temple was torn in two, and the sky turned as black as coal, and all the people were afraid.
Congregation:  But that was Friday...and Sunday's coming!
Reader:  It was Friday, and they rolled the stone in front of Jesus' tomb.
Congregation:  But that was Friday...and Sunday's coming!
Reader:  It was Friday, and the hope of the world seemed lost.  Peter had denied Him.  The others had deserted Him.  All they had worked for seemed for naught.
Congregation:  But that was Friday...and Sunday's coming!
Reader:  It was Friday, and my Jesus lay cold and dead.
Congregation:  But that was Friday...and SUNDAY'S COMING!!!

The congregation was encouraged to grow louder each time they responded, because "Sunday's Coming!" were not just words; they were a promise from Jesus.  Today, as we stare into the abyss of Good Friday, we must do it to remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us.  We do it so we understand that the grace of God that wraps us in His love was not cheaply obtained. We do it because when Jesus uttered the words "it is finished" from the cross, he didn't mean his life was done.  A better translation is "it is accomplished!"  He meant that sin had been beaten and that death had been "swallowed up in victory!"  Our separation from God was OVER!   And we do it because we- those who believe and follow the Christ-  know that this is only Friday...only a part of the story, not the end...and SUNDAY'S COMING!!!  Resurrection Day is on the way!!!!


Because of Jesus,

My First NYWC- Dallas, 1982

In honor of the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention beginning today in Atlanta, I am sharing this vintage post (with a few changes) that originally appeared here October 15, 2009.  Blessings to all of my friends who are attending this week- do something wild & crazy for me!


1982 was a very pivotal year in my life and in my ministry.  Somewhere along the road of this most interesting year, David Stone (see Influences: J. David Stone) suggested to me that I attend the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention (NYWC).  I knew ofYouth Specialties (YS) from their series of Ideas books and a few other youth ministry resources, which were really just starting to be published at the time.  I had never heard of the NYWC, and neither had anyone else I knew, but David made it sound like a place that I needed to be, and he was leading some of the workshops.  So I made plans to go by myself to Dallas in November of 1982.  I was 23 and venturing out on my own, and I had my doubts.  It turned out to be a  very good decision plus I came home with awesome belt buckle seen above.  Thanks Wayne Rice!

The NYWC in 1982 was not the same beast it is today.  Dallas was the only location, and there were only around 800 of us there, compared to the thousands they draw to multiple locations today.  It was held in a hotel ballroom with very limited sound equipment and no big screens or projectors.  And it was wilder- MUCH wilder!  Those were the days when YS was a stand alone company, not yet a part of the Zondervan (or any other) conglomerate, and they were much bigger risk takers.  I was clueless as to what to expect, but the opening general session told me all I needed to know- this would not be like any other "church" event I had ever atended!  Mike Yaconelli and Wayne Rice, the two head-honchos of YS, did a welcome and orientation, during which they roasted many of the denominations represented at the convention.  The barbs went something like this:

• How many Southern Baptists does it take to change a light bulb?  Just one- and it doesn't even matter if the light bulb needs changing!
• Pentecostals, the hotel pool is NOT available for mass baptisms!
• Episcopalians should note that hotel bar closes at midnight...
• There will be an all-night meeting of the Committee of Methodists in room 806 to determine if that committee needs to meet again tomorrow!
• Sorry, Lutherans, but the revolving restaurant at the top of the hotel is NOT available for a potluck supper on Saturday night...

They then did a "roll call" of denominations, and I was surprised to find out that there were a few other Quakers in attendance, all from Iowa, including my future friend Tom Klaus.  There were not, however, enough of us to qualify for an insult from the stage!

The next few days were among the most exciting, draining and educational of my life.  The workshops were amazing, with people like Yac, David Stone, Dennis Benson,Tony Campolo and Jim Burns opening my eyes to what student ministry could truly be.  Tony led a workshop called Issues that Divide the Church, and focused on the sacraments, abortion and homosexuality.  As you can see, we have made SOOOOO much progress over the last 27 years!  Jim Burns 2-part Advanced Youth Ministry seminar became the basis of almost everything I did for the next 10 years (I finally got to thank Jim in Pittsburgh in 2005!).  In those days, the general session speakers YS chose were there to challenge you to think.  No matter your theology or your politics, there would be at least one main speaker who would really tick you off!  The whole thing was like drinking from a fire hose- totally overwhelming!  And then there was The Wittenburg Door banquet.  The Wittenburg Door was a magazine published by YS that featured satirical humor, generally making fun of the excesses of the church.  It's now just The Door and YS let it go years ago, but at the time it was quite a thorn in the side of the mainstream church.  For their banquet in 1982, the speaker was Dick Gregory, the radical, outspoken African-American comedian who was not known for his religious views or church language.  He held nothing back as he spoke about our responsibility as Christ-followers to feed the world and take care of the broken and outcasts.  It was amazing, and I was among those who gave him a standing ovation.  Many had walked out far before the end.  My eyes were opened in a whole new way for about the 34th time that weekend!

It was also at this event that I met James Ward for the first time.  James was a featured musician at the convention, who came out looking like James Taylor- a skinny white guy in a white shirt and loose tie.  He say down at his piano and began to play, and JT disappeared and Stevie Wonder popped out!  He was incredible, and our paths would cross a number of times over the years.  His album Good Advice remains one of my very favorite contemporary christian recordings, even if it is on a cassette tape!  I also met and got to play guitar with Yohann Anderson (just YO to his friends!), the founder of Songs & Creations.  The Songs & Creations song book was the standard for youth group singing from the 1970's until the praise and worship movement of the 90's, and YO was the man behind gathering so many great songs in one place.  He led all the group singing at the NYWC until praise bands were discovered...

It would be 5 years before I returned to the NYWC (an event I would eventually attend 15 times, and speak at once) but the lasting impact of that first time would be difficult to overstate.  The lessons I learned and the connections I made would last the length of my ministry and beyond.  You will read many more NYWC stories as time goes by; you will hear some of these names again as well.  I returned to New Garden Friends Meeting more fired up than any $100 a month part-time youth leader ought to be, ready to make the student ministry there all it could be.  How could I not be excited, with the words of the greatest speaker I have ever heard, Tony Campolo, still ringing in my ears:  "You are thinking the world is too big, and one person can't change it.  Well you CAN change it!  YOU can make a difference!"  I was certainly going to try...

Because of Jesus,

The Friday Rant- Heresy!

Heresy-  a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma.

The tiny little corner of the Internet reserved for Christians and people who talk about Christianity has been abuzz over the past few weeks.  This uproar is over a book written by Rob Bell, pastor of one of the largest churches in USAmerica.  The book is called Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.  As this firefight between differing Christian factions heated up, it is interesting to note that at least 99% of the people in the conversation (including me) have not read the book- it is not actually in stores until March 15th (Beware the Ides of March!!!).  I do not know Rob Bell; I heard him speak once and have used his video series, NOOMA, on numerous occasions.  I do know that over the past two weeks I have heard very important Christian apologists battling over Rob's theology.  Among the more serious charges against him is that of heresy.  Many times, in blogs, articles and interviews, I have seen Rob labeled a heretic, all over a book he has written that very few have read.  Such talk gave me a serious flashback...

By 1985 I had been serving as a Quaker youth pastor for a number of years.  Despite my experience among Friends, my knowledge of the wider, wilder world of  Christianity was very limited.  The Quakers I worked with at the time were not only not in the mainstream, we had no idea where the main stream was!  "Evangelical" was a word we used to describe Christians who thought everyone else was going to hell.  I did know one thing- the person I had met who seemed to have the best grasp of what Jesus was trying to teach us was Tony Campolo.  I had heard him speak and taken two of his seminars at the 1982 NYWC.  I had heard him speak at the 1984 Young Friends Yearly Meeting sessions in NC.  With every passionate word that came out of Tony's mouth, I felt like I understood something new about Jesus.  That has never changed.  The words of Tony Campolo always feel to me like they don't represent the institution of the Church, or a political party or a specific form of Christianity.  They feel like they represent Jesus.  And I love him for that.

So imagine my surprise in 1985 when I discovered that Tony had been charged with heresy.  I didn't know about any of this until months after it happened and I received my copy of The Wittenburg Door in the mail (most likely about 2 months late- that was normal for the Door!).  The cover (see picture at top) said it all.  Editor Mike Yaconelli had devoted the entire issue to supporting Tony and satirically tweaking those who were labeling him.  The deal was this:  Campolo was the subject of an informal heresy hearing in 1985 brought about by several assertions in his 1983 book A Reasonable Faith, particularly his claim that, "Jesus is actually present in each other person."  Tony based his statement on a literal interpretation of Matthew 25:31-46, where Jesus says, "as surely as you did it to the least of the brothers of mine, you also did it to me."   The book became a hot button issue, and the controversy caused Campus Crusade for Christ and Youth for Christ to block a planned speaking engagement by Campolo.  Rather than take the biblical approach and sit down face-to-face with Tony, his detractors began doing interviews and writing letters in which they labeled him both heretical and dangerous.  The Christian Legal Society empowered a "reconciliation panel", led by noted theologian J. I. Packer, to examine the issue and resolve the controversy. The panel examined the book and questioned Tony.  The panel later issued a statement saying that although it found Campolo's statements "methodologically naive and verbally incautious," it did not find them to be heretical. (Summary from Wikipedia and my memory).  Many prominent Christians bashed Tony; just as many came to his defense.  But the damage was done.  Christians aired their dirty laundry quite publicly, and Tony's reputation took a major hit.

Tony would recover and go one to greater controversies (like praying with Bill Clinton in the White House and saying that Jesus loves Gay people too- horrors!).  He wrote another book called Partly Right that again infuriated many prominent Christians.  There are still many who see him as a heretic.  In the years since 1985, I have learned something very important about heresy.  It can be very destructive when the "heretic" in question is seeking to tear down the faith.  But it is not always a bad thing.  The other day on Twitter my friend Terry referred to me as "the original heretic"- and he meant it as a compliment.  Sometimes our established dogma needs to be challenged.  Nearly every revival in the the history of Christianity came about because someone did something that the Church hierarchy considered heresy.  The Pharisees thought Jesus to be heretical.  Peter's suggestion that you need not first be Jewish to become Christian was heresy.  Martin Luther and John Wesley were seen by many as heretics.  Spiritual growth is quite often the result of thinking about things in fresh and new ways that seem to conflict with the "way it's always been."  I often told my students that there were only 3 things I was not willing to debate. #1-"In the beginning God..."  (We could discuss the "how" but not the "who").  #2- John 3:16.  #3- In the end, God wins!  Everything else could be debated. dissected and discussed, because God is so much bigger than our questions and doubts.  Again I remind us- we are not called to follow Church doctrine- we are called to follow Jesus. 

I don't know what will happen with this Rob Bell mess, but I do know this.  I LOVE that it has us talking about what we believe.  I plan to read Rob's book.  I plan to discuss it with friends, and I fully expect to disagree on the content and the meaning with at least half of them.  And you know what?  Those disagreements will not destroy the Church.  If you believe any book has that much power, then your God is WAY too small.   Jesus will still reign.  Because regardless of what we think of anything else, Rob's title is at least "partly right."  God is love.  And Love wins!

Because of Jesus,

Reality Bites

Work Tour 2001 to Tijuana was a great experience by every standard.  The team from the Union Church of Hinsdale had done great work at the orphanage, both in building a wall and a restroom and in bonding with the amazing children who lived there.  Our adventure out into a small village to lead a VBS had been a rousing success.  The youth did a remarkable job given our limited Spanish, and they were amazed at the hunger of the village children for Jesus.  I even held my own leading music in Spanish.  We got to eat some awesome Mexican food from little carts (no water, please!) and be tortured by the kids from the orphanage who tricked some of us into eating the hottest peppers you can imagine.  We visited an amazing beach (see picture- sorry the quality is so bad).  And at Candle, UC's traditional closing worship for Work Tour, the youth said all the things you hope they will say about growing in faith and wanting to be more committed to following Christ.  It was indeed a legendary trip.

Our flight home had us changing planes in Denver (where there was a Burger King with no hamburgers.  I'm not kidding. Only chicken.  Too weird).  We had a rather lengthy layover there and I found myself sitting and watching the rest of the group interact.  I became aware of two things as I observed them.  One, I could already hear them longing for their creature comforts and down-playing the things they had seen in Tijuana.  And two, their leader was not me.  It was David Knecht.  He was one of them.  He spoke their language, knew their lifestyle and loved them all.  Once again I was reminded that I was not going to be with them much longer.  I was almost done plowing the road for David.

Upon our return to Hinsdale, not much really changed.  The truth of it was that these were rich kids whose parents saw everything as a priority over faith.  That was the reality, and sometimes reality bites!  The Work Tour team did not suddenly start showing up for Discovery or bible study.  They didn't sign-up to be part of the team for our monthly trip into Chicago and the Good News Soup Kitchen.  I know the trip made a difference in their lives.  But I sure couldn't see it.  It was like Tony Campolo's description of altar calls. He said far too many people "go down the aisle to Just As I Am; they kneel at the altar just as they are; and they return to their seats just as they were."  And when my summer brochure for 2001 came out, it was again greeted with a yawn.  "Might as well get used to summers off..."

By late June both God and Marilyn were telling me it was time to go.  Doors were opening, and I began to interview with some other churches- in a few interesting situations.  Those stories are coming Wednesday.

Because of Jesus,

Warning: Political Opinion

This is my attempt to contribute to the political discussion.  I will try not to do it again. Feel free to disagree with any part of what I say.  If you disagree with everything I say, then I will know you either didn't read it all or didn't "get"  it- and therein lies our problem...

Today is Election Day.  It's time to get out and vote for your favorite thieving, socialist, racist baby-eater.  Or at least (according to ads) that is all we have to choose from here in Florida.   But such is the state of our political system- the one who says the most awful things about their opponent has the best chance of winning.

Which brings me to this- it's been two years since Barack Obama was elected as our President.  It is currently very popular to scorn him and everything he does.  I would like to take a moment today and express my belief that many of us need to stand back and take a better look at the past two years, with an eye towards the next two.  President Obama has been heavily criticized on a number of fronts, and I certainly have had my share of disagreements with some of his policies. However, let's look at some facts.  While some of his social programs have not gone far enough for me, at least he is pushing Congress to take care of the "least of these."  His answer to the question "Am I my brother's keeper?" is yes- and I love that about him.  For many of those efforts he has been called a "socialist."  He is actually not proposing anything new.  Our taxes have always, in unequal shares, gone to support schools, police departments, fire departments and more.   He wants to ask more (taxes) of those who have and less of those who don't- and that makes the "haves" extremely uncomfortable.  I guess if I made over $250,000 a year I might feel that way too.  I didn't make that much (total) in 28 years of student ministry...

"Obamacare" (which has not yet had a chance to work or fail) has taken a beating on many fronts for many reasons, but I find it interesting that a health care bill has been championed by every President since Dwight Eisenhower.  Obama just got it done.  And, strangely enough, it is very similar to a bill once put forth by the patron saint of conservatives, Ronald Reagan.  He simply cannot win with some people, no matter the facts.

Speaking of facts, many candidates will lose today for being associated with the Obama administration as they have presided over the "current economic decline."  This is simply not true.  This administration and congress have had two years to attempt to overcome 8 years of "strategery" and more deficit spending than that of all the other administrations since Jimmy Carter- combined.  Think you know what is going on with the economy?  Read this (thanks to Jim Hancock for sharing this first):  …by a two-to-one margin, likely voters in the Nov. 2 midterm elections think taxes have gone up, the economy has shrunk, and the billions lent to banks as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program won’t be recovered.   — Bloomberg Businessweek, 29 October, 2010   In fact, none of that is true.  Bloomberg Businessweek sets the record straight:

• Fact: The Obama administration has cut taxes — largely for the middle class — by $240 billion since taking office on Jan. 20, 2009.
• Fact: The U.S. economy grew at a 2 percent annual rate in the third quarter as consumer spending climbed the most in almost four years.
• Fact: In the past year, the economy has grown 3.1 percent.
• Fact: The U.S. Treasury has recovered most of the $245 billion spent on the Wall Street bank part of the rescue, and expects to turn a $16 billion profit.

Taxes for most USAmericans have gone down not up,  and the economy is growing not shrinking.  But for whatever reasons, people do not believe this.  I understand the job market is awful- I have been unemployed for over three years.  But the past two years have been spent trying to tear down rather than attempting to move forward together.  Progress has been made, but we were promised change- and a lot people don't see it happening.  The rest of the people are scared to death that change will happen.  President Obama gets hit from the left and the right, and accomplishments go unnoticed.

Many of the candidates you will vote for today are good people, but the process and the money changes people.  I really like Senator John McCain.  In 2000 I hoped he would be the Republican nominee for President.  But once he became the nominee in 2008 he had to say things and do things he didn't really believe in to keep his party bosses happy and the money flowing.  I wound up having no use for candidate John McCain.  It happens to so many.  The process is so very flawed.  So here's my thing: I am not trying to convince you to re-elect Obama in 2012.  I am not pushing one party over another.  I am simply asking you to think.  If I was in charge, anyone who votes a straight party ticket on either side would lose the right to vote in the next election, because neither party owns "the solution."  Of my 3 all-time favorite politicians, one was a Democrat and 2 were Republicans.  My 3 least favorite are all Republicans.  No political party (and God knows no TV network covering them) can lay claim to having "the truth."  Only Jesus can make that claim, and (listen well my dear readers) Jesus is neither a Republican or a Democrat!  We need to elect candidates who are open-minded and willing to compromise for the good of "we the people" while still standing for the things they believe in that matter.  We need to elect women and men who understand the difference between public service and personal power.  And perhaps most importantly we need to elect folks who understand these words from Tony Campolo: "We have met the enemy- and he is partly right..."   We all have much to learn from one another.

I hope that wasn't too painful.  Tomorrow we return to Hinsdale for the beginning of Work Tour 2000 and some "uh-oh" moments.  I hope you will join me!

Because of Jesus,

One Wild, Wacky Day

I mentioned yesterday that on occasion youth ministry causes you to push the limits of sanity in order to increase excitement and attract students.  Over the years many of those days have occurred during the summer, especially during Youth Week.  Today I want to remember one very wild and wacky day.

Tuesday, July 8th, 1997 was a part of Youth Week '97, which featured the theme It's Good To Be Alive!  At the end of the day, I might have questioned that!  We began the day by meeting at FUMC-K at 9 AM and heading over to Disney's Yacht Club Resort and the character breakfast at the Cape May Cafe (see group picture above).  The all you-could-eat buffet featured every breakfast food you could imagine, including Mickey Mouse waffles.  One of my favorite parts of the meal was that I could get orange juice, coffee and chocolate milk all at the same meal without paying extra.  Plus, you got to eat with Pluto, Goofy, Donald and Minnie.  It was a great start to the day...but only the beginning!

We returned to the church around 11:30 AM, where many of the youth just hung out until 1 PM and the next phase of our journey.  Others joined us, and we headed to The Florida Mall for another of our famous Mall Scavenger Hunts, including the search for The Pink Panther (for an explanation, click here!).  After a long afternoon of invading every store in the mall in search of the answers to trivia questions, we returned to the church around 5 PM and the students went home..for a while.  In the meantime, I had more work to do to be ready for the final event of the day.

I had rented a huge, World War II era searchlight to use as part of the grand finale.  After the kids went home for supper, we hauled this gigantic light out into a large pasture on the outskirts of Kissimmee and prepared for the big finish.  When the crowd returned at 8 PM, we divided them into vehicles and gave them one task- find the giant searchlight.  As darkness fell, the light was turned on, and you could see it for miles around.  Determining where it was coming from was a bit more difficult.  Our original plan had been to have worship at the site of the searchlight, but it was brutally hot and there was thunder and lightning, so as groups found the site they were sent back to the church.  Some were able to find it fairly quickly; for others, it took a while.  Once everyone made it back to home base, we had snacks and settled in for a time of worship.  We finished around 10:30 PM and sent everyone home.  It was an amazing day.  Well over 100 students participated between the three events.  The Spotlight Search was another of those weird things we did that had the whole community talking, and had our youth saying once again, "I can't believe we just did that!"   And the day ended with dozens of students praising Jesus.  It just doesn't get any better than that!

I don't know that any of these events were particularly memorable to the youth who attended, but days like this were very important to the ministry.  They were days that Jerry Hanbery and I looked forward to every summer.  The great Tony Campolo once wrote a book entitled The Kingdom of God Is A Party.  I hope we communicated that feeling in our ministry, and in those wild, wacky days.

Because of Jesus,

Prayers for Haiti

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I wanted to take a moment away from my normal nonsense to lift up the people of Haiti as they deal with the aftermath of the horrible earthquake that rocked the small island country a few days ago.  I have never been to Haiti, but there are people and organizations for which I have great respect who were heavily invested in ministry with the people there.  My youth groups sponsored children through Compassion International for many years, and Compassion has a huge presence in Haiti.  Even as I write this blog Compassion is seeking to learn which children, teachers, doctors and ministers survived this tragedy.  My former youth and current youth pastor Ashely Goad Broadhurst has strong connections in Haiti and has been praying hard since the news first broke.  Tony Campolo and students from Eastern College built many schools and did much work there.  Tony often spoke of the people of Haiti being "the poorest of the poor."  I once heard someone ask him if they were evangelizing the population, and Tony responded "Not yet.  They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."  It is once again time to show how much we care.  If you can give money, please do.  If you have other gifts you can share, please do.  But all of us can, and must, pray for these earthquake victims and their families in the name of Jesus.  The Christ called on us in Matthew 25 to take care of "the least of these brothers of mine."  Today- right now- we have an address for those very people. It's Haiti.  Take time to care.

Because of Jesus,

"There's A Blue Pick-Up Truck Where My Heart Used To Be"

In the late 70's or early 80's (those years really run together in my mind!) Alan Brown showed up at my house one day having written most of a song about a blue pick-up truck. It was the type of song where heartbreak is all around- a true parody of country music.  I helped him finish it, and it became legendary around Quaker Lake Camp and NC Young Friends events.  As time passed, Alan was not around those events much and I took to singing it by myself.  In 1986 I sang it at New England Yearly Meeting and it killed.  It seemed that people everywhere could get into this song.

At the 1987 National Youth Workers Convention in Atlanta there was going to be a "talent show" at the annual Wittenburg Door Banquet.  I had brought my guitar with me, and at some point Terry Venable, Ray Luther and I decided we would audition for the banquet and sing Blue Pick-Up Truck.  The three of us had never performed the song together before, but we would be bound together by history.  Ray would follow me as Youth Pastor at Springfield Friends Meeting, and they would follow Terry as Senior Pastor. He is still Pastor there today.   Ray was by far the best singer of the group; I knew the verses; Terry was there for moral support!  We auditioned under the name The Country Quakers.  They let us sing part of the song and then told us we would get a call letting us know if we were in.  The call came, and we would make our debut in front of 800 or so youth workers. 

The Wittenburg Door Banquet was a wild affair each year, and 1987 was no different.  We were sharing a table with some Mennonites who were wearing hotel shower caps.  People dressed crazy, acted crazy and had lots of fun, all without the benefit of alcohol!  Wayne Rice did his Sinatra impression ("I did it His way...") and Mike Yaconelli made fun of everyone.  Before we knew it, it was our time to take the stage, one of the final acts of the night.

I introduced the song in my usual way- "How many of you like country music?"  After the cheer went up in response, I said, "Well then you will hate this..."   We got a good laugh and started the song.  The first verse and chorus passed with some laughter, but we had no indication of what was about to happen. People began to clap along with the music.  After the second verse, as we started the chorus again, I jokingly yelled out, "Sing it if you know it!"  To our shock, they did!  The place was now rocking, and we were really getting into it.  Everyone in the room was standing and clapping along.  The room itself was pretty dark, with candles on every table.  Sometime during the final verse we noticed that someone at one of the front tables was standing in a chair and waving a candle.  Others began to copy him, until he and some of the crowd were actually on the tables singing and waving candles.  We couldn't really see at the time, but when the lights came up we discovered it was Tony Campolo, world renowned speaker and teacher, who had been our biggest fan!  We received a huge standing ovation, and Wayne Rice told me he thought we might be the biggest hit in the history of the banquet.  Tic Long, who selected the acts for the night, told us later he had chosen us because he thought we would get booed off the stage; we were supposed to have been the "Gong Show" act of the night!    I just hate that this was before the days of video phones; I would love to have a tape of it all!

The next day we were full blown celebrities.  Everyone wanted to say hi and offer congratulations.  Yohann Anderson wanted to publish the song.  Tony himself stopped me in the hall to tell me how much fun it had been for him.  The Wittenburg Door Banquet was discontinued shorty thereafter, so that was my one and only bit of  NYWC fame.  It was also the one and only performance of The Country Quakers.  Always leave 'em wanting more, right? 

Because of Jesus,

Tony Campolo Stories, Part 1

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I have mentioned the name Tony Campolo several times already over the course of this blog, and it is a name you will hear several more times.  Tony is a preacher, speaker, professor of sociology and story teller supreme, and I came to know him through my participation in the National Youth Workers Convention.  His stories are legendary, and often a bit hard to believe.  In more recent years his adult son Bart was asked if his dad's stories were true, and Bart famously responded "Yes, they are true- it's just that dad remembers BIG!"  The story you are about to hear, however, I witnessed in person.  And it is still hard to believe...

After hearing Tony in Dallas in 1982 I began to push to have him as a speaker for our Young Friends Yearly Meeting sessions.  This surprised a number of people,as Tony was well known as a strongly evangelical speaker and this went against type for me at the time.  Having heard him in person, however, I knew he spoke of Jesus in real terms and challenged you to follow Him in real ways, not simply by responding to an altar call.  He once described altar calls by saying "people walk down the aisle to Just As I Am; they kneel just as they are; and they go back to their pew just as they were!"  They booked him for August, 1984, by which time I was no longer working at QLC or at New Garden, but I attended a few sessions just to hear Tony speak.  One particular night a crowd of youth and adults flooded Sternberger Auditorum on the campus of Guilford College to hear him.  What he said that night he had said before, in other places.  But for anyone who was there, it was unforgettable!

He spoke of God's love and grace, and he spoke of how only Jesus can bridge the gap between our sins and God's love.  He spoke of our responsibilities to feed the hungry, take care of the homeless and to be peacemakers.  He spoke of how he felt the church was too busy "majoring in the minors" and not busy enough doing the work of Jesus in our world.  And then he drove it all home!  As the crowd gave him "amens" and "yes, brothers" he stopped, and then started again with the following words:  "But we don't really care about our brothers and sisters around the world, do we? Over 3000 (number is not exact) children starved to death in the world last night, and you people don't give a sh*t!"  He paused again, and the air simply left the room as people gasped upon hearing such a word in such a place.  And then he nailed us all.  "And what's worse is that you are more upset that I just said sh*t than you are that 3000 children starved to death last night..."  Half the audience roared their approval as the other half sat in stunned silence.  It was a moment that helped define my faith and the direction of my ministry in the years to come.  I was determined not to "major in the minors."  Pointing students to Jesus was really all that mattered; language and politics and everything else simply were not important.  What many people don't know is that the following day Tony did a youth ministry workshop which featured a section in which he taught us "if you can't hear the word sh*t without throwing a fit, you have no business working with teenagers!"  All in all it was an adventurous few days.

My life was about to take some major twists and turns, and I would not be doing any actual youth ministry until December, 1985.  God had lots for me to learn in the meantime, and my education had begun with Tony.  I was always so proud of the fact that I was the instigator who brought him to NCYM for those sessions; he has since been back a couple of times. And Tony was not nearly done with my life- he would later dance on a table while I sang- but you'll have to keep reading to get to that story! It was time for me to take my twin passions of Jesus and social justice and see where God would lead me- and the journey was about to get weird...

Because of Jesus,

Sheep Good...Goats Bad!

The Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)

Jesus is speaking:
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory.  All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.  He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'  "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'  "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'  "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'  "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'  "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."


This has always been one of my favorite scriptures, but for many in the church, it is a hard one to wrap our minds around.  Tony Campolo was once accused of heresy for saying that this scripture is indicating that we should treat everyone we come in contact with as if they are Jesus.  Not that everyone IS Jesus- that we should treat them as if they are Jesus.  What else are we to take from these words of the Christ?  The bigger question becomes "what would happen if we actually lived out these words?"  The world would be a very different place.  "The least of these" are the very people our world chooses to hate and ignore.  Not only do we not take care of the people Jesus is speaking of, we turn from them on the streets.  We accuse them of not trying or being lazy.  We tell them to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps"- even if they no longer have them!  We think, and sometimes even say, that they are just getting what they deserve. (I thank God everyday that I don't get what I deserve, and you should too!) The roots of all racism and prejudices are found in the way we treat "the least of these."  This would not be true- this COULD NOT be true- if we were following these instructions from Jesus.


Jesus told us in various places to love our neighbor, to turn the other cheek and to love everone.  And yet Matthew 25 is often treated as if it was added to scripture by someone else.  Tony C. has often pointed out that this is the ONLY place in scripture where Jesus himself tells us what it will take to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The sheep- those who take care of their fellow man and treat others like they would treat Jesus- will join Jesus for eternity.  The goats- well let's just say they are in trouble!  We talk about faith and belief and understanding the Bible and so many things; where is our compassion?  Where is our realization that there is "that of God in everyone" as the earliest Quakers believed?  Wearing a christian t-shirt, being against the right things, listening to christian radio and attending church on occasion will never replace loving and caring for the other humans with whom we share this space.  You'll still be a goat!  And goats are bad...


In Genesis, after Cain murders Abel and God asks where Abel is, Cain responds by saying "Am I my brothers keeper?"  In Matthew 25, Jesus emphatically says YES!  So join the revolution- be a sheep!  Offer love and help and care to the very people who scare you, the people who make you nervous.  Lend a helping hand to the people society tells you to hate.  God's love can and will change the world- but only if we share it with EVERYONE!  So join in everyone- BAAAAAAA!  I wanna' be a sheep- 'cause sheep are good!


Because of Jesus,