Survive

I love my family and the friends that are a part of my everyday life, and I know you do too. They give us so much of what we need to face the world each day. But even so, all of us have other people in our lives that make life "doable." You know the ones I am talking about. The people who call us, text us, email us and pray for us even when we we seldom see them face to face. And sometimes....just sometimes...that's still not enough. We feel an overwhelming need to see them, to watch them laugh, to lock eyes with them and know that we are loved and let them know that we love them. These are the people who help us survive the ups and downs of daily living.

In 1979 Jimmy Buffett wrote a song called Survive for his album Volcano that has always been one of my favorites. In it he writes of being on the road but knowing that staying in touch with someone special helps him hold on to his sanity. He also expresses a passionate need to see the person again, face to face, even though he knows he will be leaving again soon.  Many of you know that I have been chomping at the bit to be able to see old friends and share hugs with so many people I have not seen in a long time. Part of that desire comes from a need to express to them how much they mean to me and how crucial their love and support have been over the last years while I was seeking to simply survive. This song is for you. It's not a hug- but it'll have to do until "I see you again..."

I play the stereo loud
When I'm away from the maddening crowd
Smokin', jokin', clowns we all are

Sometimes I kinda get real ill
When I receive my monthly telephone bill
But you say it and I'll pay it
`Cause it helps me to

[Chorus:]
Survive stay alive
'Til I see you again
Survive stay alive
Can't say where it ends

Clouds lift and there are mountains below
Been a while since I've seen any snow
Chillin' so thrillin' so good to be back

Feels nice to be home for a while
Let's sip champagne til we break into smiles
We'll go dancin' romancin'
`Cause your the reason I
Survived stayed alive
Through the thick and the thin
Survive stay alive
When will it all end

But my bags ain't unpacked
`Cause I've got to go back and play
But I know we'll both

Survive stay alive
Through the thick and the thin
Survive stay alive
Until it all ends

Survive stay alive
When will it all end
Survive stay alive
Till I see you again

Parrothead Theology

In the early 1980s I took a few Christian Education classes at a small Methodist college in Greensboro, NC. It was called (conveniently enough) Greensboro College. My favorites of these classes were taught by Dr. Jim Hull, an ordained UMC pastor who was famous in some circles for writing creative liturgies for large denominational and ecumenical events. He shared with us in class one day that for one such worship service he had done a call to worship using slides of the rapid changes going on in the world and the song Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes by Jimmy Buffett. When one of the Christian legalists in the class questioned the propriety of using Buffett music in a worship service, Dr. Hill responded with this quip- "There is more good theology in Jimmy Buffett's music than in most of the books I read in seminary." I have never forgotten that strange quote, and I have found it to be more than a little accurate in my own experience.

Now you might be thinking that Mr. Buffett may have written some thoughtful songs, but he has also written some very off-color tunes. You would be correct. Jimmy himself one once said, "People ask me how I can write those real sensitive songs and then write those real trashy ones. I tell them it's because I'm real sensitive on some occasions and real trashy on others."  With that deeply theological statement, Jimmy describes the human condition and our need for a Savior far better than most preachers. And with many of his song lyrics through the years he has often raised questions and made points that can help us better understand the work of God in our lives in this crazy world in which we live. Please know that I know, Jimmy seldom means to be spiritual. But for those of us who know the love of God whose name is Jesus, he offers unique insights. Witness the following examples:

*Changes In Latitude, Changes In Attitude - Our world changes at a pace that is often difficult to comprehend. Dr. Hull understood that while our faith is a very serious thing, too many Christians forget that life is often a laughing matter. We seek to control life instead of letting go and letting God! Sometimes we need to get a little crazy to survive.
"It's these changes in  latitudes, changes in attitudes.
nothing remains quite the same.
With all of our running and all of our cunning
if we couldn't laugh we would all go insane...
If we weren't all crazy we would go insane!"


*We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us About - A reminder that few of us turn out to be the safe, sane people our parents hope we will be. This is especially true if we follow the Wild One himself, Jesus of Nazareth. :)
"I was supposed to have been a Jesuit priest or a Naval Academy grad,
That was the way my parents perceived me, those were the plans that they had.
But I couldn't fit the part, too dumb- or too smart? 
Ain't it funny how we all turn out?
I guess we are the people our parents warned us about!"

*Nautical Wheeler - A song about a group of dancers who understand the need to slow down and appreciate the blessings God gives us in life. Wouldn't the world be a better place if more us of us were content?
"Where the jukebox is blastin' and the liquor is flowing
an occasional bottle of wine
That's cause everyone here is just more than contented
to be living and dying in 3/4 time."

*Fruitcakes - Jimmy grew up in the church and is often a critic of it.  And sometimes, he hits the nail right on the head...
"Where's the church, who took the steeple?
Religion's in the hands of some crazy-assed people
Television preachers with bad hair and dimples
But God's honest truth is it's not that simple..." 

*Pascagoula Run - John 10:10 tells us that Jesus came so that we might live an "abundant life." This song is about how Jimmy's favorite uncle got him out of the house and out to experience the world. More of us could use an Uncle Bill.
"Time to see the world, time to kiss a girl, time to cross that wide Meridian
Grab your bag and take a chance. time to learn a Cajun dance
Kid you're gonna' see the morning sun- on the Pascagoula Run" 

*One Particular Harbor - There are special places in all of our lives where we feel more connected to the things of God and the people of God. For me, those places are Quaker Lake Camp and Springfield Friends Meeting. Where in your "One Particular Harbor?"
"I know I don't get there often enough, but God knows I surely try.
It's a magic kind of medicine that no doctor could prescribe.
I used to rule my world from a cell phone, from ships out on the sea,
but now times are rough & I've got too much stuff, can't explain the likes of me.
But there's this one particular harbor, a shelter from the storm..."

And I could go on. Songs like If the Phone Doesn't Ring It's Me, Death of an Unpopular Poet and A Pirate Looks at Forty all offer great theological insights into the work of God in the world we live in. Please understand- I am not suggesting we need to be singing more Buffett in church, or that he offers a more significant insight than anyone else.  It's just that we in the church tend to separate the world into sections- "holy" and "secular." Did you know that the concept of secular doesn't appear in scriptures?  God can (and does!) use everything to bring us closer to him if we don't try too hard to keep God in the box we call religion. The Bible is our source for inspiration. It is also, as the late, great Rich Mullins once said, "a reminder that God is right- and the rest of us are guessing." My inspiration seldom comes from theologians. I am guessing yours doesn't either. So today, kick back, take a moment to live in 3/4 time, and enjoy a little Parrothead Theology. It's never too early or too late in the day to take a moment to slow down and BE with Jesus. Because you know- "it's 5 O'Clock Somewhere!"

Because of Jesus,

Never Far From Home

Today I wanted to share a different kind of Saturday Shout Out and a little bit of a Christmas card to all my readers.  Jimmy Buffett has a song on his Christmas album called Merry Christmas, Alabama. I have rewritten it a bit to shout out to some of the people and places I have loved over the years. It is simply a reminder to myself- and to you- of how blessed I am to have served all of the churches and to have all of the friends that I have.  Christmas is a time of joy and of celebration.  It is a time of faith.  And it is a time of family.  I am blessed with a wonderful family that stretches far outside the walls of my home.  Thanks to all of you for the great memories, and for the knowledge that no matter where I am- in Tampa, in a hospital bed or somewhere along the road- I am never far from home.

Merry Christmas, Quaker Lake
Merry Christmas, Kissimmee
Merry Christmas, up at Springfield
To our friends wherever you may be

Merry Christmas back at New Garden
Where I started this wild and crazy run
I'm such a long way from my first birthday
Merry Christmas, everyone

And Merry Christmas, Waycross & Hinsdale
Though far from you all I have roamed
'tis the season to remember
All the faces,
And the places that were home

'tis the season to remember
And to count up all the ports of call I've known
And to thank His mercies tender
For I'm never far from home
Merry Christmas to all my friends on Twitter
Who support me as I roam
'tis the season to remember
All the faces
And the places that feel like home

Guess my life's moved at near light speed
Since I started this wild and crazy run
Such a long way from that first birthday
Merry Christmas, everyone

'tis the season to remember
No we're never far from home
Merry Christmas, everyone.

I love you guys.  Merry Christmas.

Changes in Attitude

Happy Comment Day! Remember to read all the blogs you can and leave comments on every post you read!  It's a simple as that! Looking for some blogs to check out?  Start by visiting  http://incitingincidents.org/stories.php and checking out the over 30 posts that were part of the Inciting Incidents synchroblog on Tuesday.  That gives you lots of choices.  Or you can stop by some of my favorite bloggers by clicking any of the links listed below:

Andrea Ward

Kevin Weatherby
Amy Nabors
Jennifer Kuramochi
Tom Zalatnai
Jennifer Eckert
Beth Green
Brook Teoli Phelps
Gavin Richardson
Heather Campbell
Eric Hendrickson
Kimberley Mills
Krystle Singleton
Laura Godwin
Marie Allen 
Christie Weatherby
Ashley Goad Broadhurst 
Jason Huffman 
D. Marie
Tracee Persiko
J. Brent Bill

                                                                                                                       
Now on with today's post...

Lately I have had an attitude problem.  Actually, the problem is that I have developed an attitude.  It seems that I am constantly wanting things that I cannot have, and when I realize that fact I get frustrated and whiny. It is not a pretty sight. These are not material things that I am coveting. These are emotional and personal needs that I am struggling with, and so they are difficult to talk about. To be honest, many of them are selfish things- things I want to change, places I wish I could go.  I get moody and people worry about me, because I am not generally a moody person.  And then when people worry I get defensive and my attitude problem grows.  It is a vicious cycle.  The world sometimes gets crazy, and when it does, I tend to get a little crazy right along with it.

There are several things that help me survive such times.  Prayer, of course, often brings great peace to my soul.  Family and good friends who offer love and support help me remember that I do have a purpose.  But when my attitude starts sinking, there is always one thing that brings me back to life.  Laughter.  Laughing brings great energy into my heart. Making others laugh is one of my life's great joys.  When life gives you lemons, you can make lemonade- or you can make grape juice and leave the world wondering how you did it!  That is what laughter does to my grumpy, self-involved attitude.  It's like Jimmy Buffett wrote all those years ago:

"It's those changes in latitude, changes in attitude,

nothings remains quite the same.

With all of the running and all of our cunning

if we couldn't laugh we would all go insane.

If we weren't all crazy we would go insane..."

One thing I learned from all of my years in student ministry is this- when life gets a little crazy, go with it. Embrace the craziness, and get a little crazy yourself!  And remember that God created you to be a unique individual.  Even when your attitude makes you grumpy.  Have a good laugh today.  And share the joy with someone else who might need one as well. Never forget that laughter is one of God's great gifts to humanity.

Because of Jesus,

Come Monday

The great Jimmy Buffett once wrote, "Come Monday, it will be alright..."  Today I am going to trust that Jimmy knows what he is talking about.  The weekend was full of personal frustrations, difficult prayer requests and situations that I could do nothing about.  So today I must believe that God is in control and that I just have to turn it all over to Him and deal with life one day at a time. Even if that day IS a Monday.  To paraphrase another part of the Come Monday lyric (and why not, because Jimmy always does!)- "I've spent 3 lonely days in a hot Tampa haze"- and I just want to feel normal again. I am in a funk.

I find in times like these that it is important to slow down, remember the people that I love and who love me, and hold on tight to my dreams.  I have to remember that life is a dance, full of tempo changes and awkward steps. Let me quote another Buffett lyric (one of my favorites) from the song Nautical Wheelers...

So won't you dream on compadres, seems nothing escapes you 
Nothin', no reason, no rhyme 

That's 'cause everyone here is just more than contented 

To be livin' and dyin' in three-quarter time 

I am usually happy, occasionally melancholy and seldom sad.  But I do struggle with being content- with accepting things as the way they are rather than always pushing to make things the way I want them to be.  It is so easy for me to get caught up in wishful thinking and the "what ifs?" of life. And when that happens, I try to take control instead of leaving it in the hands of the One who created me. So pray for me today. And I will pray for you.  Hope you all have a blessed week.

Because of Jesus,

"You Had To Be There"

In the late 1970's Jmmy Buffett was just another artist trying to make a living.  This was before the advent of Parrotheads, before he became a best-selling author, restaurant owner or tequila guru.  But even way back then, his concerts were not shows- they were events.  The late Dan Fogelberg, a friend of Jimmy's, was once asked to describe what it was like to see him live.  Fogelberg responded that no explanation could possibly do it justice.  He couldn't describe it.  Dan said,  "You had to be there!"  Jimmy liked that so much that it became the title of his 1978 live album, which was the first (of MANY) Buffett albums I have owned.


Over the years, I adopted those words as a sort of personal mantra for doing student ministry.  I never wanted the teenagers who went on trips or attended events at the churches I served to feel like we were just going through the motions.  I wanted them to feel like they were a part of something unique, something special, something that had not happened before and might not happen again.  I wanted them to walk into school on Monday morning and talk about how amazing youth group had been the night before.  And when their friends asked for explanations, I wanted them to feel like words were not adequate.  All that could be said was, "You had to be there!"  Right or wrong, I always felt that any method of reaching students that was predictable or too tame was destined to fail.  Jesus himself was always unpredictable and always pushing the envelope of what was acceptable.  As the Jesus Revolution gained momentum throughout the region in those three years Jesus spent preaching and teaching, you just know that as the word spread from town to town about this amazing Rabbi people were at a loss for words.  How could they describe what they were seeing?  I suspect that more than one person fell back on, "You had to be there!"


For the Jesus Revolution to truly take hold in our day and time, churches need to help our communities experience the awe and wonder of those first days of Christ.  We need to help people see that Jesus is not some simple man you can keep in a box, then whip out a teaching or two whenever it is convenient.  Jesus is a world changer, and he calls on us to world changers as well.  The power, love and grace of the Messiah cannot be contained in a manger.  The story of the first Noel should inspire awe and wonder. Because I guarantee you that a few days later, as the town of Bethlehem was still trying to figure out what had happened, some one asked one of those smelly shepherds to explain.  And I guarantee you that shepherd thought a moment, smiled, and the said to anyone who cared to listen- "There is no explanation.  You just had to be there!"  Amen & Amen.


My Deliverer is Coming...

"If the Phone Doesn't Ring, It's Me"



Part of the Wesley Memorial "family"

I often speak about how the student ministries I served became family over the years, and this is true in every sense of the word.  There are "kids" I have not seen in nearly 20 years who still call on me for prayer, support and advice.  There were people I had not connected with in 30 years, but because of this blog (which has become a place for my various youth groups to come together in one giant family reunion) I know they have fond memories and strong connections to the things we went through together.  When done well, youth groups become families in God's name, and I treasure all of those relationships.

But I need to acknowledge before God and my readers that like with any family, there are struggles.  I was never perfect; I didn't become a sinner because I sinned.  I sinned because, like everyone else, I am a sinner.  There are people out there- former youth and their parents- who because of my public sin would like to forget they were ever a part of my family.  Because of my failings, it has become painful for them to think about our time together.  Even reading this blog and reliving the wonderful times we shared would be difficult.  I understand this and apologize for it.  I hope they will forgive me at some point- partly selfishly, and partly because I hope I taught them that forgiveness is the business of Christians.  Their feelings do not negate the fact that we shared life together with Jesus and we were important to one another.  That is why I continue to share these stories.  But I know that some of their memories of our time together are tainted.  It's kind of like if I wear a blue shirt everyday, and your knowledge of me is that I am a blue shirt guy.  A good guy.  Suddenly, without warning, I show up in a red shirt- a sin stained shirt- and you're stunned and disappointed.  As time goes by, you might forget about all the good days in the blue shirts and focus on the red one. This has happened with some people I love dearly.  They can no longer picture me in a blue shirt.  It's like I wore red the whole time.  With God, because of grace, the red shirt is gone forever.  With people...hopefully time will heal the wounds that I inflicted.

As a result of those feelings that I know exist in my youth ministry family, there are people I have not tried to contact in a very long time.  There are people I miss terribly, but I am waiting on God to give them open hearts and myself the opportunity to reach out to them.  I certainly do not wish to cause them any more pain, so I will continue to wait on them to take the first step.  In the meantime, I miss them and love them.  I yearn to send them an e-mail or give them a call.  But I can't- not yet.  The great poet laureate of Florida, Jimmy Buffet, wrote a song years ago that expresses a great deal of my emotion.  The lyrics are below.  We can't live in the past, but hopefully we can live through it.  If the phone doesn't ring, it's me.  To everyone who was a part of my youth family over the many years- I love you all, and more importantly, so does Jesus.  A the old cliche says, "I don't know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future."  Jesus does.  And because of that, we will have a family reunion- some day.  Spread the word.

There are oceans of feelings between us

Currents that take us and sweep us away

That's why we seldom have seen us

In the light of the cold, hard day

Lots of new friends with the same old problems

Open your eyes you might see

If our lives were that simple we'd live in the past

If the phone doesn't ring, it's me

If the phone doesn't ring you'll know that it's me

I'll be out in the eye of the storm

If the phone doesn't ring you  know that I'll be

Where someone can make me feel warm

It's too bad we can't turn and live in the past

If the phone doesn't ring, it's me

I've had good days and bad days and goin' half mad days

I've tried to let go but you're still on my mind

I've lost all the old ways, been searching for new ways

and putting it all on the line

Lots of new friends with the same old answers

Open your eyes you might see

If our lives were that simple we'd live in the past

If the phone doesn't ring, it's me

If it takes all the future, we'll live through the past

If the phone doesn't ring, it's me...

Because of Jesus,