Tuesday, December 30, 2008

One other awesome Christmas Album!!!

I am a firm believer in celebrating the Christmas season to it's fullest, so if you roll by my neighborhood at night, I'll probably be the only guy with the Christmas lights going on January 6th! So, in that spirit, here's one more Christmas album recommendation. I don't know how this one escaped me: Bela Fleck and the Flecktones "Jingle All the Way." The album has plenty of excellent banjo, saxophone, bass, and drums, as you might imagine. But one of the real treats for me is hearing a Tuvan throat singer performing "Jingle Bells." I mean...wow!!!! Check out the "Jingle Bells (Reprise)" on iTunes and the Flecktones arrangement of the "Christmas Oratorio" by Bach. Incredible!

Christmas, Blogging Failures, and other thoughts

Christmas with a three year old is pure, unbridled joy! I saw pure joy on Christmas Day this year (Christmas Day is also my daughter's birthday and she turned three this year). Watching Ellie interact with all of the Christmas traditions that we are blending in our house was simply wonderful. Pure, pure joy!

Sorry about being so behind on posting during the Christmas season, it was very full this year with our worship services being at the high school! (On the whole, they went very well, btw.)

I am preaching this week on Epiphany and will be preaching on the Wedding at Cana. In the earliest church lectionaries the Wedding at Cana was one of the gospel readings for Epiphany. The Eastern Church has retained this reading while the Western Church has not. My contrarian nature rears it's ugly head again! :)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours!!!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

O Antiphon's 2-4

Thursday's Antiphon: O WISDOM, who came forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching from end to end, and ordering all things mightily and sweetly: Come, and teach us the way of prudence.

O come, thou Wisdom from on high, and order all things far and nigh; to us the path of knowledge show and cause us in her ways to go. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Friday's Antiphon: O ADONAI and Leader of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the flames of the bush and gave him the law on Sinai: Come, and with your outstretched arm redeem us.

O come, O come, great Lord of might, who to thy tribes on Sinai's height in ancient times once gave the law in cloud and majesty and awe. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Saturday's Antiphon: O ROOT OF JESSE, who stands for an ensign of the people, before whom kings shall keep silence and to whom the Gentiles shall make their supplication: Come, and deliver us and tarry not.

O come, thou Root of Jesse's tree, an ensign of thy people be; before thee rulers silent fall; all peoples on thy mercy call. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

"O Antiphon" 1

Since we are now seven days away from Christmas Eve, I hope you will consider joining me in praying the "O Antiphons"!

O Antiphon 1: O EMMANUEL, our King and Lawgiver, the Expected on the nations and their Savior: Come and save us, O Lord, our God.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

A Christmas Thought from Bonhoeffer

A thought on universal redemption from Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

"in the birth of Jesus Christ, God took on the form of all humanity, not just that of a single human being."

Monday, December 15, 2008

Truth from Parker Palmer and Henri Nouwen about community

Parker Palmer and Henri Nouwen are purveyors of truth: check out this quote from a speech Nouwen made to members of Fadica in 1994, the speech is called "Discovering Our Gift Through Service to Others":

"Parker Palmer, a spiritual writer of the Quaker tradition, says community is the place where the person you least want to live with always lives. So community is not like a place where you love each other sort of freely and warmly and affectionately. Community is in fact the place where you are purified, where your love is tested, where your childhood of God is constantly put through the mill of human relationships. That is what community is. Community is a place where Judas always is and sometimes it is just you."

I came across this quote from an excellent Advent devotional book called "Advent and Christmas Wisdom from Henri J.M. Nouwen" published by Redemptorist Pastoral Publications.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

My new favorite quote (for today, anyway!)

This quote popped off the page at me several weeks ago as I was finishing a book called "A Heretic's Guide to Eternity" by Spencer Burke and Barry Taylor. I think it jumped out at me because it is profoundly true.

"The greatest tragedy of theology in the past three hundred years ahas been the divorce of the theologian from the poet, the dancer, the musician, the painter, the dramatist, the actress, the movie-maker..."
--MD. Chenu (a French Dominican Theologian who was very present at Vatican II)

My sad little Apple...

Wonders never cease! I thought my Mac was indestructible! As it turns out, it's not. The cd/dvd player/burner is no longer working. I can't believe it! This is terribly troubling to me, as the Mac is one of my closest collaborators and I don't know what I will do with out it for a few weeks if it has to go away to be serviced. single...tear...rolling...down...my...cheek...

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

A Beautiful Advent Poem

One of my favorite poet's is a very fine gentleman (who also happens to be a United Methodist Minister) named John Thornburg. He has written many wonderful poems, hymns, and anthem texts that can be found in all of the mainline hymnals. He recently sent out a poem for Advent this year and I asked him if I could post it on my blog. He graciously agreed! I found this poem to be a powerful reminder of my all-too-often complicity with the powers and principalities of this world. Thankfully, God's grace can help us turn from these things and embrace the life God wishes for us. What does it mean to you?


We want the rules to bend our way;
to fight a war but hear no cry,
to overeat and never die,
to burn the fuel but clean the sky.

Dominion is our favorite sport;
to claim whatever we can see,
to dictate our idea of 'free',
to do our business by decree.

We share this attitude with Rome,
with Herod, so emmeshed in lies
he could not fashion how the skies
were filled with wonder and surprise.

The time is ripe to claim the news;
that all is level in God's sight,
that greed is wrong and love is right,
that Christ can put all fear to flight.

Be instant, O Eternal God,
to turn our minds from selfish gain,
to still our hands from causing pain,
to set our minds upon your reign.

--used by permission given from John Thornburg

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

An Advent Devotional

It is gloriously chilly at the moment! My office has not heat and is not very well sealed, so when the wind blows, I feel it at my desk. Currently, it is 34 degrees outside with a wind chill of 24 and "wintry mix" is beginning! Below you will find an Advent devotional that I wrote for the congregation I serve. The collect at the end is original.



"Celebrating Advent means being able to wait. Waiting, however is a art that our impatient age has forgotten...We must wait for the greatest, most profound, most gentle things in the world; nothing happens in a rush, but only according to the divine laws of germination and growth and becoming." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer

These words, from one of the greatest 20th century theologians, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, are a great reminder to us during this season of Advent that we are called to wait upon the Lord. Wait for the Lord, be strong, take heart!

Prayer: Most gracious and loving God: to you a day is but an instant, you created all things and have remained steadfast with your creation since its beginning. Teach us to wait for you, to watch for you, so that we may not miss your the coming of your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Christmas Albums (CD's, mp3, records, whatever you like)

We all have our holiday rituals, don't we? Today I am enjoying one of my favorite rituals! Every year around this time I pick up a few "holiday" albums to check them out and to try to stay fully engaged in the season. This year, I've picked up three very different albums and have enjoyed them all. Below you will find a super brief review of each one:

1. "What a Night" by Harry Connick, Jr. If you've ever heard any of his other Christmas albums you will recognize the formula immediately. Interesting big-band arrangements, good vocals, fairly sentimental and one or two surprising tracks that provide good theology along with funky music! My two favorites off of this particular offering are "O Come, All Ye Faithful" and "Song for the Hopeful." Both are available on iTunes.

2. "The Dawn of Grace" by Sixpence None the Richer. One of my favorite guilty pleasures: Leigh Nash's voice! It has such character and purity. She doesn't oversing (and could be accused of not using enough breath support but I don't care because I love it). :) Honestly, I can't give too much of a review as I'm only four songs into it but so far, it's delightful! Very sparse and light arrangements, beautiful repertoire choices. Good stuff!

3. "Songs of Joy and Peace" by Yo-Yo Ma. Yo-Yo Ma, along with Branford Marsalis are two of the musicians who inspire me the most! Their ability to collaborate with artists in every style is simply stunning to me. This glorious album features Yo-Yo Ma, Diana Krall, Chris Theile, James Taylor, Joshua Redman, Renee Fleming, Dave Bruebeck, the Assad Family, Alison Krauss, Paquito d'Rivera, Chris Botti, the Silk Roads Ensemble, and several others. What a line-up! I can't recommend this album highly enough! I've about worn it out already!

Monday, December 8, 2008

The Rev. Kathleen Baskin-Ball

The Church lost one of it's most faithful and gifted leaders this week. The Rev. Kathleen Baskin-Ball, a United Methodist minister who was an inspiration to me and thousands of others, lost her two-year battle with cancer on Tuesday. So many others have been able to articulate her loss with such grace and art in their words! Perhaps the best thing I can say is this: St. Irenaeus once said, "the glory of God is a human being fully alive." That, for me, is the perfect description of Kathleen. She was fully alive when she lived and as she died. Christ lived through Kathleen, and continues to do so in the lives of all that she touched. Every time I had the blessing to being around her, she radiated God's love and grace to all she encountered.

I once read a story (I can't remember where) where a Catholic priest told a parishioner, "I don't think God has favorites, but I do think God has special friends." Undoubtedly, Kathleen was a "special friend" of God's!

Rev. Baskin-Ball was an incredibly gifted leader and mentor. I, along with all who knew her, have no doubt she would have been elected bishop and would have excelled in the office. Kathleen is the kind of leader The United Methodist Church needs! The loss of Kathleen's voice and vision leaves a great hole in her local church appointment, Suncreek UMC, the North Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church and the church as a whole.

As I told my congregation on Sunday, there is no replacing someone like Kathleen. We pray and give thanks for the inspiration she gave us in the way she lived her life and the way she so graciously modeled for us how to die with grace and dignity. And we mourn, together. And we hold her family, especially her husband Bill and son Skyler in prayer. And then, we keep going. We keep working on becoming who God made us to be. We keep serving, we keep loving, we keep laughing, we keep trying to bring good news of liberation to those who are oppressed, we keep feeding the hungry, we keep working for justice, we keep introducing people to our Brother and Lord Jesus, we keeping shining light into the dark. It's what we do. It is who we are. It is being faithful.

I am so thankful for the life and witness of Kathleen Baskin-Ball!

Glory be!

If you follow the link below, you will find a very brief video from her memorial service:

http://www.dallasnews.com/video/dallasnews/dmnphoto/index.html?nvid=310992

An Amazing Sunday with Dr. Michael Hawn!

There are really five major weeks in the life of the average church musician. The first is "lessons and carols" week before Christmas. The second is the week of Christmas Eve. The third Holy Week and Easter. The fourth is choir tour week and the fifth is vbs. Of course, there are lots of other big events that occur outside of the afore-mentioned weeks but really, for most of us, those are the big ones.
Yesterday we wrapped up our lessons and carols week at Argyle UMC. I should say that I am using "lessons and carols" as a catch-all phrase for special Advent/Christmas worship events. At our service yesterday we had a truly amazing worship experience with Dr. C. Michael Hawn, chair of the sacred music department at the Perkins School of Theology. I could write many paragraphs on how incredible he is but let me just say that he is truly one of the greats! He is a legend in the field of sacred music, so to have the opportunity to have him lead us in an Advent service was really a gift and a blessing.
He is an incredible song leader and had the congregation singing songs from all over the world quickly and easily. I was especially enthralled with the way he lead the liturgy in the Eucharist! He brought out the inherent drama in the liturgy: it really felt like it mattered! He is such an effective presider that you can just feel the grace, the love, and the "realness" of the sacramental mystery.
Below you will find the order of worship with rubrics:

Thy Kingdom Come:
The World Celebrates the Coming of the Savior

Argyle UMC
December 7, 2008

Welcome, Gathering Songs and Community News

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus
[Choir hums “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” over a organ pedal point as the following litany is spoken:]

“A Litany of Darkness and Light” (New Zealand)

Voice 1: We wait in the darkness, expectantly, longingly, anxiously,
thoughtfully.

Voice 2: The darkness is our friend. In the darkness of the womb, we have
all been nurtured and protected. In the darkness of the womb, the
Christ-child was made ready for the journey into light.

Voice 1: It is only in the darkness that we can see the splendor of the
universe—blankets of stars of the night, desert peoples find relief
from the cruel relentless heat of the sun.

Voice 2: In the blessed darkness, Mary and Joseph were able to flee with
the infant Jesus to safety in Egypt.

Voice 1: Sometimes, in the solitude of darkness, our fears and concerns, our hopes and our visions rise to the surface. We come face to face with ourselves and with eh road that lies ahead of us.

Voice 2: In that same darkness, we sometimes allow ourselves to wonder
and worry whether the human race is going to make it at all.

[Choir comes to a rest on final note “e” and sustains it.]

Congregation:
We know you are with us, O God, yet we still await your
coming. In the darkness that contains both our hopelessness and our expectancy, we watch for a sign of God’s Hope.
[Organ intro picks up on Stanza 1 of “O come, O come Emmanuel”]

Congregation (Singing):
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns on lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

Lighting of the Advent Candle

Reader 1: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

Reader 2: The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Reader 1: I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Reader 2: Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let hour heart take courage.

All: Wait for the Lord!

Born to Set Thy People Free

[Drum establishes a steady beat. Voices continue over the drum.]
Prayer of Praise (Iona Community, Scotland)

Voice 1: We have heard about you, God of all power.
You made the world our of kindness, creating order out of confusion; you made each one of us in your own image; your fingerprint is on every soul.

Voice 2: We have hear about you, Jesus Christ: the carpenter who left his tools and trade; the poor man who made others rich; the healer who let himself be wounded; the criminal on whom the soldiers spat not knowing they were fouling the face of God; the savior who died and rose again.

Voices in alternation:
We have heard about you, Holy Spirit. You broke the bonds of every race and nation, to let God speak in every tongue: you made disciples drunk with grace; you converted souls and emptied pockets; you showed how love made all things new and opened the doors to change and freedom.

[Drum continues and song segues]

“Freedom is Coming” South African Freedom Song

From Our Fears and Sings Release Us,
Let Us Find Our Rest in Thee.

Preparation for Prayer “Lord, Have Mercy” Lim Swee Hong

Prayer of Confession A prayer from an ecumenical group (Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Orthodox, Pentecostal) in the former Yugoslavia

Let us seek the forgiveness of God and of each other
for the divisions that have hindered Christian witness:
Lord, we have sinned against you and against each other.
All( Singing): Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy on us.

O Christ, our divisions are contrary to your will,
and have impeded our common witness to you.
All( Singing): Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy on us.

Lord, we have not loved you enough in our sisters and brothers,
created in your image, but different from us.
All( Singing): Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy on us.

Creator God,
stop us wandering in alienation from one another.
Satisfy the longings of our hearts,
grant our rightful requests,
and unite us soon in one holy church
through your Son Jesus Christ
who with you in the communion of the Holy Spirit
lives and reigns eternally.
Amen.

Silent Prayer of Confession
Assurance of Pardon
The Savior of the world, the Refuge of the repentant,
forgives and strengthens all who truly seek his grace.
He accepts you as his sons and daughters,
and sets you free from the bondage of your past.
For Christ died and rose to new life that we might all share his wholeness and abundant life. (Church of South India)

Hear the Good News:
God has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.
(Col. 1:13-14)

[Recorder that I will play introduces the next song.]

(I can't put the printed music here for copyright reasons.)

Response (Choir and Congregation) “Gloria” (Taizé Community, France)

©GIA Publishing. Reprinted by permission under copyright license OneLicense.net#A-714998

Israel’s Strength and Consolation

Psalm 22
Leader: I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”

People: Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.

Leader: To Jerusalem the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.

People: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers.

Leader: For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say,
 “Peace be within you.”

Hymn 2091 (FWS) “The King of Glory Comes” (Israeli Melody) KING OF GLORY

Hope of All the Earth Thou Art

Narration

Hymn 241 “That Boy-Child of Mary” (Malawi) BLANTYRE

Offertory Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel arr. Timothy Bandy

Doxology Tune: Siyahamba

Praise to God from whom all miracles flow.
Praise to God from all creation below.
Praise to God you heavenly hosts from above,
Praise to Father, Son and Spirit of love.

We are praising, praising, praising, praising,
Praise to Father, Son and Spirit of love.

Dear Desire of Every Nation, Joy of Every Longing Heart

An African Affirmation of Faith From the Masai of Kenya

We believe in the one High God,
who out of love created the beautiful world and everything good in it.
God created people and wanted them to be happy in the world.
God loves the world and every nation and tribe on the earth.
We have known this High God in the darkness,
and now we know God in the light.
God promised in the book called the Bible, the word of God,
that all nations and tribes of the world would be saved.

We believe that God made good this promise by sending Jesus Christ, the Son of God, a Jew by tribe,
born poor in a little village,
who left his home and was always on safari doing good,
curing people by the power of God,
teaching about God and people,
showing that the meaning of religion is love.
He was rejected by his people,
tortured and nailed—hands and feet—to a cross and died.
He lay buried, but the hyenas did not find his body,
and on the third day, he rose from the grave.
He ascended to the skies. He is the Lord!

We believe that all our sins are forgiven through him.
All who have faith in him must be sorry for their sins,
be baptized in the Holy Spirit of God,
live the rules of love, and share the bread together in love,
to announce the good news to others until Jesus comes again.
We are waiting for him.
He is alive! He lives! This we believe. Amen!
(Vincent J. Donovan, Christianity Revisited, Orbis Books, 1978, p. 200)





Response Amen Siakudumisa FWS# 2067 South Africa
Amen siakudumisa Amen, we praise your name O Lord
Amen siakudumisa Amen, we praise your name O Lord
Amen bawo; amen bawo Amen, Amen; Amen, Amen!
Amen siakudumisa Amen, we praise your name O Lord.
(C.F. Molefe; as taught by George Mxadana)

EUCHARIST

Hymn 196 Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus HYFRYDOL

Blessing of Peace From a litany based on a traditional Kikuyu form (Kenya)

Let us pray to the God of our forbearers, through Jesus Christ his Son,
in the power of the Holy Spirit.
May the leaders of our churches have wisdom and speak with one voice.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the leaders of our country rule with maturity and justice.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the country have tranquility and the people be blessed.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the people and the flocks and the herds prosper
and be free from illness.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the fields bear much fruit and the land be fertile.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the face of our enemies be turned towards peace.
Praise the Lord: peace be with us.
May the path of the world be swept of all danger.
Hallelujah! The Prince of Peace is with us.
(from With All God's People: The New Ecumenical Prayer Cycle, WCC Publications, pp. 112-113)

Congregational Response (Singing):

O come, Desire of nations, bind
All peoples in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease;

Fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel!

Postlude

Monday, December 1, 2008

Draft 6.8 for Christmas Eve

Since it is the first full week of Advent, I've decided to post the most recent draft of this year's Christmas Eve service at Argyle UMC. Well, I wish it was going to be at Argyle UMC! We were supposed to be in our new building but that's not going to happen in time for Christmas Eve, so now we are graciously being allowed to use the auditorium at Argyle High School. (We'd love to host it in our sanctuary but we are expecting over 1,000 folks and our sanctuary seats 175 people.)
For obvious reasons the high school is not real keen on the possibility that we might burn down their facility, we are not going to give everyone a candle to raise during the singing of "Silent Night" and since they don't want their carpet stained, we will not be serving communion. So, the trick has been to create a meaningful Christmas Eve service that forgoes those two traditional components.
Since we do not really celebrate Epiphany (which is quite a drag, since Epiphany is the older and, arguably, richer festival) we are mixing in a bit of the "follow the star" kind of motif.
I look forward to any comments that you might have!

Argyle UMC-Christmas Eve Worship
Wednesday, December 24th, 2008
Christmas Eve
5:00 & 7:00 p.m.

PRELUDE: Anastasia Markina or the band

*CALL TO WORSHIP Rev. Joe Stobaugh
Leader: When the time was right, God sent the Son;
Women: sent him and nourished him,
Men: reared him and risked him,
Women: filled him with laughter and tears and compassion,
Men: filled him with anger and love and devotion.

Leader: Unwelcomed child, refugee and runaway,
ALL: CHRIST IS GOD’S OWN SON

Leader: Feeder and teacher, healer and antagonist,
ALL: CHRIST IS GOD’S OWN SON

Leader: Lover of th unlovable,
Toucher of the untouchable,
Forgiver of the unforgivable,
ALL: CHRIST IS GOD’S OWN SON.

Leader: Loved by women, feared by men,
Befriended by the weak, despised by the strong,
Deserted by his listeners, betrayed by his friends;
Bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh,
Writing heven’s pardon over earth’s mistakes
ALL: CHRIST IS GOD’S OWN SON

LeaderL The Word became flesh:
ALL: HE CAME AMONG US, HE WAS ONE OF US . LET US WORSHIP HIM AND PROCLAIM
HIS COMING!
--Iona Community, 20th century, Scotland

*SONG OF GATHERING No. 234 O Come, All Ye Faithful st.1-4 THE PEOPLE

LIGHTING OF THE ADVENT AND CHRIST CANDLES

GREETING/REGISTRATION/THE LORD’S PRAYER Todd Mead

PREPARING TO HEAR THE WORD: evensong band (band stays seated during sermon)

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 2:1-11

MESSAGE Follow the Star Rev. Kory Knott

MUSICAL RESPONSE: Light is Shining by Daniel Doss evensong band & Chancel Choir

PRAYERS FOR THE WORLD Rev. Joe Stobaugh

CONFESSION (from Grace Community in England)

ASSURANCE OF PARDON
(Sing the Last stanza and refraind FROM WE THREE KINGS)

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: Follow the Star by Theorn Kirk Chancel Choir

DOXOLOGY: Something from a Carol

THE CHRISTMAS STORY: Luke 2:8-20 PRE-RECORD IT WITH A CHILD READING THE CHRISTMAS STORY: EMILY YOUNG
(Silent Night underneath it) light’s come down with the focus on the star


*No. 239 Silent Night THE PEOPLE

*SONG OF CELEBRATION No. 246 Joy to the World THE PEOPLE

BENEDICTION Rev. Kory Knott

POSTLUDE Anastasia Markina

Quantum of Solace

This weekend I had the chance to see the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, and wow, I loved it! And I struggle with the fact that I enjoyed it so much. Here's why: I do not buy into the myth of redemptive violence at all. In fact, I am sure it's the main cycle that Jesus broke with his death. There is something compelling, however, about cheering for the good guys and for being glad when the bad guys "get there's." The violence is well shot and impressive, from a film making standpoint, and the character development is much better with the Daniel Craig James Bond, but still, I wish I wasn't so taken by the violence of it.

Friday, November 28, 2008

A quick update

Happy Day after Thanksgiving!

I hope this post finds you well! It's been so long since I last posted it wouldn't surprise me if no one ever reads this!

Life has been crazy full the last few weeks. We've been preparing for Advent at church, I am working on a book, preparing to play at the big lessons and carols service at Perkins, working on the lessons and carols service at Argyle, (not to mention Christmas Eve!), trying to raise two awesome kids and, frankly, just attempting to suck the marrow out of life, if you will.

Last week I was blessed to have the opportunity to say goodbye to a pastor who has been an inspiration to me since I entered the process of becoming (and have since become) a United Methodist Clergy person. Rev. Kathleen Baskin-Ball is an example of what it is to be a faithful person of God and of how powerful and wide-ranging one person's ministry can be. Please take a moment to check out this link:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/112708dnmetbaskinball.4a72148.html

I would invite you to be in prayer for Kathleen, Bill, Skyler, Suncreek UMC, and The United Methodist Church during these days.

God is faithful and God is good.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Drums with KM2


This is our KM2 group, one of the children's music ensembles at Argyle UMC rocking out with a drum circle call to worship this past Sunday!

Monday, November 10, 2008

I forgot my camera!

Yikes! I forgot my camera! Completely left it on the counter at the house. I intended to upload some photo's from the last few days and comment on the pictures but tis' not to be at the moment.

Thursday through Saturday of this week I attended an alt worship conference in OKC that was phenomenal! Jonny Baker (the guru of alt worship in the UK) and Ed Phillips from Candler Seminary in Atlanta were the primary presenters. Alt worship has been an interest to me for some time and so it was very exciting to hear one of the premier practitioners speak on the subject. The gathered body (which included folks from the UK, New Zealand, South Africa and several of the States) also prepared and participated in an alt worship experience that was exceptional in it's participatory nature. My creativity was re-awakened and I'm excited to put some of the theories I learned in play here at Argyle and my work in the conference and the Fellowship. Truly, it was a blessed trip!

Sunday brought it's own set of adventures! At the early service we had a sign-language choir that performed "God Bless America" over a recording of the song. Normally, I'm pretty cautious about mixing church and state, but seeing these children sign these words, coupled with the events of this past week brought me to tears! (In a glorious, good way!) Immediately after the kids signed, the congregation sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness." Once we sang the refrain ("Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness! Morning my morning new mercies I see; all I have needed thy hand hath provided; great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!"), the moment proved to be so overwhelming to me, that I had to leave for a few minutes and collect myself!

Between thinking of the veterans of my generation, and of my parents and grandparents, and great-grandparents generations, and of all that this country has been through, I was so filled with hope and gratitude and the sense of God's goodness and faithfulness that I couldn't contain it anymore!

I haven't experienced this feeling about my country in well, ever. I am proud to see that we can, as a people, peacefully reset. What an incredible witness to the world. It's hasn't been fifty years since the passage of the Voting Rights of 1964 and we have elected a African-American man president! Incredible!

But that wasn't all! In the middle of a wonderful sermon about passion one of the pews in our church gave way! (Photo's to come!) The folks sitting in it were very gracious about the experience and no one, praise God, was hurt!

Think about that! These pews receive such a work out week in and week out that one of them actually broke from overuse! Imagine, if all of the church's in the world had pews and chairs and cushions being worn-out form overuse, imagine the change in the world we could experience! Obviously the next step is taking it out of the walls of the church and into the world but hey, it's a great, if scary, start!

Our KM2 children's music ministry rocked out a drum circle style call to worship at the 11:15 service and then the chancel choir sang Keith Hampton's "Praise His Holy Name" (a black gospel piece). Glory was given to God and the people were sanctified, which is the definition of worship according to the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. What a great week this has been!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

What an incredible night!

Regardless of how you feel about the results of this election, you must acknowledge the incredible historical moment we have just witnessed! As I watched Obama's children and Biden's grandchildren embrace just a few moments ago I found myself reflecting on Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech." There is was, on national t.v.! Little black children and little white children, celebrating together! Incredible!!!! Increidble!!! I am inspired by what has just transpired in our country and it makes me incredibly proud to see what America can do!

Election Day!

O.K., so I've written three drafts for this post and this is the one I'm rolling with. It's so generic and vanilla it's pretty boring but because this blog is linked to the church website, I feel that I've got to be careful in what I write for fear of the IRS potentially challenging Argyle UMC's tax-exempt status. Sadly, I am not familiar with the in's and out's of the law enough to know if I could potentially be putting the church at risk by posting who I am voting for. I am not willing to even potentially put this church through that.

I will say, however, that I am excited and nervous all at once for the results from this day to come to the fore! Since I woke up this morning I've been doing all the things I do when I get anxious: overeating, drinking WAY too much coffee, over-checking cnn.com, etc. I truly believe that this election is a once-in-a-lifetime election for my generation and that we have an incredible opportunity to alter the trajectory of our nation today. Please, if you haven't voted today, go do it! There is still time!
Off to handbells! :)

Monday, October 27, 2008

Worship Planning

One of the best aspects of my job is worship planning. I love it! The opportunity to create services that worship God and connect God and God's people is usually a weekly blessing to me. Today has proved no different. I spent most of the morning working on two (of four) of the Christmas Eve services for this year. Once I finalize the liturgy I will post it on the blog. I am looking forward to this year's services!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

A word from Rainer Maria Rilke

What a lovely morning! It's cool outside but there's not a cloud in the sky! Stunningly beautiful! As I am finishing my espresso and preparing to take Ellie to the park for a little dad/daughter time I came across this quote from the Poet Rilke, which perfectly describes the season for me!

"Lord, it is time. the summer was too long. Lay your shadow on the sundials now, and through the meadow let the winds throng."

Amen and amen!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

I love Thursday's!

I love Thursday's! Wednesday (the most stressful day of the week for me) is behind me and I get a chance to wrap up loose ends before the weekend comes and even get ahead a bit! Today is a glorious Thursday! A very generous church member gave a gift for some new handbells, the weather is nice and cool and business is getting taken care of! Truly, a beautiful day!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

The Great Rob Jackson

Hello friends!
I have made a serious error and I hope to correct it at this time. Somehow, I missed listing one of the great blogs on my "blogs I read list." And by great, I mean one of the greatest blogs in the history of blogs. If you are looking for (arguably) the funniest blog of all time, you need to look no further than the blog NoFrownsNation kept by the great Rob Jackson.

http://www.nofrowns.net/nation/

Do yourself a favor and go there right now!!!!

Smiling Sam!



I love this picture of Sam smiling! Makes my day!

Whew...

Hey there!
Hope you are doing well! It's been an interesting 10 days since I last posted. I gotten this week and a half long upper respiratory infection that is just knocking me over! Up until I had kids I very rarely got sick but wow, how that has changed!!! I just want to sleep all the time, know the feeling? Uh, oh, my office is next to the sanctuary and my daughter's class is walking by...whew, safe! Ellie comes to school hear at the church three days a week and it is so cool to be able to bring my daughter to work with me three days a week! She is really into listening to the blues on the way to the school. Like father, like daughter, I suppose!

Monday, October 6, 2008

The Beauty of Aspens



This photograph was taken by my sister from outside of her home in Colorado. If you'd like, I'd invite you to just appreciate the beauty that God has given us! Thanks for the Aspen's!!!

The Collar



I don't often wear my clerical collar, which is funny, because I have a strong opinion about collars. In a perfect world, I think all clergy should wear their collars, and here is why: as servants of God, we should be available to serve all of God's children, whether they are members of our local flock or not. For example, if you are walking down the street and find yourself in need of a law enforcement officer, you wouldn't be able to find a law enforcement officer unless they are wearing their uniform, unless you happened to have a relationship with that person from another context. When I would wear my collar in San Antonio I got stopped all of the time by folks who needed someone to talk to. Many less-enlightened Methodists (my own tribe) see the collar as purely a "Catholic thing" and they fail to realize that the collar is used by pastors in all of the mainline denominations, in addition to the Catholic church.
The collar also serves as a very valuable reminder to me of whose I am and of the work I am called to do but it does tend to freak out those who don't understand it's function and tradition.

October's always make me sleepy

I love October! When else in the year do you have the baseball playoffs, the NFL, basketball training camps, and the opening of hockey season? Nowhere, I tell you! I love all of those sports and follow hockey and the NFL the closest but baseball is my first love. I will never forget my first professional game. My dad took me to see the Denver Zephyers (now they are known as the New Orleans Zephyers) in Mile High Stadium. It was such a blast!
Nothing, however, could compare to my first major league game! My dad (there is a trend here) took me to Fenway Park in Boston to see the Red Sox: it was incredible! Seeing that oasis of green in the middle of the city was like looking into heaven for a second-grader! The whole experience was incredible, from the walk up Yawkey Way, to the Fenway Franks, the Monster, and of course, the Red Sox. i have been a Sox fan ever since! It was a bad team to follow for many years! They always found a way to break your heart. The Bill Buckner fiasco was the first big one that I remember. But, my, how things change!
And so, it's October again, the leaves are just starting to turn and, by Texas standards, it's beginning to cool off. The Sox are doing very well. They had a chance to close out the Angels last night but couldn't get it done. Tonight, they've got another chance. I look forward to another game tonight and all that comes with post-season baseball: lots of drama and little sleep!
Go Sox!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Two expressions

Here we are, tomorrow is (well, given the time I should say that today) the last day of September. It's been a fruitful and crazy month in my life. How have things been for you? This month my son Sam was baptized, we had a very cool Soul Cafe service at the church that involved Rev. Jackson Henry of Nashville, Dr. Michael Hawn, Ross Pederson, Kristin Stilley and myself, I officiated a wedding in New York, seen one of my friends lives implode in a very public way, hosted three different families from around the country in our home at various points, learned a ton of new music, attended the Dallas Stars training camp for a day, started a new children's choir program, rejoiced in my young family (life with a two and a half year old and a two month old is interesting!) and cantored the service celebrating the installation of our new bishop while still doing everything else that one does as a pastor and musician.

While all of this has been rewarding, I have to say it has left me, well, tired.

The feeling is that strange kind of tired you get that you can't shake, even after a low-key day or two.

Please don't read this as a complaint: I am thrilled to do all of these things. I just wonder sometimes about priorities and opportunity cost, and Sabbath and faithfulness. Know what I mean?

So, that leads me to these wonderful two expressions that I am hoping to incorporate as guiding statements this month.

The first expression i want to share with you I learned this weekend from the incredible Rev. Diana Holbert and it is this:

"Breathe Peace."

Isn't that lovely? I hope that I can begin to breathe peace in my own life and into the lives of others as well. If we all took a turn at that in October, the world would be transformed.

The second expression is one that I was reminded of by way of a Matisyahu song that was on Ovation TV. The phrase comes (at least my initial exposure to it) from a album by Donald Lawrence called "I Speak LIfe."

To "Speak Life." God, I want to do that! In the midst of all of the nonsense and fear and hate that we all come across in this world, as screwed up and broken as this thing is at times, what a gift it would be to Breathe Peace and Speak Life to the world.

Breathe Peace...Speak Life

I'm gonna roll with that this month, want to try it with me?

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Reflections for the near passing of a different storm

Jeez, September has been crazy full! I can't believe the last time I posted was September 3rd! It's not from lack of desire but rather my lack of posts has been from lack of time. Between a jazz soul cafe, starting two new choirs, kicking all of the old ones off, officiating a wedding in New York, doing my FUMMWA thing, having a eight week old and doing some conference stuff, the month has passed me by! I am going to try to "faith" the practice of posting a bit more!
Have a great day!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Morning Reflections from a Storm

"God is good! All the time! All the time, God is good!'

I use this refrain, well, all the time. Whether starting a worship service, with a choir, among friends, etc., the staff at my church have begun to associate this phrase (which did not have its genesis with me by any stretch of the imagination) with me because I use frequently. This morning, I was struck by (to use a phrase from Charlie Hall, which he borrowed from someone else) the phrase "the bright sadness" in regards to the aforementioned liturgical piece. Sometimes, it's an easy thing to say, other times, it's an act of faith to proclaim it!

This morning I enjoyed a wonderful cup of hot coffee sitting in my backyard in beautiful, overcast, cool weather, while praying the Office of the Dawn. The liturgy had, as usual, several interesting intersections with what is going on in this part of the world lately. How can we affirm the statement, "God is good all the time!" in the midst of hurricanes and poverty, and war? On the face of it, it's pretty tough to do, as a Christian, unless you have the Christian hope alive in you. Unless you have the hope that comes from knowing that Jesus is the true Lord of Creation, that in his life, death, and resurrection Jesus conquered death and inaugurated the reclamation project that is the Kingdom of God and that God is at work, with us, in bringing about the new heaven and the new earth that God has promised as found in Revelation 21 and 22. Without that hope, Christian faith doesn't make a lot of sense, at least not for me. I wonder, perhaps, reconciliation project is a more appropriate phrase than reclamation project?

As I prayed outside this morning, the winds were swirling and you could see the rotation of the bands from Gustav overhead. The trees and our windchimes were very noisy, the neighbors had things being knocked around their patios. All of these sounds and sensations were juxtaposed with the words from the office.
The opening line, chanted out loud, sounded more like a statement of faith and a challenge in this setting: Hallelujah! How good it is to sing praises to our God! How pleasant it is to honor him with praise!

Which was followed with: My soul waits for the Lord, more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

In the midst of the challenges in this life, God is at work! The already-not-yet-ness of the Kingdom of God on full display!

The liturgy continued with two stanza's from Charles Wesley's "Rejoice, the Lord is King."

Rejoice, the Lord is King!
Your Lord and King adore;
mortals, give thanks and sing,
and triumph evermore.
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
rejoice; again I say, rejoice!

Jesus the Savior reigns,
the God of truth and love;
when he had purged our stains,
he took his seat above.
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
rejoice, again I say, rejoice.

In the midst of the storms of life (both literal and figurative) Jesus the Savior reigns! Sometimes, it's easy for me to lose that in the swirling winds of life. Do you struggle with that from time to time?

Penultimately, here is the small verse from this morning's office, which speaks yet again to what God is doing!
"Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you home, at the time when I gather you together; yea, I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says the Lord."
Zephaniah 3:19-20

Hello!!!!!! Liturgy and life, intersecting, informing, and shining light on each other!

Do you see it?

It is beautiful.

May you receive this blessing today, which also comes from the office: May the Lord bless us and keep us and cause His face to shine upon us from this day forth and forever more. Amen.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Some random thoughts on a Tuesday night...

Howdy! I hope life is treating you well! It's been a while since I've posted so here's some random thoughts...
1. Sam is getting baptized on Sunday, which is awesome!
2. The remnants of Hurricane Gustav are coming through the North Texas area today and it's quite windy! Being able to actually see the rain bands has been intense! Our skylight is making some crazy noise and we are hundreds of miles away from the gulf! Incredible!
3. Speaking of Gustav, it's hard to imagine that 1/2 of Louisiana doesn't have power, but it's true.
4. I have been listening to the new Charlie Hall album and am really enjoying it. The album has a wonderful tune called "mystery" that uses liturgy from the Book of Common Prayer.
5. It's sad to see protestors get gassed.
6. I am feeling very sorry for Sarah Palin's daughter. It must be a very, very difficult for their family.
7. I am watching the RNC convention. It's mildly interesting. I thought the Rabbi who gave the benediction today, by actually endorsing John McCain in his prayer, is putting his congregation dangerously close to being checked-out by the IRS.
8. If I had to vote for a Republican, I'd vote for McCain.
9. This weekend I am looking forward to seeing the Counting Crows, which is going to be sweet!
All right, it's time to go to bed! These are interesting times, eh?

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

An inspiring moment for my daughter!

Let me first say, wow, what a night for Methodists! Hillary Clinton gave a wonderful speech at tonight's Democratic convention and two Methodist pastors from Aurora, Colorado (where I lived for five years as a kid) gave the benediction. I couldn't believe how moved I was by Hilary's speech. I have always been a big fan and have read all of her books but she hit a home-run tonight! I was so struck by what women like HIllary Clinton have done for the future of my daughter, Eleanor Grace. Incredible!!!! It's days like this I believe that I can truly tell my daughter that she really can be whatever she wants to be!

Monday, August 25, 2008

Donald Miller gives the benediction at the Democratic National Convention

Hi Friends!
I was so shocked/excited to see on CSPAN (yes, I admit it, I am keeping an eye on the convention via CSPAN) when Donald Miller, the author of "Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Spirituality" was giving the benediction tonight! As usual, he prayed eloquently and simply. I have read every thing he has published and find it all to be of value! I would commend him to you, if you have yet to read his work. Below you will find the text of his benediction taken from his website.

"Father God,
This week, as the world looks on, help the leaders in this room create a civil dialogue about our future.
We need you, God, as individuals and also as a nation.
We need you to protect us from our enemies, but also from ourselves, because we are easily tempted toward apathy.
Give us a passion to advance opportunities for the least of these, for widows and orphans, for single moms and children whose fathers have left.
Give us the eyes to see them, and the ears to hear them, and hands willing to serve them.
Help us serve people, not just causes. And stand up to specific injustices rather than vague notions.
Give those in this room who have power, along with those who will meet next week, the courage to work together to finally provide health care to those who don’t have any, and a living wage so families can thrive rather than struggle.
Hep us figure out how to pay teachers what they deserve and give children an equal opportunity to get a college education.
Help us figure out the balance between economic opportunity and corporate gluttony.
We have tried to solve these problems ourselves but they are still there. We need your help.
Father, will you restore our moral standing in the world.
A lot of people don’t like us but that’s because they don’t know the heart of the average American.
Will you give us favor and forgiveness, along with our allies around the world.
Help us be an example of humility and strength once again.
Lastly, father, unify us.
Even in our diversity help us see how much we have in common.
And unify us not just in our ideas and in our sentiments—but in our actions, as we look around and figure out something we can do to help create an America even greater than the one we have come to cherish.
God we know that you are good.
Thank you for blessing us in so many ways as Americans.
I make these requests in the name of your son, Jesus, who gave his own life against the forces of injustice.
Let Him be our example.
Amen."

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

N.T. Wright, a twist on an ancient spiritual discipline, and other random thoughts...

Yup, it's been a while! I hope all is well!
Here comes another James Joyce-like post!

Stream-of-consciousness for Tuesday morning:

Being able to sleep last night for more than two hours (like I have the previous two nights) has been very invigorating!

A wonderful couple of church members brought by dinner for us a few nights ago and a pound of Ruta Maya coffee, which is nearly gone. It's so good! Makes me miss one of my favorite San Antonio hangs and all that came with it! (The SA Ruta Maya, at least the downtown location, is a converted "gentleman's bar." Wild atmosphere, great coffee, and free wifi!)

I am listening to "SMV" a new album featuring the three greatest living electric bassists: Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, and Victor Wooten. Lot's of chops!

It is raining and in the 80's outside: what a blessing for Texas in August!

I finished reading N.T. Wright's "Surprised by Hope" this morning and it is really a wonderful work of theology. Wright gives a beautiful account of the resurrection and how it should affect our daily lives and the mission of the church. I would highly recommend it!

A few days before Sam was born I read "The Shack." Who knew it would be a summer of borderline orthodox reading? I just started Wright's "Why Christianity Makes Sense" which is written for a non-academic, non-Christian audience, and it looks to be just as thought provoking. I am thankful for Marcus Borg for many things, one of them being an introduction to Wright!

Last night when I was rocking Sam at 2:45 I entered into a spiritual discipline that I haven't observed in a while: reciting the Eastern Orthodox "Jesus Prayer" with an orthodox prayer rope. It is a wonderful discipline to focus one's prayers. If you are interested in exploring this practice more, let me know and we can chat about it!

Well, back to the proverbial mines! Have a great rest of the day and may you experience God's grace in new ways today!

Monday, August 11, 2008

The Mission of the Church

I am nearly finished with N.T. Wright's "Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church." The scholarship is tremendous and Wright's application to the church has the potential to shift some paradigms! At least, that's my hope.

Wright claims that, in light of God's Kingdom project (i.e. the new heaven and new earth that we read about in Revelation 21 & 22 and Jesus' main mission of announcing and inaugurating the Kingdom of God) that the church's work is this: justice, beauty, and evangelism.

I love it! Justice, beauty, and evangelism. The framework that Wright is proposing advances us beyond the old liberal/conservative, evangelism vs. social gospel debates of the last 150 years. He takes the gospel imperatives found in both Matthew 25 and Matthew 28 (some of us have had this conversation before!) and combines them into a clarion call for the church.

Justice, beauty, and evangelism.

Glorious!

There is so much more to write but I've got to set-up a computer w/pictures for a funeral.

I very much want to hear what you think about this!

Issac Hayes has died

The man was a legend! Yes, he wrote the theme to "Shaft" and was the voice of Chef on "South Park" but perhaps his greatest legacy was his incredible work as an arranger/composer at Stax Records in the 60's-70's. So many hits, so many cool sounds! 65 was, in fact, to early!

Monday, August 4, 2008

Speaking of Celebrating Life!!!



Check out these two! Think Ellie likes being a big sister????

A moment of potentially horrible irony...

In addition to spending some quality time with my family I am also leading the music for a revival in Royse City, Texas this week. The preacher, the excellent John McLarty of Faith UMC, Corinth, Texas, asked for tonight's "Song of Reflection" to be John Mayer's "Say." I'm a big John Mayer fan so I wanted to learn the song any way! The first time I heard it I was positive that the opening lick was on a ukulele but I had managed to convince myself yesterday that it might actually be a guitar. Well, a little bit of research later, it turns out my initial impression was correct, well, almost, anyway. I tried to replicate it on my ukulele but quickly discovered it's a six-string ukulele (mine's a four) that's playing the intro! So much for playing it on my little uke!

Anyway (sorry about chasing that rabbit) the song "Say" was written by John Mayer for the lovely film, "The Bucket List." As I'm working on the tune, my mother-in-law informs me that Morgan Freeman (star, along with Jack Nicholson, in "The Bucket List" which is all about living life to the fullest) has been in a terrible car accident and is in the hospital in Memphis.

Life is fleeting: it is wise to celebrate our common lives together, and God's creation, while we are here together, eh?

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Check this out!

Just as I was posting about the kid-dominate nature of the blog for the next few weeks, I came across this: the tenori-on from Yamaha. Check it out!

http://tenori-on.yamaha-europe.com/uk/whatis/

Just imagine what this thing could do!

The first night!

All right, the first night was successfully navigated! Sam was an absolute champ and woke up on schedule like clock work! Ellie, however, decided it was time to play with dad at 4:00 a.m., so we did! I can't complain overmuch because I've been missing her!
We are preparing to take Sam to his first pediatrician appointment in a few minutes, which will be a delight, I have no doubt! It has been an incredible blessing to be able to stay home with the family for a few days! Honestly, most of the posts for the next week or two are probably going to be mostly about the kids but I am serving as the cantor for a revival next week so that might break it up a bit! I hope you are well and that we can catch up soon!

The Cutest Little Girl in the World!



Look at this lovely little girl! Ellie is the cutest (in my humble, and biased opinion!).

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Children are a blessing from God


The psalmist got it right! See Psalm 127:3-5 (NASB):

"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one's youth.
How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them"

Sleeping Away!



All is at rest.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Happy Birthday Sam!!!



I am currently experiencing one of the most amazing things! I am three feet away from my brand new son, who is sleeping so hard, all 9 lbs, 1.5 oz, and 20 inches of him! Samuel Joseph was born at 11:34 this morning and both mom and baby are well! Sarah and the ob did an amazing job and Sam was such a trooper! He is AMAZING!!!!

Saturday, July 26, 2008

CrB



One of the little side projects I am currently involved in is playing bass in a classic rock cover band called CrB. It's a pretty good band that has a keyboardist, great lead singer, lead guitarist, drums, bass, and a great saxophonist (my dad!). We are having a pretty good time working through some blues-based materials as well as a ton of classic rock stuff. This picture came from our most recent studio session when we creating a demo.

Friday, July 25, 2008

A little bit more soul, baby!



Nothing says 'soul' like having the eyes closed?

SCJ JC



Whew, I finally got those articles done! (Well, I got them done a long time ago, at least it feels that way!) This picture, and the next one, are pictures of my cantoring experience at the South Central Jurisdiction Jurisdictional Conference. Someday remind me to tell you about my song choices and the George W. Bush library at SMU!

Lake Junaluska



I am such a procrastinator! I really need to be writing some articles for the old church newsletter at the moment but it's Friday and I'm getting Sarah's oil changed and tires rotated and I just can bring myself to do it! So, I thought I'd post some pictures instead! The picture above is from my teaching/conducting gig at Lake Junaluska this summer. I was blessed to serve as the Older Elementary Children's Clinician. The whole week was a blast! The kids (all 60 of them!) were amazing, I taught some well received classes, and got to meet some truly amazing people!

All in all, it was a great week! I hope to take my family there for Music and Liturgical Arts Week in the near future! Next year, Alan and Susan Pote, Tom Troeger, Mark Patterson, and Andre Thomas will be there! Should be incredible!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

One of my favorite Picasso's



Hello Friends!
I hope all is well! I have a few minutes between meetings and I thought I ought to take a moment to post. We are but 5.5 days away from the scheduled arrival of Samuel Joseph! (So the posts will probably become even more infrequent, hard to imagine, I know!)
It is 101 degrees in Dallas today and I got to thinking of cooler times! The picture above is Picasso's "Violin and Grapes." I LOVE IT! Sarah and I took this picture of it on our trip to New York in February (it was much cooler then). The painting lives at the MOMA in NYC. It is a stunning work! I keep trying to find a large print of it for our home but they are hard to find and the only one I found just doesn't even come close to capturing the vibrancy of the original. One of these days....

Friday, July 18, 2008

Cantoring @ the SCJ JC

Howdy! Well, I've finally found a few minutes to blog during the South Central Jurisdictional Conference. This week has been crazy! I have averaged five hours of sleep the last few nights and I am starting to get a bit sleepy but what an interesting experience this has been!
On Tuesday I had the opportunity to work in rehearsal with the combined choirs of St. Luke Community UMC, Hamilton Park UMC, and Lovers Lane UMC, three of the best choirs in the North Texas Conference.
On Wednesday night I had what I consider to be the great privelage of cantoring the opening worship service for the jurisdictional conference. Being able to lead a thousand people in a cappella singing was absolutely an thrill!!! We had 100 people in the choir, a six piece professional brass ensemble and the incredible pipe organ at FUMC Dallas. If I get some time I'll write more about this service but suffice to say, it was one of the most amazing music ministry moments of my life.

O.K......we are live at ballot 17 for our last bishop....no election....

Back to the week!

On Thursday morning I had the opportunity to led the morning worship service and then all of the singing during the conference on Thursday and Friday.

This morning I lead the music for the bishop's retirement service. It's been amazing but know I've got to go and get another song ready!

Monday, July 14, 2008

Checking in!

Howdy!
I hope your summer is treating you well! Mine has been a bit crazy, and is going to ramp up quite a bit this tomorrow as the South Central Jurisdictional Quadriennieal Conference will be meeting in Dallas. I will be serving as a cantor for three of the worship services and for the buisness sessions. I am thrilled to be a part of this week's events but there's a lot of i's to dot and t's to cross before the event begins. We've got rehearsal tomorrow night at First UMC, Dallas, to prepare for the opening service on Wednesday, a rehearsal on Wednesday for the retirement service on Friday and then all of the actual services. Should be pretty fun!
You won't be hearing too much from me this week unless I can get some spare time when I'm there to blog (which is not real likely!)
But, I hope you are well!

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

A meditation piece for you...

I love my daughter! Otherwise...wow...
The same beautiful 2.5 year old who asked if she could watch "animated tv" last night got it in her mind that she didn't want to go to sleep and we had a very difficult time getting her to do that last night. After several false starts, she finally got to sleep, until about midnight and then she was up till about 3:30. I suppose I should thank her: she's getting us prepared for the next couple of months! :)
In my laziness I was looking for a short form of the daily office to pray this morning and I came across this meditation piece from the Taize Community. One of these days I'll post a long series on Taize but, for now, here's something to ponder:

8 JULY
A believer of the first centuries wrote, “Don’t be anxious!” (2) When we entrust to Christ the worries that keep us far from him, he enables us to discover this reality: “In calm and trust will be your strength.” (3)
2. Philippians 4:6
3. Isaiah 30:15

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Eleanor Grace is so, so, so, smart!

I can't believe it: my daughter, who is 2.5 years old, just asked me if she could watch animated t.v.!
Wow!

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Random Thoughts on a Sunday Night

Yeah, I know, I know, it's been a week. I am the world's worst blogger!
So, here's some random thoughts from today...

1. I just got back from hearing my old youth choir kids sing tonight: I am proud of them! They sang very well and their new director is very cool! (Anybody who rocks the Kangol hat and the iPhone is cool with me.)

2. Kangol hats are awesome. I am going to wear my summer black one tomorrow. iPhones are pretty awesome too...one of these days.

3. I got to preach today, which I love. I preached about justice and God's grace and you know what, it mattered!

4. John Mayer has really good tone!

5. So does Glenn Gould.

6. I love diversity in music!

7. A good friend of mine is a female pastor who just started last week at a church in Bridgeport. There was a blog post in a local blog in the town that she is in that commented on her being a woman. I realized, again, that I don't have to face that kind of thing simply because I was born as a male. Seriously, bigotry is just dumb.

8. Because I preached today, I am exhausted. Preaching is a different animal than teaching or other kinds of public speaking that I have engaged in. It just drains me! (In a great way.)

9. Our youth minister, Nathan Bryant, led the music at services this morning and was amazing! He really has an incredible instrument in his voice!

10. My trip to teach and conduct in North Carolina has totally revitalized me as a musician: I feel blessed and excited and vitally interested in making music again!

11. Tomorrow I get to worship with my brothers and sisters in The Order of St. Luke, which is going to be nourishing to my soul.

12. Usually I am filled with random thoughts but I'm done for tonight. God bless you!
Joe

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

A Real Rarity in this Life!

Here it is, my real rarity! I just walked through the living room in our home and my lovely wife was watching "America's Got Talent" and I stopped to watch because there was a kid who was about to sing who is autistic. I just spent some time lecturing in North Carolina about how one of the greatest gifts we can give to our children (especially our children who are autistic) is the gift of expressing themselves through music.

Howard Gardner spends some time in his landmark work ""Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences" discussing how children with autism tend to excel in music. My experience has been that Gardner (in nearly every area that I have read him in) is absolutely correct! I worked with two autistic kids when I was a senior in high school and it was through music that they could best express themselves.

Needless to say, with autism on the rise, incorporating autistic children into church music ministry programs is something of a soapbox of mine!

So, I'm passing through the living room and I stop down to watch. Please understand me: I HATE REALITY TV, MOSTLY BECAUSE I'M INTO REALITY!!!! And so, this nine-year old young man starts to sing a Jackson Five song (he claims that the Jackson Five are his favorite group, which is proof, if you ask me, of his autism, as he was born in 1999!) and, while he has some substantial pitch issues, on the whole he nails it.

The feeling behind his singing brings me to tears.

It was beautiful.

I never thought reality t.v. could do that to me!

I hope he does well and continues to utilize music as a tool to express himself!

Monday, June 30, 2008

Two Exciting New Things!

This is going to read a bit materialistic (especially after my last post!) but I made two purchases today that I am very excited about, more because of their symbolism than anything else!

1. A new guitar! I never thought I would buy an Ibanez but this little number is a jewel! it's a classical guitar with pickups and is designed to be "plugged-in." Since nearly everything I do these days, from Taize, Iona, and all points in-between uses classical guitar I am thrilled to have a new partner in the creative process. I keep looking for excuses to play it! :) We are still getting to know one another but I have a feeling that we will be doing lots of good work together!
I've got two cantoring gigs coming up this month and next that will make excellent use of this instrument and its flexibility! I haven't bought a new guitar since my Marcus Miller bass seven years ago! Wow, it's been a while!!!!

2. A new stole! Last week at Lake Junaluska I met Phillip Cox Johnson, who is a renowned liturgical artist. He created a piece that I have and use from time to time as a covering cloth for communion. He is really an incredibly gifted artist: you can check out his work at

www.gospelcolors.com

He is creating a white deacon's stole for me that I will wear when I cantor the opening worship service for the South Central Jurisdictional Conference this month in Dallas and I will also wear it at funerals for clergy.

Fun stuff!

I've got to write my July church newsletter article now but I will post soon about my time on the road in North Carolina! Also, if you have a moment, I would covet your prayers as I am preaching this week and need some organizational help!

God bless you!

A momentary break

Whew...life moves quickly, doesn't it? I mean that, in every way, in every manner, life seems to move quickly. Unless you are suffering, I suppose.

I put Ellie to bed about an hour ago, took out the trash, played through some hymns for a funeral I'm cantoring on Wednesday, talked to my boss and I just sat down to my computer with a cup of coffee and thought, perhaps I should take a quick "blog break" before finishing up several administrative tasks before calling it a night. And really, who doesn't want to work on administrative tasks at 10:00 at night!

So, I've been thinking about death a lot lately. Well, not really death, perhaps, as much as life and it's relative shortness. At my home church this past Sunday a family of five was killed as they were leaving church in a car accident. I knew the parents: they were some of my youth counselors growing up and I worked on staff with Christy when I served at Custer Road UMC in seminary. The community, as you can imagine, is devastated.

Life is short.

I think about a colleague of mine I look up to in ministry who is not "old" in any sense of the term and who is suffering through incredible cancer. I think of two of my choir members who are fighting cancer.

I watched the movie "Bucket-list" last night and am in the middle, coincidentally, of reading N.T. Wright's newest book "Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church."

This has gotten me to thinking lately really not about death at all, but about life. And about beauty. And about justice. And about fellowship. And about light.

And about how it ALL really matters.

It all really matters.

Every moment, matters. Every breath is a gift.

And so, if we haven't talked in a while, I really want to sit down with you over a cup of coffee (or the beverage of your choice) and just talk. How are you? What's going on in your life? What is giving you energy right now? Where are you finding rest? How are your relationships?

Let's not wait, o.k.?

Thursday, June 26, 2008

I am still amongst the living!

Hello friends! (If any of you are still checking this blog!!!)
Sorry it's been so long since the last post! I am teaching (the older elementary children's choir) at Music and Liturgical Arts Week at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, this week. It's been a great week but I have been feeling bad that I haven't been able to blog in a while! Sadly, I don't have much time to post today as I need to leave in just a minute to get ready for my last rehearsal with my kids! (All 60 of them!!!!) We are singing some cool repertoire so it should be fun! Our concert is this afternoon at 2:00 EST, so prayers for clarity and focus would be appreciated!
Given my second to last post, I am eager to report on how this transition is going but that will have to wait for another day! If I get time in the airports I will post more soon!
Vaya con dios!
Joe

Friday, June 20, 2008

A good night sleep!

I would like to take a quick moment to thank the pharmaceutical industry for a night of wonderful, deep sleep! Thank you, NyQuil, not only for helping to ease my cold-like symptoms but also for giving me the deepest nights sleep I've had in some time!
It's amazing how eight hours can change one's perspective!
Have a blessed day!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Oh sweet, sweet blog, how I have missed you!

Tis' the season for long hours at work! Oddly enough, I thought this summer would be a little easier on me because I am not leading a choir tour but it has turned out to be just as much work, though the work is of a more sustained nature.

It is raining right now and the thunder is just beautiful to hear! I've got some good espresso, the church is quiet (the calm before the storm, we have only two days of vbs left!!!) and the music is just moody enough! This fortunate confluence of events must mean that it's time for a little bit of reflection before the children come!

All in all, all is well.

I have learned much about myself these last few weeks, which is probably why I haven't spent much time with the blog!

I've been rolling into work by 7:30 a.m. and not wrapping up work until midnight or so for nearly every day the last two weeks and the work-load was beginning to wear me down a bit and I have been feeling fairly overwhelmed lately. I had to take a general health survey this week for the church and scored a lot worse in the stress area that I thought I would. I'm afraid "dark Joe" had been emerging more and more lately! :)

Last night, however, I had something of an epiphany! I received an email from a worship designer that I will be doing some cantoring for this summer at a major event. Basically, the content of the email left most of the song leadership at this event in my court. I had previously (after several rounds of seeking clarification!) came to the conclusion that my work was going to be about a 1/4 of what I will now be doing next month. It's all good because I am thrilled, honored, and humbled to participate in the worship leadership at this event but, yikes, that's a lot more work at a time when my local church is asking a lot more from me, I'm preparing to serve as a clinician at a national event and leave on Saturday, I will be leading a revival in August, I have large planning responsibilities for a 2009 national convocation and a big piece of that work has to be done by August, and we are expecting the arrival of Samuel Joseph (YEAH!!!!) in late July/early August.

Wow, I thought, this is beginning to feel like more than I can reasonably handle, the walls are closing in!

After recieving the email, I found myself resorting to my usual strategy: if only, I thought, I can head back to church after choir tonight, pull an all-nighter I can get the majority of this stuff done! You know, the old, "if I just work a little harder I can get it all done..." Well, when I got to the church after the choir party, I decided that I've had about enough of this way of working and of being with my family.

So, that's a long set-up to say that here was my double-epiphany:

1. I am no longer in my first semester of grad school, in fact I've had my masters degree since 2003 and have been in the field full-time for half a decade, so the time for the all-nighter as an effective strategy for accomplishing long-term projects has passed. (In a related note, so has my ability to eat large steak burritos with the "fire" sauce. The passing of my digestive system from 20 year old to 30 year old has been marked by several such unfortunate discoveries!) It's time to grow up a bit and a) learn to say no but to only the things that are really interesting and/or important and b) relax, prepare as best I can, and rely on the combination of training, preparation, experience, and intuition. The discipline in this will be not feeling guilty for not working myself to exhaustion.

Which leads to the second, equally important epiphany. (Which also requires some set-up.) When I was in the ninth grade I had a major spiritual crisis (might have had something to do with hormones) that resulted in several intimate experiences with God. One of which was a request that I made of God as the long night was drawing to a close was this: God, please do not deny me the experiences of life in their fullest measure: I want to taste the darkness when it comes and I want to taste all of the good and to see the light when it comes. So far, God has been protectively generous in honoring my request! (Some days it feels like a pretty naive request but on balance I wouldn't withdraw it!)

Last night I realized that I am passing through a stage in my professional and personal life. While I will always be a student I am beginning to contribute to my field. My contributions might be fairly small and of minimal importance but they are contributions none the less. And so, as I am allowing myself to transition between student to contributor, I am learning that I no longer want to allow myself the indulgence of the typical all-nighter. These frequent late-night sessions at the church are keeping me from watching my daughter grow up (not to mention an absence of my role as a parent), spending time with Sarah, and, I fear, lead to the Tim Russert demise (God rest his glorious soul).

This is a long way of saying that, like Tiger Woods, I'm always going to be refining my swing, if you will, but when it comes time to go out and play, I am going to allow myself to trust my swing completely and just get out there, embrace it, do it, and accept the results as they come!

I believe that I can make this transition because it is rooted in prayer and in a deepening realization that, as Julian of Norwich says, God is the ground of our prayers. I believe that this passage is of God, if you will, and I intend to honor it!

Well, the children are pouring in and the time for more ministry has come!

God bless you, have a great day!

Friday, June 13, 2008

A Mystical Thought for the Day...

I just finished my ritual internet surfing this morning and read on cnn.com about the flooding in Iowa...my prayers are with them. Feels like 1993 all over again, eh? I remember that year very well because I had to make a connection in St. Louis and the water from the rivers was lapping up on the edge of the runway.

Hmm....

Change in topic (that's me using the clutch to change gears in the conversation)

I have always been attracted to Christian Mysticism. (Much like a certain Methodist I have read, that Methodist being John Wesley.) This month I have been reading bits and pieces of the writings of Julian of Norwich, the 14-15 century English anchoress, an anchoress was a women who lived as a hermit in a cell attached to a church. Not much is known about Julian (if that is even her real name) other than her primary work, "The Showings." When Julian was 30 (in May, 1373) she received a series of visions from God. (Perhaps as a recently turned thirty-year-old who turned thirty in the month of May the numbers were just too strong to overcome!) Julian spent much of the rest of her life pondering these visions.

The visions are pretty amazing! I'd write more but Ellie is awake!

Here's a thought to ponder in the heart today from Julian:
"Nothing less than God can satisfy us."
--Julian of Norwich

Thursday, June 12, 2008

2008 North Texas Annual Conference

Hello!

I have just gotten back from the 2008 North Texas Annual Conference. This year's conference was good and uneventful, which is not the worst thing in the world! We had several productive moments, legislatively speaking. The conference endorsed (with minor amendments) a statement from MARCHA regarding discrimination against Latin American and Hispanic Americans as well as another piece regarding the current current environment created by our country's immigration woes.

One of the best parts of conference for me is catching up with my colleagues. In nearly every annual conference, somewhere near the beginning of the conference they will sing Charles Wesley's hymn "And Are We Yet Alive."

Here are two stanza's from Wesley's hymn:

And are we yet alive, and see each other's face?
Glory and thanks to Jesus give for his almighty grace!

Preserved by power divine to full salvation here,
again in Jesus' praise we join, and in his sight appear.

What troubles have we seen, what mighty conflicts past,
fightings without, and fears within, since we assembled last.

It was always something of a wonder in the early days of the American Methodist Church when conference came to see who, in fact, was still alive. The ministry was then (and in different ways still is) very dangerous. The average life expectancy of a Methodist Circuit Rider was three years in the early days of the American Methodists. If they didn't get killed on the circuit by natural causes they would often die of "unnatural causes." This year was the third year that I knew several of deceased pastors and spouses. Thankfully, most of them died of old age. Unfortunately, that trend will only go up as the average age of Methodist clergy is 52 years of old. As a 30 year old, I'm afraid my odds of witnessing many of them passing is pretty high.

We need more young clergy in the worst way.

On that front, our conference has placed The Rev. Dr. Andy Stoker in charge of recruitment, which is a glorious and blessed choice! Dr. Stoker is a man of great faith, incredible intellect and great passion for doing the work of God. Plus, he's young! The more candidates for ordained ministry he can come into contact with the better!

Thursday, June 5, 2008

The Character of God--a Sermon by Dr. Marcus Borg

I recently came across this sermon by Marcus Borg and, after reading it, I continue to be impressed by his clarity of thought and his ability to communicate effectively in non-academic settings. I read a TON of Borg to help me prepare for my ordination interviews and I continue to find him inspiring, challenging, and, at times comforting. We are blessed to have his voice in the world!

Enjoy!

Lenten Noonday Preaching Series
Calvary Episcopal Church
Memphis, Tennessee
March 24, 2000

The Character of God

Dr. Marcus Borg

Hundere Professor of Religion and Culture

Oregon State University

Corvallis, Oregon

I invite you to join me in a moment of centering prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, you are the light of the world. Fill our minds with your peace and our hearts with your love. In your name, oh Christ, our body and our blood, our life and our nourishment. Amen.

I have been told that my sermons often sound like lectures, but I’ve also been told that my lectures often sound like sermons, so it kind of evens out. Today is one of those days when my sermon may very well sound like a lecture. I want to talk about God today. I trust that it’s okay to preach about God. More specifically, I want to talk about the character of God, about how we see the character of God, and the effects of this on the Christian life. That is actually the title of my sermon, for those of you who like sermons to have titles: "The Character of God." Or to turn it into a question, "What is the Character of Your God?"
As a prologue, I want to explain a bit more about what I mean when I speak about the character of God. The character of God has to do with the very nature of God. It is deeper than the Will of God, for will flows out of character. And so my question is, What is God’s character? What does God care about? What is God’s passion? Our sense of God’s character, our perception of what God is like, is carried or conveyed by our images of God or metaphors for God. I typically distinguish between concepts of God, which I see as more abstract, and images of God—images or metaphors are more concrete, more visual. Indeed, I sometimes think of metaphors as linguistic art or verbal art. Some of the biblical metaphors for God or images for God include the following: God is like a king, like a judge, like a shepherd, like a father, less commonly, like a mother. God is like a lover, like a potter, like a warrior, and so forth.

These images for God matter, to repeat my foundational claim. They matter because they shape how we see the character of God. I turn now to the main body of my sermon. I want to talk about two primary images or pictures or metaphors for God’s character that have dominated the Jewish and Christian traditions throughout their long history, reaching back into biblical times. They are two very different models for the character of God. A model, as Sallie McFague from Vanderbilt Divinity School puts it, is a metaphor with "staying power." To which I would add, a model is a way of constellating or gestalting metaphors. That is, the biblical metaphors for God gravitate toward one or the other of these two models or primary images for God. Both of these have been present throughout Christian history. Both are alive in the contemporary church. And they are so different from each other that they virtually produce two different religions both using the same language.

The first of these ways of imaging God’s character sees God as the lawgiver and judge who also loves us. This is the one that I grew up with and the one I suspect that many of you grew up with. It is probably also the most common or visible image of God within the Christian church today. As lawgiver, God had given us the Ten Commandments and other laws about how to live. God had told us what is expected of us.

As judge, God was also the enforcer of the law; there would be a judgment someday. (I took all of this very much for granted when I was growing up in the church.) And God also loved us. Because we weren’t very good at being good, we weren’t very good at keeping God’s laws, God provided an alternative means of satisfying God’s law—of becoming right with God. In Old Testament times this was accomplished through temple sacrifice as a way of atoning for our disobedience. In New Testament times, God sent Jesus to be the sacrifice to die for our sins, thus making our forgiveness possible.

God did love us, but it was a conditional love. Namely, God would accept us if – and here again you can fill in the blank: if we were good enough, if our repentance was earnest enough, if we believed in Jesus. And so, even though God loved us, the system of requirements remained. God as lawgiver and judge in a way triumphs over the love of God. The dynamic of sin, guilt, and forgiveness, and doing or believing what we needed to do, were the central dynamic of the Christian life.
It is striking to me how pervasive this dynamic of sin, guilt, and forgiveness is in even liberal Christian settings. A couple summers ago, I was at a week-long event in a classically liberal Christian institution. Each day began with a chapel service at 9:00 o’clock in the morning attended by several hundred people, and every day that chapel service began with a confession of sin. And I thought to myself, dear Lord, it’s 9:00 o’clock in the morning and we’ve already been bad.

Now, I have no illusions about us being perfect or anything like. I’m just commenting that this dynamic of sin, guilt, and forgiveness is directly correlated with imaging God as the lawgiver and judge who also loves us. I have since learned to call this model of God, the monarchical model of God, from the word for monarch or king. I owe that phrase to the contemporary theologians, Ian Barbour and Sallie McFague. This monarchical model of God takes its name from the common biblical metaphor of God as King and Lord.

As King, God is both lawgiver and judge, and we don’t measure up very well in relationship to God as lawgiver and judge. Who are we in relationship to God as shepherd? We are sheep, of course. Who are we in relationship to God as lawgiver and judge? Well, we’re a defendant. We’re on trial, as it were, and this life, the life we have right now, is about getting it right or doing what we need to do. Depending upon the particular form of Christianity with which we grew up, getting it right might be some combination of right behavior or right belief, with the mixture put together in various ways. This model is softened somewhat, but not much, when parental imagery is substituted for king imagery. Of course, it’s usually father imagery that gets substituted for king imagery. But when the monarchical God is imaged as a parent rather than as a king, it is as the critical parent. God as the disappointed parent, the parent who loves us yes, but on the whole isn’t all that pleased with how we’ve turned out. The monarchical model is thus God as the divine superego in our heads. That voice that ranges and rages along a spectrum from you’re no good, to you’re never quite enough.

This way of imaging God’s character, this model, has several effects on the Christian life. I will very briefly mention four. And as I mention them, ask yourself if you have known forms of Christianity like this. The first of these is that the monarchical God is the God of requirements. It suggests that the Christian life is about measuring up, of doing or believing what God requires of us. Secondly, this way of imaging God’s character leads to an in-group and out-group distinction. There are those that do measure up and those who don’t. There are those who are saved and those who are not. Thirdly, ultimately the monarchical model of God is a God of vengeance. It’s a strong statement, but think about it for a moment. In this way of thinking about God, God is going to get all of those people who do not measure up, who do not meet the requirements. There will be a judgment, either after death with the prospect of heaven or hell, or at the second coming.

To cite a memorable and provocative phrase from my colleague, John Dominic Crossan: the most common Christian vision of the second coming is as "divine ethnic cleansing." Of course, they would never speak of it that way. But think of those visions of the second coming that basically amount to-- God is going to get all of those people who are not like us. Finally, fourthly, rather than liberating us from self-preoccupation, this is the God who focuses our attention on our own salvation; on making sure that we have done or believed what is needful.

There is another image of God, another primary model for imaging God’s character in the biblical tradition as well as in the post-biblical Christian tradition. To give it a shorthand label, I call this one the Divine Lover model. The image of God as lover is very interesting when you think about it; and it’s deeply rooted in the Biblical tradition. It occurs frequently in the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. To cite just one example from the prophets, from Isaiah 43, that wonderful chapter of gospel in the Hebrew Bible, God is portrayed as saying to Israel, "You are precious in my eyes and honored and I love you. Do not be afraid." The image of God as lover is the central image in the Song of Solomon, that collection of erotic love poetry also known as the Song of Songs. By the way, a phrase like Song of Songs or Holy of Holies, it’s the Hebrew way of doing a superlative. The Holy of Holies is the holiest place. The Song of Songs is the best song understood by Jews and Christians alike through the centuries as an allegory of divine love. It is striking that the Song of Songs was the single most popular biblical book among Christians of the Middle Ages. More manuscript copies of that book survived than of any other book in the Bible.

The image of God as lover is also widespread in the New Testament. It is found in the best known verse, John 3:16, which as you all know begins, "For God so loved the world …," and Jesus is seen as the embodiment, the incarnation of the love of God, of God as lover. To image God as lover changes the dynamic of the Christian life dramatically. God is "in love" with us. We are precious in God’s eyes and honored. We are the beloved of God. That’s who we are in relationship to God as lover. God yearns for us. As the contemporary author and theologian Roberta Bondi, from Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta puts it in one of her books, "God is besotted with us." That single five-word sentence stood out in neon lights for me when I first read it. "God is besotted with us." For just a moment think of the difference in your life if you knew that at the deepest level of your being that God is besotted with you, that God yearns for you, yearns that you turn and be in relationship with God as the beloved of God.

It’s very different from the monarchical model. The monarchical model puts us on guard. There are requirements to be met, rewards and punishments to be considered. We are defendants on trial. But the Divine Lover model changes the way we see the character of God. Rather than God being the one we need to please, whether through good deeds or earnest repentance and faith, God as lover is passionate about us, yearns to be in relationship with us. Yet there is a danger to the Divine Lover model. The danger is that it can become too individualistic, too sweet, as it were, as if it meant primarily that God loves me. We need to guard against sentimentalizing and individualizing this image, for the image of God as lover means that God loves everybody, not just me and not just us, but everybody. So the image of God as lover is very much associated with a concreteness and particularity of life in this world. As lover, God is liberating. This is the central theme of the most important story that ancient Israel knew, the story of the exodus from Egypt, which meant liberation from an oppression that was simultaneously economic and political and religious. Images of God as liberator continue through Israel’s history and into the New Testament. It is not God’s will that we be slaves in bondage, whether internally or externally.

As lover, God is compassionate. This is God’s character. Compassion, as many of you know, is an unusually rich metaphor in the Bible. It’s related to the word for womb. To say that God is compassionate is to say that God is like a womb or womb-like, life-giving, nourishing. Compassion in the Bible also has resonances associated with the feelings that a mother has for the children of her womb. What are the feelings that a mother has for the children of her womb? Tenderness, of course. Willing their well-being, hope, concern.

And feelings from the womb aren’t simply soft. They can become fierce, as when the children of a mother’s womb are threatened or treated dreadfully. Just as a mother feels compassion for her children and wills their well-being and can become fierce in the defense of her children, so God feels compassion for Her children and wills their well-being and can become fierce in the defense of Her children—all of Her children. 

As lover, God is not only compassionate but also passionate about social justice. God as lover is passionate about social justice with a simple reason that its opposite, systemic injustice is the single greatest source of unnecessary human social misery, of unnecessary human suffering in history. Social justice is the way our well-being is attained in this world. Indeed, God as lover is "in love" not only with us as human beings but even with the non-human world, with the whole of creation. Thus both a passion for justice and a passion for the environment flow out of imaging God as lover.

Depending upon which of these ways of imaging God’s character is emphasized, the character of God is seen very differently and the Christian life is seen very differently. Is it about meeting requirements so that we might be saved someday, or is it about a relationship in the here and now with God as lover? The ethical imperative that goes with each is quite different. For the monarchical model the ethical imperative is, be good because you will be called to account. There will be a judgment. For the divine lover model the ethical imperative is, love that which God loves. So what is the character of your God?

One of the most wonderful post-biblical expressions of God as the divine lover is from George Herbert’s poem, "Love Bade Me Welcome," which some of you will recognize. Herbert was a 17th Century Anglican poet, one of the great Anglican lyrical spiritual poets. I want to close by reading this relatively short poem to you, "Love Bade Me Welcome." The poem is set up as a dialogue between Love, which is Herbert’s word for God, so when you hear the word "Love" here you might also think, "God." The other partner in the dialogue is an imaginary person, perhaps Herbert himself.

Love bade me welcome, yet my soul drew back, 
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-ey’d Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack’d anything.
"A guest," I answer’d "worthy to be here";
Love said, "You shall be he."
"I, the unkind, the ungrateful? ah, my dear,
I cannot look on thee."
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
"Who made the eyes but I?"
"Truth, Lord, but I have marr'd them; let my shame
Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," says Love "who bore the blame?"
"My dear, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love "and taste my meat."
So I did sit and eat.

There are many ways of thinking about that journey of death and resurrection that stands at the center of this season. Today I want to suggest that one of its meanings is dying to life under the lawgiver and judge and rising to new life as the beloved of God.

Lent is about going to Jerusalem, the place of death and resurrection, the place of endings and beginnings, the place where the tomb does become a womb, the place of new life in God. And to return to that marvelous last line from Herbert, "‘You must sit down,’ says Love ‘and taste my meat.’ So I did sit and eat." Amen.
Life is short and we do not have too much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us. So be swift to love and make haste to be kind. And the blessings of God, Creator, Christ, and ever-present Spirit with us, go with you this day and forever more. Amen.

Copyright 2000 Dr. Marcus Borg