Missional Living

Somehow….I’m not really sure how….I found a list of Questions Your Pastor Will Hate. Which is not only hilarious, but insightful. Remember all the questions about God you had as a kid? Like, "if God is really that big, how can he live in my heart?" and "If God is omnipotent, can he create a rock so big that even He couldn’t lift it?"

My favorites include:

"If Herod killed all the little children under two to get at Jesus, who escaped, can we not say the little children had to die for Jesus before he died for them?" Answer…No we can’t, sheesh.

"How come Herod couldn’t follow the Star of Bethlehem himself to find Jesus, but sent others to report back when they found him?" Answer…He was busy.

"How could Mary leave town after being warned of Herod’s intentions and never tell the women in the town, their kids were about to be butchered?" Answer…she was under oath not to tell the Angel story.

"Do you think Mary thought, ‘I know something you don’t know,’ as she left town?" Answer…you’re sick.

"If Jesus was asked ‘who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?’, would that not imply the man had sinned before his birth, perhaps in a previous life, if his blindness at birth was some kind of punishment? I mean, the blindness was from birth, so the sin had to be before that." Answer…Ummm.., no. Whatever the answer, it’s definitely not that one.

(For some reason, the link feature in my new editor isn’t working, so for now you’ll have to go and see them all at the link below…) http://ezinearticles.com/?Questions-Your-Pastor-Will-Hate&id=103223

Sad news tonite. Over the weekend, I received news of the passing of a dear friend who’s shaped me, molded me, instructed me and taught me more than I imagined. It’s funny how you never realize the impact a friend like that had on your life until they’ve passed on. They were someone I grew to count on. I assumed they would always be there for me–because they always had been. I have to admit, I’m still in a little bit of shock as I write this tonite. Although I can accept the reality, it’s still a little bit surreal to see these words formed on my screen, knowing that the death of my friend will now be what shapes me, molds me, impacts me and prepares me for the days ahead.

Guitar One magazine has passed on and has ceased publication.

Evidently, it has merged with Guitar World magazine, which, IMHO, has been the little kid brother on the scene. But not even your kid brother. The kid brother of the friend next door who’s even less tolerable than the kid next door. Remember the kid who got to hang out with the neighborhood gang solely because his older brother was (barely) part of the gang? That’s Guitar World.

Brad Tolinski, Editor-in-Chief for G-ONE, tells  me that for the remainder of my subscription, I’ll be recieving Guitar World magazine and, he’s sure, I’ll come to agree that I’m getting the best of two magazines in one.

Well, Brad, we’ll see. What I liked about G-ONE was the abundance of lessons. Lots of tabs. Lots of styles. Blues to death metal. Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) to T-Bone Walker to Django Reinhardt to Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society/Ozzy). Great interviews with young guns and veteran gunslingers. Fretboard theory from legatos and arpeggios to lydian and locrian modes…and all the way to spicing up solos with fourths, fifths, and diatonic triads….

Like an old friend, Guitar One has been there for me for years. Walking me through tough times with Dave Mustane (Megadeth) and Warren Haynes (Gov’t Mule). Remembering old saints such as Miles Davis, Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker, and the hallowed SRV. Experimenting with prog/fusion along with  Alex Lifeson (Rush), Allan Holdsworth, and John Petrucci (Dream Theater).

R.I.P., my friend. You’ll always be in my heart (and library).

Last week, we were looking at the Chesterton quote from Friday’s edition (see Friday’s post), and Douggie commented:

"Some day, I want to say something sweet."

You just did. And since we all want to make an impact on the world around us….Douggie, welcome to Quotable Monday.

After a week of Beach Break with our high schoolers in South Padre, and a week of surviving VBS, I’m beat. My eyes are dark. I haven’t run in over two weeks. I’ve battled the shakes of too much Starbucks and Monsters. And I’ll be able to have a short Sabbath rest in 13 minutes…

On Tuesday, our oldest son and I were playing a game of ‘crab ball’ (envision tennis or badminton, but with a stuffed toy crab as the ball…). We were trying to get the hang of a less-than-aerodynamic flying crab when Darien says to me, "Daddy…I was thinking about something… I could be a missionary when I grow up. "

"Yeah…that would be pretty awesome" I reply.

"I could go to places where people don’t know about crab ball and teach them how to play it. Then, after I beat them, I could tell ‘em about Jesus."

Perfect. Through the eyes of a child.

A day or so later, I received this quote from GK Chesterton, via Scott M. :

"A child kicks its legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of
life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in
spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and
unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does
it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong
enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough… It is
possible that God says every morning, "Do it again," to the sun; and
every evening, "Do it again," to the moon. It may not be automatic
necessity that makes all daisies alike: it may be that God makes every
daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that
He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown
old, and our Father is younger than we."

Do it again, Dad.

Each sunset on the beach.

Each time our 3 year old giggles.

Each time the breeze blows cooly, or the sun shines warmly.

Each spring when the rains come and the flowers bloom.,

As Shae mentioned to me, perhaps God is truly more like Alanis Morisette in the closing scenes of Dogma, than we realize.

Watch the video here of our kickoff of our summer project. And tune in each week as we transform this hooptie and ask God to transform us in the process…