Students move in with lots of energy in their step

I have now seen what it looks like for over 35,000 college students to come storming back to class.  With a record-breaking enrollment at Washington State University and a whole lot of students at University of Idaho, there is a lot of action here on the Palouse!

We haven't had to try very hard to keep ourselves busy helping students make the transition.  We spent a day on each campus helping students move into their dorm rooms.  I definitely burned some calories as I carried tubs, carts, boxes and "what-in-the-world-is-this" up to the fourth and fifth floors.  I seriously began to wonder if they actually house anybody below the third floor or if I was just incredibly unlucky in which cars I was selecting to assist.

Me and Eric (team leader)

The move-in days were a lot of fun and a good chance to meet a few faces, introduce yourself, and most importantly make five trips to the cars become one trip.  Those old dormitories that lack air-conditioning are sure going to be fun for a few weeks.  Especially if the third floor in the Ballard wing doesn't stop backing up the toilet...

After the students moved in, it was only a day or two before the universities invite them to orientations and "get to know what's available to you on campus" events.  We attended the WSU Welcome Picnic at Mooberry Track where all the different student organizations set up booths to promote themselves and what they do.  We handed out 600 packages of free Top Ramen noodles with our information on them, telling them that "Dinner's on us, tonight."  It was well received and we made a lot of good connections and sign-ups.

The next day was PalousaFest at the University of Idaho and we all got to set up our booths again and talk to the UofI students.  This time we handed out free bottles of water with our info and had another great night of talking to students and inviting them to get involved in CARE groups.  Tomorrow, we have another event, the Student Involvement Fair at WSU where we will rinse and repeat the PalousaFest process.  

Continue to pray for our events as we get to meet students and hopefully enter into some new relationships.  Pray for Marty as he tries to connect with many of the Magic Valley students that are at UofI and WSU.  We are looking forward to Sunday night, when we will have two BBQ's (one in Pullman and one in Moscow) with tons of fun and exciting chances to build relationships with students.

Palousafest

Maggie (one of our CARE group leaders)

 

A thoughtful rebuke to my own blog post...

So, yesterday was a tough day for me.

I didn't get much sleep last night, either.

It was one of those days where God slowly and gently rakes you over the coals of humility -- and you  don't really notice until your hind end is on fire. 

My day ended with a very thoughtful and convicting read from a friend and mentor that I respect more than most anybody else in my life.  He had reiterated something that I was already sensing to be true in myself.  The way that I conduct my presence within the larger body of Christ at times is not...  well, it's not like Jesus.

But it had already been a long day at that point.  I had a good friend, that I hadn't talked to in a few years, take the last decade of my life and sum it up in a couple statements.  I normally would have been offended at such a trite, oversimplified reduction of a third of my life -- but the Spirit was preparing me to hear a little truth through somebody who was willing to unknowingly speak it.  My friend told me that to him it seemed like the last decade, "You've had something to prove."

And while it's undeniable how God has taught me and grown me over the last few years especially, I think there are moments when I still have something to prove.

And as long as I have something to prove, it's going to be a lot less about Jesus and His kingdom and a lot more about me.

So, this morning I offer a thoughtful rebuke of my own blog post.  Not for the content itself, you see.  I deeply believe there are a lot of things wrong about our worldview.  I still am bothered by the nuances I chatted about earlier.  I still think that we need a few brave souls to lead us in some good dialogue.  It's been affirmed in my life that what I bring to the table is a giftedness to challenge and make people think -- and I do believe that is how God has asked me to serve His community, wherever I am.

But I want it to be drained of all my ego -- and for that, I am deeply sorry and repentant.  I want it to smell like Jesus.  Jesus had this incredible way of undeniably confronting the systemic wrongs in His world and saying very little.  He was able to show it for what it was and still set people free.  The truth of the matter, is while I'm more convicted of my final two points than ever.  I ended up being guilty of the first two, just as much as anybody else.

To quote my friend from last night, I want to learn how to see if there is something in the bigger picture that I need to shoulder.  What parts of the problem do I need to carry?  And how can I live in such a way that can redeem the chaos and shine light in dark places?  I hope that I will hit the pause button on my future rants and -- hopefully -- the next time you see me rant, it will be about what God's doing in me and not what He should do in everybody else.  Pray for me in that, would you please?

I am still being refined by a Consuming Fire.  I'm sure glad He's in the redemption business; there's a lot more I still need to die to.

And by the looks of my inbox this morning... I'm in for another long day.

My thoughts on the latest craze...

I'm back to blogging and while it might make sense for you to hear some of the latest news on our arrival in Moscow, I'm going to save those thoughts for a later date when things are settled and I feel like I have a better pulse on our situation.  Things are a whirlwind of trying to settle down and get the family used to our new home (as one might imagine); we did get here and get unpacked and we are ready to go.  So, more on that later...

But for now, I thought I would get myself ready for the upcoming school year with a minor theological rant that I need to work through -- get my theological juices flowing, if you will.

I have finally read the book.  No, not the controversial one (I read that the night it was released); I'm talking about the new book that is all the rave right now in Christian circles.  The book will remain nameless for the purposes of this blog; it is not my intent to attack the author or the book itself, so it doesn't need to be named.  My observations (and opinions) are really bigger than this particular read itself.  This book has been recommended to me over the last couple months by at least 25 different people.  I have not heard a single negative thing about it from anybody.

It's not the first book of its kind.  Over the last year, I can think of four of these particular books published and they seem to have a few things in common.  1) They are all written by a mega-church pastor.  2) The main point of all four books is that American evangelicals need to learn how to buck up and live out the radical faith that Jesus calls us to.  3) They all instantly skyrocket to the top of the best-sellers list and are all the rave in the Evangelical community for a few months, just in time for the next one to come out and essentially say the same thing in the same way, with a slightly different cover and a new catchy title.

So, I wanted to work through a few observations I've been making about these books:

Hypocrisy is such an overused and abused word, but it's the only one that seems to fit here to describe the claims of these books.  The word also seems to be slightly harsh and overboard here, the observation is simply one of irritation and annoyance really and in light of some of the other things taking place, this offense is rather minor.  Maybe that makes it a good place to start.

These books all seem to rant about how misguided the mega-church is, yet the ONLY reason these trite books get published is because the author is some well-known pastor from a church of 15,000 people.  The content is nothing new or profound, just neatly marketed around the personality and face of "pastor so-and-so".  More than one of these books goes to great length to point out how Jesus, when being followed by great multitudes of people, would offer a teaching that would drive the multitudes away, leaving Jesus standing there with his disciples (a good point, by the way).  Yet, last time I checked, their church was still cranking out services for the same 15,000 people they were before.  So, if they aren't interested in imitating Jesus, what was their point?

The book I just got done reading opens with the author's disdain for books that promote themselves by having "Christian celebrity endorsements" on the cover leaf.  I could not resist in that very moment flipping to this book's inner leaf to find SIX "celebrity endorsements".  Shocked?  Not really.  Just an annoyed roll of my eyes.

This book also goes to great length to tell you that the author is going to spare no expense letting you have the rough, raw, and radical message of Jesus.  He is about to tell you the REAL gospel.  The unadulterated one without all the fluff.  He isn't going to try to "sell" or market Jesus to you.  The message is tough, so buckle up (again, this is very true and a good point).  But the author offers nothing shockingly scandalous or new.  It's really not all that radical.  And it still seems like a pretty appealing message to me.  This particular author actually caps each chapter off with a "testimonial" from a real-life example of what this gospel looks like.  Every story is essentially the same and has a great happy ending.

I'm not even that bothered by the "appealing" nature of the message.  The gospel is, at times, very appealing.  Lives do get transformed by the power of the Spirit and have amazing "only-God-could-do-that" endings.  That's the beauty of salvation.  But please don't go on and on and on about how the message of Jesus is so radical and different and how many people would turn their back on the REAL gospel, if you aren't going to deliver on what you promise.  And to be clear, I DO think that the message of Jesus is radical, confrontational and difficult.  I believe that Jesus said that the message of the gospel was like a treasure buried in a field, a seed slow to grow, a little bit of yeast in a lump of dough.  Eternal life isn't easy to master, it requires intentionality and the desire to forsake everything else.  The message of Jesus confronts our idolatry head-on and calls us to leave our idols behind; our plans, our hobbies, our patriotism, our consumerism is all called out for what it is -- a sham -- as we are called to pursue real and true life.  Write a chapter on how Jesus would call into question our pledging allegiance to a flag -- that would be radical.  But don't sit in your office in your $28 million building, sacrificing and changing nothing of consequence and berate the rest of us for not following Jesus.

Which leads me to my next point:

These books all carry a very accusatory and pharisaic tone that I don't find helpful.  Just take the points themselves and I think you have a book full of some amazing insights.  But the packaging is all wrong for the message.  All of these books just seem to say, "COME ON!  YOU AREN'T TRYING HARD ENOUGH!  YOU DON'T LOVE GOD ENOUGH!  LET'S GO!"  Like an eighth-grade basketball coach who screams and builds a team on fear, these authors beat up their readers and load on the guilt ("Woe to you Pharisees...for you tie up heavy loads on people's shoulders but don't lift a finger to help them..."  Matt. 23).

And what bugs me the most about all of this is that we eat it up!   I can't understand why we read this and love it and recommend it and act like it changes our hearts -- when obviously, four months from now, we need another pep-talk and good butt-whooping and we line up to buy the next book to make us feel like a miserable piece of garbage.

I've seen this in the ministry before.  It's the story of the abused wife who continues to go back to the abusive husband for the beating that she knows she has coming.  And why in the world does she do this?  Because she believes she deserves it.  She believes she is worthless and her fear and her self-loathing and her guilt-ridden self-hatred drives her into the same abuse over and over again.  And I'm believing more and more that this is a metaphor for how many of us feel as believers.

Which leads me to my next point:

We obviously see the problem, but we continue to treat the symptoms and not the disease.  Let us be crystal clear.  Jesus came to offer people life.  Real life.  Abundant life.  He did not come to load us down with guilt or give us a pep-talk.  His message was not one of condemnation, but of hope and relief.  He confronted the destructive systems and powers of the world and showed them for what they were.  He allowed us to see how we continue to buy into the wrong story -- and it's killing us.  He then invites us to come back and experience eternal life (now!) as God intended.  The gospel (according to Jesus) was this: "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."  If we remove centuries of bad theology, this would say to us, "Everything God intended for you is accessible to you, return to the way God intended you to be."

His affirmation was that God really was for us -- in our worst moments.  We could live in that love and value and acceptance, but we would have to let go of our idols of impressing others and measuring up and accept this radical message of grace. 

We know that stuff is off, so these authors just wind up and let us have it.  They try desperately to treat the symptoms.  But what if the symptoms are really indicative of a much larger problem?  What if we have our story -- our narrative -- all wrong?  What if we really haven't believed God's radical message of love and actually -- just like that abused wife -- believe we aren't good enough and just keep going back for more Pharisaic abuse? 

Wouldn't that be incredibly counter productive?  Wouldn't we continue to wallow in our guilt and miss the eternal life that God has made available to us?  Our typical evangelical dogma has become a disease that threatens our real life in Christ.  We have a basic understanding of God that says, 1) God is great.  2) You are garbage; this is a problem.  3) Luckily God sent Jesus, so that God can give you a pass and ignore your garbage (but you are still garbage at heart).  4) Don't you want in on this compelling story?

Which leads me to what I believe is my final point for the day:

The hermeneutics that are used in these books are incredibly destructive.  There is something very, very wrong with our accepted set of evangelical lenses.  They lack historical integrity in their interpretation of the Scriptures and therefore yank the Text out of context.  This is very dangerous, but none of us seem to notice, because it passes our "Evangelical theology check".  It is high time that a few brave souls lead us in asking some tough questions about what our lenses truly are.  If we have already decided what the Bible says, then we are in a very dangerous place, because whoever "figured it out" is now our authority and not the Text.  It doesn't matter whether it's Luther or Calvin or Campbell or Wesley or some synod or group or creed... if the Text stops being our constant guiding source for life and truth, we are in trouble.

If the Text is our true authority, then we need to be open to realizing that there are many things that are yet to be learned.  There are many things that we will discover as we all continue to study the Text.  But the Text must remain that source -- that which "doesn't return void".  This will call for continual study and interaction and dialogue.  But history continues to show us that whenever we "figure it out", it is only a matter of time before we learn that so-and-so was wrong about *this* or *that*.

This, I believe, is the great disease of our time.  Evangelical Christianity has a horribly outdated and inadequate set of lenses on -- and it's killing us.  We're not finding life and transformation and very, very few of us are being set free.  I find it harder and harder to find the kind of life that will ring throughout all of eternity.  I pray that more brave souls lead us in these fundamental and essential theological conversations.  Of course, the guy who writes the book about love and grace -- will probably continue to be called a heretic.  We will probably continue to buy millions of copies of the latest pep-talk piece and be "moved" by it.  But until we start to address the greater disease that lies behind the symptoms -- until we are willing to go in and question the validity of our lenses, we may not realize that "we are blind because we claim to see" (John 9:35-41). 

You are loved.
Completely.
As you are, God is for you.

You have value.
God crafted you in His own image and desires to dwell with you.
The Kingdom of God, life as God intended, is within grasp -- it's yours for the taking.

But you are going to have to leave your old gods behind.
The ones that kept asking more from you.
The ones that were constantly disappointed.
The ones that were always angry.
Maybe even the one you thought was the god of the Bible.

That is the message.  No addendum's.  No asterisks.  No fine print.
It's actually GOOD news.
God is not pleased when people get in the way of this good message.
This is a scandalous message.  It's counter-intuitive.
You will have to let yourself and all your inner voices die and follow Jesus.
It will be hard to trust this message. 
It's crazy love.  It's radical.  It erases hell.  And it will require you to be more than just a fan.
For the way that leads to life is narrow, but it's yours for the taking.

It is my prayer that the Spirit may continue to guide us into all truth.  That we might truly come to a place where we believe in the love of God, the power of the resurrected Christ to give us a new tomorrow, and the guidance of the Spirit to do "even greater things than these".

One Last Road Trip in the Books for 2011

We've made it back home with one mission: say some final goodbyes and get moved.

Our time to complete said mission: one week.

The last road trip was full of excitement, travel, and activity and
while every moment we had on that trip was a productive one, we are so
glad to be done.  I couldn't be more ready to get to work on campus!

Hitting the road -- this is my company ;)

We started our trip by spending one week in Libby, MT.  Back in November of 2010, we were able to start our fundraising by talking to my closest family and friends in the Magic Valley -- people who had helped me grow into the person I am today.  It was a neat experience to be able to end our fundraising adventures for the summer by going to Becky's home base and talking to those who had helped her grow.  We had a very positive response to our meetings there, everyone said that they wanted to support us and would just have to pray about a set number.

We then left for Iowa, where all of Becky's extended family lives.
Again, we had a great time with family and a warm reception to our
presentation for fundraising.  We took two days to make a quick trip
up to Minneapolis and see some former TFRC friends and then we began
the long road trip back home.   While the trip on a GPS will take
about 22 hours in all, the GPS certainly doesn't calculate for
screaming and upset children.  We'll just say it was a long two days.

"The Farm"

We came back to Libby for two more quick meetings and then spent a
couple days in Moscow, ID tying up some loose ends and getting some things in line (i.e. storage units, etc.) before we move.  Being on
the ground in Moscow and Pullman started to get the good 'ol ministry juices flowing and I am ready to go!

All in all, we sit at about 86% of our total funding, but we do
have the numbers in the bank to consider our first year fully-funded
and ready to get on campus.  Our personal goals still remain unmet
(having 100% of our budget in annual income), but with so much
positive response and people who have agreed to come on our financial
team, we are excited to see if God helps us reach our goal in His own
timing.

We have one week until we pull out of Twin Falls with all of our stuff
in tow.  Please continue to bathe our house situation in prayer as we
would really like God to provide a buyer by November.  Also, continue
to pray about all of those potential supporters who are praying about
dollar amounts.  Pray that their support would be a blessing to not
only us, but to them and the Kingdom as well.

Still getting used to this...