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Dancing In The Wind

What follows is the manuscript of my sermon – the first in a new series entitled, “Stretchy, Not Sketchy: Honest Conversations About Faith,” in which I attempt to make the case for a vibrant, living, growing faith that is flexible rather than being fundamentalist (rigid, inflexible). The video of the sermon is also available to watch online here.

Finally – after an entire Summer in the Psalms, we have arrived in a new series!

 The title of my sermon today is, “Dancing In the Wind.”

Have you been watching footage from the gulf coast of Florida?

Our family vacationed there a year ago in Saint Petersburg.

st petersburg vacay photo for post

We had a little thunder-and-lightening rain storm that lasted a couple of hours—it was beautiful and spectacular and completely innocuous—fun to watch, no harm, no foul.

But what we see from Hurricane Ian is, in many places, devastatingly destructive.

Roads and bridges destroyed, homes demolished, debris and twisted metal strewn everywhere.

Meyers Beach for post hurricane ian road destroyed for post hurricane ian destruction

Something that struck me was how often the palm trees remained in place, just looking like their hair had been tousled a bit. They had been dancing in the wind, created to withstand hurricanes and storm surge flooding.

I think this provides us with a worthy word picture of the kind of faith we truly want…

One that bends, but does not break. One that is flexible, rather than fragile. One that is planted, rooted, and established. One what can withstand the floods and winds of our time without snapping or worse, dying.

In fact, we see this word picture used in Scripture repeatedly. I think of the first chapter of the book of Psalms which says, God’s people are to be like…

They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In everything, they thrive. (Psalm 1.3)

I want to have the kind of faith that is capable of withstanding the heat and will not wither away, the kind of faith that in everything thrown its way… it thrives.

Art Clokey, the American pioneer in the popularization of stop-motion clay animation is best known as the creator of the character Gumby and… Read More

The Great Stripping Away (or—how I lost some of my faith)

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Thankful Notes (#23)

I will always think of this past year as the Great Stripping Away. There were things I intentionally chose to remove from my life, there were things that just happened naturally and in their season, and there were things that felt more forceful, not in my control… more like a taking rather than a giving or letting go.

This past year…

We sold our big 3,000sf home of 10 years in the neighborhood where Ashah grew up

We gave away most of our furniture

I gave away 3/4 of my clothing

My dad started having memory problems

Ashah graduated / turned 18 / has boyfriend / is heading to college – including a study abroad program

We began a complete gut-and-remodel of our little lake house while living in it… which included no heat or water during the snow storm and power outage this winter

We had to move out for some days when the staircase was gutted (leaving no access to bedrooms and the only remaining usable bathroom)

The main level of our house had no walls, no insulation, no lights, etc. for a while

I slept on a cot in the construction zone for a month or two

We had no kitchen, no way to prepare food at home other than with a microwave

We ran out of money to pay contractors and had to borrow in order to keep going

We began a remodel on our rental house so we could sell it

We sold our rental house

We decided to close our Kent campus after some significant setbacks – the youth pastor left to work at another church and took much of the band and our workforce with him; at the same time, an elder/pastor left because of a pending divorce

The church I grew up in, now a multi-site megachurch in our community, hired our youth pastor without any prior contact or conversation with me. Our youth pastor left to work at one of their campuses and took… Read More

About That Book

This past weekend my friends threw a book release party for me. It was fun and full of surprises. I was interviewed about the book, my mom read a selection, and so did I. Everything was perfect – the music, the food, and the decorations. Such a great night!

And the people there were amazing.

I wanted to share just a little bit of the behind the scenes on the… Read More

13 Things I’m Learning In 13 Years Of Being Ashah’s Daddy

Today is Ashah Joy Elizabeth’s 13th birthday… so here are 13 things I am learning in my 13 years of being Ashah’s Daddy:

  1. Feeling ready to be a good dad isn’t necessary to be one. I didn’t feel ready. I was insecure and unsure about how to be a parent—but when she arrived, I fell in love and that was enough.
  2. Despite my attempts to control and make everything perfect… Read More

21 Things I’ve Learned In 21 Years Of Marriage

Today is our 21 year anniversary. Yup. 21 years ago, I was 21 years old (and Shari was 22). We had a Friday night wedding – on a budget (which means we had cake at the reception, but not a meal). We were young, in love, and ready to begin our life together.

wedding picture 1993

Here are 21 things I’ve learned in our 21 years of marriage…

  1. Opposites attract. We did. I’m thankful for our differences (and they also can be frustrating). But we do make each other stronger, better—and we make a great team.
  2. Hotel sex!
  3. Her dad was right… Read More

Your Twitter Bio Makes Me Feel Like A Total Loser

Because I’m a pastor, I pretty regularly get followed on Twitter by other Christian leaders (that I don’t know) from all over the place. And for some reason, I receive a weekly e-mail from Twitter showing me these new followers – along with their profile picture and Twitter bio.

These Twitter bios make me feel like a total loser.

Let me explain. They say things like…

“NY Times Best Selling author of 14 books, senior pastor of the 23,000-member Hope of the World Church, international speaker and business consultant, entrepreneur, recording artist, fashion designer, coach, mentor, mogul, part-time professor of theology, cultural architect, health & fitness guru, Christian radio host, father of 4 beautiful children, husband, man of God, ultra-marathon runner.”

Dang. That’s incredible. How do you do all that stuff?

And thanks for reminding me that I suck.

Even this “Twitter Bio Generator” comes up with bios that sound better than I actually am… Read More

Cigarette Butts & My Pride

There’s a back entrance to the office building at my church – and it leads right to my office, so it’s the primary one I use. I’m pretty sure I use that specific entrance more than anyone else does.

Recently I’ve noticed a growing supply of cigarette butts just outside my door.

It makes sense. It’s probably the best location for smoking on our campus – it’s private, it’s covered, it’s sheltered from the wind, and there are some nice steps for sitting down on. I’m not surprised about the collection of cigarette butts there…

And although I am not surprised, I am bothered by it. Not because I’m concerned about smoking being a sin or bad for your health or whatever.

I’m bothered because every time I walk by them, my first reaction is to wonder if anyone thinks I’M THE ONE SMOKING… Read More

Men Need To Hear What Women Have To Say (Why Patriarchy Is Still A Problem)

Patriarchy has been around forever – and it is still here today.

According to Webster:

Patriarchy is… social organization marked by the supremacy of the father in the clan or family, the legal dependence of wives and children, and the reckoning of descent and inheritance in the male line; control by men of a disproportionately large share of power.

Or basically, “The dudes make all the important decisions, and the women quietly submit to them.”

Of course, much has changed in Western society – but around the world and within the church, many (dudes) are still clinging to patriarchy. In the news this week a story of 100+ school girls being kidnapped by Islamic extremists in Nigeria is a jarring reminder of what’s at the heart of patriarchy… Read More

I’m not (much of) a man. Can you help?

I recently walked in to the office and saw a friend of mine sitting there. She looked a little different – I noticed that she was wearing mascara. I pointed to my eyes and said, “What’s this? You have a new look.”

She looked a little embarrassed and said, “Oh, some friends suggested that I try it. I’m not a girl, so I never wear makeup.”

I said, “I understand completely. I’m not a man either. I don’t hunt or fish and I like to cook and decorate and make art…”

We laughed together, a couple of misfits. Then I told her she looked nice.

My “I’m not a man” statement is something that I do feel. I am a man, yes. But the overly exaggerated stereotype of what it means… Read More

When Church Jumps The Shark

Sometimes church jumps the shark.

What’s that mean?

From Wikipedia:

“Jumping the shark is an idiom created by Jon Hein that was used to describe the moment in the evolution of a television show when it begins a decline in quality, which is usually a particular scene, episode, or aspect of a show in which the writers use some type of ‘gimmick’ in an attempt to keep viewers’ interest. Its name is taken from a scene from a fifth season episode of the sit-com Happy Days when the character Fonzie jumps over a shark on water-skis.”

Related to church, I want focus on this aspect of jumping the shark…

“Using some type of gimmick in an attempt to keep viewers’ interest.”

I started thinking about this last week when I read a post by John Blase about his attempts to energize the small country church he pastored right after graduating from seminary. Here’s a quote from that post… Read More