Hot Wings addendum

Ah, I love it when an entry helps to generate synergy. The "Convergence" site is really all about community, and I think it's great when anyone wants to contribute to something I've written about.

In the spirit of that very notion, Fred posted a comment last night on my "Hot Wings" entry that included the suggestion that, "there ought to be a rule that wing prep should be done while wearing an apron with a witty phrase on the front. this allows everyone at the party to know who's in charge. (i.e. "Fred be doin' the BBQ-in')."

Then he sent me a picture.

So, as a helpful addition to my thoughts on the perfect hot wing, here the mighty Fred-O demonstrates his readiness for the big game. However, his wife was too embarrassed to be seen with him, so he had to snap this shot of himself in the mirror. Enjoy!

Jeff

See the Shrimp!

The picture I used for my "Jumbo Shrimp" entry is actually from a restaurant in Galveston, TX. Gaido's Restaurant is located at 3900 Seawall Blvd, and also sports a dandy giant Crab out front(It's just to the right of the lower picture). I'm not sure if the restaurant is still open, and if it is, I honestly have no idea what the food is like. But hey, they've got a giant shrimp, and that's not something you see just everyday!

If any of you Houstonians get down to Galveston, check out Gaido's and tell me if the shrimp is still there.

Jeff

A Severe Mercy

I just finished a book called "A Severe Mercy," by Sheldon Vanauken. It's a bit hard for me to sum up, as any synopsis seems trite in the case of this book. It is autobiographical- the story of Sheldon and the life he shared with his wife Jean, (who is nicknamed "Davy" after her maiden name, Davis) and their journey to faith in Christ. Their lives collectively spanned much of the 20th century, and he is an amazing story teller, which makes it a great read for people who enjoy history. They also knew the scholar and author C.S. Lewis, and the book contains 18 letters from him to them, which gives an interesting side profile for Lewis fans.

But none of these things by themselves made the book great; the whole is so much greater than the sum of its parts that it was more of an experience for me than a simple story. Vanauken is real and honest, and has a meticulous (and wonderful) knack for details that allows you to feel as if you are literally observing their lives with them.

The book was published in the 70's, so you can probably find it at a used book store or online at Amazon for a few dollars. If your experience is like mine, you'll be hard pressed to think of anything else you should have spent the cash on.

6/4

I'm reading a really terrific book right now called "Simple Church", by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger. My friend Mike made a comment about Pharisees on the "chainsaw" entry from the Convergence blog that made me think about something these guys wrote about, and I thought I'd share a little piece of it with you.

If you like the History Channel, this stuff is right up your alley. If not, well, you could always watch Andy McKee playing guitar again!

The Revolutionary (Taken from "Simple Church", by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger Copyright 2006. B & H Publishing Group, Nashville, TN)

"If anyone knows simple, it is Jesus.

If anyone is a revolutionary, it is Jesus. He is the original simple revolutionary. He stepped into a complicated and polluted religious scene. It was cluttered with Sadducees, Pharisees, Herodians, Zealots, and Essenes. He did not play by their rules. He could not stand their hypocrisy. He preferred spending time with tax collectors and sinners.

The religious leaders had developed a religious system with 613 laws. They chose the number 613 because that was how many separate letters were in the text containing the Ten Commandments. Then they found 613 commandments in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament). They divided the list into affirmative commands (do this) and negative commands (don't do this).

There were 248 affirmative commands, one for every part of the human body, as they understood it. There were 365 negative commands, one for each day of the year. They further divided the list into binding commands and nonbinding commands. Then they spent their days debating whether the divisions were accurate and ranking the commands within each division.

Enter Jesus. Jesus has the ability to take the complex and make it simple. A prime example is Matthew 22:37-40, where Jesus gives what has become known as the Great Commandment..."

Sorry- I'd better stop there. I'd definitely recommend checking the whole book out. Especially if you are hungry for a simple perspective on what it means to be the church.

Jeff

5/22

Wow.

My buddy James recently sent me a video of a guy named Andy McKee playing guitar. This guy is amazing. I would highly recommend checking out one or two of the videos of him I have listed on the side here. The experience is really as much visual as it is audible. Especially in the case of his song called "Drifting".

Again, wow.


Jeff

4/25

I've already told you a little about Brian Jones. When I was in worship ministry, this is one of those devotions that I would have printed out and read almost verbatim during a rehearsal. I am pretty sure that the prayer time that followed would have gone on for awhile. The truth that he shares here is priceless- I hope it will travel deep inside and stir your soul. If you're discouraged, I hope it will give you strength to get up and serve.

In the Giant's Grip

by Brian Jones

In John Bunyan's classic allegory of the Christian life, The Pilgrim's Progress, the central character, Christian, flees the City of Destruction and seeks eternal life. During his long pilgrimage he walks on the narrow path of the Hill of Difficulty, down through the Valley of Humiliation, passes through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and eventually reaches the Celestial City. Along the way he meets the characters Mr. Worldly Wiseman, Hopeful, and Faithful. At one point on his journey, Christian narrowly escapes the Doubting Castle, which is guarded by the Giant Despair. Thinking that those following behind him might fall into the giant's lethal grip, he decides to make a sign to warn future sojourners about the giant. The sign he erected read:

Over this stile is the way to Doubting Castle; which is kept by Giant Despair, who despiseth the King of the Celestial Country, and seeks to destroy his holy pilgrims.

Then Bunyan adds:

Many, therefore, that followed after, read what was written, and escaped the danger.

I must not have been paying attention while I was pastoring in Ohio, because I blew right past that sign. During that time my soul was in the grip of the giant. I was miserable beyond description. I was angry, bitter, depressed. I slept too much, ate too much, and withdrew from people. I stopped smiling. This was one pilgrim the giant had no problem overpowering. Then something happened: the more I reached out to hurting people, the more wiggle room I noticed in the giant's grip. Over time, while throwing myself into the lives of other people, serving them, and loving them, both in our church and outside, each act of love and service brought me a little closer to home.

Do you find yourself in the lethal grasp of despair right now? God has provided a second way for you to hold on during life's difficult moments. In addition to living in authentic Christian community, serve others. As you serve others in the midst of your pain, orienting your entire mind, heart, and soul around serving others in Jesus' name, supernatural things will happen that will loosen the giant's grip on your soul.

Check out Brian's new book Second Guessing God: Hanging On When You Can't See His Plan at
or your local bookstore now! (all proceeds donated to the church Brian serves)

4/3/07

As promised, here is the second half of the chapter I posted on March 23rd. It's really good stuff. I'm still not exactly sure who Jan Winebrenner is, but I think I'd like to find the rest of this book. A warning though: Don't read this if your faith isn't interested in a healthy dose of reality.

Once again, in an effort to appease the copyright police, I feel compelled to share that "Chapter One of 'The Grace of Catastrophe' by Jan Winebrenner (2005) appears by permission of Moody Publishers."

Grace in Doubt
Since that messy, frightening arrival in Texas, I have faced many other obstacles, many that were much more painful, much more life altering than a job crisis and a real estate deal gone sour and the loss of a few material goods. I’ve had to retake that exam on “Practical Theology,” and many times, I’ve failed.

I’ve doubted that God is really good.

I’ve wanted to curse, not sit and read Psalms.

I’ve refused to pray, because in those moments of greatest agony, I wasn’t certain that God would hear and answer, that He could be trusted with my pain.

I’ve wondered, really wondered, if there is a plan to all the chaos. I’ve doubted if God was going to come through for me.

In my worst moments, I’ve wondered if He cares, if He loves. And I still, at times, wonder if He is really as good as He says He is, as good as I need Him to be.

I’ve said with David the psalmist, “Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” ( Psalm 10:1)

Will you forget me forever?How long will you hide your face from me?How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?—Psalm 13:1–2

You’ve probably echoed David’s sentiment. You’ve felt the pain of loss and the desolation of loneliness. You’ve struggled to believe the truth and wondered if maybe, just maybe, you’ve gotten it all wrong. But have you ever echoed these words of David?

I trust in your unfailing love;My heart rejoices in your salvation.—Psalm 13:5

I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. —Psalm 16:7

David, grubbing for food in the desert, sleeping in a cave with vagabond mercenaries, fighting for his life, discovered that grace could be found in unlikely places. God Himself counseled him in moments of confusion. Listen to his testimony: “You have made known to me the path of life; you fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11).

A Gift of Opportunity

Catastrophes come to all of us, in forms too numerous to count. But with every catastrophe comes this gift—the opportunity to see God at work in our lives, on our behalf; the gift of opportunity to experience what we say we believe—about God, about His kingdom, about His people. It is through the grace of catastrophe that we begin to experience the theology that, for most of us, is too often relegated to the academic, the theoretical, realms of our existence. By the grace of catastrophe, we are offered the opportunity to enter into our theology, humbly, and with great anticipation. We are gifted with the chance to experience God in ways we never before imagined, nor hoped for.

John Bunyan wrote, “Let it rain, let it blow, let it thunder, let it light[ning], a Christian must still believe."9

The thunderbolts reverberate from every corner of the world, it seems. The echoes of suicide bombs shake us in the depths of our souls. The sounds of gunfire in our world, in our cities, in our own communities, send us in search of shelter, if there be any. The Internet brings us images of beheadings, images of torture and ignominy. Our hearts reel at the kind of catastrophes that greet us in the morning paper—and this before we’ve had our first cup of coffee, before the phone rings with news of a family crisis, a job crisis, before we’ve had a chance to enter the fray of our own chaos—kids, jobs, road rage. Everywhere we turn there is catastrophe on some level. Everywhere we turn there is the challenge to believe.

We must still believe that God is who He says He is; that He is as good as we hope and pray He is; that His kingdom purposes will prevail, regardless of the storms that encircle our world.

The Christian must still believe—theology must be lived out in the midst of whatever mess we might find ourselves: the international/global kind that makes the evening news, as well as the interpersonal ones that greet us when the kids climb out of bed in the morning, when the boss walks into the office with less-than-good news, when the car engine refuses to turn over, when the medical tests reveal something awful, when the parent/teacher meeting is negative. When life happens, we must still believe. We must hold on to the truth. And as we deliberately choose to hold on to the truth, which is holding on to God Himself, we discover His presence to be more loving and tender, more astoundingly personal than ever before, and catastrophes become for us a means of grace—a means of knowing and delighting in God.


Tracking Grace

But what does it look like to “hold on to” an invisible God? Can our fingers actually grip His hand? Can we wrap ourselves in the warmth of His regal garments?

Years ago I discovered that I could hold on to God through pen and paper. It was my mother’s suggestion to me when I was a young mother of two, struggling to stay a few steps ahead of despair. Ken was traveling heavily, my children were babies, and I was lonely, weary, and battling a growing cancer of bitterness. Every day held its own catastrophe—whether an emergency visit to the pediatrician for a shot that would enable Molly to breathe, or a broken air conditioner on a summer day when the temperature soared to 113 degrees (we lived in Phoenix).

Mom visited me one day when I was especially haggard. She could do little to help out because she had her own crises to deal with at the time, but what she offered that day changed the complexion of my spiritual life.

“Honey, why don’t you keep a notebook with your Bible and try writing down how God is dealing with you? Write down verses that mean a lot, the ones that encourage you, and keep a record of God’s faithfulness.” No one else was offering me a remedy for peace that day, so I did what she suggested. I bought a notebook the size of my Bible and my life of faith has never been the same.

I began by rewriting passages from Psalms, putting them in language and metaphor that I could connect with. Later I began shaping them into poems. Often having only snippets of time, I wrote verses on scraps of paper, carried them in my pockets or stuffed them in the cup holder of my car and memorized them while my hands were busy with other things. Later I played with them in a notebook, writing and rewriting them, squeezing every ounce of truth and meaning out of them.

Now, looking back over nearly thirty years, I can see that this has been my means of holding on to truth and leaving markers—markers that still stand as monuments to God’s goodness, love, and faithfulness.

I have been tracking grace.

In her book The God Hunt, Karen Mains calls it keeping a “life list,” keeping a record of “divine activity”10:

These are not mundane accounts. . . . They have to do with the Creator of the universe chasing after me in crazy love so that his nearness, his closeness, his within-ness can be recognized and known by me.11

Call it journaling, call it your “life list.” Call it whatever you like, but for me it is the tracking of grace.

Paul closed the book of Philippians with this encouragement to the Christians he loved: “Receive and experience the amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, deep, deep within yourselves” (Philippians 4:23 THE MESSAGE).

Somehow, that grace seems to plow deeper into my soul when it has been moistened with tears and softened by suffering. Its tracks are more visible. And always, those tracks lead to greater knowledge of God, greater intimacy, and a kind of deep interior joy that can’t be touched by circumstances, or catastrophes—large or small.


The Path to Joy

I hope as you read and study about the character of God and His kingdom, you will grab a pen and “track grace” in your own life. I hope and pray you will anchor it in ink.

I hope you will recognize, in that moment when pain pierces, or when the weight of life presses on your chest until it hurts to breathe, that hiding from God isn’t the answer. That running away is not the way to go.

I hope you will run to God. That you’ll open His Word and read and listen, with a pencil in hand. I pray that as you write what you hear and what the Holy Spirit makes known to you, you will sense truth being traced on your soul—that you will recognize the indelible mark of grace. I pray that the reality of God’s unfathomable love will imprint itself on your heart and that you will experience His powerful presence in new and wonderful ways.

I pray that whatever catastrophe, large or small, you encounter today or tomorrow will cause you to hold on to truth, to cling to God Himself.

As you cling, may you develop a record of His grace, tracking your own path to intimacy and joy.
And in those tracks, may you see the nail-scarred foot prints of Jesus your maker who, for “crazy love,” is chasing after you.

Tracking Grace

If we come to believe the wrong things about God, we will think the wrong things about ourselves, and we will live meanly or badly. Telling a person a lie about God distorts reality, perverts life and damages all the processes of living.12

—Eugene Peterson

Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” - John 8:31–32

1. Write a description of God as you believe Him to be. Be honest.

2. Describe the kind of relationship you could have with the God you’ve described.

3. Thinking about the most recent catastrophe you’ve experienced, what did you expect

from God, if anything?

4. Read Psalm 9:10. Write your response. Now, try writing the verse in your own words,

keeping in mind that trust can also be understood as “to be attached to,” “to be secured,”

or “to have expectations.”

5. Write a prayer to God, or a poem, based on Psalm 9:10.

________________________________________________

8 Henri Nouwen, With Burning Hearts (Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1994), 49
9 A Golden Treasury Of Puritan Devotion, Compiled and edited by Mariano DiGangi (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: P & R Publishing, 1999) from “Jerusalem Sinner Saved”, 96
10 Karen Mains, The God Hunt (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2003),137
11 Ibid., 137
12 Living The Message, 190