Well Advent and Christmas has come and gone, well technically / liturgically we are still in the Christmas season but for all intensive purposes it has come and gone. So we now reflect.

Reflecting on a good old American Christmas you might think it was about gifts, or a certain feeling, maybe about gathering or torture (depending out how your family time was – a notoriously hard time for many – it happened to be really good for me this year!). Maybe upon reflection Christmas was about a baby other that Jesus (things seemed to really revolve around my 1yr old Jack this year) or maybe it was just about trying not to go broke.

One of my last posted was about the Advent Conspiracy, which helps us to remember what  it’s really about but for more of us this time of year is far from that.

Maybe it’s about war.

I went to a church service on Christmas Even that insinuated that this is the case, “this is about war.”  I usually refrain from calling people out or saying things that would offend (to much) so i will try to do that again but i can’t help but to reflect on my Christmas Eve church experience.

For the first 5 to 10 minutes of the message the teaching pastor at the church i attended stated facts and made his case that Christmas is about war. It’s a war between those who are trying to take Christ out of Christmas and those of us who are trying and praying to keep him in. The preacher even said, to make the point, that some of us are using X instead of Christ in Christmas. And a gasp fills the room. After 5 to 10 minutes of laying the ground work for this Christmas war the message was finish by giving some good reasons why “Jesus is the reason for the season.” (could be go anymore cliche… I DON’T THINK SO)

SO…

#1. I don’t actually disagree with anything this guy said. For the most part people don’t care about Jesus during Christmas and for the most part CHRIST is not really apart of what Christmas is about for the average American. All true.

#2. What is Christmas all about and why do we preach on Christmas?

To remind people that there is a war going on? To remind people that things are going horribly wrong in the world and they better take Christmas back for Christ? I DON’T THINK SO. And this is just my opinion but i think Christmas is a season of HOPE. We are reminded that our hopes and dreams and more importantly the hopes and dreams of God were birthed in the form of a helpless baby on this day (give or take a few days / months) a couple thousand years ago. In my opinion this isn’t the day to talk about some holy war it’s a day to remind people of the hope they have in Jesus, the baby that was born and the gift that was given to each of us on this “CHRISTmas day”.

To make it about ANYTHING other than this is to fail as a communicator of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In my opinion.

To be honest i got up and left about 7 minutes into the message because i couldn’t take it anymore and my son was a perfect excuse to get me out of there. Sorry Andrea (i left her to fend for herself.) I heard most of the message for the lobby but it didn’t get much better.

#3.  “Xmas / the birth of Jesus is such an epic story! TheChurch needs better story tellers! Until we have better story tellers no body is going to want to listen.”  This was my tweet after that service and i think it’s true. i mean come on, “Jesus is the reason for the season” can we not do better than that? Until we as the Church tell this epic story in a more compelling way no body is going to want to listen. God will do his thing and draw people to himself but imagine what could happen if we actually participated and use the material he gave to tell compelling stories, imagine the people that would listen and then follow.

I read one tweet by a well know Christian who said, “Maybe we need to take Christ out of Christmas because it’s not really his day anymore anyway.” Or something like that. I ditto that! This holiday isn’t about Jesus so why fight it. Maybe we just need to make our lives and all of our days about tell the story Jesus instead of fight a war that doesn’t matter. Jesus doesn’t care about a day (that he probably wasn’t really born on anyway). He cares about people embracing him and receiving the gift that was given, himself. That the important thing… let’s use this holiday we call Christmas or Xmas to tell that story, to tell it in such a compelling way that people receive the gift and live all year with this gift in mind.

Grace and peace & Merry Christmas and happy holidays

erik

PS :: sorry this as such a long post, i intended for a short reflection… #FAIL

This past weekend i was in McPherson Kansas. You might think, where? I would respond, exactly! BUT in the booming town of McPherson lies Central Christian College. And i had the opportunity to speak in their chapel on Friday morning.

I brought a messages i have entitle, “Preserving and Illuminating a Masterpiece | a meditation on being salt & light :: Matthew 5:13-17.” I thought it was a great message for these college students, challenging them to embrace God’s intention for all of creation, specifically humanity and then go into the world and show people how to truly live.

The message went well, they even clapped for me at the end, which might be a first and i have slightly mixed feeling about it. I guess the hope would be bewilderment and or challenge. But i guess i’ll take applause, i just hope they got what i was saying, cause it’s really hard!

Anyway, i title this post sweet spot not because McPherson is a “sweet spot” – i try not to lie in my blogging, and not because Central Christian College was a “sweet spot” although i did really like their campus and the students seamed to be a great bunch and everyone was extraordinarily hospitable towards me. But that’s not it either. I title this post sweet spot because this age group really is my “sweet spot” – i love it!

I have had the opportunity to preach / teach at a hand full of colleges and universities, i speak at a college / young adult gathering on Monday nights here in Nashville, and over all i really enjoy building relationships and mentoring this demographic. I love it!

All that to say, i throughly enjoyed my time at Central and i continue to pray for more opportunities like it!

Grace and peace

erik

Well i sent out my eNewsletter today! It’s just a little update / recap of my summer ministry happenings. It was a really good summer. If you didn’t get the newsletter you should sign up HERE! Or if you would like to read this months update on line you can check it out HERE.

Here are a few of my favorite parts of the letter…

What some people have said about the summer, students and youth pastors;

Katy, “yeah my life was changed by God at teen camp majorly! And i can’t help but wonder if it was the speaker that helped it happen??!! lol”

Jonah, “The Holy Spirit has definitely been moving in my life. Camp was a great spiritual “rebirth” because for a while i was just going through the motions. Since camp I’ve been reading a lot of a scripture,  and sharing with my friends and will continue to.”

Scot (youth pastor), “Erik, your passion for the students was evident at camp! Thanks so much for preaching the Word, it was an awesome week of camp. It was great to see you relating to student on the activity field just as much as you did in the chapel services. You have an awesome ministry, keep it up! I know God showed up at camp and challenged us all in many ways. Thanks for letting God use you!”

I’ve been able to hear some great stories of student deciding to follow Jesus and totally giving everything to do so! Again, i’m reminded of why i do what i do. I’m just thankful to be apart of God’s movement among this generation of young people!

I was also reminded of little something important;
In all honesty i wonder how effect this ministry is sometimes. How may of these students really make lasting decisions? I am pretty careful to not manipulate emotions and i refuse to evaluate the effectiveness of a camp by the number of students who come to the altar or fill out a decision cards. But when a student is walking out the sanctuary with tears in his eyes and says to me, “i think God changed my life tonight.” I am reminded why i speak at camps. And i am reminded that i once upon a time was that student. I didn’t have a clue, i wasn’t a church kid, i was a little punk Jr. higher but something happen at an altar at a camp that changed the trajectory of my entire life. I was reminded of that this summer and i feel humbled, unworthy, and honored to participate in God’s movement of grace in the camp setting. Once again i experienced that this summer, it was awesome, truly! Students responding to Jesus and He was lifted high… this is why i do what i do!

And as always i have some great pictures and videos to document the journey! You can check em’ out on flickr!

Well i hope you take the time to read the entire newsletter. I’m excited about what God’s doing and the opportunities he is giving me. Of course i wish things we’re happening faster and things like that but really, i can’t complain. I’m very thankful to be able to participate in God’s work! I look forward to continuing that and having you as a partner as i do it.

Grace and peace
erik

Well despite my last post my first week of summer went really well. As mentioned earlier Youthfront really does things right, they are very intentional when it comes to their programming and that is a win for the camp, for the speaker, and most importantly for the students!

One thing they do differently than most camps i speak at is they assign a text to preach each day. They do this so that they can tie other elements into the message. And that’s great but in reality it does make my job a bit harder.

I mean think about it, during my busiest summer i think i did, 8 – 9 – 10 camps, something like that. A normal busy summer for me averages 7 camps. If each of those camps gave me the text to preach for each message i would have to prepare around 56 message for one summer. That would be crazy my friends! Typically i spent April and May preparing 10 or so messages that i will share all summer, that’s my method.

BUT! with that said, some of the text i was given to preach on really excited me and i feel like the Lord gave me some great nuggets to share.

Especially for the thursday and friday messages! The messages went awesome! i think students were really responsive and i sensed that Jesus was up to some big stuff! Because most of the response was done in cabin time i didn’t get to see that part but i heard that at least one student give his life to the Lord and started following Jesus for the 1st time. AMAZING!

So yea, I love preaching the gospel and when i find a nugget that is new, that feels like it’s a direct revelation from Jesus i get so pumped to preach it’s not even funny! I have at least one of those for this summer! Can’t wait to share it some more!!!

So, one week down (it was awesome) and a few more to go!
Be praying that God would continue to move and act and we would see the fruit of his Spirit growing in lives like a weed!

Grace and peace
erik

The real question is…
What’s my job? Preacher / Teacher or entertainer?

I shared a message on day 2 of camp and I’m not sure it went to well. Let me explain…

The message / sermon…
The text I was given to preach was the very last portion of Jesus’ famous the Sermon on the Mount.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish builder who built their house on sand… It fell.“ (read the entire text)

You know the story, a significant story told by Jesus. But as I was studying, preparing, praying it really hit me that the “therefore, if you obey these words,” that begins the parable is referring to the content of Jesus’ sermon on the mount. So if you order our life by these words of Jesus it’s as if you have build your house, your life on a rock. It’s obvious if you think about it but I’m not sure anyone has ever connected the dots for me or directly preached this story connecting it to the content of the Sermon on the Mount. Every time I have ever heard this parable preached it’s been a stand alone, out of context teaching. So I wanted to put in context and preach it! So that’s what I did.

My method…
I read the entire Sermon on the Mount. In preparation doing this took me 12 minutes. So I decided to charge it, to read it all during my teaching time. Interspersed in the reading of the text, all 3 chapters, I told some stories. Stories about people who have built their houses on a poor foundation and others who have build their house on a firm foundation. The hope was that this would seem kinda random at first and they would slowly put together the commonality of the stories and then when I read the last story, the story Jesus tells about the 2 builders it would all come together. They would realize that each part of the text contains words to built your life on.

I LOVE the idea. I think it’s a beautifully creative way to engage the text and in particular the story of the wise and foolish builder. At least I think it is.

So, the idea is great, at least on paper.

The Problem…
#1. I talk to much. After each section of the text I wanted to say something, something clarifying how amazing, hard, beautiful these words of Jesus were. Yea, I talk to much.
#2. I decided to read some of the text from the message version of the bible, it took a bit longer than I had planned and it didn’t flow quite as well as I would have hoped.
#3. I wasn’t entertaining enough.

This brings me to my question, am I a preacher / teacher or am I an entertainer?
There is a pressure to “perform” while your on a platform preaching. There is a pressure to be entertaining enough to keep peoples attention and at the same time bring content that challenges and encourage students to follow Jesus. Most of the time I embrace that challenge, hopefully in a faithful way but during a message like the one I’m speaking of, where really the text is standing on its own, simply being read for a period of time there just isn’t the entertainment factor.
And it made me uncomfortable.

But really, shouldn’t the text be able to stand on it’s own? Should there be times where reading the words of Jesus is enough? I think so but for the preacher / entertainer, for me, that is uncomfortable or at least it was during this message.

SO…

I don’t want to be an entertainer! I want to be a faithful minister of the words of God. I want preach and teach the Gospel and if the imagination God stirs during my preparation time is to read the text, I want that to be enough, I want to feel comfortable simply being faithful to God’s direction.

Now I’m not Shane Claiborne who is probably paid 5 or 10 grand to speak at a youth conference and simply goes out recites The Sermon of the Mount and walk off stage. Different story. But if God called me to do that I pray I would have the courage to do it and the humility to not have to entertain.

I actually got positive feedback from everybody who i talked to about it. A student even came up to me after the message and said, “Thanks for bringing us the Word.”

I probably needed that encouragement.

Thanks be to God, it’s not about me.

Grace and peace
erik

PS :: I’ve got more post about Week #1 of my summer, i’ll toss it up in a day or two.
PEACE

I had a great weekend with friend & musician Jordan Frye (go buy his new EP, you won’t be sorry!). We had some great conversation and it sparked some great questions. I’ve also been hanging out in Carlsbad CA with my buddy Nate Wells, landscaping extraordinaire, stud surfer, even better youth pastor, and just an all around good dude! We’ve also been talking about church, life, and what it really means to be a follower of Jesus. (mostly over sushi and / or coffee!). There’s been a dozen other peoples along the way, all great conversations about following Jesus and living his life on this earth!

SO yea, I been having some great conversation over the last week, thought I would share some of the thoughts these conversations have provoked in my own brain. Let me know what you think!

|| 1st question

Why do we go to church?
I feel like there are a lot of answers to this question but really, why do we go to church? Why do we think it’s important. I have a list of answers but I’m afraid my answers are canned, rehearsed, things I’ve written on a piece of paper labeled the “right answer” but I’m removed from the heart of the issue and the real answer(s) that are important to real people instead of the text books, pastors, or theology buffs. So why to we go to church, really?

|| 2nd pondering

What must we believe to be a “Christian” a follower of Christ?
What are the essentials?
Are there some things we just need to accept despite our disbelief or lack of understanding?
My initial response is yes! But I want to step back, be humble, and actually let it be a question. To many times we give our immediate denial or rebuttal and never really let the question be engaged and pondered.
In one conversation I had this week the question of essentials came up. One person said, “the only thing you need to believe is love. Love God, Love others.” I propose there are a few other essential of the Christian faith and life. Things like the Trinity, the resurrection of Jesus, etc. So really, what are the essentials for a Christians?
Do we consult the 39 articles of religion? The creeds? Or do we just need to love?

|| OTHER

Really I’ve been thinking about a lot of things. My mind and heart has been full, hopeful, contemplative, and wandering all at the same time. California and Jesus will do that to ya. or at least it does to me.

Think // praying // pondering
Erik

My life seems to be flying by… And standing still…

All at the same time.

Have you ever been here before?

I look at my son Jack, he will be 4 months old on Wednesday, HOLY CRAP! It seems like yesterday we brought him home from the hospital. Maybe I will say that for the rest of my life but especially right now, it just seems like time is flying by. And I am almost 31, holy crapole!!!

Then there are the million other things I want, hope, and dream to do. And these things don’t seem to be coming my way fast enough. In so many ways life seems to be in a holding pattern. And yea, I get frustrated (really frustrated, just ask my patient and loving wife) about the lack of time I have to do just about anything I am passionate about. It just seems like I’m in a holding pattern when it comes to ministry and projects I dream of doing and churches I dream of planting. But instead of getting these things done I am waiting tables and hold reflectors. Jobs I’m thankful for (or try to be) but I really wish I didn’t have to do them. I just wish I could do what I do and preach the Gospel every chance I got. I’m ready to just do the things i’m passionate about again!

Maybe time will never be abundant again, after all I am now a parent and that isn’t changing anytime soon, EVER! But it just seems like so many things I want that aren’t happening like I want them to and instead I’m just having to wait and inch toward my dreams instead of running toward them. Bla bla bla!

But there are also many things to be thankful for! I do feel like things are finally moving in a really positive direction when it comes to ministry. I have a little son and every time I look at him (when he’s not howling or puking on me) I am filled with gratitude, and even when he is howling and puking I’m pretty thankful!

I am pretty thankful that God blesses the B team and is on the side of those who struggle and don’t have it all together. That’s me for sure. Maybe one of these days I will be more consistent with my blog, or I will wake up at 7 to work on my book, or I will make sure to read for 2 hours everyday. But until then, I will continue to try and follow Jesus, to be filled with His Spirit and be lead into a more fully human life day by day.

“Holiness is moment by moment.” John Wesley

Amen!

I do have some fun things to blog about. I’ll try and get to them soon!

Grace and peace
Erik

This is a book i am been needing to review for awhile now. I finished reading it a month ago for so… so here ya go!

The Sacred Meal by Nora Gallagher
On the back of this book are quotes by a couple well respected people; Brian McLaren, Lauren Winner. McLaren’s words I agree with, Nora Gallagher opens up The Table to wide audience in her book The Sacred Meal.

She is a great writer and as you read this book you will sense this and feel as if your sitting along site her, having a conversation about a often misunderstood but incredibly important aspect of the Christian life. She communicated the truth and mystery of the Eucharist in a very accessible and creative way. Which makes this book well worth the read.

Lauren Winner makes the statement, “I know of no contemporary writer whose insights about the Eucharist match hers.” I know Winner is smart and well read which is why this statement blows me away. That is a huge claim and one I would not even come close to making. As good of a book as this is I have read many that are better when it comes to Eucharistic theology.

Gallagher opens up the conversation of the Eucharist to all, which is great, but sometime she goes a little to far and leans a little too much into her trade as a novelist. I don’t need to agree with everything she says but I thing she stretches her metaphors a bit far at times and fails to simply tell us how to live a Eucharistic life, even though i think this is her aim.

This book is worth the read but go in open minded, ready to agree and disagree, but most importantly be ready to engage in a horribly important topic for today’s church, The Eucharist.

=====================

If you want to buy this book get it here!
(buying it here sends eMinistries a little cash, So buy it!)

I got this book for free from Thomas Nelson to review on this blog.
THANKS!

I haven’t been reading my Relevant Magazine lately so I put the last few issues in the bathroom. Now I will read Relevant during those holy moments instead my wife’s Elle or Marrie Claire / whatever girly crap is on the shelf. A good move I know!

Today I picked up the November | December issue, the one with Jon Foreman on the cover and decided to read a little article that sparked my attention, So is Drinking Ok? By Jayson Boyett. Some of you know where I’ve landed on this issue and the issues it’s stirred for me so let’s talk.

Jason writes an article that is pretty well written and gives a fair assessment of both side of the issue. Of course in an article that is probably 1000 – 1500 words long one can’t really get into the nuances of the issue and really state a good case for either side but he does do a good job of making a couple points and leaving room for the discussion to continue. Personally I wish there were more answers give rather than questions raised but with such a touchy topic among many conservative Christians i can understand why Boyett opted not to make any definitive statements on either side of the issue.
(found the digital issue of Boyett’s article, check it out!)

For me…
(more…)

A week ago we started Lent, like every year we started it with Ash Wednesday.

I have 2 reflections of Ash Wednesday 2010

[Reflection #1]
JACK :: it was his first Ash Wednesday service. I carried him in my arms as i went down to get the imposition of ashes reminding me from dust i have come and to dust i will return. As i knelt to receive the ashes with my 6 week old son in arm my pastor, Father Thomas McKenzie says, “Want me to get him?” Pointing at Jack. My response was, “Sure, why not.” And ashes were applied. Kinda fitting… from ashes we came, right! And I thought the picture was AWESOME as well.

[Reflection #2]
When I lived in California my friend Nate had a boat and this got him into some really interesting situations, and sometimes he invited me along.

One of the more interesting situations was with his neighbor, well actually his neighbors friend. We will call him Bill. Bill’s dad had died and he had been sitting on his ashes for a couple years. His dad has said he wanted to have his ashes spread over the sea. Lucky enough Bill lived in Oceanside CA but he didn’t have a boat to make it happen. And this is where and Nate comes in. Apparently Bill had been talking about wanting to get rid of his dad’s ashes, probably as he and said neighbor were smoking pot in the garage, but who knows. Well Nate’s neighbor said, I know a guy who has a boat. Nate said he would do it and decided he needed backup.

So we’re in this boat and Bill is telling us about his dad and how he was actually a bastard (bill’s words now mine) for most of his life. How he wasn’t close to his, didn’t really even like him but how he somehow ended up with his ashes anyhow. He kept ranting about the negative qualities of his father and he didn’t want to end up like him. Bill made a point to tell us that neither he nor his dad were religious but he thought someone should say something “religious”. And Nate, the good friend he is, having boated us 30 min off the coast says, “Erik…” And nods his head at me. That’s called putting a friend on the spot.

So here I am, watching Bill, who i just met, let the ashes of his dead father slip through his fingers, some of them blowing into the ocean and some of them blowing back onto his shirt, wanting someone to say something “religious” about his father…

All I could think of was Ash Wednesday and “From ash we came and to ashes we will return.”

Lent is a season of self-examination, thinking about who we are and hoping that there is some way to be raised from this life of death and decay we find ourselves living every day. The struggles and the bent toward our self and our desires, Lent is the season for self-mortification so that we can somehow participate in the resurrection that we are anticipating and are preparing for, that is Easter.

I was able to tell Bill that from ashes we came and to ashes we will return. Our lives are fleeting and we only a little time in between to live well.

This Lent I am looking inward so that I can live outward as I participate in the resurrection, here and how!

Grace, peace, and ashes
Erik