God Bless...

A friend pointed out this new Bible to me a couple of weeks ago, and I've been holding on to it mentally for this weekend. Here's the publisher's description of this Bible:

THE ONE BIBLE THAT SHOWS HOW ‘A LIGHT FROM ABOVE’ SHAPED OUR NATION. Never has a version of the Bible targeted the spiritual needs of those who love our country more than The American Patriot’s Bible. This extremely unique Bible shows how the history of the United States connects the people and events of the Bible to our lives in a modern world. The story of the United States is wonderfully woven into the teachings of the Bible and includes a beautiful full-color family record section, memorable images from our nation’s history and hundreds of enlightening articles which complement the New King James Version Bible text.

America is a blessed nation, but America is not the Kingdom of God. America is home to me and my family and millions of others, but America is not the home that I long for in my dreams. I think Tony Campolo best said it:

I love America.

I believe it to be the best Babylon on the face of the earth.

But it is still Babylon.

So...

God bless China.

God bless Iraq.

God bless Iran.

God bless Afghanistan.

God bless Mexico.

God bless Canada.

God bless Uzbekistan.

God bless Brazil.

God bless Cuba.

God bless Kenya.

God bless Sudan.

God bless Swaziland.

God bless Nepal.

God bless Honduras.

God bless Jamaica.

God bless India.

God bless Pakistan.

God bless Uganda.

God bless Australia.

God bless New Zealand.

God bless France.

God bless Ireland.

God bless Russia.

God bless Germany.

May we learn to fervently pray for, hope for, and work towards justice, peace, and love for all people.

18 Miles of Questions...???

“Who is that singing the National Anthem?”

This was Kaylea’s first question as we prepared to ride the Tour de Corn. The Tour de Corn is a charity bike ride starting in East Prairie, Missouri and touring some of the less traveled rural highways of southeast Missouri. The highlight of the rest stops is the fresh sweet corn, which hits the spot. This year around 750 cyclists rode, with all donations supporting the Kenny Rogers Children’s Center and the East Prairie Nutrition Center.

We rode to the starting line from my uncle’s house, which gave us a pre-ride total of about 1.5 miles before the 15 mile "real" ride. And the questions began, faster than I could pedal.

“How many ears of corn are on each stalk?”
“How tall do stalks grow?”
“Why are the stalks laying down?”

"How do you pick corn?"

“How far have we gone?”
“How far to the rest stop?”
“Will there be soda at the rest stop?”
“What’s that smell?”
“What’s that noise?”
“Can I have some water?”
“What’s the highest number you’ve seen?”
“What’s the lowest number you’ve seen?”
“What time is it?”

I answered as many questions as I could. When I could not answer the questions, I deferred to Uncle Mike. Even though my ears were tired, I was glad that she was asking the questions.

Here in the US, we tend to shut down curious minds by ignoring questions, or answering too abruptly. The Jewish heritage, however, has a completely different mindset when it comes to questions. When their children start asking questions, they encourage the questions and challenge the children to ask even harder ones. Celebrating curiosity and inquisitiveness, the Jewish heritage supports the intellectual exploration of ideas, concepts, dreams, and imaginings.

There is a strong melancholic side to my personality. In those quiet and down times, questions flood my soul. Sometimes I am thoughtful enough to address those questions to God. Many times, those questions simply ruminate, sometimes surfacing in lyrics. And as much as I want God to answer some of my questions, there is a slight concern that He might ask me some of his own…

“How are you helping to feed the hungry?”
“How are you living in the fullness of My Story, and not just using Me to make yourself important?”
“What are you doing for widows and orphans?”“Are you resting in My love, or still trying to impress Me?”
“How are you doing justice?”
“Are you loving your neighbor? How about your enemy?”
“Do you love Me more than…?”

Last Saturday, Kaylea and I rode 18 miles together. When we got home today, she told me that the bike ride was one of her favorite parts of vacation.

Bring on the questions.

Sharing Bread

Here in the United States, we are surrounded by food. If you don't believe me, just watch the movie "Over the Hedge." Many children are struggling with obesity, often receiving attention in the news or on Oprah. However, we rarely hear the other side of the story for majority-world countries.

Every 3.6 seconds someone dies of hunger (which comes to about 15 million children).

For the price of one missile, a school full of hungry children could eat lunch every day for 5 years.

One in twelve people worldwide is malnourished, including 160 million children under the age of 5.

One out of every eight children under the age of twelve in the U.S. goes to bed hungry every night.

To satisfy the world's sanitation and food requirements would cost only US $13 billion--what the people of the United States and the European Union spend on perfume each year.

On average, we spend 4 hours a day thinking about, preparing, consuming, and cleaning up after our meals. "Give us this day our daily bread..."

A lot of Jesus' ministry revolved around food--the feedings of multitudes of people, parties, beach-side cookouts, and a simple way to remember him. In Jesus' day, you ate with your friends, which is why he got in trouble with the religious people for sharing bread with some of his new friends.

In USAmerican churches, the celebration of communion is often a reflective time of introspection and confession. There are times when we need to be reminded of our humanness and shortcomings.

However, the celebration of communion is also a preview of the feast at the table of the King. There should be times of breaking bread where we celebrate the inbreaking of a different way of looking at the world. Everyone is invited to the party. And no one will go hungry.

Sharing Bread

Gather round this lake of wine

And drink until your heart's content

Dive into the living water

For sharing bread makes us friends

Let your feet rest under the table

Let the kingdom feast begin

Swapping stories, always laughing

For sharing bread makes us friends

On this pilgrim journey travel

Home is just around the bend

Living lightly, one foot raised

Sharing bread will make us friends

Heeding gentle Spirit whisper

Loitering with Love's intent

Catching trade winds in these sails

Sharing bread makes new friends

For all peoples are invited

For all peoples arms extend

Love's the Story where it started

Sharing bread makes us friends

So Beautiful #2

I am not a lawn nazi. I do not spend hours in my lawn seeding, feeding, or de-weeding. It does not matter to me if my lawn is covered with clover or wish flowers or leaves. This spring, thanks to the crazy rains and mild weather, my lawn has been growing like…well…

On average, I’ve been mowing my lawn two times each week just to try and keep it somewhat under control. Any less and I’d run the risk of losing a kid or a dog in the “beauty” of nature.

A couple of weeks ago, while I was mowing, one of my neighbors asked me if I could help him maintain his lawn. His work schedule is crazy during the summer, and he honestly doesn’t have time to mow for a couple of weeks. The first time I mowed his lawn, my mower finally died. I knew it was coming. It’s been having troubles since the beginning of the year. I couldn’t get in touch with him, so I went to another neighbor’s house and asked if I could borrow his lawn mower. And the mowing saga started.

All in all, in the past few weeks, I’ve used four different lawnmowers, mowing two lawns twice a week. My allergies have reached new highs. My farmer’s tan is back in full swing. And I’ve made four new friends and still haven’t had to invest in a new mower.

And that’s what the second part of Len Sweet’s So Beautiful is about. Living in relationship with God and others. Here are a couple of quotes that are, well, beautiful.

“What I believe is absolutely unimportant. The only thing that matters is whom I belong to.”

“Well-being has everything to do with the quality of relationships.”

“Love is what makes life a success.”

“The point of Christianity is not a point but a person.”

We follow Jesus together. We don’t live by propositions or proofs, but in the messy dynamics of relationships. We have been sent to live this missional life wherever we go making new friends along the way.

I was talking with one of my friends recently, and he said he could go weeks without ever meeting someone new. It honestly broke my heart.

It is imperative that we constantly be looking for new friends on the journey, for the voice of God and the hands of Christ are most often revealed through others.

So Beautiful #1

For the last eight years, my church has been on a missional journey. Many friends have accompanied us on this journey--Guder and Willimon and Hauerwas and Walsh and Keesmaat and anything recommended by Byron at Hearts and Minds Bookstore (www.heartsandmindsbooks.com). Bell and Claiborne and Young and Manning have sparked our imaginations and even inspired us to write a few of our own books to help us follow Jesus and find friends.

Len Sweet's latest book, So Beautiful, wonderfully describes the necessary future of the church. I cannot wait for others in my church to read this as well, as Sweet wonderfully articulates the heart, vision, and passion of God’s design for the church. Moving away from thinking of “successful” church as quantifiable (attendance, budgets, cash), Sweet contends that the church--that God's Kingdom--grows as we learn to live missionally, relationally, and incarnationally.

Because of the depth and scope of this text, I'll take a couple of blogs to work through it. The 35 page introduction quickly catches the attention, before Sweet introduces the first movement--the missional life.

“If you are reading these words, you are likely the last generation to be familiar with the Christian story and for whom churches have cultural significance.”

“God has had it with cawki (church as we know it).”

“Your church exists to love the world and to commission you for a mission of expanding beauty, truth, and goodness upon the earth.”

We discover who we are in Christ as we go and follow him, making new friends. We have been sent with a mission for the sake of the world, which is completely different from thinking that we need to separate or shelter ourselves from the world. The missional lifestyle “loiters with love’s intent,” living in the fullness of the moment, confident that the Way leads home.

A local grocery store has a neighborhood café, with free wi-fi service. I spent the morning reading the first movement of So Beautiful, meeting new friends Debbie and Winston, and trying not to eavesdrop on too many conversations. I helped remember an artist’s name, solve the answer to a crossword clue, and share a few laughs. This is what happens as we grow into our missional calling, we lean into the Father’s “Go” and trust that we’ll be told what we must do on a need to know basis.

The missional life is a life characterized by Mother Teresa’s words, “We can do no great things; only small things with great love.”

The first step is to go. Going is faith in action. Going develops calluses on our beautiful feet, making it easier to take that first step the next time.