Note by Note:

Do you hear the music? It's the tune of you living your life.
Every act of love,
Every decision of integrity,
Every slandering or encouraging word dripping from your lips,
Every political move made out of desperation,
Every fear made evident in
Every heart made heavy with despair,
or racing from the light of freedom,
Every paradox straddled.
Your life is playing a song.

What kind of song is it?

It the song beautiful to your ears?

Do you have a song you've learned to play for others, while keeping the true melody of your soul to yourself?

The kingdom of God is about the mysterious rearrangement of our Opus. Note by note, God changes this note for a G sharp to an A. This major to a minor.

God is also about making the present reality beautiful. He see's the beauty in our song and plays along.

Hard to Do:

I love Ashley Simpson. I have to say that out loud. I love Ashley Simpson.

Let me give you some background.
Every time I see Ashley Simpson I engage a variety of emotion.

Humor - She can't seem to sing, but she is becoming a superstar and now even has her own TV show on MTV.

Anger - With the TV exec's, and record label who would put her out there for financial gains as she is slowly becoming the generations Anna Nicole Smith.

Grief - As I watch her soak up attention and spotlights shining on her self absorbed late adolescence. How much does she want to be famous. How much of her life will be seeking the attention her older sister has acquired.

Sadness - That she is not going to make it as a celebrity and that her friends did not stop her from going into show business.

Love - I must respond with love. She may be a celebrity, she is caught up in the record making, MTV machine, representing a lot that is wrong with the world... but she is a young person... looking for acceptance...

so.. I love Ashley Simpson.... do you?

REAL is the new FAKE: Part 1

I'm amused by the constant mantra of churches who repeat themselves over and over like a Velvet Revolver song. The rhythm of Real. Cain's coffee is REAL. First Baptist Church is REAL. We're supposed to keep it REAL. What does that mean anyway?
I confess, four years ago, i was a fanatic for REAL. It was a "core value". But this word, like many others, has lost it's meaning. REAL is the new FAKE. Why?

REAL has meant, authentic. It has meant true and honest in what it represents. What you see is what You Get kind of mentality. When REAL becomes a slogan, it becomes manipulation, less authentic and therefore a lie, fake and unreal.

SO here's is my advice. Run from people who declare themselves to be REAL. Because to do so, it not REAL, it's basically a minimually culturally aware person, using language to convince to accept them or what they are selling.


So get REAL and run from REAL.

Just a Reminder:

This is just a reminder that I told you about Napolean Dynamite first. Months ahead of it's release to theaters. (read: hint of arrogance and humor). That's right. I know you are looking for someone with computer hacking skills, or nun chuck skills or bow hunting skills and man who loves Tots. and even as I write this you are thinking to yourself "That's what I'm talking about!"

I also told you about Saved!

and let's forget that I told you about I heart Huckabees :-)


Today I'm going to tell you about a couple movies you will need to see
Assisted Living and
The Kingdom of Heaven

Exactly One Day:

It took exactly one day for the man heralded as "the greatest of all time" Johnny Carson to move from Front Page to back page in the news. Tomorrow he will likely not be covered at all.

Fame and goodness can be a fickle thing. Grass withers and flowers fade i guess.

U2 tickets go on sale for chicago sat.

:-)

A Conversation with King David

(picture David wandering through a field of flowers, leaning against a tree with notepad and singing outloud as he's writing a song to God)

David:
How long, O LORD? 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?
Look on me and answer, O LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;
my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me.

Jonathon: (who has approached without being seen):
Dude. Get over yourself.

David:
What?

Jonathon:
Listen to your music man. I will sing.
for he has been good to ME. Your songs are so self centered!

David:
What?

J: You are so influenced by the futurical American consumer culture of individualism. You need to change your pronouns and make God the center of your music, not yourself.

D: ?????

J:
I'm telling you, that you are a self centered prick.

David:
Now wait a minute! Bro! Your dad was trying to kill me.

J: Yeah but that's not about you man, it's about God. More of him, less of you man.

D: huh?

J: Look I know you keep saying that God is inspiring to you. Do you go into a coma and write this stuff, do you take drugs, or what's going on?

D: ????? Uh.... your dad is trying to kill me and he's hunting me down with his entire army!

J: See. It's all about you man. Worship is about God, not you. I'm outa here man.

D: ?????

Salvation:

We had several great panelists yesterday who all said some very inciteful things.
One of the panels (steve) wrote his thoughts down. Steve works with an organization named intersect.

Below are some quotes from steve

"The gospel doesn’t need alter calls.
While many of us chuckle at the thought, the “alter call” ethos still arises in our addiction to numbers. While numbers can be an indicator, it is not the indicator. Probably the most important commitment/decision one witnesses in the church will not be made by an individual who comes forward and is cheered by the community, but a commitment made by the believing community committing themselves to the individual and their community.

We need to rethink membership and it’s emphasis of people “joining” the church and reconsider membership as someone willing to enter in to a community that commits to embrace them."


"Salvation is not a “thing” and therefore it cannot be lost because it cannot be possessed. Salvation seems to be something that is entered into. John calls it light. It’s a new state of living where we can see and be seen. Salvation cannot be an equation where it is the sum of grace plus mercy. Rather, salvation is an environment where grace and mercy sustain us like the air we breathe. It is not a possession, but an inheritance of which we mysteriously enter and then participate in the redemption of the world.

This kind of salvation makes our existence more than practice. It makes our world more than a prototype. It allows us to worry less about being left behind and more concerned of living here because it is our home. Our Christian story has a happy ending and is founded then, on an eschatological hope that God is accomplishing his purposes."


these quotes don't do the paper justice.
to read more... here's the link

Emergent Cohort Update:

Wow. The time together was amazing, good spirited and transformative.

Here are a few thoughts that rang true for me.

here's a link to the West Michigan Cohort blog.
There are pics there if you are interested.

Randy Buist from Watersedge did a great job finding the perfect location for us to meet.

more to come....

Heck of an object lesson

OVIEDO, Fla. -- Members of a central Florida church are shaken after seeing one of their pastors collapse and die while preaching about going to heaven.
Members of Covenant Presbyterian Church near Orlando said the Rev. Jack Arnold had just said that his favorite Bible verse was: "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain."
Associate Pastor Michael Beates said Arnold then told the congregation, "When my work is done, I go to be with Jesus. And that will be gain! And when I go to heaven..."
In Beates' words, "At this point, Jack paused briefly, looked up, swayed slightly and grabbed the podium before falling back to the floor. And he was gone."


thanks to
stephen shields for the link

Emergent Cohort meets Today:

10:30 a.m. @ The Bite in Downtown GR.

Conversation & learning tool: Panel discussion further examining our understanding of salvation & its implications for practical ministry and real life.

~ We’ve asked some good theological minds to further lead us through this issue. This should be a helpful exploration beyond simply ‘talk.’

All are welcome

Soundtrack for Life:

Jack Johnson - Taylor
Ben Folds - Army
Ben Folds - Fred Jones Part 2
Chevelle - Vitamin R
Death Cab for Cutie - A lack of Color
Green Day - Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Green Day - American Idiot
Green Day - Jesus of Suburbia
Green Day - (the whole american idiot cd!)
U2 - Wake up Dead Man
U2 - Acrobat
Eminem - Just Lose it
Nick Drake - Northern Sky
Nick Drake - Place to Be

Riddle Update:

After much prayer and observation Pam and I have resigned from Bella Vista Church. They have asked me to stay through June 5 and at this time we plan on doing so.

We are excited about the new journey God has in store for us. We are patiently listening to God through prayer, and our community of friends regarding our future and we are also actively pursuing options for employment. He is showing us some pretty great things so far and we have a firm general idea about what we are called to do, but we are not firm with the specifics at this time.

We are also excited about the new baby girl who will be coming on February 18th at 11:30am. (at least that's the plan)

We are stepping out in faith, and are anticipating what is to come. Thanks for your prayers!
I will not bore you with more details you may not be interested in. I just wanted to let you know what was happening in our lives. thanks for your friendship.

If you desire more details I would be happy to share as much as you are interested in.

A New Start:

I'm leaving behind the waterbrain blog and launching this site as I'm leaving behind some other things in my life as well...
more news monday.