Dear Church, Let's Party!

Meanwhile the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard loud music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what was going on. 'Your brother has come home!' He replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound. The older brother became angry and refused to go in to the house. So the father went out and pleaded with him, but he answered his father "Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never even gave me a young goat so I could celebrate. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home you kill the fattened calf for him! 'My son the father replied, you are always with me and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad because this brother of yours was dead and is now alive again, he was lost and now is found.

Luke 15:25-32

I've read this story in Luke like a hundred times and every time I read about how angry the older brother got I just think "Man- I don't get you. You thought your brother was dead but he's alive- What could you possibly be pissed about? Go in and celebrate!"

I guess I just don't get angry Christians. I don't get people who criticize the church instead of celebrating the salvation of others. I don't get why on earth you'd spend more time worrying than worshipping. I really don't get why you'd be pissed that your brother who you thought was dead, is actually alive. 

Today I read a blog about why people are leaving the church. Apparently, it's because it's a well decorated building, filled with people who make mistakes, say the wrong words, have vision and maybe go a little overboard celebrating God. Weird. I thought it was because the devil's good at division. Bummer.

As I read this guys thoughts about "rock show" worship and "church lingo" and "picking battles" I couldn't help but think "Man, this guy is super pissed about the dumbest crap"

Can I be real with you? The devil is not afraid of a big church. He's not afraid of a church with good worship leaders or great preachers or fancy buildings or even churches that say the right words or whatever. He's afraid of a united church. He's afraid of a loving church. He's afraid of a church that trusts and forgives and gets over crap and celebrates Jesus. 

You guys, if he can convince us to leave the church over stuff like someone using the wrong lingo or putting a few more lights on stage than we'd like- then he's winning. We know in the end he never wins, but let's not let him even think he's got a fighting chance.

So, while my heart breaks that this guy has obviously had a rough go with a church I think he could have shortened up his post by saying this.

"Dear Church, here's why people are leaving you. They're not the problem, you're not even the problem. The enemy is the problem. Let's ignore him and his stupid tricks of getting us to focus on things like lingo and worship band styles and let's go in, and celebrate those who were lost but are now found."

But, that probably wouldn't have made it in the "FaithIt's top trending posts" probably why that guy has 850,000 likes and I've got 3. Well that and he has a fantastic hipster approved beard. Again, Bummer.

So, let's not be angry and refuse to go in. Instead let's try celebrating and be glad because brothers and sisters of ours were dead, but now they're alive. They were lost, but now they're found. 

Look, the gates of hell aren't going to prevail against her- so I think she can withstand a couple of pissy blog posts and bitter hipsters. L et's not let those party poopers get in the way of our celebrating.

Grab the fattened calf, or whatever gluten-free alternative you'd like and let's party! With flashy over formulated rock shows and terrible lingo and whatever else you want. Not because we don't care what about the church is hurting you but because there is power in our celebration, and we know the One who can heal you.

I don't know about you but I don't want to have the heart of the older brother, just the Father.

My Secret Life...

I remember when my little God sister was about 3 or 4 maybe and she had learned a new word. She obviously was excited to try this word out, and she even used it in the correct context. She was in the bathroom and I knocked on the door to make sure she didn't need any help. Her response? "DON'T COME IN THAT DOOR!! I NEED PRIVACY!!"

She then proceeded to bolt out of the bathroom like a little Tazmanian devil, only ya know, more naked.

It had seemed she had learned the word, just not the principle.

Jesus is a fan of privacy. Don't believe me? Check out the sermon on the mount. I honestly think Jesus slipped this in 2,000 years ago for no other reason but to totally screw with our instagram posting, facebook sharing, tweeting generation.

He tells us to do lots of things, in secret.

Like, being Godly in secret...
"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of other people for them to see, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 6:1)

Pray in secret...
"... when you pray go into your room and close the door and pray to your Father in heaven" Matthew 6:6

Give in secret...
"But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing. So that your giving may be kept secret and you will be rewarded as your father who is in heaven sees in secret" Matthew 6:3

Fast in secret...
"That your fasting may not be seen by others, only by your Father who is in secret" Matthew 6:18

Our lives are over exposed lately. With blogs and tweets and facebook and face time and instagram, and whatever else you have. While I am a big fan of most of these means, I have been noticing I'm craving something more and it's become apparent that exposure is not filling me up.

I don't think it ever fills anyone up.

I think we all have a tendency to follow in B's footsteps of running around naked while simultaneously demanding privacy, and while doing so have completely lost the art of a secret life with God.

The Anti-Social App has been my best friend lately. Turn off your phone, turn off your computer. Find a coffee shop. Go for a walk. Put on a play list of worship songs. And just fight for privacy with Him.

Half Pipes

Did you know that the first half-pipe was discovered by a handful of kids in San Diego?  Apparently they would trek out to an old water site right outside the city, boards in hand and skate these big ol' split pipes. They found that starting at the top and skating down helped them gather speed and momentum, allowing them to try new and riskier tricks. Like ollies and 360's and every kind of "flip" you can imagine. There's apparently even one called the nightmare flip. Fun fact. Thanks, Wikipedia.

I think God designed life to be like a half pipe.

Don't laugh. Or ya know do, because it sounds totally corny.

I have been trying to think of a way to describe this season of mine and Gigantor's life but I have lacked the words. I started a post about being empty, but that didn't sound right. So I erased it and wrote one about being overwhelmed. But we're not really overwhelmed, or underwhelmed.

Then I watched a "vine" about this kid barreling down a half pipe and trying tricks, only to fail miserably. On his face. And I thought, "That's it- our life is one big scary fast half-pipe"

I feel the wind of change in me, and I can feel myself barreling down the half pipe. I'm gaining speed and trying new tricks. Maybe no flips or kicks but still risky none the less. Like setting up appointments with adoption agencies and filling out paper work and trying to convince these professionals that I am in fact a responsible adult, while simultaneously not freaking out because I just spilled hot coffee all over my dog and my tan couch.

Like I said, I got tricks.

And that fear of failure, the one of inadequacy and doubt and falling flat on my face? It's evaporating.

So, before this gets any more ridiculous or I start humming "wind beneath my wings" I will leave you with this.

What would you do if you weren't limited by fear?
What tricks are you supposed to be throwing?

Because fear is never just a little thing, it's the very thing that will stop us from doing the good works He's set before us. It's the difference between obedience and sacrifice. It's the seemingly small acts of denial or insecurity. It's the number one tool the enemy will use because well, it works.

Don't excuse yourself by saying, 

"Look we didn't know"

for God understands all hearts 

and he sees you.
He who guards your 

soul knows you knew.

He will repay all people 

as their actions deserve.
Proverbs 24:12

Attention: Generation above Us

Look, I know we seem kinda hard to reach. Probably a little arrogant too. I'm sure at times we come off cocky, self-centered, annoying, flashy, and over all full of shit. And, well... that's because we are. But regardless of our countless flaws and short attention spans, we are still looking to you. I think it's safe to say that the majority of us are ready to start building bridges between the gap of you and us. So, I thought I'd tell you some of the tools that would help in the building process.

Honesty
We are tired of cookie cutter Christians, and frankly? We're not buying it anymore. We would much rather you be a hot mess in front of us than polished and proper. Why? Because we are quite the hot mess ourselves. Not to mention we are intimidated (and distracted) by shiny things. We want to see your broken ugly sinner self. Guess what? We'll like you better for it.

Mentors.
I think we both agree my generation is kinda screwed up. We might go about asking for it in strange ways, but when it comes down to it- we need your help. Teach us, guide us, correct us. We will probably be complete jerks about it at first, but give us time to figure out how to knock down our own walls, walls we don't even remember building- and I promise we will respect you more for having patience.

Depth.
Stop with the feel good theology. We want and need to know God. Every single dimension of him. Don't water Him down for us. Sure, we like hearing about Grace and Mercy and all the other things that go down easy- but we also want to know about the harder stuff. We want to know about His suffering, and the dark times that come along with following Him. You know why you're young adult groups and youth groups are dwindling? Because we didn't have a clue what we were getting ourselves into with this whole Christianity thing. So when hardships come and God seems far off- we need you to step in the gap. We need you to teach us things about the valley that we can't learn from the mountain top.

Reckless Faith
I know you don't see it right now, but we actually believe all of the verses that tell us to "Die to ourselves, and pick up our cross daily" But we need to be challenged to do it. We need your wisdom and stories and testimonies of leaving it all behind for the Cross. It will scare the crap out of us, but once we pull ourselves together we will passionately pursue your footsteps.

Impact.
Let us change the world. Empower us, and believe in us, Most importantly pour into us. Care about what we care about. We know you want us happy and comfortable and to learn from your mistakes. But we're bored with that. We want to live uncomfortable for the sake of Jesus and others. We want orphans to become ours and we want strangers to know Jesus. We want smaller houses and bigger impacts. But we don't really know what that looks like- show us.

Jesus.
He's not just a list of do's and don'ts anymore. He's a person who we love and would do anything for. Show us Him. Show us his grace and mercy and justice and compassion. Tell us about how you were blind, but then He helped you see. Tell us how you were lost, but then He found you.

Prayers.
Again, we're a bunch of little turds. Blame social media or the Kardashians or whatever but it's true. We need your prayers. And we need to see you praying them. We have no clue what we are doing, let us learn from you.

I know- it's a long list and I may have made it sound like we're needy and exhausting. And, while that might be true it's for a good reason. See, I look around at my generation, and I'm afraid that instead of mounting up on wings like eagles, we're more like parrots. Instead of soaring high and gaining new strength, we're just sitting in a pew and repeating what we've heard. I guess I can't speak for everyone, but I want more than that.

I've Got the Power!

"And what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe,

 according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ 

when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand 

in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, 

and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come."

Ephesians 1:19-21

Power is a funny thing isn't it?

Maybe it's just because of my own personal pet peeves, especially lately. But when I think of someone "with power" I rarely ever think of anything positive.

I think of that guy at work who got a little ounce of recognition, and now uses his "title" as an excuse to sit around threatening and be-littling others.

I think of how it makes me want to knock 'em into next week.

I think of rulers who have abused power. Or leaders who have ruined lives for the sake of a power trip.

I think of people who have it but refuse to use it.

I think of people who have it who shouldn't

I think of power trips and power struggles.

I think of people who had it but lost it because of whatever.

You know what the word "Power" doesn't make me think of?

It doesn't make me think of the mother who started a business with only 5 pieces of jewelry in order to make a little cash so she could bring her son home from Rwanda. Who took that little bit of power and made tens of thousands of dollars and gave it all to the Kingdom of God.

It doesn't make me think of the missionary who brought a sewing machine to a third world country and taught women how to sew hand bags to support their families. Women who then took that skill, and used it to build a freaking city to make a better life for their children.

The word 'Power' doesn't make me think of the little churches in little towns filled with great people who want to do great things not just for God, but with Him.

It doesn't make me think of that mom who is raising her kids up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

I don't think it's ever made me think of that new mom when her baby boy was diagnosed with a heart condition and a thousand prayers from her church went up.

It doesn't make me think of the Pastor who is thinking about how to better feed the sheep.

But ya know what? It should.

Because the bible talks a lot about power, and it even equates power to the immeasurable greatness those who believe are capable of.

This got me thinking, I think the biggest problem with power is not in the abuse of it, but rather in the denial of it. The world doesn't need to be told the effects of abusing power, they've already seen it. They need to see the outcome of power put to good use. We've all been given power, the question is-  do we use it well? And what would that even look like?

I'm relatively new to the whole power being positive thing- so I'm just guessing here but I think we could start by following a few simple guidelines.

It's not about you. Weather its a feeling of entitlement or inadequacy. Both are disobedience and both limit the power God's given you.

Take the initiative. Give much, because you have been given much. Use your freedom, voice, grace, or your gifts and do something great with them.

Fight for others. God says he comforts us so that we can comfort others. I think that applies across the board. He gives us grace so that we can show others grace, he gave us forgiveness so that we could forgive others. And I think he gave us power so that we could empower others.

Let's stop trying to change the world and just start loving it.