VICTOR!!!

Last night I had one of the most memorable experiences of my life...

As a musician and bass player, I don't know how I will ever be the same again...

I went to The Music Mill here in Indy to attend a concert... VICTOR WOOTEN is his name! For those who don't know, he was really launched and positioned as a bass player while playing with Bela Fleck & the Flecktones... This was an all-round amazing experience... The venue was sweet, the sound was possibly the BEST live-mix I've heard (a big deal when your Dad is an Audio Engineer), and the musicians were PHENOMENAL!!!

The show started out with Victor and his "Soul Circus" tour band (including Derico Watson on drums etc.) and then later concluded with the 5 Wooten Brothers all playing together - for the first time in almost 20 years. Regi, Roy, Rudy, Joseph and Victor Wooten... GOOD STUFF!!!

Finishing Well...

I have struggled for some time now with the idea that because I work and serve as a "pastor" and in ministry, I am responsible for having something to say... Some nugget of wisdom, advice, insight, encouragement, inspiration, motivation etc. Needless to say, this has not always "gone well"... Several (recent) situations come to mind that cause me to realize that I really had very little to offer someone in light of all that they were facing...

Sure, I found comfort in the fact that I'm young and don't have it all together yet, and that people maybe didn't even "expect" for me to have any concrete response for them etc. etc. etc. the list could continue... What I find interesting about all this is that it really didn't cause a change in the way that I felt - I still felt the pressure that I was supposed to be that source of wisdom, advice, etc. for people... Well, as I prayed about it more and more I sensed God telling me that I was missing the point! Right now, instead of seeking great insight for other people, I need to be developing integrity and character that can sustain a lifetime of ministering and serving people... I know that like me, you've probably heard this over and over again - but for whatever reason, it really hit home for me last week!

In light of my life, when the day comes that I breathe my last breath here on earth I want to have finished well... not talking about the ministry - rather the FAITH! Often when we in ministry talk about finishing well, we simply mean that we might avoid falling into "moral failure" of sorts (cheating, dishonesty, sexual immorality, stealing etc.)... Sadly, I see many people who have managed to avoid all these things and more and yet I would suggest failed to finish well. I am talking about how people wind up still as faithful servants and ministers to God yet underlying their ministry is a stream of bitterness, resentment, frustration and pain from years of passivity or whatever. I pray that my life might be marked by a Godly perspective that results in joy, passion, excitement and enthusiasm to love God more, love people more and love life more... no matter what phase/stage of life I am in! I think that a KEY to that is developing healthy boundaries and inner-life character that will guard and protect these things I treasure most...

Bored, Disengaged... BUSY!

So my thoughts recently have been diverted from my previous post. I have been in dialogue with different people about how we notice perhaps the general trend in our local church is that people are generally just "bored" spiritually... You know, there seems to be a lack of growth and change and when these topics come up in conversation, they are quickly pushed aside to make room for the REALLY IMPORTANT and EXCITING topics of conversation... (like the COLTS: 9-0!!! GO COLTS!)

However, I have been thinking about why people would be bored spiritually... This has been difficult and tough on me as a Leader and Pastor in a local church setting - because the natural thought progression will inevitebly wind up back looking at leadership. Is it my fault? Are people I lead "under-challenged" spiritually speaking? Or even worse, have I drifted into presenting Christ, WHO He is and HOW He calls us to live as something that is in fact boring??? TOUGH STUFF!!!

I have come around to the realization that maybe it's not so much of the above (i.e. being under-challenged) and maybe just more a case of boredom resulting from living "disengaged". I don't really know a better way to say this, but I am noticing more and more that people are sitting in a service, serving as part of a ministry team, mentoring students, giving to those in need etc. without being totally engaged... Has it become so comfortable and normal for them that it is nothing more than routine??? I don't know... But it seems that when it comes to observing spiritual formation in the life of an individual it obviously necessitates their being ENGAGED (thinking, processing, questioning etc.) right? SO again, do the prior questions still apply... like have I presented godliness and following Christ in ways that cause people to disengage??? TOUGH STUFF!!!

I don't know that this is entirely true, but I wonder if we are all soooo busy in the ways we schedule and live our lives that we really allow no room to be engaged on these kinds of things... What I mean is that it is not uncommon for us to meet the demands and stress placed upon us in the workplace by disengaging in most other areas of our life - i.e. family, church, relationship with God etc. I wonder if our "jobs" drain us (physically, emotionally, and mentally) to the point that we really have no margin left to engage in a conversation about spiritual things - let alone stay engaged and allow someone else's thoughts/teaching impact and really apply to MY life... Are we all just too tired??? I don't know... its just a thought!

What do you think?

"Christian Baggage?"

Today I finished reading "A Generous Orthodoxy" by Brian McLaren. This book was great for me and has left me thinking... a lot... and sifting through my own religious "assumptions" and "baggage". I really do want to become more clear on what is truly "of God" and the TRUE Gospel (according to Jesus Christ) and what is nothing more than my own assumptions - which are largely the result of the westernized "Christian Culture" in which I was raised.

I don't want to sound hyper-negative or totally bash Christianity, but neither do I want to just idly and blindly accept the "culture" of Christianity as being critical and crucial to faith... What does all this mean? Let me give you an example...

One thing that I have been really thinking through these past 2 weeks has to do with the way Christianity is viewed throughout the world by different people/s, culture/s, religions etc. Christians tend to look back on our heritage with fondness... Recalling "the good 'ole days" has become a favored past-time for many. Unfortunately we are not viewed in this same light by the rest of the world - because those "good 'ole days" were filled with violence, hatred, prejudice, arrogance and an overall conquering/crusader-type spirit displayed by these so-called Christians...

Sadly, for many years the missionary method employed by the Church was: Capture, Conquer & Conform. They came in and took control by force... usually imposing "western" culture and civilization upon people groups who maintained their own history, tradition and culture - in some cases far richer and more significant than that experienced by these Christians...

This line of thinking led me to dwell upon several questions...

1. To use the cliche': "What would Jesus think/do"???
2. Was this entirely wrong? Did they even really understand or realize what they were doing?
3. What effects of this are still felt today? (McLaren suggests things like the language we use and the thoughts/images it implies to those NOT from a Christian background... E.G. "WIN the lost"... "TAKE this nation for Jesus"... etc.)
4. What other things from our faith may be needlessly OFFENSIVE to other people/s? Are they ESSENTIAL? i.e. are they TRUE doctrine and essential to faith, or are they merely part of the "Christianized Culture"???

I don't know why I decided to post all of this... Just thoughts that I've been living with recently. I guess that I have really struggled with this "exclusionist" and "exclusive" mindset that seems so prevalent throughout the Church. When I look at Jesus, I see far more "inclusion" than I do "exclusion"... why is that? Furthermore, we are so quick to avoid and run from people of other religions, when the very tenants of the Church were often formed "in dialogue" with people and influences from other religions and belief systems (Judaism, Greek mythology etc. etc.) - in my opinion this is what helps us to solidify and gain clarity on what we believe and why we believe it. Not in some kind of judgmental and condemning spirit that seeks through dialogue with other religions to "prove" how wrong they are, but rather to accept that maybe our faith can be strengthened and we can "improve" and grow by learning from these other influences while in dialogue... Seems healthy to me... I don't know, it's just a thought!

Clint.

Decisions, decisions...

So, for some time now we've been trying to decide what to do - do we buy a house or not? If so, what kind of house? Where? How much do we want to spend? etc. It has been a crazy process and we came to a point where we were both completely CONSUMED with this/these kind of decisions... We WERE praying, but didn't sense God giving a clear leading in any particular direction, so we wound up frustrated... Not sure which way to go! However, this didn't stop our minds... we would still find ourselves thinking and talking about this stuff more than anything else!

Finally, at a point of frustration we decided to chat with some trusted friends of ours and we came out of that conversation with the following insight:

God really may not be all that interested in the particular decision/s that we are facing or even making... There really may not be a RIGHT and/or WRONG answer... Perhaps God is far more interested in the process - the praying, seeking, pursuing, and communing with God in the midst of the decision/s.

This being the case, I couldn't help but think that we'd missed the point completely... We were so hung up on the whole "house" deal that we'd actually taken our eyes/focus off God. This serves as a great reminder and lesson for us FOR LIFE - that anytime we face a significant issue, decision, circumstance or whatever, that God is FAR more interested in the process than He is the end result... Or maybe that's just my thoughts!

PEACE!
Clint.

... at least someone is taking care of the "BOGANS"! This place is just down the road from where we live here in Indy...

For those of you who don't know what a "BOGAN" is, I snagged this definition for you from the Austalian Slang Dictionary:

Bogan : person who takes little pride in his appearance, spends his days slacking and drinking beer

Good-bye Syllabi... (part I)

So I was thinking the other day... (surprise, surprise) about all my friends and family who are currently in the midst of collecting syllabi and course requirements as they embark upon another quest to survive just "one more" semester at college. I'm not sure exactly what prompted these thoughts - but it may have had something to do with the fact that people have been repeatedly asking me: "So, how does it feel to not have to go back to school this semester?"... maybe there's a connection there(?!?)

Anyway, back to the original thought - I was reflecting upon my own college experience and in particular lamenting over just how much I truly HATED the first week back to school... You know, it's the week where you start out all excited and legitimately "pumped" about the classes you will be taking, the professor's who will be teaching you, the people you know who will be in those same classes with you, the people you didn't realize would be in those classes with you that you get really excited to see on that first day... etc. etc. But then it happens...

You find yourself walking out at the end of your first class where the professor has done little more than hand you a neatly stapled grouping of papers before continuing to read it aloud to the entire class verbatim. While this may not have the same effect on most college students as it did on me, I will never forget those intense emotions that began to cloud and consume me as I walked out of one class and into another where the same protocol would be followed to the "T"... and then another, and then another, and after each dose these emotions would intensify to the point that usually by about the end of the second or third day of being "back-to-school" I would be ready to quit and drop out... FOR LIFE! These were the all too familiar feelings of being overwhelmed, instantly stressed and honestly fearful of what it would "take" to accomplish all that was required for each of those classes within a short 12 weeks of class... let alone what it would take to maintain decent grades with a requirements list that was longer than all of Keith Drury's hikes COMBINED!

I'm not sure what drives professors to create a syllabus... I'm not sure why they feel the need to devote their whole first class period to simply reading through it... I'm not sure why the requirements list is always so intense (well, maybe they sit around in "staff meetings" trying to "one-up" each other with their own set of syllabi... Can't you just hear it now: "oh, yeah - well check this out!" as Dr. Bounds pulls out his newly revised Fall 2005 Syllabus for Theology I... Or maybe not...) But there is one thing that I am sure of, and it's this: While there is still a good chance that I will pursue further education at some point in my life; for now, I am incredibly happy & grateful to say "Good-bye Syllabi" (while wishing all of my college friends the best of luck... of course!)

Stay tuned... there may be a part II!
Clint.