So today I offer some reflections on the holy and trivial alike as I try to wrap my head and schedule around what is to come.

The Holy

This has been a strange Lenten season for me. With so much focused on the trip I was to take and the rhythms of my life getting so out of balance there hasn’t been a consistent spiritual discipline to mark this season. In some ways I have really missed that. I haven’t fasted from anything or read the whole Bible in 60 days or fasted from meat as I have done in the past couple of years. But I have been very prayerful about recognizing the presence of God. My Father has simply felt very near during this season. I feel no less joy approaching Easter than I usually do, but I do feel a bit less prepared. I have missed the prep work.

It was really nice to be back preaching at DCC yesterday. Preaching with a translator is difficult enough, but preaching to people you don’t know at all is something I find very difficult. I think that one of my strengths as a communicator is knowing the people I am preaching to and knowing how to communicate directly with them. I did fine preaching the past two Sundays but I will always preach my best when I preach to the people that I live my life with.

One of the most difficult tasks I have discovered as a pastor is having the ability to hold onto the big picture and not panic at the immediate reality of what you are facing. I couldn’t be more excited about where we are going as a church and I can see who we will be and what we will be doing 2, 3, and even 5 years from now. What is hard is to not allow the discrepancy between where we are now and where we are going to stress me out. At least once a week I feel the weight hit me of what we are trying to do. I look around and all I can see is what we are not. In these moments I reach for the grace of God and try to saturate my life in it. Right now I am in a desperately saturating moment and I am fine with that.

The Trivial

Typically I like to root for the under dog. I don’t like front runners or dynasties. But for tonight’s championship game between Kentucky and Kansas I am completely rooting for Kentucky. I am not a Kentucky fan, nor have I ever really been. But I simply like this team. I love Anthony Davis the National Player of the Year and keep dreaming about how good he would look in a Wizards uniform. I really like most of the players on Kentucky’s team and find this an easy team to root for. I like the way they play.

Strangely I find myself even kind of rooting for John Calipari. He is an easy target for what is wrong with college basketball but he seems to have actually turned into not just a good coach but a good mentor of young men. His former players adore him. He seems genuinely concerned for his players and invested in their success. He is an easy target because he seems especially good at mentoring and investing into young men who are clearly NBA talents. But someone has to invest in these guys and he actually seems to do a good job of it. His former players have done very well. I am perfectly comfortable rooting for him to get a championship tonight.

I am not anti-Kansas, I just don’t have any inclination to root for them. They already exhausted my rooting for them capacity when I pulled for them so hard to beat Ohio State. Mission accomplished, so now I don’t care about them again.

After 5 days my internal clocks seem back to normal. I am actually sleeping through the night and staying up later than 8:30. This is good for everyone.

Alright that is way more than I intended to write on this Monday morning. May your Holy Week be blessed!

The Presidents of the United States are one fascinating bunch of men. They offer such a rich variety of figures to study, learn from, and complain about. Of course they have just about the most impossible job in the world, but that has never stopped us from complaining that they are merely human. In honor of the ridiculousness of their work, here are some presidential ramblings.

As a kid I used to tell people that I was directly related to Chester A. Arthur our 21st president. Interestingly enough he had no vice president because there was no provision for establishing one back then. We now have an amendment that allows the president to do so. I have no evidence I am actually related to Chester Arthur.

Did you Richard Nixon was a Quaker? Somehow his Anabaptist background didn’t totally sink in I am guessing. Tricky Dick also helped me get into college as I wrote a college essay on why I would like to have dinner with him and Billy Graham.

John Adams is one of the most interesting presidents as far as life experiences go. The David McCullough book and HBO series on his life are really terrific. That man was a patriot who simply served wherever he was needed. One tough minded man.

Theodore Roosevelt is probably my favorite president just for the life he led. This was  a tough guy. As a matter of fact, in a caged death match of all of our presidents I am putting my money on Teddy. He not only led the Rough Riders around Cuba and boxed at Harvard, after serving as president he also went on safari in Africa and explored South America. Teddy Roosevelt was a man who could have thrived in any age.

Looking back on life as a Cold War kid growing up Ronald Reagan now seems like more of a caricature than a real person to me. He was almost so beloved and such a black and white figure in an age where we knew where the bad guys were that he hardly seems real. He seems like the character of a movie more than anything else. You could take some of the speeches he made, have Bill Pullman read them and stick them in an action movie. I love Reagan as a kid and have no idea what to think of him now.

Did you see the news about the book written by Mimi Alford about her time as an intern under John Kennedy and their affair? The details are pretty interesting in a wow JFK was really lucky he didn’t live in the age of social media and 24 hour news coverage kind of way. I think JFK is a very overrated president.

Jimmy Carter, terrible president, really fantastic former president. He has done more to impact the world in a positive way than he ever did as president. I dig Jimmy for the man he is.

I am more torn about George W. Bush as a president than anyone. There are things about the man I admire and tons of things that make me cringe. I simply think he was president in the wrong era. Put him as President in the 80′s or maybe 1880′s and I think he does a better job.

Those are some presidential ramblings. Who are your favorite presidents and why?

Whitney makes me sad

The news of Whitney Houston’s death over the weekend frankly wasn’t shocking at all. As soon as I heard about it, through social media, I simply said, “That is sad, probably a drug overdose.” We don’t know for sure if drugs or natural causes lead to her premature death, but the downward spiral of her life played out in the public eye has been sad to witness. Whitney Houston was simply gifted. She had a God given ability to create beauty that was transcendent. She had the kind of gift that moved people to tears and awe.

I celebrate that giftedness in her because that is part of what it means to be created in the image of God. That ability to create beauty is part of what it means to be human. When someone comes along who is so extraordinarily gifted in this way we all clamor to celebrate them and revel in their gift. It brings us alive. It opens us up to the possibilities that this life holds.

That is also why her death makes me so sad. I grieve not just the premature death of one of God’s children, but a life that missed out on so much of what it could have been. Whitney Houston was extraordinarily, legendarily successful according to the world’s standards. She sold tens of millions of albums. She had riches beyond belief. She made movies. She made a Dolly Parton song the most successful soundtrack song of all time. (This is testament to true gifting.) But her life was frankly created for more. Raised in the church, exploring her gifts singing Gospel music, Whitney discovered the great gift she had to move people.

Unfortunately the fame and fortune extracted their usual toll on her life and she ended up a lost soul. She struggled with drug addiction, arrests, and seemed to lose herself. The world lost not just an entertainer, which is frankly of trivial consequence, but an artist capable of transcendent beauty. That doesn’t happen every day. We never got to truly see the beauty Whitney was capable of. Oh how I wish she had been unleashed doing the work of the kingdom.

Jeremy Lin makes me giddy

Who is Jeremy Lin? Well if you aren’t a basketball fan you may not have heard of the 2nd year point guard from Harvard who set the sporting world on fire the past week. The twice cut for minor league basketball player has burst onto the scene of New York by leading the Knicks on an improbable 5 game winning streak with a historic performance. Several factors have launched Lin from obscurity to superstardom in a matter of days. First, he is playing in NY. That always helps. Second, he is the first American born Chinese professional basketball player. For tens of millions of American Asians he has gone to immediate rockstar status. Third, he played college ball at Harvard. Fourth, everyone loves an underdog.

So what makes me so giddy about Jeremy Lin? He is humble, confident, unheralded, skilled, and has a deep faith in Christ. Seeing someone like Jeremy Lin, who has simply sought out excellence in his life, and has succeeded, all the while holding onto a strong faith just makes me happy. He was successful at Harvard. He went from the Ivy League to the NBA, which rarely happens. He has been living on his brothers couch while being the starting point guard of the New York Knicks. What is not to love?

Jeremy Lin can’t keep putting up the numbers he has for the last week, but he can very well stick around as a significant player for a shorthanded Knicks team for this season and hopefully beyond. Regardless the quiet confidence and strong character that he has displayed thus far in his pursuit of excellence in the world is a wonderful testament to going about your work the best way you know how regardless of the results. The test now will be how he responds to fame and success. Will these change him? How will he face the challenge? My money is on Jeremy Lin staying Jeremy Lin and continuing to simply go about his pursuit of excellence in the best way he knows how.

Two moments on Saturday afternoon brought me great joy as a father. First, my son sat with me on the couch and watched an entire Maryland basketball game with me. I could tell it was a moment of delight for him to have this time with me and it was a tremendous joy for me. His hunger to be part of whatever I am doing constantly teaches me about my relationship to God the Father and gives me joy I never have quite known before.

The other moment came when we played the Lego Star Wars game together and Logan learned what a Wookie is for the first time. He was Chewbacca and I was Yoda in our battle against the Storm Troopers. It was awesome. He has talked about it for two days. He loves those Wookies.

There are those among us who suffer. There are those for whom life is unfair. There are those who have never had a chance to make it in this world. Then there is Tom Brady. Following last night’s heart wrenching loss to the NY Giants in the Super Bowl Tom will somehow have to find solace in his super model wife, beautiful children, fame, tens of millions of dollars, 3 Super Bowl rings, passing records and good looks. Some of us have burdens to bear in this world. Some of us are Tom Brady.

Somehow Eli Manning turned into a clutch QB with more Super Bowl rings than his record setting brother. If you had to choose between the two – Peyton being a Hall of Fame QB with a shot at most passing records and plenty of success in Indianapolis or Eli who has grown into the king of NY leading two underdog teams to the ultimate prize which would you choose? I can’t believe I am saying this, but I think I might rather be Eli. He seems to enjoy life more.

Queso and chips or Hot Wings for the best Superbowl food? This is an intense debate in my mind.

Did I find myself actually enjoying Madonna’s half time performance last night? Yes, in fact I strangely did. It might have just been the queso high I was experiencing, however.

I will ultimately remember little of this game. It was actually pretty boring. But I will remember gathering with great friends to laugh the night away and enjoy the game. What a blessing it is to have a community of friends who allow me to be myself. What an extra blessing, as a pastor, that these are people from our church.

I am looking forward to watching Peyton and Eli face off head to head twice a year when Peyton accepts a huge offer from the Redskins to be their next QB. If Peyton wants to prove he is the greatest ever he can do so by resurrecting the Redskins. Come on Peyton, you are up to the challenge!

My favorite commercial was the Audi commercial that made fun of vampires and celebrated their fancy headlights. This was a perfectly created contextual commercial. It captured our culture in this moment perfectly. Three years ago it wouldn’t have made sense and two years from now it would seem a little outdated.

I have been processing the week in Atlanta and have a lot to share. The rest of the week will probably revolve around more thoughts on discipleship and leadership development. This doesn’t have anything to do with the Superbowl, that is why these are ramblings.

Whenever a field goal kicker misses my mother in-law feels bad, not for him, but for his mom. Watching your kid carry that kind of burden is tough. Well after yesterday’s games, Lawrence Tyne’s mom is relieved and Billy Cundiff’s mom is thankful her son used his college scholarship and NFL dollars to get a college degree and an MBA.

The tale of two kickers. One made it his kick. One missed his. In a moment their actions would decide whether they would be the hero or the goat. That really is the magic of sports isn’t it? Seldom in life does your legacy come down to a clearly defined moment. The limited time frames of an athletes career and the games they play make for artificially created and yet beautiful drama.

Tom Brady is Tom Brady not because of his good looks, model wife, or incredible fortune and fame. (OK those things kind of define him ) He is Tom Brady because he has been clutch in moments that really mattered. If he wins his fourth Super Bowl in two weeks he will establish himself as the greatest QB of his generation.

Michael Jordan is Michael Jordan because his unmatched competitive drive refused to lose in the biggest moments. Michael willed his team to victory, time and time again. Kobe is the only basketball player we have seen since that has remotely the same kind of drive.

John Elway was the guy who couldn’t get it done until he helicoptered through the air on a crucial play late in the Super Bowl and became a legend.

Dan Marino, Bernie Kosar, Karl Malone, and Charles Barkley, they are all fantastic legendary players who never got there. Sometimes it was a moment missed, other times it was simply having the breaks go the other way. But how people view them changed because of moments like the two we watched yesterday.

When I first became a pastor, I felt like my life was a series of game winning field goal kicks. The sermon I was preaching, the worship I was planning, the youth event I was leading, those were my moments. They would either make or break who I was. If I succeeded in those moments I would change people’s perceptions of me and if I succeeded in those moments lives would be changed. It all hung on my shoulders.

Thank God I recognize how wrong I was. Life in the kingdom of God isn’t like life as a field goal kicker. Our pursuit of God and our work for his glory is all about a life well lived in continual, sacrificial, redemptive service of the world. It is never one moment, as a success or failure that defines us. We are defined by the love of God that redeems us. And the measures of our success are measured over the long term. We will fail. We will have moments of success. But our goal in the kingdom is to spend our life continually experiencing moments of obedience that change us and impact the world.

The artificial drama of sports is intoxicating. It changes the outlook of fans, for the good and bad. But it is not the way life works in the kingdom of God. And for that I am deeply thankful. (Especially since as a fan of the Wizards, Redskins, Capitals, Orioles and Terps my outlook is mostly jaded, pained, and frustrated. There has to be a beattitude that applies to me. Blessed are you when you root for perennial losers whose owners make torturing their dedicated fan base a way of life for in the kingdom of heaven your team owner is Jesus!)

I am sure there will be a slew of new ones that say, “If God’s not a Broncos fan then why does Colorado run on Tebow Time?”

The hoopla around Tim Tebow, his polarizing play at quarterback and his faith is truly amazing. As soon as the Broncos stunning victory over the Steelers was complete yesterday I took to the social media world to watch the explosion of Tebow related commentary. There hasn’t really been a phenomenon in sports quite like this before, partially because of the explosion of social media.

I haven’t written about Tim Tebow much, but here are my thoughts.

On Tebow as a Professional Quarterback

He isn’t a very good quarterback, but he is a good football player. He is the type of guy you would want to play with and he is certainly a guy I root for, regardless of his faith. He is unorthodox, unpolished, and unrelenting. That is a combination I actually enjoy. He is a quarterback that struggles to make routine plays, but in the right circumstances seems to will himself to make the big plays at the biggest moments. In basketball people like Bill Simmons talk about the irrationally confident shooter. He is a player who doesn’t realize his limitations or how good he really is. He thinks he is way better than he is. And yet with the game on this line this guy will take the biggest shot of the season, instead of passing to his much better teammates, and he often makes it.

That is what Tebow reminds me of. He is the irrational confidence quarterback. He overthrows the running back on a screen pass seemingly half the time. He can’t roll right and throw the ball. He throws the ball four feet short of his receivers regularly. And yet with the game on the line he makes plays that he has no business in making. I like that about him.

On Tebow as an Evangelist

All of those thoughts about Tim as an athlete aside, I think of him as a very public Christian in very different ways. Much has been made of Tebow’s outspoken faith, which is regularly on display as he kneels down to pray after big plays or big wins. In fact Tebowing – dropping down to one knee in random public places is a silly fad these days. So what to make of Tim in regards to how he handles his faith publicly?

I have great appreciation for the way Tebow tries to work his faith into his whole life. He is not a part time Christian. He doesn’t compartmentalize his faith. He is a Christian at all times, in all places, no matter what he is doing. That is something that really should be celebrated by us as a church. There are a lot of public figures that are Christians of some ilk and yet no one knows because their faith is compartmentalized and hidden from view. No one can accuse Tim of being ashamed of his faith.

His expression of his faith, however, leaves me something to be desired. Tim Tebow’s public statements about his faith and his displays of faith in sports are very similar to how I thought about evangelism when I was 17-18 years old. I used to write Bible verses on my wrists when I taped them up before wrestling matches and I used Philippians 4:13 as my theme verse. I would chant it to myself almost as a mantra before I went out to wrestle. I felt this need to remind all people at all times that I was different than them because I was a Christan.

The NFL is full of Christian men. It is full of men who run ministries, go on mission trips, support their churches and have strong faiths. There are certainly other Christians out there that will talk about their faith and do so when given opportunity. Growing up with God’s coach, Joe Gibbs, I saw a great example of how a great coach could live out his faith in transformational ways without being renowned for it. His quiet faithfulness, integrity, and ethos have changed many lives. I head Mark Schlereth, former Redskins and Broncos All-Pro lineman tell my youth group about how Gibbs led him to faith his rookie season in the NFL. Gibbs is renowned in the NFL for the quality of who he is and his coaching acumen. But he never put his faith on display in quite the same way as Tim Tebow.

That isn’t so much a criticism of Tebow as an observation. I just think there are more effective ways of demonstrating our faith to the world than dropping to one knee after a big play. Now, if Tim began to give God credit and glory after bad plays as well as good ones, losses as well as wins, failures as well as successes, then I would be a much bigger supporter of his displays. We need not confuse the world at any time about God’s involvement in this world. God doesn’t care whether or not the Broncos win a football game. God’s kingdom is breaking into this world to redeem all of creation. I don’t question whether or not Tim Tebow is working towards that redeeming work, he just doesn’t do it on Sundays when he throws a football.

A 2012 Focus

Every year I come up with a theme for the year. This past year my theme was wholeness. It was a good theme and despite my best efforts sometimes, I experienced more of God’s wholeness in 2011 than any other year of my life. I learned to listen to God better. I learned to respond to God better. I learned to love my wife, family and church better. God’s presence alone did that.

I am really excited for the start of 2012. This is going to be a big year, I can just feel it. With the excitement and potential of 2012 I am setting my focus this year on God as Lord over all. This year I want to understand the reality of God’s power and sovereignty in new ways. I want to experience the transforming presence of God in new ways. I want to be bold. I want to take risks. I want to be overwhelmed by what I see God doing around me this year. I want to see the Kingdom of God where I have been blind to its work before. Eyes wide open, I am plunging myself into the power of God this year. I have no idea what that is going to mean for my life, but I feel so compelled to seek this out that I just can’t live this year any other way.

To go with this theme is my song for the year. It is Take Heart by Hillsong. It is awesome.

Thinking back on 2011

Looking back on 2011 I have to say that it was a good year, especially since it was such a dud of a year. Worldwide this wasn’t a great year. For many Americans the most hopeful moments of the year were the death of Osama Bin Laden and Muammar Gaddafi. If these are moments we are celebrating, you know it wasn’t a banner year for humanity. Good things did take place in 2011, the Kingdom of God is still advancing, but in all 2011 won’t go down as a year we all look back on fondly.

Personally, however, 2011 was a big step forward. I have more clarity about my role as a pastor than I have ever had before. I am better at communicating with my wife than ever before. I feel that God has pushed my preaching, prayer life, and care for my people to a place I have never known. The difficulties of our world are probably a big reason for the growth I experienced this year. The burdens of our people who are out of work, struggling to make ends meet, dealing with broken families, and grieving the loss of loved ones has pushed me to rely on God more and more. When I speak about trusting in God to people who aren’t sure if they can pay their medical bills or mortgage, I better mean it. The ugly realities of a broken world have seemed more real to me this year and inversely the beauty of God has been more apparent.

So thanks be to God for 2011 a wonderfully ugly year in many ways.

Best Posts of 2011

I never got to post a look back at the top blogs of 2011, so here are the ten best posts I feel that emerged from this blog last year.

In no particular order.

Tuesdays are for Wonderfully Garish Football Uniforms

The End of Evangelicalism Part 3

Thoughts on Osama Bin Laden and Justice

Christians and the Death Penalty

Holy Sex Life, Batman!

I can’t not post about the Virgin Diaries

The Theology of Harry Potter

What Kurt Cobain Taught Me About Preaching

Sandwich Showdown – JJ’s vs. Subway vs. Quiznos

Mondays are for Same Sex Marriage Ramblings

Arthur Christmas Rocks, of course – We took the kids out on Saturday to see Arthur Christmas. (How could we not when they name a movie after us.) It was instantly added to the Christmas movies we watch every year collection. It was really well done, funny, and had some interesting commentary that would go well in a sermon. As a matter of fact I am announcing right now that next Christmas I am using clips from this movie in my sermon.

Debating whether or not I care how unBiblical our idea of Christmas night is – The image we have of Mary and Joseph rushing to Bethlehem, finding nowhere to stay, ending up in a stable, barely getting there in time for Jesus to be born, shepherds and Wise Men crowding around to get a glimpse, is just not a terribly Biblical image. But I can’t decide whether or not I care. They were probably in a room of a house where animals also stayed. That would have been typical. The text doesn’t say that they go there and had the baby the same night. The Magi probably didn’t show up for several years. There is a part of me that wants to teach a more realistic picture of the Nativity scene, but the other part of me thinks that the image we have serves its purpose. We get the idea and that is probably enough. Thoughts?

Were there flurries in Hell yesterday? – The mighty Packers lost a game. The inept Colts won one. The Redskins played a pretty good game and won in NY. There was definitely something in the air yesterday. If Tim had Tebowed Tom Brady I might have thought that some sort of signs and wonders were being done in our midst. Regardless it was good to see the Skins do something worth watching. And it is always good to see the Giants stink. Now it is time to start scouting College QBs not named Andrew Luck and find one to replace Sexy Rexy next year.

Jesus visits Tebow – If you missed the SNL skit with Jesus visiting Tim Tebow after a Broncos game, you can catch it here or on Hulu. It is pretty funny. Some good commentary here. I could use this in a sermon.

I am totally digging Christmas on Sunday – When I realized that Christmas was on Sunday this year a part of me was bummed at first because I knew that I would then need to work on part of Christmas day. But then I thought more about it and the rhythm a worship service would add to our Christmas and I have gotten really excited about it. In the middle of opening presents and celebrating Christmas we will go to church as a family, sing carols, hear the word of God and go to the Lord’s Table together. That sounds like a perfect Christmas to me.

Those are my ramblings for today. Stay tuned this week for part three of a Holy Sex Life and my look back at 2010 2011..

I was disturbed by the dancing Rabbi because of how much I wanted one. Good to know that commercialization of religious holidays has extended outside of Christianity to Judaism as well.

The WWJD movie just made me sad. It was appropriately priced in he $5 bin at Walmart, but a WWJD movie starring John Schneider, he of the Dukes of Hazzard fame? This can’t be good.

The profound mystery of union with Christ

Connected for eternity, separated by life

People from every nook and cranny of the earth

Bound together by the love of God

Gone but here, absent and present

Women and men, girls and boys all the Son of God

All of us so different and yet the same because now we are one

We are one body, one church, one with the firstborn over all creation

And now we have Dad’s power

Power over death itself

The ground may claim us, but God is going to claim us back

No grave, no time, no distance can ever separate us from one another

We have won, we are one

So, for all the saints who from their labor rest

We rejoice because you have the first taste of victory

You taste each moment, our Father’s power over death

You no longer suffer

You no longer weep

You no no more faith

For what we hope for you know in certain

You know in fullness what we see in part

So on this day of remembering we celebrate

We rejoice in an every day reality

The dead in Christ are forever alive

Those who seem lost to us are never truly lost

For we are one

One body, one church, one baptism, one people

We rejoice in you, our brothers and sisters who have gone before us

So soon shall we be together in forever, so soon, so soon