Month: February 2009

For your listening enjoyment…

Tonight, somewhere close to eighty people (mostly middle school students) will overrun the church for 23 hours of maddness.  The theme is Love, Sex, and Dating, or as we fondly refer to it LSD.  Several years ago, leaders who work with the students of our community realized that there was a need to address this huge issue in adolesdcents life from a biblical perspective.  It is a tradition that has endured, and tonight we’ll be making every effort to help them sort through the awkwardness and confusion and silliness that surrounds these topics.

If I survive, I’ll report back tomorrow!

Ok, so second day into the blogging project and I’ve already surmised that some changes in format are going to be necessary.  I don’t have ADHD, but I do get bored easily.  While I enjoyed the devotion on 2 Corinthians 3:1-6 this morning and the thought that “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life,”  I’m going to alter my commitment slightly.  The commitment will be to post about something daily.  “Something” is just the sort of vagueness I need to stay interested over the long haul.

That said, today’s post is simply an update of sorts.  If anyone is actually going to come to the site, I figure I need to start tidying up some.  And if how I ‘tidy up’ at home is any indication, this is going to be a slow process.   First, I’ve changed the name of the blog.  I know that Taido Chino had a nice ring to it, but I’ve opted for something a bit more enigmatic.  I’ll leave you to reflect on its significance.

And then there is the problem of those tabs for different pages.  They seemed like such a great idea at first, but they have become small thorns in my flesh.  Daily reminders of the mountain of things that I’ve left undone.

But amidst the flurry of Lenten hysteria, I’ve added yet another Lenten commitment.  Foolishness, I know.  But here it is:

No more whining.

I’ve decided to take back my attitude and instead of looking around and seeing tasks left undone, I’m choosing to view them as opportunities.  So those wonderful opportunities (cleverly disguised at blog page tabs) will be addressed in due time.

But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God. 2 Corinthians 2:14-17

Today is the beginning of Lent, and the timing of the Scripture that Wright has selected for the first day couldn’t be better. The next several weeks abound with various ministry events. And before this morning, they weren’t much more than that… events. The preparation for these various opportunities was becoming overwhelming.  I can so easily forget the event is not the end goal, but that the events are simply the context in which ministry might (or might not) happen.  I was in that place that I sometimes find myself in not seeing the forest for the trees.

One of the things I appreciate about Wright is his turn of phrase, and the sentence that will stay with me (hopefully, longer than just today) is… “Paul is deeply aware that his vocation is to be the living embodiment of the outpoured love of God in Christ.” I’m hoping and praying for that awareness in my own life today, and that I will recognize that every thing I do (and the way in which I do it) is a reflection of how in touch I am with that particular vocation.

So, in every phone call, email, conversation, interaction with wife/children/coworkers/ministry leaders/students, I hope to be the living embodiment of God’s love. In every piece of trash picked up, mile driven, meal prepared, I hope to recognize that it is all part of being the fragrance of Christ.

Ash Wednesday is a few short days away and will mark the beginning of the Lenten season.  I don’t come from a high church background, but not long after I embraced Christianity I was exposed to the practice of observing Lent.  Over the years (not every year), I have regularly given up something for Lent as a way of reminding me of the sacrifice Christ made on our behalf.  It has been a helpful practice to prepare my heart, mind, and soul for celebrating Easter.

This year, instead of giving something up I’ll be adding something (which I suppose if you want to be technical about it, I’ll be giving up some time that would have been used for something else).  The addition will be reading a daily devotional guide by N. T. Wright entitled Reflecting the Glory.

Wright has been one of my favorite writers for a long time.  He is a first rate New Testament scholar from the Anglican tradition whose work has done much to stir up fresh thinking at an academic level.  This “stirring up” hasn’t been universally appreciated, but in general the perspective he brings is healthy and helpful.

Nor does he write for the academician alone.  Admirably, he attempts to bring his considerable intellect to bear on the outworking of his understanding of the gospel for people living in the 21st century.

Therefore, I’m planning on doing two things for Lent this year.  One is to allow Wright to be my guide in (re)thinking through the implications of what Reflecting the Glory would look like for us.  But in the spirit of Lenten commitment, I also plan to blog daily about the experience.  I’m hoping that I can convince some people to join me in the exercise and to be a part of the conversation.  But even if no one does, it will be a way for me to jump-start my sagging commitment to getting the old blog going.

I’ve just ordered some copies to hand to friends, or you can order up a copy of your own to follow along.

Ok, so this would be the main reason that I am (and remain) hesitant to blog.  I just don’t think I’ll stick with it.  And that bugs me.

So in lieu of a legitimate post, I’m sharing with you some of my favorite recent music.  Here goes…

William Fitzsimmons – I Don’t Feel It Anymore

Blind Pilot – One Red Thread

PT Walkley – Audrey Macy