Yesterday in church my lines got blurred. Normally I think blurring the lines is a bad thing…things are not clear, there is no perspective, everything melds into one big pot of confusion. But something clicked yesterday for me. All my clear cut lines of faith were questioned. In some ways I am very open to different aspects of faith. I see Jesus as a sort of rebel who stood up to the religious figures of the day — someone who stood with the broken — someone who comforted the ones in despair — but that is where my image of Jesus stopped. I never once thought of Jesus as ’supernatural’. I am a big sci-fi person…if it deals with ghosts, aliens, paranormal, mythical, etc…I am in! The supernatural is fictional something that makes great stories but is not real.

Sunday siting in church my perception of supernatural was changed. In Acts 23 (and a few other places but for this sake I am keeping it to Acts 23) Jesus stands next to Paul. What is so strange about this? Well besides the fact that Jesus had already been crucified, buried AND rose from the dead the man, the Son of God had ascended into heaven. So despite all this Jesus stands next to Paul…now if that is not something right out of a Stephen King novel I am not sure what it.

The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” Acts 23:11

In the moment that Jesus came to Paul he told him to take courage that his future is set. At this time Paul was in prison and the Jews were out to kill him. Jesus comes in and says you will go on — you have work yet to do. I wonder what Paul was thinking…something along the lines of Now I know this guy has done all kinds of crazy things but I know he flew into Heaven but here He is standing next to me…standing next to me and telling me that I am going to live. That would have been amazingly awesome. Jesus standing there in his supernatural self.

My eyes were opened to the story in Acts 23 in a new way. I read it now and see scenes from the Matrix pop in my head. It makes me excited to re-read the gospels to look at them as a sci-fi movie and see all the wonders.

Technorati Tags: Jesus, Supernatural, Acts, Sci-Fi

Here are a few pictures from last night’s Donald Miller event. It was a great event that hopefully tomorrow I will expand on. Until then, enjoy…

Discipline is a word no one likes. It brings up different images for different people. For some it might bring up unpleasant memories of childhood. Others might think of discipline they received from a teacher, preacher, nun, police officer, etc. Discipline comes in many forms.

If we look up the word in the dictionary we get varying degrees of definitions:

1 : punishment
2 obsolete : instruction
3 : a field of study
4 : training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character
5 a : control gained by enforcing obedience or order b : orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior c :self-control
6 : a rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity

Could we as people not come up two different words for punishment and training?  Because we associate the word mostly with punishment the good aspects of having discipline are often overlooked or neglected. I started thinking about this last night as I was reading through a Henri Nouwen book called “The Way Of The Heart: Connecting with God through prayer, wisdom, and silence”. In the chapter I was reading Nouwen was talking about solitude and how we should use it to our advantage, but it takes discipline. He stated ”

But a real discipline never remains vague or general. It is as concrete and specific as daily life itself.

I stopped reading and started thinking about that quote. How many times have I said I want to do something, but do not lay out a plan to achieve what I want to do. I want to lose weight, learn a new skill,save more money, etc…all these lofty ideas but no bearing behind them. My want for these things is not concrete because I have not made it so. I have not planned out more than speaking.

Tonight I am thinking more about what it means to be concrete and specific with what I want to accomplish. How setting goals requires discipline and my goals can not be laid on a foundation of vague.

Technorati Tags: Discipline

When

Today was a long day. As I sit here typing on my trusty MacBook Pro I am pushing a 19 hour day. It was a long day.

Driving home from work today I knew I needed a music boost so I put on Sara Groves. Sara’s music has become a soundtrack to my life. Those days that are great and the days that are not. The lyrics speak to parts of me that only music can find and help express.

I decided to take the windy road home tonight and soak up some beautiful music. As I was winding through the back roads the sun started to peak through the white mass of clouds. The breeze came to life and the leaves started dancing along the river bank. I grabbed my iPhone and snapped a few pictures of the beauty.

As I was driving these roads I was listening to the song ‘Add To The Beauty’ by Sara Groves. The lyrics bounced around in my head and they came to a new life.

We come with beautiful secrets
We come with purposes written on our hearts, written on our souls
We come to every new morning
With possibilities only we can hold, that only we can hold

Redemption comes in strange place, small spaces
Calling out the best of who we are

And I want to add to the beauty
To tell a better story
I want to shine with the light
That’s burning up inside

It comes in small inspirations
It brings redemption to life and work
To our lives and our work

It comes in loving community
It comes in helping a soul find it’s worth

Redemption comes in strange places, small spaces
Calling out the best of who we are

And I want to add to the beauty
To tell a better story
I want to shine with the light
That’s burning up inside

This is grace, an invitation to be beautiful
This is grace, an invitation

The open road and nature calls to the best of who I am. No matter how long the day, how worn out I am, how much I long to crawl into bed, how tomorrow brings me to my knees — it is about adding to the beauty. That windy road called to the best of me and inspired me to hope for more.

As this day has wound down and is already in the new I want to remember to seek a better story. To accept the invitation to see redemption. My hope is that we all take this journey together. After all … it is the only one worth taking.

Technorati Tags: Jesus, Story, Sara Groves

How many times in a day do we hear someone say they are tired? I hear it everyday and in fact I say it most days. Today is one of those days. I am tired, worn out, exhausted, mentally kaput.

For several weeks I have not gotten solid sleep. Some nights getting 2 or 4 hours while others I manage to squeak out 6 — my mind has been in constant think mode. I wake up in the middle of the night panicked and need to make to-do lists. I wake up overwhelmed by how much work I have for the next day. I wake up wondering what I am supposed to be doing with my life because surely this is not it. Even in my dreams my brain is active — my dreams are vivid and full of life, action, suspense and busyness.

I try journaling and reading my Bible before bed hoping that will help, but no matter what I do I can not seem to rest right now.

All this thinking made my mind wander to a verse. A very well known verse about resting. Matthew 11: 28-2 MSG

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Unforced rhythms of grace….that has got to be the most comforting way to invite someone into rest. Come with me and “flow”. Come with me and “breathe easy”. Experience who I am. Such an open and inviting invitation.

As I lay my head down to sleep tonight I am praying this Celtic blessing:

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the infinite peace to you.

I would love to know how you find rest when things are crazy either in your life or in your head. What calms you down?

Technorati Tags: Rest, Jesus, Peace

I was one of the fortunate ones to get a copy of Donald Miller’s new book in manuscript format before it was released. Donald Miller has been one of my favorite authors for a few years. ‘Blue Like Jazz’ had a deep impact on me (along with tons of other people) so I was looking forward to ‘A Million Miles in a Thousand Years’.

When I started reading the book I ended up laughing out loud multiple times. (Another funny quirky thing about this book was the story about my high school in chapter 33.) It defiantly had the sense of humor that readers of Donald Millers have come to love. This book, while funny, carries a heavy message. What kind of story are you writing for yourself? It makes you take a step back and look at your life.

Story has been a reoccurring aspect in my life for the last several years. The concept of writing your story seeps up in the strangest places — when I least expect it. This book defiantly fits in that category. The concept of story seems to follow me. Even Brian McLaren (a few years back) told me that I should look into Biblical Narrative as a way to tell my story when we had a conversation about my future.

From the beauty of exploring what story actually is to the journey of making your story better can sum up this book (in a horrible way that a book should never be summed up). One of my favorite excerpts (really there are too many to list here) is one about God and Story and it goes like this:

“When Steve, Ben, and I wrote our characters into the screenplay, I felt the way I hope God feels as He writes the world, sitting over the planets and placing tiny people in tiny wombs. If I have a hope, it’s that God sat over the dark nothing and wrote you and me, specifically, into the story, and put us in with the sunset and the rainstorm as though to say, Enjoy your place in My story. The beauty of it means you matter, and you can create within it even as I have created you.”

I keep wondering how many ways God can tell this to me before it sinks in. All that matters is writing a good story and a good story has many elements that we make. This book from start to finish gives the reader glimpses of Donald Miller’s life as he struggles with his own story and then it turns and allows the reader to realize that the story is also their own. It brings laughter, tears and hope.

I know Donald Miller will always be known as the guy who wrote ‘Blue Like Jazz’, but this book has replaced ‘Blue Like Jazz’ as my favorite Donald Miller book. It has much more depth.

Do yourself a favor and by this book. Soak in it and then take the journey to write a better story and don’t forget to jump in the water fully clothed.

Buy it from amazon.com

Technorati Tags: Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Blue Like Jazz, Odessa, Permian, Panthers, Write Your Story, Story

*This post has a sarcasm alert (for the humorless)*

Today as I was heading home I got a tweet to my phone that the locations had been announced for Donald Miller’s new book locations. After being 30 seconds to late to find the first one I was not sure I would make it on time. Especially with directions from Google (see inset photo).

Despite the fact that Google told me I was 2 hours and 20 minutes away…I thought I would go for the book anyway — seriously screw Google. About 10 minutes later I was walking into the Thomas Nelson office and running desperately up to the poor woman at the counter and screaming at her to see if anyone had found the book.

I think I scared her…she told me the book had been found and I went crazy screaming and asking to speak to someone in charge, she went and got another copy and told me never to set foot in Nashville again (a small sacrifice to pay for such a worthy book). After I ninja jumped my way out of the building and into the rain I headed home to bask in the glory — okay more like rub it in the nose of everyone on the internet — but really who cares I have it and they don’t.

So tonight me and this book are going to have a good time. I will bask in the glory of a new Donald Miller book and think of all the poor saps who have to wait another week to get the book. And after I finish I will give Don a call and have a little chat about this book (yes his cell phone # was in the book — see below).

My prize...yes all mine

Seriously….you thought I would give you the number. In your dreams…sucker. But I will post my review as soon as I finish the book.

So if you are reading this and you don’t know who Donald Miller is (then shame on you) read more about Don on my Blog:

• The time he called me
• Finding out about the movie
• When Donald Prayed
• When I first met Donald at a Blood Water Mission Event

Find out more About Donald Miller from:

• His Website
• Buying A book or two or three
• His twitter

I am off to do more ninja kicks then settle in and enjoy what I am sure will be my favorite book of 2009.

Technorati Tags: Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, @Donmileris, Blue Like Jazz

A little about the book: What happens when Jesus interrupts the average life? Interrupted encourages believers to ask if their lives bring integrity to the gospel. Follow the faith journey of author and fellow disciplemaker Jen Hatmaker and rediscover Jesus among the least of us.

My thoughts on the book: From the introduction this book had me. Imagine a book opening that tells the story of renting a house to a murdered and how your neighborhood would react. Well that is how this book opens. Jen has quirky stories woven through this book, but is not lacking in a substantial story to fill up the book with meaning.

This book tells a story of a person who left comfort and everything they knew in search of a bigger God. The god left behind was the one we want to box up and put beside our bed and pull out in times of trouble and what was found was the true God. The true God who cares for the poor and broken. Jen lays out the story of her journey (along with her husband) to this unsafe God that rattled her world. Join her on the journey and take the first steps toward being interrupted. (and maybe read a few funny stories along the way…my favorite was about a banana)

Who this book would be good for: church planters, people who like to laugh and want to see God in a different way, church workers, people who attend a church plant

More about the author: Jen Hatmaker is the author of A Modern Girl’s Guide to Bible Study: A Refreshingly Unique Way to Look at God’s Word and A Modern Girl’s Bible Study Series. With a heart for the women of her generation, she speaks at retreats and conferences around the country. Jen resides in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Brandon, and their three children. Brand and Jen are pastors of Austin New Church

Additional Resources:

• http://jenhatmaker.com/
• http://www.austinnewchurch.com/

Technorati Tags: Jen Hatmaker, Church Planting, Austin New Church, Interrupted

Last night was an event for Blood Water Mission here in Nashville. ‘Love (as it turns out) is a battlefield: an apology to the 80’s” was held at Downtown Presbyterian Church with guests: Sarah Masen, Justin Caldwell, Sandra McCracken (ft. Derek Webb), Matthew Perryman Jones, David Dark, and Donald Miller. It was a night of music, story, video, and discussion.

The night was an apology to the 80’s. Through the night there were 80’s commercials and movie trailers in between some of Nashville’s finest performing their favorite 80’s songs. Each artist sang about three songs.

One of my favorite moments of the night was when Sandra McCracken and Derek Webb  sang ‘Time after Time’ and the audience joined it. It was a sweet moment. I capture a bit of it on video.

[See post to watch Flash video]

Donald Miller took the stage with David Dark in a Q & A format. It was my first time hearing Donald Miller speak and all I can say is that he is one funny guy. He is coming back in November on his upcoming book tour and I can’t wait to hear him.

But the important this was this was a night for Blood Water Mission. It was the Nashville stop of the Ride: Well tour.  Blood Water played an amazing video that was amazing to see the results of what they are doing. $1 gives 1 African person water for 1 year….that is amazing. Really what can we buy for a dollar that can transform a life? A pack of gum now costs more than giving a person water for a year. That to me is mind blowing and humbling. Be sure and check out what Blood Water Mission is doing and be blown away also.

Below are a few photos from the night. Check out all the photos on my Flickr account.

Technorati Tags: Blood Water Mission, Donald Miller, Nashville, Sandra McCracken, Derek Webb, David Dark, Sarah Masen, Matthew Perryman Jones, Justin Caldwell

Tonight (12/4/09) a great event came to Nashville. A screening of the short films ‘The Laundry’ and ‘Sugar‘ along with music by some pretty awesome musicians from Sam and Ruby, Katie Herzig, Andy Davis, and Rob Blackledge.

This all came about to raise awareness for ‘Falling Whistles’ which is a powerful story/movement taking place right now in the Congo. Be sure and visit the Falling Whistles site to learn more.

Here are a few pictures from the event. Visit my Flickr site to see all the photos.

Technorati Tags: Falling Whistles, Congo, Africa, War, Katie Herzig, Sam and Ruby, Nashville, 12th and Porter,  Andy Davis,  Rob Blackledge,  Alex Beh