broken//stained//glass

new films

Not sure I'll be able to see half of these films when they come out this summer, but they certainly look intriguing...

May:
Indiana Jones (last installment...gotta see it).
Narnia: Prince Caspian (I know much of America is burned out on fantasy films, but it's C.S. Lewis...isn't there an unwritten rule that if you're a Christian you have to support this film because its a story written by one of the greatest modern apologists of the faith??)

June:
The Incredible Hulk (the summer non-thinking blockbuster that will probably be just pure entertainment)
Get Smart (Michael Scott with a gun? I hope...)
Kung Fu Panda (pure animated fun...but with Jack Black)

July:
Hancock (Anything with Will Smith in it is worth the price of admission).

Documentary:
Where In the World is Osama bin Laden? (Morgan Spurlock's latest documentary. Moving from French Fries to hunting down the world's most notorious terrorist...that's quite a jump).

the birthday present of birth

"The test of all happiness is gratitude; and I felt grateful, though I hardly knew to whom. Children are grateful when Santa Claus puts in their stockings gifts of toys or sweets. Could I not be grateful to Santa Claus when he put in my stockings the gift of two miraculous legs? We thank people for birthday presents of cigars and slippers. Can I thank no one for the birthday present of birth?"
-Classic Christian author G. K. Chesterton

new music

Anybody heard the new albums/songs by:

Death Cab for Cutie
Counting Crows
Coldplay
R.E.M.
Jon Foreman's solo project?

Are they any good?

That'll preach...

Check out this powerful story.

Lepers, the Gospel and Bald Heads

As many of you know, due to the generosity of many people donating towards a great cause, my friend Jerry and I had our heads shaved bald last Sunday night after resonate. The money raised goes to Joni and Friends Philadelphia Region which runs a summer camp for those with disabilities and their families so they can enjoy a week relaxing and having fun - a rare treat for families who take constant care of a disabled family member around the clock.

We happen to be in a series called Jesus: the Revolutionary where we're getting glimpses of Jesus as we study the book of Mark. This past week we were at the end of chapter 1 where Jesus heals a leper. Leprosy (which could also have been various types of skin diseases) was not only a disfiguring of one's skin, but also forced one to live in isolation, away from their community.
Lepers were considered the untouchables.
The outcasts of society.
Those forced to the fringes of culture.
Nobodies.

In the teaching we pondered the question, Which is worse: a physical skin ailment or the relational and emotional separation from friends, family members and those in the community that you love?
We also pondered, Who are the outcasts in our society today? Who is pushed to the margins? And how do we, in the name of Jesus, help to restore those people to the community they were intended to be a part of?

In Mark 1, when Jesus heals the leper he not only heals him physically, but he also restores him into the community that he was originally intended to be a part of.

After the leper is healed Jesus tells him to go to the priest and make the sacrifices  Moses commanded. 

What's this all about?

Jesus is referring to Leviticus 13 and 14 where God gives specific requirements for a leper who is cured of his skin disease to be restored back to the community. God, in and around the tabernacle, cared deeply about purity. When you deal with God's holiness you do it on His terms, not yours.

These were the requirements for those cured of their skin disease to be allowed back into the camp:
-having the priest inspect you from head to toe
-washing your clothes
-bringing two pigeons to the priest where he would kill one of the birds and sprinkle his blood seven times over a clay pot of water and then letting the other bird live.
-sacrificing a lamb with flour and oil
-and finally, shaving off all your hair.

Seeing that the timing couldn't be better, I called Jerry up in the middle of my teaching and shaved his head to illustrate what a leper would have to do in order to be reinstated into the community. Here's a picture of me using Jerry has an object lesson during my teaching.

One person commented to me afterwards, "I've never seen something like this before. I didn't know you were allowed to shave someone's head in church!"
Neither did I...
 
My friend Jerry has had cerebral palsy since birth and is mobile with the help of his high-tech electric wheelchair. (You can't see it in the picture, but his fancy chair is hiding under that sheet). Jerry was a good sport about it. But I said, "Jerry: I love you, brother, but with your condition there is no way that I would ever allow you to have a set of clippers in your hands and try to shave my head. I might end up in the ER with gashes in my head looking like I got into a Perkasie gang fight or something..."

Ironically, Jerry and I talked several months ago about the disabled community.  In fact, if you put everyone in the world who had a disability into one country, it would be the world's third largest country!

Jerry shared with me how he loves Jesus' interactions with lepers in the gospels. The way that Jesus loves those who are pushed to the fringes, he loves those nobody else will love, he touches the untouchables. Jerry mentioned that he believed that in our culture today some of the 'untouchables' - those pushed to the margins of society - are the disabled.

What a beautiful picture it was for me to shave Jerry's head during the teaching as he is seen by many in our culture today as a "modern-day leper."

Isn't that the gospel message?
We all have - not a skin disease - but a sin disease and have been separated from God's holiness. Our  priest comes to meet us outside the camp and heals us so that we can be restored to relationship with God and with others. And if we claim to be followers of Jesus we will follow his example: touching the untouchable, loving the unlovable, caring for the uncared for and  reaching the unreachable with the good news of God's desire to restore people to their original relationship with God and others.

After the service we encouraged people - for those who wanted to - to stick around. I invited Cassie, the young woman who cuts my hair, to come to resonate with her boyfriend. I offered to pay her to bring her clippers and come clean up Jerry's head (since I made such a mess of it during the teaching) and then shave mine. She was more than willing to help.

Here are a few fun shots people have sent me this week...

Before...

Cassie shaved male pattern baldness into my head. I think I looked at myself in a mirror and busted my gut...

Everyone was telling me that I looked like a mix between Ron Howard and Terry Bradshaw.
What do you think?

And the finished project.
Okay, so I look goofy. So what?
But each person who leaves a sarcastic comment attached will be fined $5 - to be paid towards Joni and Friends. You've been warned...

A few people said I looked like John Malkovich. I don't know...I'm not seeing it.

The best "compliment" I received from someone was, "Well, you don't look...terrible."
Thanks. I think.

Here's a picture with Alex, a German twentysomething who is living in the US for a year and a half to learn English. I encouraged him to shave his head with me. He shook his head and in his thick German accent said, "Noh Danks..."

More pictures are being sent to me.
When the pictures of Jerry, Cassie and myself are sent to me I will post them.

I have to tell you: I have been freezing cold the past week.
But hey, its for a great cause.
And my hair will grow back quickly.
I can't complain.

Thanks to all who helped. 

UPDATE: Doug Burns and Lauren Paupillo took pictures of the big event. Check out Doug's website for baptism pictures and head shaving shots. 

The Way of Love

If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

   Love never gives up.
   Love cares more for others than for self.
   Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
   Love doesn't strut,
   Doesn't have a swelled head,
   Doesn't force itself on others,
   Isn't always "me first,"
   Doesn't fly off the handle,
   Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
   Doesn't revel when others grovel,
   Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
   Puts up with anything,
   Trusts God always,
   Always looks for the best,
   Never looks back,
   But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies.

We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

When Google Earth meets the Scriptures

It was bound to happen...

If you're a teacher of the Bible - or an avid student of it - there is a great resource tool I stumbled across recently that is put by Google (Google had done it once again).

It's called Bible Maps.
It allows you to type in any book and chapter in the Bible and uses Google earth to locate that Biblical place on the globe today.

It is still in Beta form, but its absolutely fascinating.
It has already enhanced my teaching preparation.
Check it out here.

Mission: Accomplished

If you were at resonate last week you heard it announced that you rose to the challenge: We reached our goal of raising $3,000 to help disabled individuals and their families go to camp through the Philadelphia region of Joni and Friends.
Sticking with the agreement, Jerry Borton and I will be getting our heads shaved probably in the next couple of weeks. Several have suggested that we should do it right after resonate is over one night.

A big thanks to all who participated in this incredible ministry.
I apologize in advance for how silly I will look with my chrome dome.

Did you hear the good news?

Yup, that's right.
You guessed it.
The Big C is coming to Montgomeryville!
The old Pizza hut in front of Borders has been torn down and they are building a Chipotle.
When I heard it a few weeks ago it made me week!

In a few months, you know where you will find me at lunchtime three days a week.

Chesterton: the cross - a signpost for free travellers

I'm re-reading G.K. Chesterton's classic book Orthodoxy and stumbled across this gem:

"As we have taken the circle as the symbol of reason and madness, we may very well take the cross as the symbol at once of mystery and of health. Buddhism is centripetal, but Christianity is centrifugal: it breaks out. For the circle is perfect and infinite in its nature; but it is fixed for ever in its size; it can never be larger or smaller. But the cross, though it has at its heart a collision and a contradiction, can extend its four arms for ever without altering its shape. Because it has paradox in its centre it can grow without changing. The circle returns upon itself and is bound. The cross opens its arms to the four winds; it is a signpost for free travellers."

-Orthodoxy, p. 33

US News & World Report

My dad is quoted - and yours truly is mentioned - in a recent US News and World Report article on churches that are offering financial help and assistance to those in debt.
The online article came out this week. 
It will be in the USN&WR print edition in a few weeks.
Check it out here.

McLaren in Princeton tonight

A few of us are going to hear Brian McLaren tonight. Princeton Theological Seminary is hosting the event.
He'll be speaking on his book Everything Must Change.
Should be interesting night.
I'll give an update in the next few days if I have time...

Catching up...

Trying to catch up a little bit after being gone last week...
There are several projects I am working on.

First, I just finished a small writing project that publisher David C. Cook asked me to contribute to - a graduation book asking contributors to answer in 300 words or less what advice, encouragement or suggestions you would give to a graduating senior. It was a fun project and a very creative idea. I guess Natasha Bedingfield will be contributing to it as well...

Secondly, I am reading a manuscript of a friend who wrote a book on street-level contextual theology. He asked for an endorsement statement for the back cover and I need to get that off soon...

Third, I start another seminary class this week - a six week intensive - called "Film, Theology and Culture." I'm really looking forward to it. Now before you start thinking this is a cake class, the class requires us to watch three movies a week, reading two books and diving a presentation each week. I've been told the class is great, but when you are done with the class you won't want to watch another film for six months!

I also want to catch up on my reading, which includes mostly magazines. I have a stack next to me of magazines, newspapers and periodicals that I need to catch up on. In our digital age, I guess I am a dinosaur of sorts, but I love good magazines that are culturally sensitive. I enjoy reading a wide variety of them because I find that I learn so much about the world and find that I can learn a lot from them and study them in an attempt to connect them to the truth of the gospel in a dot-to-dot format (just as he did in Acts 17, I am sure that Paul would be quoting today's poets from magazines and periodicals and podcasts and film and television shows).
Here are the ones on the stack on the table in the living room that I need to get through this week:

-USAToday
-Atlantic Monthly
-Sojourners
-The Week
-Newsweek
-Fast Company
-Biblical Archaeology Review
-Entertainment Weekly
-RELEVANT Magazine
-Wonder Time
-ESPN The Magaine
-Paste Magazine

Reminder: you can still make me look ugly

Just a reminder: if you want to force my friend Jerry and I to shave our heads completely bald there's still time.
Consider helping out a great cause.
To make a donation, feel free to contact Jerry here.

Graduation season is approaching

Warning: Shameless plug

With graduation season quickly approaching I think its worth giving a shameless plug for the three books that I have written. It's worth mentioning that if you have a son, daughter, niece, nephew, friend or friend/co-worker who has a child who is graduating from high school/college/graduate school and you need graduation gift ideas - well, I've got three for you.

When God Says Jump - the first book that I wrote about the concept of risk-taking and its importance in the life of a follower of Jesus.

Redefining Life for Men - a bible study I wrote specifically for men in their late teens and twenties, dealing with the issue of what does it mean to be a young man of God.

The Message Remix//Solo - a unique project that I wrote with two other authors that uses the ancient prayer practice of lectio divina and the text of the Message.

These can be found at Amazon, Christian Book Distributors, Barnes and Noble, Borders and your local Christian bookstore. And if you live in the area, I'd be glad to sign those books for you, if you wish.

Alright - the shameless plug has ended...

Message: Remix // Solo

I received a message yesterday from the sales director of NavPress that the project that I helped write - the Message: Remix // Solo - was the #1 devotional on Amazon yesterday.
To be honest, I am humbled and surprised that the project is doing this well.
My prayer is that it will be used by God's spirit to transform people through the ancient prayer practice of lectio divina.

[Q]: Day Two

Wow...my brain is smoking.
Amazing day here at the [Q] conference.

I was invited to attend a round table brainstorming session with about a dozen leaders and communicators of the Bible over an early breakfast at the offices of Redeemer Presbyterian (Tim Keller's church) to help the marketing team of the American Bible Society to identify some obstacles and brainstorm ways to overcome those obstacles of Bible reading in the U.S. We looked at the following statistics and used that as the springboard into our discussion.

86% of Americans own a Bible.
12% read their Bibles daily
60% of people want deeper engagement with the Bible.

Centered around that idea, we unpacked this as to why this is, how did we get to where we are, what could and should we change in these arenas and what are some creative and innovative ways that ABS could adapt or create some tools for deeper engagement.

Day Two of [Q] included these presenters:
-Louie Giglio - mentor of the top five worship leaders in the world (Chris Tomlin, Matt Redmond, etc)
-Jamie Tworkowski - founder of To Write Love On Her Arms
-Jim Wallis - best selling author, social advocate, founder of The Call to Renewal and Sojourners.
-Michael Luo - Harvard grad, New York Times Religion journalist.
-David Gibbons - Asian-American pastor of Newsong
-Eric Reynolds - Mountain climber and founder of nau.org
-Owen Leimbach - producer for MTV

After presentations there were experiential learning labs that included a homeless simulation, a tour of Central Park with an expert on environmental issues and other interactive and unique situations. I attended the Chelsea Art Gallery District tour with an art critic who writes for the New York Times.
We attended about six galleries, each one unique and fascinating.
At our last gallery I had an interesting experience. Looking at some art work on the wall a stranger next to me asked me a question about the piece hanging on the wall...then I turned and realized that "stranger" was Ben Stiller. (Yes, that one...) Only in New York can you get a personal guided tour of the Chelsea art galleries with the New York Times art critic and discuss art with Ben Stiller. If I was thinking on my feet, I would have started quoting Meet The Parents lines to him... maybe next time.

Here's the picture of Ben on the left and my friend Jason from Atlanta on the right.

After dinner it was a tough decision -- listen to Mako Fujimura (the talented and prolific Japanese-American painter who helped plant The Village Church in Greenwich Village) and attend a private concert with The Fray (who are attending the conference) or go to the Mets-Phillies game at Shea Stadium.

Tough decision,  but with the weather being terrific we went to Shea and watched a heartbreaker, but a great game in 12 innings.

Brainstorming with other thinkers and leaders with the American Bible Society.
Great presentations.
Good interactions and networking.
Talking art with Ben Stiller.
A hotdog at Shea Stadium.

What a great day... I'll post some pictures when I get back home, but if you want to see pictures of the venue and hear some thoughts and reflections of the conference, check out my friend LT's blog.

Also, this attendee is blogging the conference quite well.

[Q] Conference has started!

[Q] is off to a great start...

The venue where [Q] is taking place is amazing - the old building - on 36th and Broadway (down the street from Macy's) - with Gothic style architecture and was a former bank. It's in the round. It looks like something from a movie.
Amazing aesthetics.

We're sitting at round tables with other attendees from all over the country - these attendees range in realms of influence from entertainment, business, education, government, the social sector and the church. Attendees include Jon Foreman (lead singer for Switchfoot), David Kinnaman (President of the Barna Research Group), VPs of organizations such as MTV, To Write Love On Her Arms, presidents of colleges, etc. And the [Q] leaders change your table set-up every day to make sure that you're sitting with different people interacting in different conversations.

The concept is refreshing: 18 minute presentations - and not a minute more - given by presenters who are influencing the systems of culture with the gospel. Their presentations answer the question, "If you have 18 minutes to talk to Christ followers who are - and desire to be - influencing and affecting today's culture what would you say to them?"

Presenters thus far have included:
-Jon Tyson: church planter in NYC
-Mike Foster: co-founder of XXXChurch.com and founder of Ethur (and the Junky Car Club)
-Gabe Lyons: co-author of unChristian
-Bill McKibben: wrote a book in the 80's where he was the first one to talk about global warming.
-Chris Huertz: the president of Word Make Flesh
-Francis Collins: Director of the Human Genome Project, author of 'The Language of God' and the 2007 winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

This afternoon includes Chuck Colson (founder of Prison Fellowship, author, thinker and one of my heroes) and Leroy Butler (president of Mission Year).

It's a lot of information all over the map, but its great to be here.

The [Q] Conference

On Sunday night, I finished a stretch of speaking 11 times in 10 days.
Two retreats (one in the Poconos, one at the Jersey Shore), a Christian school chapel and  resonate the past two Sunday nights. I love teaching, I really do, but I am exhausted.

And I leave this evening for a conference in New York City called [Q].
It is sponsored by the Fermi Project, most notably Gabe Lyons who co-wrote the book unChristian.
I am not a big Christian conference kind of guy, but this one made me salivate when I saw it promoted.
I don't want to hype it up too much, but I am anticipating this to be probably one of the coolest and significant conferences I have ever attended.
I'm grateful for my in-laws who sponsored me to attend.
Hopefully I can blog some updates from the event.

The conference should be great, but I'm attending with one of my closest friends so it should result in some fruitful conversations about life and faith and culture.
We're staying with some good friends of Megan and I, Nicci and Chad Hubert. Nicci was my book editor on two of my three book projects and I also had the privilege of officiating their wedding a few years ago in Colorado. It will be great to see them again and spend time together.
Plus, I mean, it's New York City. Enough said.

Should make it for a great few days.
Hopefully it will be refreshing, fulfilling and restful. I sure do need it.

TSA: now blogging for your security

You know the Transportation Security Administration (you know, the long security lines at the airport? Yeah, those guys... Legend has it that TSA really stands for "Take your Stuff Away" and "Thousands Standing Around"). They protect our borders and keep the friendly skies safe, too.

But they also blog, too.
And they actually ask the blogosphere for help.
Open-source anti-terrorism security.
Who knew?
Check it out.

Whoa

I'm not sure this is the way to handle conflict. (Click to enlarge)
Counseling, anyone?

The questions that aren't being asked in Church

For years it has been said that the reason the Church has grown irrelevant is that it been answering questions that nobody is even asking.

So I've been pondering this question lately:
What are the questions that aren't being asked or addressed in Church - but should be?

So, I need your help.
I'd like to know.
How might you answer that question?

Jim and Casper Go To Church

I've been hearing about this book everywhere Jim and Casper Go To Church.
I'd been seeing it in bookstores everywhere I went.
So I finally broke down and bought it.
Glad I did.
It's a fascinating little book that gives great insight into the mind and heart of someone far from God.

It's about two friends Jim Henderson and Matt Casper who go to church and evaluate what they see.
Jim is a strong Christian and former pastor who lives in Seattle.
Matt is an atheist and marketing manager and musician who lives in San Diego.
Jim "hires" Matt out to give his evaluation of each church.
The book is a series of recorded conversations between the two of them as they visit churches of all shapes and sizes - big and small, mainline and non-denominational., traditional and informal.

I recommend this book highly, especially if you work in church ministry.
It was eye-opening, challenging, hard to read at times, but fun and it provided fresh eyes to what "doing church" looks like in America.

A New Prison study and Matthew 25

Two weeks ago I read a headline in USAToday Weekend Edition that was mind boggling: Ratio of Americans Behind Bars Tops 1 in 100.

The article reported that 2.3 million Americans were incarcerated at the start of 2008.
For the first time in history, more than 1 in every 100 (1 in every 99.1) Americans in his prison.
More than $49 billion was spent on corrections last year ($11 billion 20 years ago).
When I finished reading the article I put the paper down and prayed.

I've  been thinking how deeply prison impacts marriages and children and families and careers and poverty.
I've been thinking about justice and mercy and the kingdom of God.
I've been thinking about our role as followers of Jesus.
I've been thinking about organizations like Prison Fellowship, led by Chuck Colson.

As I continue to think about this statistic, it made me ponder the harsh words that Jesus gives in Matthew 25.
Those in prison are more and more apparent.

Which forces me to ask the question:
What is the role of the Church in regards to a statistic like 1 in 100?
What are we to do?
How can we best support families that have an incarcerated family member?

In the Shadow of the Moon

Recently Megan and I watched In The Shadow of the Moon.
In the Shadow of the Moon is a documentary that interviews the early astronauts that first walked on the moon in 1969.
With never seen before footage and great interviews, it really gives a good picture of what was running through the hearts and minds of these astronauts, as well as Americans around the country.
The memory of these astronauts is amazing - the amount of detail that they remember some forty years after the first landing on the moon is astounding.

I might have enjoyed it a lot more than most, partly because my grandfather was a tour bus driver at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Cannaveral, FL for many many years.
Every new shuttle launch he would send my brother and me stickers of the patches of the mission to space.
We would visit the NASA Space Center often with my grandparents on spring break.
I've seen several shuttle launches with my own eyes while Grandpa introduced me to NASA bigwigs.
He even got me a personalized signed copy of astronaut Jim Lovell's book (Tom Hanks played Lovell in the movie Apollo 13).

Even if you are not into space stuff, it's worth viewing.
There is so much in there about politics, the history of the space program and NASA, American history, creation, risk, courage, human relationships, failure and God's incredible creativity.
It's worth renting.