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photo © 2008 Ginny | more info (via: Wylio)
The other day Cade and I were sitting in the living room. You never know what this kid is thinking about, or what he might say next.

Out of no where he turned to me with a concerned look on his face, as if a troublesome thought was stuck in his little head. Usually this means some apparent paradox is trying to work its way to resolution.

“What’s wrong, buddy?” I asked.

“Dad,” he asked slowly. “Why did God make that poisonous tree with the poisonous apples so that everybody would get hurt and scared?”

I think any parent likes to see their child connecting the dots, but there was something about this question that made me want to sigh, to pull him up into my lap and rock him to sleep.

“That’s a good question,” I said. “Why do you think he made it?”

Continue reading “Poisonous Trees, Poisonous Apples and Heaven On Earth”

DISCLAIMER – I AM ABOUT TO GRACE YOU WITH INCREDIBLE WISDOM THAT I FIND DIFFICULT TO FOLLOW. PLEASE DO NOT HOLD ME RESPONSIBLE WHEN, SOMETIME IN THE NEAR FUTURE, I DO NOT TAKE MY OWN ADVICE TO HEART.

“Soon silence will have passed into legend.  Man has turned his back on silence.  Day after day he invents machines and devices that increase noise and distract humanity from the essence of life, contemplation, meditation… tooting, howling, screeching, booming, crashing, whistling, grinding, and trilling bolster his ego.  His anxiety subsides.  His inhuman void spreads monstrously like a gray vegetation.”  ~Jean Arp

I grew up on a farm. It was pretty much heaven on earth for a seven-year-old kid: plenty of animals to antagonize, plenty of space to grow into. Fruit trees erupted along our stone lane, perfect for climbing and hiding in. Two huge oak trees grew in our front yard – one of them was struck by lightning while my mom walked underneath it. She was okay, but later we found pieces of the tree lying in the far field.

Someone had divided the huge farmhouse into two sides, so we shared the house with another family. They were a nice, peace-loving group, and they had a boy my age.

But we just didn’t get along.

No matter what we tried to play, we ended up fighting. No matter where we played – the cemetery, the church parking lot across the road, the creek down by the Amish schoolhouse – it ended with conflict. He was large, I was quick, so we were a good match: my rapier-like tongue cut him with its sharp wit, and his lumbering body, if it caught me, would pin me to the rich earth and smoosh me like a grape.

Based on our personalities, and the age we were when we met, we were just not meant to be friends.

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There’s a guy at my church who sees a world I don’t see. He’s certain, he’s full of belief and he’s definitely never wrong. I, on the other hand, am intrigued by paradoxes, don’t worry so much about doubt and am pretty certain that most of us are wrong most of the time. Or much of the time.

This guy and I, we just don’t make good Bible study buddies.

And that’s okay.

Sometimes I think restoring unity will be more about disengaging from conversations than it will be about changing people’s minds. And this is the difficult part, because we all usually want people to think like we do, or to at least be open to it.

What if those of us concerned with restoring unity would spend a month without commenting on blogs or Facebook statuses? What if, whenever we found ourselves on the precipice of a conversation that we know will lead to an argument, we engaged with God (instead of the person) in the spiritual disciplines of silence, meditation and prayer? What if we let our modern, rational minds take a back seat and instead relied on the mystical, the unexplained, the Holy Spirit?

If we want to restore unity, sometimes we have to shut up. Sometimes we have to refrain from hitting “send” or “submit.”

Sometimes we have to turn the other cheek.

“If we are only certain in our beliefs, we get dignified and severe and have the ban of finality about our views; but when we are rightly related to God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy” (Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest)

This blog is part of the “Rally to Restore Unity” organized by Rachel Held Evans. Check out her blog to find out more or to see a full list of blogs on this subject.

There’s an amazing thing about speaking to big crowds: when you are in front of them, they become this huge organism. There’s an energy there, a pulsating sort of emotion that you can read just like you can read individual people.

So when I made the announcement at church last Sunday, that I was going to lead a 6-week book discussion on Rob Bell’s controversial “Love Wins” in a Sunday-School-type environment, I was surprised at how conflicted the organism (ie congregation) seemed to be.

A few people looked at me with eyebrows straining to leave their forehead and hit the ceiling fan (along with everything else that might “hit the fan,” so to speak). A few looked excited, as if I had just validated their questioning personality. Others looked intrigued. After we played the trailer for the book (you know, where Rob Bell asks how we know whether or not Gandhi is in hell?), I made an off-the-cuff joke asking people to stop looking for rocks with which to stone me.

Chirp, chirp.

So here they are: three reasons I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to do a “Love Wins” book discussion at my church:

1) My dad’s the pastor, and I don’t want him taking the heat. Look, I get to show up on Sunday mornings and do whatever I want. I can blog about whatever I want. At the end of the day, I’m not a pastor, and I’m not in charge of fielding all the concerns/complaints from a congregation full of very varied theological opinions. If this book discussion ends up causing problems, you know who’s going to hear about it? My dad. (Sorry pops).

2) The whole topic seems to have flown right over the heads of most people in our church. A huge portion of our church is made up of people who didn’t grow up in the church. Their newbies. They don’t know Rob Bell from John Piper. Should I really be introducing them to controversial topics when they might never have even seen this book otherwise?

3) Franklin Graham has called Rob Bell a heretic.

But after all of that, am I still going to have this book discussion? Yes.

Why? Because I feel so strongly that this stuff has got to be talked about! Because too many people in the church have based their theology on movies and classical literature! Because if you open a book, and you open the Bible beside it, I think you might just learn something you’ve never known before!

I’m not a Rob Bell disciple, but I do believe that the way he packs his books full of questions presents an effective way to get people to use their Bibles for something during the week other than paperweights in their minivans.

May 15th. 9:00am. Gap Community Church.

Love Wins.

Be there.

Farewell. (Sorry, couldn’t resist).

I don’t watch much television, and I’m embarrassed to say how early I usually go to bed, so I didn’t find out about the death of Osama bin Laden until early Monday morning. I’ll be honest: my first thought was…

What took so long? I guess I’m used to the movies, where bad guys can’t hide anywhere without being found. Didn’t you watch the movie “Heat”?

Then, when I saw everyone rejoicing over the news of a dead man, I heard the following words and paused:

“I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from wicked ways so they may live” Ezekiel 33:11

But the dude was evil, right?

“Moral character makes for smooth traveling; an evil life is a hard life.” Proverbs 11:5

“Good people celebrate when justice triumphs, but for the workers of evil it’s a bad day.” Proverbs 21:15

I don’t know. It seems there’s a scripture verse to support any feelings you have on the matter. If you don’t celebrate, your patriotism is questioned. If you celebrate, in some people’s eyes your morality grows a shadow.

Then, a response from Pastor Michael Slaughter:

“I am glad that Osama bin Ladin’s personal voice for the mandate of hate has been silenced but I am also reminded of the biblical mandate for our attitude of response:”Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice” (Proverbs 24:17)” Thinking of those families who lost people as a result of this man’s hate today (troops and 9/11 victims).

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King David had an arch rival. His name was Saul. Some will claim that Saul was God’s anointed and you can’t compare him to Osama bin Laden, but Saul had a nasty  track record. He tried to kill David numerous times and the Bible points out that the Spirit of God departed from Saul. In a fit of rage, Saul instructed someone to kill 83 priests of God in cold blood.

Sounds like Saul went over to the dark side.

Yet multiple times, when given the chance, David turned down the opportunity to kill this man. Why?

I think it’s because David knew he would be king. He trusted the promise that God had made to him and knew his purpose. The timing of vengeance was not important to him, nor did he believe it was his to control, even when given the opportunity.

On Monday I wondered: was all of our celebrating over the death of one man just a sign that as a nation (and unlike David) we have lost our identity? If we had a strong sense of national purpose, wouldn’t this just be one blip on the screen as we moved forward in other worthy pursuits?

Could it be that we are looking for purpose, so we grasp at any victory, even the destruction of an old man living in a self-imposed prison suffering along on dialysis?

I don’t know the answers to these questions. I know one thing – it’s improbable that any of us know exactly what God thinks about the death of Osama bin Laden. Which is why this week has taken on a somber tone for me, as I remember those whose lives have been so terribly affected by this man, now dead, and I seek after God to better know His purposes here on earth.

What was your take?

Last week Caleb Wilde was kind enough to write a guest post for me: The Dark Chapters – How Being a Funeral Director is Like Writing. Today I’m returning the favor over at his blog but pulling the old switcharoo with the topic. The link for my guest post is right here: How Writing is Like Being a Funeral Director.

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If you are a blogger, make sure to head on over to yesterday’s post and share your own most-read post from April. I’ll announce my favorites on Monday – fame and glory is at stake, so don’t miss out. If you’re a blog-reader, you’ll want to look through the comments section and check out the gems that have already been suggested.

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Incidentally, if this is your first time here, you can check out the story of how my business failed and my wife and I moved our family of six into my parents basement so that I could pursue my dream of writing full time. That story starts here: Falling Through.

There’s also two of my most read posts of all time: “Confessions From the Guy Standing at the Back of the Church” or “The Opposite of Love is not Hate”

It’s that time again! Share your most read blog post of April in the comments section below. Next Monday, after reading through all of them, I’ll share my favorites. If at least 50 people share their most-read blog posts in the comments section below, I’ll hand out a $50 Borders gift card to the winner (so help spread the word on Twitter and Facebook)!

For the best of March, click HERE.

For the best of February, go HERE.

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Don’t forget to check out Rachel Held Evans “Restore Unity” event taking place this week. You can follow the events on Twitter (#RestoreUnity) or check out the roundup from day one HERE. I’ll be posting my own “Restore Unity” blog on Wednesday – stay tuned.

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“In art we are once again able to do all the things we have forgotten; we are able to walk on water; we speak to the angels who call us; we move, unfettered, among the stars. We write, we make music, we draw pictures, because we are listening for meaning…” (Madeleine L’Engle, Walking on Water)

Check out yesterday’s post, “The Art is Walking On the Water.”

Happy Monday!