Soiled Saints

I’ll get back to my word-of-mouth train of thought about Ike tomorrow.

For now, I’ll let you in on some updates and connections:

About 145,000 people still are powerless because of the storm.  That means though, that 2.1 million people have had power restored since Sunday, September 14.  That’s a lot of folks.  That doesn’t take away the need of the powerless.  Just shows the amazing capability of hard work, a common goal, plus a hidden danger of getting caught up in externals while having the internals cave in.

HARD WORK

If only we as Christians worked as hard to give true power to people (the power of Christ through our verbal and life-witness) as Centerpoint energy……  Forget that.  If only I as a Christian worked as hard to give true power.  I need to work harder and smarter with the gifts that I’ve been given.  And honestly, too often I’m a lazy slug.  10,000 people (Picture the Houston Toyota Center 2/3 full) have been working around the clock (not all of them, then there would be tons o’death from accidents and power lines) to get power back.  They aren’t being interviewed or trying to be superstars.  Very few of them I guess blog although they may.  But even fewer I suspect are wanting the spotlight.  They just want people to have power.

COMMON GOAL

There’s a common goal:  GET POWER BACK TO PEOPLE.  They’ve lost it and without it can’t live normally.  Could it be that people without Christ don’t know how to live a normal life?  To me, normal living is with Christ.  The common goal for the energy folks is to get people power.  I don’t think they are bitc…. whoopsie daisies……bickering about stuff that isn’t really affecting the goal.  Can you imagine power guys talking about…….

“hey….did you see the game?  my team won?”   oh really?  well then you do this yourself I’m out of here.

or

“hey, did you see that movie?  That was awesome!”  You watch that type of movie?  I can’t work with you. 

or

“hey, I’m voting for so-and-so.”  Oh really?  I can’t work with you. 

Somehow, i can see Centerpoint energy people talking about sports, movies, and politics….but not letting it get in the way of our mission.  I am wanting our church to be the same.  I’m wanting me to be the same.

OUTSIDE VS. INSIDE

In our building, the outside was largely spared.  Sure, we have some roof shingles blow off (didn’t nearly everyone?) but by and large, utter destruction was spared to God’s praise (not that God loves us more than people whose houses/businesses are gone).  Sure, you can see some blue tarp on the roof (like many businesses and houses) where we are in SE Houston.  But what was unseen was far more damaging.

We had/have massive amounts of what I call small-pocket water damage.  Let me explain.  Small pockets of water damaged numerous ceiling tiles and walls, causing mold, etc. 

Our student center is going to be half gutted.  Our church walls are going to be 1/4 gutted.

Things that weren’t seen are causing huge amounts of damage and disruption.  I liken the water damage to relationships left untended, or conflicts allowed to boil w/out confrontation.

Everything looks smooth from the outside, but a closer inspection reveals a ton more damage….and a ton more to deal with, and a ton of disruptions and the like from the common goal.

May our church recover from all sorts of water damage….

Jason

the power I saw on display in the minutes, hours, and days following Ike.  You’ve heard of Ike.  He’s the hurricane that ripped his way through Texas, (Primarily Galveston, but hit as far north as Jasper with 55 mile-an-hour winds) and even parts of Ohio.

Estimates have him causing upwards of 18-20 billion dollars in damage to homes, highways, and humans.  While not as costly as Katrina in terms of houses or hearts, he definitely packed a punch.  While a Category 2 storm, he had some Category 4-like tendencies.

For people familiar with SE Texas hurricane history, Ike was more like Alicia (1983) than Allison(2001).  The latter was a Tropical Storm that just sat here for what seemed like years, dumping rain to the point that our bayous flooded and people’s homes literally washed away.  I know of at least two people in our church who had to move to new homes permanently due to Allison. Allison was ominous in the fact that she flooded Houston’s vaunted Medical Center, leading to numerous deaths in the process.

Alicia was much less rainy, but much more windy.  She blew stuff down during her stay here 25 years ago.  Reporters for the Big 3 Station news reports here in Houston, that had been here during Alicia, compared Ike in favorable ways (at least in terms of storm type, not that they were in favor of Ike) to Alicia.

While in Jasper, we felt some of the effects of Ike, seeing numerous trees down, power being out for upwards of four days, and gusts that would be caught speeding as they were over the speed limit (especially during a school zone). But the wind power wasn’t the most astonishing thing I thought to come out of Ike.

All that power, shut down power.  You have probably heard that 2.26 million homes were without power in the city.  Add to that the gas stations and grocery stores that depend on electricity and you’re talking about a major shutdown all over the place.

As of about 2 hours ago, Centerpoint energy has restored about 1.4 million homes to power.  I find that to be astonishing.  But I don’t find it to be the most astonishing thing I thought to come out of Ike.

Sure, I was astonished when I saw that pre-storm, people in Galveston had decided to stay, and that police were telling people to write their SS number on their arms with permanent marker so they could identify them after it was over.

I was astonished by how just mere hours after the storm had largely passed, people were playing in storm water like it was boiled and cooled for their frolicking pleasure.

To be honest, I was most astonished by the unleashing of a power that I will argue is at least equal to if not surpassing the potent punch of Ike’s wind and rain.  What is that power you say?

Word

of

Mouth.

The power of word-of-mouth is perhaps one of the strongest in this universe.  I saw it through the media and through personal communication.

And I’ll let you know how soon.

Word of mouth was rumored to be dead in this age of buzz marketing and instant access to advertisements.  I’m here to tell you from my…….e-mouth……

It’s alive and well.

More to come,

Jason

thankfully, mandy and I are safe at lake sam rayburn with some long-time family friends.  we have no idea how our house or anyone else’s house is unfortunately, at least in Pearland.  I heard from my pastor that they have some fence damage, and our church has some downed trees, but don’t know the extent.

From news reports, there are 2 million people without power, and it looks as if power won’t be back for three weeks or so.

On the ironic (aka sovereign) side, we have an uncharacteristic cold front coming Sunday night, which means that the highs are 80-81 and the lows are 59-64……….with small humidity…

Don’t know when we are coming back.  But by God’s grace, we are okay.

Prayers for all affected would be appreciated and coveted.

Jason

I’m sitting in my office typing as i just got back from a football game.  Pearland now has two schools of high learning:  Pearland High School and the new Dawson High School.  This was my first Dawson football game.

I was overwhelmed with what I saw.  I mean generally frightened.  There were thousands of people there to see the hometown team put a whuppin’ on the visiting team.  There were students of multiple races, creeds, colors wearing colors…….painted on like an avid NFL fan.  See, students are a very different breed of person, and I was struck with how much I was afraid of them.

to engage them.

to talk with them.

I was afraid of being irrelevant.  I was afraid that I would do harm to the gospel.  Which is ridiculous….I’m going to protect my witness by…….not witnessing?  (Tim said that today in small group and it stuck in my head)

What can I blame this fear on?  My insecurities?  Yes partially.  My being an introvert?  Partially.

My having more a fear of man than a fear of God?  Mostly.

But that fear should scare me to life. 

I plan to go back to another game.  May I fear God enough to NOT fear these guys, and may that fear lead me to love them enough to overcome my own crap.

Jason

If last week was the contemporary service, I would guess that this week would be the traditional service.  Actually, I think a lot can be learned from both (candidates and styles).

Contemporary worship, for all the criticism it’s received (some undue, unbiblical, and un-thought-out, while other criticism is right on the money) has tried to engage a world continously running away from all-things-God in ways that connect the person to God that are understandable to that person. Does contemporary worship dumb down the gospel?   No.  At least not the best of it.  I know of some contemporary stuff that sounds like it came from a pep rally at a local high school “We’ve got the Spirit yes we do, we’ve got the SPirit how about YOU?”  But the good stuff?  Hardly.

You tell me that Crowder, Hall, Tomlin, and Redman (here after known as the Fantastic Four) as well as many other wonderfully talented people are dumbing it down and I’ll call you a complete fool, and wonder if you have actually read/listened to them.  They have helped mold and shape a God-centered theology into the minds and hearts of a generation desperately needing to see how big and great God really is.  And they’ve done it with stunning relevance and dazzling passion.

You may be wondering:  Am I comparing the f4 to Barack Obama?  Yes…….and no.  I have no idea who the guys are voting for.  They haven’t told me.  In fact, they don’t even know me.  So I am in no way shape or form saying they are endorsing a candidate, nor am I saying that they=Barack. 

What i am saying is that for a generation of people, mainly younger, Obama has seemed to tap into something deep and passionate in them like the f4 has for that same generation.  He has managed to call a generation most noted for their apathy and slacker-ness (at least by a lot of press I read.  I know far more people ready to change the world) to action. 

And they are responding. 

The f4 are part of a movement called Passion (www.268generation.com) (www.onemillioncan.com) that is igniting a generation to seek God’s fame through worship in song, and in social justice.  They are calling these folks out.

And they are responding. 

There’s a lot to learn about how he (Obama) does what he does.   In the best light he’s seen as hip, modern, relevant, and in touch with what the pulse of America is.  In the worst light, he’s seen as all talk-no walk and no experience or plan to back up his big ideas.  Time will tell if he is just a passing fad.  I think time has spoken on the contemporary movement in worship to a degree, but it too will tell if the movement moves on.

And then you have the traditional service. Yes, you guessed it, ole’ man McCain gets the traditional vote.  He’s older, “safer” and allegedly more conventional.  McCain is 72 years old.  And from all accounts, he’s in fantastic shape for an old guy.

Same goes with traditional worship.  Traditional worship, for all the criticism it’s received (some undue, unbiblical, and un-thought, while other criticism is right on the money) has tried to preserve the best of generations gone before, showing how people in ages past engaged and thought of their God.  Does traditional worship mean a church is “dead?”  Hardly.  While there are some hymns that are meant for celebration that are sung like a funeral dirge, the lyrics are mind-bendingly God-entranced. 

You tell me that Watts, Wesley, Crosby, and St. Francis of Assisi(here after known as the  classicFantastic Four) as well as many other wonderfully talented people from years gone by are ”dead” and I’ll call you a complete fool, and wonder if you have actually read/listened to them.  They have helped mold and shape a God-centered theology into the minds and hearts of generations past and present desperately needing to see how big and great God really is.  And they’ve done it with stunning reverance and dazzling precision.

You may be wondering:  Am I comparing the classic f4 to John McCain?  Yes…….and no.  I have it on good authority that the classic f4 are not voting for either man.  They are preoccupied with another man; a god-man who is smarter than both candidates.  no idea who the guys are voting for.   So I am in no way shape or form saying they would endorse a candidate, nor am I saying that they=McCain. 

What i am saying is that for a generation of people, mainly at this point older, McCain has seemed to tap into something deep and passionate in them.  He has managed to call out to a generation most noted for their work ethic and sense of ethics and has assured them that he not only is one of them, but will uphold the values they cherish and hold most dear.

And they are responding.

There’s a lot to learn about how he (McCain) does what he does.   In the best light he’s seen as anchoring, re-assuring, wanting traditional expressions of values, and someone who is part of the old-guard.  In the worst light, he’s seen as irrelevant, uncaring, and old-politics.  Time will tell if he is just a passing fad.  I think time has spoken on the traditional  movement in worship to a huge degree; most telling in this fact:

You are seeing a lot more “contemporary” worship artists covering “traditional” songs.

I call that a Premium blend.

Who knows, maybe one day we’ll have a Republi-crat in office.

Ron Paul anybody?  (not an endorsement)

Jason

and I’m feeling like Rob Bell did as evidenced in his book Velvet Elvis.  Now in saying that, I’m not endorsing Rob in totality.  I think he’s a phenomenal communicator, one of the best I’ve ever heard.  His ability to draw you into his talks is something that is nearly unparalled from my admittedly limited experience with listening to preachers-pastors-teachers-communicators.  I also have deep respect for any guy who willingly plays soccer…….for fun.

I do have some heartburn regarding some of his theology, (his treatment of hell disturbs me, and my treatment of it would probably disturb him) and honestly I have heartburn regarding my own at times.  So why do I feel like he did?

His church, Mars Hill Bible Church has experienced one of the greatest growth waves of any church in the last 10 years……….considering that the church is 9 years old, and is over 10000 people in weekly attendance….. 

And smack during the middle of it, Bell was burned out, and was in a closet near the sanctuary during a break in between services.  He was in the closet contemplating whether he should just bolt out the doors and not return.

I quote:  “In the middle of all this growth and chaos was me, superpastor.  I was doing weddings and funerals and giving spiritual direction and going to meetings and teaching and dealing with crises and visiting people in prison and at the hospital- the pace and the workoad were unreal. ”

I don’t think I’m where he was in the above quote.  However…………..

He goes on to state in a very transparent way, “It’s one thing to be an intern with dreams about how church should be. It’s another thing to be the thirty-year-old pastor of a massive church.  And that is why I was sitting there in the closet thinking about how far I could be by 11 a.m.  The next service was starting, I had just finished the 9:00 service, and I was done.  I escaepd to the storage closet where I could be alone and collect myself and figure out what to do next. ”

“I was moments away from leaving the whole thing.”

Bingo

I’m about to (in about an hour) stand in front of a group of teenagers and talk.  Don’t get me wrong.  I like talks, preaching, etc.

But I am dreading doing this.  I’ve “not” been looking forward to this all day long.  It’s loomed like a cloud over me for the last 4 hours. 

And the worst part is, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.  I am severely lacking passion for students right now.  I am and can get geeked up about adults and the church, but I’m just weary with student ministry. 

I believe I’m in the middle of a dark night of the soul. 

The only problem is:  The nearest closet is jammed with stuff.  I probably can’t fit in it:)!!

Only by grace,

Jason