that has nothing to do with it...

Gas prices are high. That is one of the most obvious statements that can be made today. I mean it is true, and it has been true for the last half-decade... but what is not so obvious is how certain companies are using high gas prices to actually sell stuff... Now, I can understand how high gases prices can be used to sell hybrid vehicles, bicycles, walking or running shoes, but not so much with other things.

Two examples that have really bothered me are the use of high gases prices to sell pools, and to sell LCD/plasma TVs... yes that's right pools and plasma televisions. I should explain that these are radio ads that I hear while listening to sports talk radio on my way into school or work... so basically the spots go something like this... (insert your own radio announcer voice here)...

"Are you tired of high gas prices? Can't get to the beach? Well, bring the water to you with a new (company name) designed pool..."

"Hey, we all know gas prices are expensive, so instead of packing up the kids and driving to the big game save that money and buy a new flat panel TV from (company name)..."

Now, maybe it's just me but that's just ridiculous... I mean, do people seriously spend so much money on driving to the beach that they would actually save money by purchasing a $8,000 pool. Or do people spend so much on gas driving to football games that a plasma screen TV would be a savings. I might be wrong but, those seem like luxury items to me and really don't relate at all to the point of high gas prices.

When it comes to faith we often times can get caught up doing things in the name of Christ that really aren't related to Him at all. For example, every Sunday people all of the country get dressed-up in coats and ties (me included) and Sunday dresses to go to church. Now, why? Well, I think most people would tell you that they do it to bring God their best, but I think that more than a few people get dressed up to try and impress other people.

For me personally, I find the major struggle being that I try to do so much for God, that I don't do anything with God, and that can be especially dangerous. Isaiah 64:6-7 tells us just how dangerous it can be...

6 All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

7 No one calls on your name
or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us
and have given us over to our sins.

It says, that our righteous acts become like filthy rags unless we first strive after the Lord. As believers, we can get so mixed up doing so much in our churches or in charities that we believe that is our faith, but our faith consists not so much in what we do, but in who we are in Christ.

I think, that is why God sometimes disrupts our lives with problems and pains and disappointments so that we understand that a true relationship with our Lord is one that rests in Him, one that is quiet in Him, and one in which our actions are governed by a life of faithfully guided by His power.

something old, something new...

There is real power in change and discomfort. I never used to really believe that, but lately I have had no choice but to submit to changing times and uncomfortable situations.

As most of you know I am a worship leader, and one of my responsibilities is to organize and plan the worship of a contemporary service. Recently, we lost a pretty important band member... nothing tragic, he just moved on to take an internship out-of-state... and replacing him has been difficult. At around the same time our drummer's other employer has been forcing him to take on Sunday hours and essentially taking him out of the mix for a couple of weeks. At this same time, we found that our pastor was diagnosed with cancer. It seemed to me that God was slowly but progressively taking our church and me into some fairly uncomfortable waters. Now, of all these things certainly the most serious of issues is the last, but all contribute to a feeling of uneasiness and uncertainty.

I have led worship in some capacity for nearly 9 years whether as a support instrumentalist or the lead guy, and it is always easier and more comforting when you have the noise of a full band, and the trusted leadership of a pastor at the helm. And in the last several weeks, it seems as though God has been allowing those security blankets to be taken away, whether actually or just in my head.

At times, I'll admit that I have have panicked a bit internally. I have questioned the actual sanity of God. I have asked the question repeatedly, "Alright now, Lord, what the heck is going on here? Why all this now?" And then I realized that the quality of our worship before the Lord and the stability of His church does not rest on me or a band or even the pastor. The foundation of a true church does not sit upon the standard operating procedure of a worship service, or even on the well-being of a good staff.

It rests on God alone.

This is where being a good Calvinist is such a comfort to me, because I know God has absolutely everything under His control and at His command and that not only can He, but He will work all things together for the good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose. Not only that, I know that because it is His church ultimately in cannot fail.

This Sunday, we had no drummer, no electric guitars, but we set our eyes upon the light of Jesus in a literal way. We earnestly prayed. We shouted together that "It's gonna BE ALRIGHT!"

I'll admit, it wasn't comfortable for me, and that's probably just how God wanted it.

in the tumult...

If you look at the blog that Julie and I update on a regular basis, you know that we have had some pretty heavy news in our family. Julie's dad, and our consequently our pastor, was diagnosed with colon cancer. This is the kind of news that can shake your core and make you question everything, but there have been some amazing signs that God is working and ministering to us even in this time.

Tom (Julie's dad) said that he has found an even deeper faith through this because in moments of sleepless nights and anxiety, God gives him a verse or a song or hymn that comforts him and points him back to his faith in God. I have found those times myself in the past 10 days or so.

Just a quick example... Last week, I got ready to teach our weekly Bible study... the first since Julie and I found out about Tom's cancer... and of course, I am teaching on Jesus calming the storm in Mark 4... you know the story... There's a huge storm while the disciples and Jesus are in boat, the disciples are freaking out, and Jesus thinks this is a great time to catch a nap. The disciples wake him up and ask if he cares that they will die. Jesus gets up. Rebukes the storm. Things calm down. And he asks, "Do you still have no faith?"

I asked the question, "What would Jesus have considered faith?" I mean, didn't the disciples run to him? Isn't that what they were supposed to do? Isn't that faith?

I think Jesus wanted his disciples to understand something; that faith isn't faith until it has ridden out the storm. Sometimes we gain faith when we see miracles, but true faith comes not by seeing but by believing in spite of the circumstances.

Jesus said to Thomas after he showed himself, "...blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

This is easier said than done for sure. Right now, I am struggling between riding out the storm with God in control and just being in a constant state of asking 'why'. Now, faith doesn't mean you don't have questions... in fact, faith is faith when the questions consistently go unanswered.

When I look at the disciples actions... what would Jesus have had the disciples do? I think, faith would have meant the disciples laying down and taking a nap with Jesus. I may be wrong, but if Christ is the supreme example for our faith than what option do we have? To face things as he did. To lay down with him. To follow him regardless of storms, fires, sacrifices or cancer.

The great thing about this story in Mark 4 is that, even though Jesus seems disappointed in the disciples' actions, he still calms the storm. He didn't wake up and preach them a sermon on faith at this point. He didn't chastise them and leave them in a panic. Jesus understood his disciples and understood what their faith could bear. He gave them only up to what they could bear, but not more.

God is a God of grace, and even though the situations of life might test us with God for us nothing can be against us. It may not always feel that way, it may not always seem that way.

But it is that way, and right now I'm having to learn how that works.

very excitable...

So, yesterday there was a pretty cool little Apple event introducing a revamped line of iPod products and some software updates for said products. Being a total Mac guy (though admittedly I am posting this on a Dell right now) I watched as three separate blogs posted real-time updates of the event. Now, I know what some of you are thinking, "seriously?" Yes, seriously. Oh, but it gets worse.

Later that evening after the event was over, I plopped down on the ol' couch and watched the event on my laptop. And, wonderful wife that she is, Julie watched along too. As she was watching she said, "It's weird to me that this isn't a Christian thing." The way she said it, I knew what she meant. She meant that, with the stage, the lighting, the touting of the exploits of "the greatest portable music device in the world", and even the music at the end provided by Jack Johnson, it seemed very much like a worship service. I'll admit too that I wait for these sorts of events, and watched in technological wonderment as the new features are described in glorious detail. It makes you want to jump up and sing!

So scary, right?

Here's the thing: there is a line between healthy admiration and idol worship. And if we are honest, we all skirt the line and sometimes we even jump over it.

When I look at a pretty famous example of idol worship in the Bible I think of the golden calf story... you know when Moses goes up the mountain to get the 10 commandments, the people get bored, so Aaron (Moses' brother) makes a statue of a cow for the people to have a party around. This is a weird story in a lot of respects for Western audience to get, but the weirdest thing that happens is when Aaron finishes making the calf he says, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."

Now, we all sit back say, "Wait a minute. That cow didn't bring you out of Egypt, God did!"

You see, the Israelites idol worship was terrible because they were giving credit to a stupid cow for something God had done. They were putting their hope and trust and getting excited about something that hadn't done anything for them.

For all of us I think the line is similar. When we put so much faith that this thing or that thing will bring us contentedness, we worship an idol. When we put so much emphasis on a person or job that we can't see past them, we worship an idol. When our hope for the future rests on a given outcome rather than on provision of God, we worship an idol. When things don't go our way and we blame or even curse God, we worship an idol. When things do go our way and we get excited to everyone else but fail to praise God, we worship an idol. When our sleep becomes more important than coming together with God's people, we worship an idol. When we read book and magazine or watch as much TV as possible but don't make the time to sit down and get into God's Word, we worship an idol.

It's a sneaky thing... idol worship.

I'm guilty of this in more ways than just wanting techno-geeky stuff (though that certainly becomes an idol for me), and I'm sure you are to. Look at your life and really ask the questions: Where is my hope? Where is my trust? Where do I run to when I want to rejoice? Who or what do I blame when things go wrong? Where are my priorities? What do I worry about more than anything?

Find your idols and then give them right back to the Lord.