On Friday I had the high honor of attend a 40th Wedding Anniversary and Vow Renewal. I have never been to such an event. Bill is a Mars Hill elder and Julis is his amazing wife who just shines with kindness and grace. As an example, at Mars Hill West Seattle, I make coffee. Who am I? There are 650 weekly attendees here, and I am just some random single man. Julis gave me an beautiful invitation, with my name hand-written, to their celebration. Who am I? They had PRIME RIB and Cabernet at the event! And I didn't have to pay! Who am I? I received the grace of seeing two people who love each other even more than they did on their wedding day 40 years later. They spoke of sex and an all-encompassing unity and total connection that has been nurtured by Jesus over the decades in front of 250 people with no shame and no embarrassment.
I mean I am a kid from a family where unity never existed and the marriage exploded not even 9 years in, looking at Bill and Julie and hearing they obvious love for one another, seeing their three amazing kids and their 10 grand kids, hearing their candid explanation of the horrors they have weathered, and the incredible legacy of the hundred plus couples who they have loved and served as marriage councilors and pre-marriage councilors; I think how can this be? How can a man love and woman and provide well for her and sacrificially serve her and be a good dad and be an exemplary yet imperfect man and an amazing grandfather and an elder in a church and a man who I deeply desire to emulate? Again and again they pointed to one answer, Jesus. They are God's grace to me.
Oh and Driscoll was there to honor them both.
Observations jotted down during the celebration:
-Julia's children rose up and called her blessed - just like Proverbs 31:28
-There is hope for me that my marriage rooted in Jesus can last for 40 years
-God please help me to eventually be a man like Bill
-He is such a strong manly man yet he is still broken by the honor of being Julia's husband
-She spoke well of him and showed him great respect
-When she had big strife with her family he protected her
-10 grandchildren and he will leave a legacy for all of them - just like Proverbs 13:22
-My response, tears and sadness (for my parents) and a yearning for something like that for my future
-40 years is hard but it can happen, in Jesus
-Josh, make sure you dance with your daughters at every wedding and every single special event with dancing - be like Aaron Easter
-Be okay with making an idiot of yourself for your wife, even in public
Showing posts with label Driscoll. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Driscoll. Show all posts
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Confession of a Religious Jerk
Another break from Alaska Posts.
So I had a chance to go and wish my good friend Elliott farewell at a party in his honor. He is one of my oldest friends, a gentleman and scholar. He departs for Tierra del Fuego in two days in his anticipation of the end of the world (or perhaps merely the end of civilization as we know it) come December 12th 2012. He will ride his bicycle from his home of Seattle down the west coast to and through Mexico and on to Panama where the road ends. He will take a boat to South America and ride its spine to the end of land approximately 9,348.61 miles later. Truly I say to you this is an Epic trip and Elliott is a man big in heart and strong in soul for such a feat.
Cheers to you mate!! HERE is his awesome blog where he will try to keep us appraised of his progress as Internet connections allow.
So at this party there were 7 people with whom I attended Garfield High School. The rest were strangers or loose acquaintances. After chatting with Elliott and wishing him well, I settled into a chair under the stars next to Collin. We hadn't seen each other since the times we ran into each other in the UW weight room when I was in grad school. He had had a bit of bourbon and He brought up theology after I mentioned that I had recently completed a brief internship with the "infamous" Mars Hill Church. He mentioned that Mars had a good influence on his buddy who attended briefly but Collin didn't like Pastor Mark. I asked if he wanted to hear my story of how Jesus got a hold of me; he said yes. So I told him the whole crooked tale in about 2 minutes. All the sin and the depression and the hopelessness. He stopped me several times to say, "What the **** man? I used to sit next to you in Band class, I switched chair so I could sit next to you and chat.. I didn't know you were hopeless and in that place." I told him that appearances can be deceiving. I finished up with my mountain top and Jesus grace. I really don't like to share my tale, but the reactions are always priceless because it can tell you a lot about where a listener is at. Collin is a deist of a sort and sees Jesus as a good moral teacher, and his reaction to my tale was a nod, silence, and a deep swig of bourbon.
I caught up with Jared later and he told me that he respects Pastor James Harleman from Shoreline and used to attend the Ballard Church before other Mars Hills were started.
So as I sat around the circle of chairs I felt a sadness that these eclectic and beautiful people, from the phone sex worker to the computer programmer, gathered to enjoy Elliott and his adventure are lost and in need of help just like me.
So as I shared my story with Collin, a gal across the circle overheard a sentence where I mentioned Christianity and said, "Yeah that's stupid." So my ego took a hit and I realized that my religious side was coming out. Throughout the evening I found myself getting all arrogant! Seriously? How can I compare myself to these folks and be all like, "I've got my stuff all together? You need to clean up your act." Apart from Jesus, I am living the same exact life as everyone else at the party. The only goodness in me is from the hand of God; all my religious activities are worthless for salvation! My religiousness is always crouching the the door waiting to rule over me like Cain of old. God please help me.
Each person was looking for saving grace in causes, in relationships, in intellect, in their own pursuit, in the approval of their mates, or in the cosmic consciousness. Each of the 15+ different conversations I initiated and the 5 that others initiated with me all revealed that they know something in themselves, in their families, or in their world is broken and inevitably they theorized either directly or circumspectly a possible solution. Such a beautiful opportunity to share a little hope with amazing people. Random and likely pointless aside: Even the fact that I initiated any conversations is a grace from God. Before Jesus grabbed me at age 20, I would only initiate a conversation with people I knew well. No, liquid courage was not involved! But my 107 Old Weller Whiskey on the rocks was enjoyable with Daniel's amazing cookies. Last night I knew that the party was not about me being comfortable or just relaxing, it was about the 25 other people, it was about Elliott, and it was about the Kingdom.
Two great conversations and good convictions and repentance, a nice night under the stars on any date on the calendar.
Oh yeah Peter, Amy, Ryan, Nick, Matt, David, and myself went into the woods. Nick and I had the privilege of sharing a little American Culture with two Germans and a former Australian Federal Police Officer. It's nice when you can convert a young lady from uneasy fear of firearms to a little bit of a gun nut just by letting her shoot a 12 gauge (with low recoil rounds, I take 1 Tim 5:2 literally, so I try to be considerate).
And here's a recent video with no context. (I did have a clean back stop) LINK
So I had a chance to go and wish my good friend Elliott farewell at a party in his honor. He is one of my oldest friends, a gentleman and scholar. He departs for Tierra del Fuego in two days in his anticipation of the end of the world (or perhaps merely the end of civilization as we know it) come December 12th 2012. He will ride his bicycle from his home of Seattle down the west coast to and through Mexico and on to Panama where the road ends. He will take a boat to South America and ride its spine to the end of land approximately 9,348.61 miles later. Truly I say to you this is an Epic trip and Elliott is a man big in heart and strong in soul for such a feat.
So at this party there were 7 people with whom I attended Garfield High School. The rest were strangers or loose acquaintances. After chatting with Elliott and wishing him well, I settled into a chair under the stars next to Collin. We hadn't seen each other since the times we ran into each other in the UW weight room when I was in grad school. He had had a bit of bourbon and He brought up theology after I mentioned that I had recently completed a brief internship with the "infamous" Mars Hill Church. He mentioned that Mars had a good influence on his buddy who attended briefly but Collin didn't like Pastor Mark. I asked if he wanted to hear my story of how Jesus got a hold of me; he said yes. So I told him the whole crooked tale in about 2 minutes. All the sin and the depression and the hopelessness. He stopped me several times to say, "What the **** man? I used to sit next to you in Band class, I switched chair so I could sit next to you and chat.. I didn't know you were hopeless and in that place." I told him that appearances can be deceiving. I finished up with my mountain top and Jesus grace. I really don't like to share my tale, but the reactions are always priceless because it can tell you a lot about where a listener is at. Collin is a deist of a sort and sees Jesus as a good moral teacher, and his reaction to my tale was a nod, silence, and a deep swig of bourbon.
I caught up with Jared later and he told me that he respects Pastor James Harleman from Shoreline and used to attend the Ballard Church before other Mars Hills were started.
So as I sat around the circle of chairs I felt a sadness that these eclectic and beautiful people, from the phone sex worker to the computer programmer, gathered to enjoy Elliott and his adventure are lost and in need of help just like me.
So as I shared my story with Collin, a gal across the circle overheard a sentence where I mentioned Christianity and said, "Yeah that's stupid." So my ego took a hit and I realized that my religious side was coming out. Throughout the evening I found myself getting all arrogant! Seriously? How can I compare myself to these folks and be all like, "I've got my stuff all together? You need to clean up your act." Apart from Jesus, I am living the same exact life as everyone else at the party. The only goodness in me is from the hand of God; all my religious activities are worthless for salvation! My religiousness is always crouching the the door waiting to rule over me like Cain of old. God please help me.
Each person was looking for saving grace in causes, in relationships, in intellect, in their own pursuit, in the approval of their mates, or in the cosmic consciousness. Each of the 15+ different conversations I initiated and the 5 that others initiated with me all revealed that they know something in themselves, in their families, or in their world is broken and inevitably they theorized either directly or circumspectly a possible solution. Such a beautiful opportunity to share a little hope with amazing people. Random and likely pointless aside: Even the fact that I initiated any conversations is a grace from God. Before Jesus grabbed me at age 20, I would only initiate a conversation with people I knew well. No, liquid courage was not involved! But my 107 Old Weller Whiskey on the rocks was enjoyable with Daniel's amazing cookies. Last night I knew that the party was not about me being comfortable or just relaxing, it was about the 25 other people, it was about Elliott, and it was about the Kingdom.
Two great conversations and good convictions and repentance, a nice night under the stars on any date on the calendar.
Oh yeah Peter, Amy, Ryan, Nick, Matt, David, and myself went into the woods. Nick and I had the privilege of sharing a little American Culture with two Germans and a former Australian Federal Police Officer. It's nice when you can convert a young lady from uneasy fear of firearms to a little bit of a gun nut just by letting her shoot a 12 gauge (with low recoil rounds, I take 1 Tim 5:2 literally, so I try to be considerate).
And here's a recent video with no context. (I did have a clean back stop) LINK
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Another delay in Alaska Posts
Man I have been scouting, reading, applying for jobs, volunteering, and working on my house, but I have not been posting the other 10 days worth of material I have from the Alaska Trip!
Well as Ben Franklin said, "You may delay but time does not." So I had the privilege of cooking today! I actually cook quite a lot, but this meal actually turned out well! So I'll share it.
Oh yeah, did I mention my love language / happy place / true weakness / guaranteed way to persuade me to your point of view is FOOD! Hey! I'm not saying this is an idol in my life, it's just that I read Isaiah 25 and was like I need to practice for that! And if you ave a problem with my Foodie-ness (I'm really not a Foodie, I don't even know what braising is...my grandma mentioned it and I was too proud to admit that I had no idea what she was talking about), then you should just read Ruth 3:3 and repent! Just Kidding, we all have our thing and mine is beautiful smells and tastes. Speaking of which I hope my selections for tomorrow are pleasing to the palate...we shall see.
Oh right, why did I write a post today? Because I wanted to write about complementarianism. A friend of mine made me aware of this lecture:
Here Mark Driscoll is introducing the Four points of the "New Calvinism". His second point is Complementarianism. He doesn't just apply it to the roles and subordination in the home but also to the structure of the church. In the church, Titus 1 and 1st Timothy 3 show that only good daddies and good husbands may hold the highest office in the church. And that the rest of the church body is to submit to the elders as long as they don't disobey God. Similarly, husbands are to "lovingly, sacrificially lead their home" in a way that honors God. Husbands and wives are equal but focus on different roles in the family and world. For the wife to be a complement, she must be vocal in a respectful way to help her husband. As the above sauce scenario demonstrates, single dudes are really quite foolish and need a ton of help. Without help and a fear of God, a man will never grow up and will never lead in a way that a wife can respect. The transliterated word Parakletos really unpacks this hated term "helper". If God is our helper, and by the way he is kinda Epic, then how can calling a lady to the same role be a denigration? I mean just look at the sociological surveys asking women why they chose their occupation. Dudes say, "Umm...to make good money and to look impressive to my buddies", but women say, " I wanted to help the World, or help these people, or assist this one person to a do good job". Am I saying woman are all virtuous and selfless all the time? Well compared to the men I've met, they kinda seem to be awesome ( I know ladies are just as foolish as men...but they don't cause as many of the world's problems as men do). So I am getting tired, that glass of wine just seemed to work me over (I'm a total lighweight). Basically, my convictions point to the position of right hand / left hand mutual cooperation, dual submission to God, with the man held to a high standard in a marriage. God promises to turn his back any man who does not lovingly lead his family and treat his wife like Jesus treats the church 1 Peter 3:7.
Well as Ben Franklin said, "You may delay but time does not." So I had the privilege of cooking today! I actually cook quite a lot, but this meal actually turned out well! So I'll share it.
I picked up some inexpensive cubed steak. I don't know why it's called cubed, it looks like the meat guy at Safeway reconstituted some ground beef into a big square.
So I figured I needed a nice sauce, I went with the old standby of Merlot, oyster sauce, and dried herbs. Don't you use the same mix for cooking meat? So you're saying I'm the only one? Dang it! Bachelorhood strikes again.
A little time on the stove...
You just have to take my word, this meal was amazing. A little Bok Choy, a little Broccoli, a bit of beef, a nice sauce (I don't care what you say, it was awesome), some sun-dried tomatoes, and the rest of my Merlot.
Oh right, why did I write a post today? Because I wanted to write about complementarianism. A friend of mine made me aware of this lecture:
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Insomnia is God's Grace
Sleepless musings interrupting Alaska recollections.
I don't care if the flow is interrupted I have something to say and that's the way it will be.
What was I going to say...? It doesn't matter; I'll just type until I lose consciousness and wake with the imprint of a keyboard across the right side of my face.
How about I talk about what I have been learning as sleep has slipped away for the past few nights.
You could say that something has developed in my life that is challenging and unexpected and has directed my attentions toward a review of what the Bible says about men as masculine defenders, humble leaders, cultivators of women and children, haters of evil, knowledge imparting sages, self-controlled one-woman servants, and upright loyal Christians.
Basically Driscoll has been yelling at me for days now. It's awesome. If a man looks at his call and future without the fear of God and without an understanding of what his identity is, then he will live to his own glory, avoiding responsibility, not serving others, not leading a family, being a passive coward, contributing to a world where 40% of kids got to bed without a dad, because their dad was one of the worst kinds of men who use and abandon women. Was that a run-one sentence? Probably.
As Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, 1st Timothy, 2nd Timothy, and Titus all agree men are prone to passiveness or arrogant chauvinism. My natural tendency is toward passivity. Apart from God I am a the guy who avoids confrontation, who will agree with you to avoid being seen as a jerk, who will not point out folly and stupidity, who will not condemn evil even when it is causing generational damage, who will sit idly by like my father Adam while the Enemy lies and tears apart families and friendships.
But what is a man if he isn't getting into trouble, if he isn't contending for truth, if he isn't speaking that truth into the lives of his friends, if he isn't prayerfully showing manly fortitude while opposing the Enemy of God?
1 Peter 1:18 tells me that I have been "ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers". My forefathers were passive men. By the grace of God I don't need to be like them, repeating their mistakes and teaching them to my kids. It stopped with me. My kids will be different because of Jesus. Man that truth is so easy to forget. I need to be reminded often.
Grace...yeah I received a book from a friend about that. Here's some cool stuff from it:
Um what else have I learned during my nocturnal roamings and MP3 induced sesquipedalian prayers?
Driscoll quoted another preacher who said no man can ever out-shovel a woman's capacity to love. The point is that ladies have a greater capacity for expressing love that a man does (Men can show love but it looks different--it tends to be shown in action not spoken). This is a complicating variable, because women need to hear love to feel it whereas men need to feel respected. I know I am at my happiest not when my life is smooth and easy, but when I feel respect as an image bearer of God. Driscoll's point is that a masculine husband needs to labor and be intentional about his words of affection otherwise he has "not provided for the needs of his" wife. We all know the other half of that saying...
All my reading and auditory grappling has had a particular two-pronged focus: (1) encouraging me to rest in the grace of God and (2) demanding that I live in the fear of an Almighty God. Fear of the lord is my only hope for wisdom, and man, I could really use some.
I might actually be getting tired; this is good. Lemme go stare at the ceiling some more and see if I can stop feeling dumb because I can't follow the instructions that are so obvious that even the mattress company's lawyers don't feel the need to put them on the tag: step 1 - Lay down on mattress, step 2 - go to sleep. Man, you can tell I went to public school, I can't figure out step 2!!
I don't care if the flow is interrupted I have something to say and that's the way it will be.
What was I going to say...? It doesn't matter; I'll just type until I lose consciousness and wake with the imprint of a keyboard across the right side of my face.
How about I talk about what I have been learning as sleep has slipped away for the past few nights.
You could say that something has developed in my life that is challenging and unexpected and has directed my attentions toward a review of what the Bible says about men as masculine defenders, humble leaders, cultivators of women and children, haters of evil, knowledge imparting sages, self-controlled one-woman servants, and upright loyal Christians.
Basically Driscoll has been yelling at me for days now. It's awesome. If a man looks at his call and future without the fear of God and without an understanding of what his identity is, then he will live to his own glory, avoiding responsibility, not serving others, not leading a family, being a passive coward, contributing to a world where 40% of kids got to bed without a dad, because their dad was one of the worst kinds of men who use and abandon women. Was that a run-one sentence? Probably.
As Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, 1st Timothy, 2nd Timothy, and Titus all agree men are prone to passiveness or arrogant chauvinism. My natural tendency is toward passivity. Apart from God I am a the guy who avoids confrontation, who will agree with you to avoid being seen as a jerk, who will not point out folly and stupidity, who will not condemn evil even when it is causing generational damage, who will sit idly by like my father Adam while the Enemy lies and tears apart families and friendships.
But what is a man if he isn't getting into trouble, if he isn't contending for truth, if he isn't speaking that truth into the lives of his friends, if he isn't prayerfully showing manly fortitude while opposing the Enemy of God?
1 Peter 1:18 tells me that I have been "ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers". My forefathers were passive men. By the grace of God I don't need to be like them, repeating their mistakes and teaching them to my kids. It stopped with me. My kids will be different because of Jesus. Man that truth is so easy to forget. I need to be reminded often.
Grace...yeah I received a book from a friend about that. Here's some cool stuff from it:
"I've found that words tend to spoil ove the years, like old meat. Their meaning rots away."Philip Yancey is comparing the word grace to other words whose meaning has dimmed and festered over the centuries. He sees the word Grace as an imperishable words that has survived and infiltrated every facet of our nomenclature: persona non grata (an enemy of the state) means literally a person without grace, we leave gratuities at restaurants, we congratulated for success, we show scorn by denying a person grace "You ungrateful ass!" "You're an ingrate", and when a woman is assaulted we say she has been disgraced (her grace has been taken away).
"...grace is indeed amazing--truely our last best word."Yancey pays the word grace a high compliment - I would disagree, I believe the word "steak" is the most beautiful, most excellent, most honorific collection of alphanumeric symbols which unite into an amplified tintinnabulation resounding off the faces of mountains causing birds to sing, men to rise to war, enemies to flee, women to rejoice, and God to be honored. Um... what the hell was that all about? I guess it's 2AM and I'm hungry... Seriously Grace is freakin' sweet. It is the most difficult doctrine for me to understand and I have to fight to not be deceived regarding it's impact on my life.
"[Most people] think of church as a place to go after you have cleaned up your act, not before."Sad but true. Folks try to use religion to manipulate God into loving them, instead of throwing their atrocious life on the grace of Jesus because He already showed efficacious love.
Um what else have I learned during my nocturnal roamings and MP3 induced sesquipedalian prayers?
Driscoll quoted another preacher who said no man can ever out-shovel a woman's capacity to love. The point is that ladies have a greater capacity for expressing love that a man does (Men can show love but it looks different--it tends to be shown in action not spoken). This is a complicating variable, because women need to hear love to feel it whereas men need to feel respected. I know I am at my happiest not when my life is smooth and easy, but when I feel respect as an image bearer of God. Driscoll's point is that a masculine husband needs to labor and be intentional about his words of affection otherwise he has "not provided for the needs of his" wife. We all know the other half of that saying...
All my reading and auditory grappling has had a particular two-pronged focus: (1) encouraging me to rest in the grace of God and (2) demanding that I live in the fear of an Almighty God. Fear of the lord is my only hope for wisdom, and man, I could really use some.
I might actually be getting tired; this is good. Lemme go stare at the ceiling some more and see if I can stop feeling dumb because I can't follow the instructions that are so obvious that even the mattress company's lawyers don't feel the need to put them on the tag: step 1 - Lay down on mattress, step 2 - go to sleep. Man, you can tell I went to public school, I can't figure out step 2!!
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