Why I Love South Austin

I had an incident today that reminded me why I love South Austin. While I was driving I noticed that I needed an oil change, so I went to the local Kwik Kar. Normally getting my oil changed is a bit of a whip. I was greeted by a cool looking chick who was very helpful, but not in a small town sort of way but in a hippie sort of way. After a few “no worries” I was also helped by a young guy who walked me through some of the things they were doing to my new truck. Then there naturally began a very interesting discussion on the latest shows coming to town and some philosophical issues. When my car was finished the friendly hands-on care continued.

It is always neat have interesting philosophical conversations while getting your oil changed. I guess there was nothing that special about my oil change experience, but it was a little reminder about why I love this town.

By the way I am becoming more of an Austin-ite because I consciously choose locally owned joints, especially for my coffee. Keep up the good work Ruta Maya and Hill Country Coffee.

American Idol Rants

Last week the American Idol phenomenon started up again. Honestly, I have never really gotten into the show. My wife recorded the first couple of shows on our DVR. We had some friends over the other night and all watched it together. The first shows are kind of like watching a train wreck. It is chaos and mayhem, but for some reason we are drawn to it. I am not a musician thus I don’t really care about who is good and who is not. I can’t even define tone, pitch, or harmony. I am however a man and like watching a train wreck. I was always the kid in the back making fun of everything so I love Simon. I am just being honest here.

I do have two observations/rants about the show. First, why do people think celebrity means success? So many of these people were looking “to make something of their life” or trying to be a “success” and longed to have their name “in lights.” This was their driving force for showing up to the audition. As a pastor let me scream to the world that success is not as a result of you being so outlandish that you get on TV or in the tabloids. Get a life America are we that desperate? No offense to Britney Spears but does any sane father desire that train wreck for his daughter. If I have a daughter and she becomes Britney Spears for the record she will NOT be considered a success.

Successful living is connected to how you love those in your life. If you are a loving and providing husband than you are a success, a loving guiding father then you are a success, a foundation of your community and church then you are a success.

Means and worth is connected to our relationship to God. When we put our faith and trust in the person and work of Christ then we come adopted children of God. As His children we are fully accepted by Him. We don’t have to act like fools and get everyone to look at us to find worth. Christians have worth because we are granted it by the Father.

Second, kudos to Simon for destroying some of these people’s false views of themselves and of art. Art is not just something that you are born with or that you can just throw together. Most of these kids are a disgrace to the great artists of our day. Where do they get off thinking they can just sing along with Christina Aguilera in the car and then become professional singers?

I have a painter friend who devoted four years of undergraduate study to painting. I have a singer friend who has worked on her art for the 10+ years that I have known her. I have a friend who is an actor and makes movies. This guy works at his art. He is in the process of completing a 90-minute film. It takes him hours to edit just a couple of minutes of the film! I have a friend in Hollywood trying to become a writer. He is working hard and starting at the bottom to get his foot in the door.

It is disrespectful to other artists to just show up and think you are good because your mom told you so. Art is just like anything else, you are good as a result of commitment. God has blessed humanity with art and has called us to create as He has created. We show our character by how we create. Kudos Simon for sending these arrogant kids home. They don’t respect the art enough to get good at it.

Mary's Song Part 3

Mary magnifies God in her stressful significant season. This single mother, whom most probably did not believe her view that she conceived by immaculate conception, chose to praise God instead of becoming neutralized in fear. Instead of becoming fearful she praises God because (1) God had blessed her (1:48-49a), (2) God is holy (1:49b), and (3) God has Mercy on all generations that fear Him (1:50). This teenager continues to show theological and spiritual maturity in verses 51-55.

She praises God because “He has done mighty deeds” (51). She understands the power of God through His past behavior. She praises Him for (1) scattering the proud, (2) bringing down rulers, (3) exalting the humble, (4) filling the hungry, (5) sending away the rich, (6) helping Israel His people, and (7) revealing His will to us. Mary knows the breath of scripture and thus knows the power and greatness of her God.

This passage highlights the importance of each of us devoting our lives to knowing our God through knowing the Bible. If we are to know anything about God then we must know the Bible. My desire for those in Grace Community Church are for them to deeply love their God and be conformed to His image. I know that in order for them to do this they must spend time studying and meditating upon His Word.

If we are to walk with God then we must get up every morning and get into His Word. If we are live the abundant life that God offers then we must know Him and His will, which means that we must know His Word.
If you don’t have a daily devotional time with God where you spend time praying to Him and studying His Word then I want to spur you to action. If you want some guidance in this area of your life then let me know. If you have grown lax or uninterested with this discipline then I want to encourage you to get back in the saddle because there is nothing more important in your life than your spiritual life.

BOOK REVIEW: What on Earth is the Church?

Kevin Giles seeks to provide us with an evangelical ecclesiology for our day. He provides us with a good one-volume addition to the discussion of ecclesiology with the use of recent New Testament scholarship.

One of the positives of Giles study is his definition of Church. He defines Church as simply a “Christian Community.” This is a good definition because it is broad in the right places and narrow in the right places. It is broad enough to include the different common uses of “church” like in reference to denominations, but excludes parachurch and social action organizations. The Church is made up of Christians doing Christian activities and doing them in the context of “community” or together.

This idea of “community” is another strength of Giles work. He shows the very communal nature of the early church found in the New Testament. He gives a healthy criticism of how Western individualism has jaded the vision of Christian Community. Our spirituality must be done together. As we say in Grace Community Church after our study of the book of James, “you can’t claim to be spiritual if you are a jerk to everyone around you.”

Finally I want to point out an interesting argument for the institutional nature of church. I don’t know if this is very original or if I have only read “free church” ecclesiologies, but I had not really heard of this. Giles points out that the New Testament church becomes increasingly institutional as it evolves. He notes that the church is pure and loose in the beginning then becomes more theologically understood then evolves to clear guidelines for leadership in the Pastoral Epistles.

I remain a “free church” advocate, but I like his reasoning. Giles takes this reality as a proponent for Anglican institutional realities that I disagree with, but I do agree that theology is evolving and the Church can evolve to a degree.

Let me give an example. Giles criticizes basing our understanding of Church too much on simply doing a word study on “ecclesia.” It would appear that the early Church needed to call what they were doing something and “ecclesia” made sense. I am pastoring a six-month old church plant. The church is constantly evolving toward a more institutional state. Giles helped me realize that this was not a negative reality, but simply a certain reality. Concerning “ecclesia” we have had trouble deciding what to call our Sunday evening meeting. It has been called “church”, “meeting”, “service”, and “time.” Our time is very similar to the early church in that we meet in a home, have worship prayer and Bible study, and we eat together. In this way it is a cross between modern day Community Groups and Sunday Worship Services.

I share this in order to say that local churches and the Church both evolve towards institutionalization. We need to understand this reality in order to utilize it instead of being controlled by it. I pray that as GCC becomes increasingly more institutional we remain lucid enough to follow God’s leading and remain faithful to the New Testament vision of the Church.

Mary's Song Part 2

In the first couple of verses of the Mary Song we see that Mary has an attitude of exaltation and praise during this significant season in her life. She is a great example to all of us, especially those of us who are in significant seasons. She provides an example for us to praise God and rejoice in Him at the deepest levels of our being.

This teenage girl is also a practical theologian. What I mean is that she does not have simple immature thoughts about God, but instead has a deep mature beautiful understanding of God. I long for teenagers like Mary in Grace Community Church.

In Luke 1:48-50, we see why Mary does what she does in this significant season. She praises God from her innermost being because He had blessed her, because He is holy, and because He is merciful.

Even though Mary did not have all the answers, she understood life and her situation as a blessing from God. She understood that she existed in a humble state before God and considered herself blessed that He would invade her life. She understood that she was a product of His grace. She considered it a blessing that He would stoop to be involved in her little life. She was humble and embraced God’s grace in her life.

She also praised Him for the simple yet profound fact that He is holy. If she fully understood this reality about God then I feel very insecure as a pastor. The fact that God never does wrong and does everything with perfect timing is mind-blowing to me. Jesus was completely opposite of the world, but was able to perfectly exist within in it. Unlike the rest of us He influenced the world and was not influenced by it. God is holy and Jesus is our example.

She finally praised God for the amazing mercy that He has had on countless generations “who fear Him.” She understood the importance of faithfully fearing and following Him. She also again embraces His grace by praising Him for His profound mercy on so many that don’t deserve it.

This teenage girl has such a rich spirituality. She embraces God’s grace and praises him for how He has blessed her, for the fact that He is holy, and for the great mercy He has shown upon so many. I pray that you could also embrace God’s grace in your life and develop a rich spirituality marked by humility and grace.