Pictures - Finally! And those Great OC quotes

Bring back the iPray bumper sticker: This was from a series a couple years ago and it's one of the coolest B stickers I've seen (the color of blue makes this one of the most visible stickers I've ever seen). I do hate bumper stickers (my one and only one is on my Volvo and it was so I could get a discount at Les S. tire store - it's my Volvo service shop)! I often rant a bit on how passive-aggressive religious types put bumper stickers on their car to make those behind them see "who" they are - then they drive like they got their license at K-Mart and tick people off - bumper stickers are not so cool in my book. I do like the iPray Living Hope one because it reaches across so many cultures and uses something a lot of people have in common. It's not "in your face" (turn or burn) and it piggybacks the iPod in a clever way - it's not bad . . . I might even be willing to put one on my car (I'm still working on letting Jesus give me input when I drive). Sometime I'll have to write about how the Hebrew words behind the commandment "Have no other gods before me" tie into the whole bumper sticker issue (Don't hold your breath).

Great memories from last week when a bunch of us went to the Beavers game after church - while there Katie sent me these pics of her and Kate (Katie has the "Big Brain").

Oswald Chambers is one of my favorite writers. After listening to Paul Young (The Shack) speak last weekend these two comments from O.C . hit home runs in my brain and heart.

ONE: "Jesus Christ did not come only to teach— He came to make me what He teaches I should be." Wow! I grew up in the Western mindset that INFORMATION was what you needed! Information removed from a heart-connection (friendship) is worth little. In fact, it made me more confused and afraid of God. Paul Young grew up with LOTS of religious facts, doctrine, and theology - but seeing a God who is smiling and waiting to swing you around and walk with you into your Shack is not the gospel that "information" gave him. O.C. back in 1917 saw this and invites us to the "more." I can BE in relationship! And with Jesus living IN me HE does work out love in a mysterious, marvelous way!

TWO: "As long as we have a self-righteous idea that we can carry out our Lord’s teaching, God will allow us to continue until we expose our own ignorance over some obstacle in our way. Only then are we willing to come to Him as paupers and receive from Him. 'Blessed are the paupers in spirit.' This is the first principle in the kingdom of God. The underlying foundation of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is poverty, not possession; not making decisions for Jesus Christ, but having such a sense of absolute futility - 'I cannot begin to do it.' Then Jesus says, 'Blessed are you . . .' ( Matthew 5:11 ). This is the doorway, and yet it takes us so long to believe that we are poor! The knowledge of our own poverty is what brings us to the moral frontier where Jesus Christ works."

I want to view all of life as a gift. I want to be a "learner" forever! Poverty strips away the illusion of "rights" and my supposed "justice." It lets me view everything as a "gift." I need to relax and let Jesus bring me into the Shack. God's there - smiling, and so loving all that He will do in us!

Living Hopes Best Bumper Sticker & Oswald Chambers

Off to Portland this morning to look at some new possibilities for our campus (exciting)!

Two of my Oswald Chambers' quotes will have to wait (and that LH bumper sticker), BUT . . . today's OC was very good, especially the last paragraph.

This is why I've been reading this guy for 11 years (The same book . . . Laura's going on 8 years and Gordon 9)!

"When I pray, 'Lord, show me what sanctification means for me,' He will show me. It means being made one with Jesus. Sanctification is not something Jesus puts in me— it is Himself in me ( 1 Corinthians 1:30 ).

This is opposite of what most of the "big boys" who wrote in England and America in the 19th and 20th century taught. When I was a boy, I was taught (in our little clap-board church) that this BIG word "Sanctification" meant that someday I would have my character so like Jesus that I would be able to stand alone (without the Holy Spirit) for a "short while" before Jesus returned.

Even today many churches focus on "becoming" like Jesus. We tend to want to "work" at overcoming something. "I need to get rid of . . ." and we end up focusing even more on what we want to be free of; we end up looking and worshiping ourselves. Our love and care for others lessons and we become proud, stiff, and very useless when we get caught up in this deadly self-absorption.

Being holy (the Greek word for Sanctification) is not something Jesus gives us or puts in us! It's a relationship! Jesus in us! Read John 15 and you will see - go back to John chapter one and it will all become easy.

Later: Great pictures from the weekend. Two more amazing OC ideas (they so fit The Shack), and that LH bumper sticker we should resurrect!

The Day After Paul Young spoke at Living Hope

I've only asked for four autographs at this point in my long, long, life. I once asked a cat. 1 female bike racer to sign my boy's riding jerseys when they were kids. I also had the Ray Brown Trio sign their album in Seattle. And then Joe Montana on his comeback Sunday after recovering from back surgery. (He was standing in front of the hotel we had both stayed in - a fun story.) Saturday afternoon, Paul Young (author of The Shack) who spoke at Living Hope, signed a book for my sister and brother-in-law. I've never been big into signatures. But after hearing Paul speak this weekend I must say his book has shot up MY best-book list to become one of my top 25

(Good to Great, The Jesus I Never Knew, A Testament of Devotion, The Ragamuffin Gospel, The Richest Man Who Ever Lived, Abba's Child, My Utmost for His Highest, The Normal Christian, Grace Walk, Seizing Your Divine Moment, The Cost of Discipleship, Dare to Desire, The Amazing Body Human, The Kosakovsky Brothers, Night, The Signature of Jesus, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Princes of Ireland, Epic, The Kitchen God's Wife, Team of Rivals, The Bible (Have you read this one?), and . . . (The one book I forgot).

Anyway . . . What struck me about Paul's story was what birthed this book - a desire to leave, out of the pile of crap, a legacy for his family and friends. The book is a monument to all those who are willing to let God rescue the "through the fire" instead of insisting God take them around, over, or under it! It's a walk up to the door of everything "hidden" and the joy of opening all this ugly stuff (memories, scars of self-mutilation, guilt, shame, broken relationships, shattered dreams, and betrayal) only to find that God is behind that door (literally in the shack of "shoot" you've been hiding from others (and yourself). God is in your pain, so very close to you in your agnostic moments (or years), and loves you so much that waiting (and being misunderstood) will never make our Creator-Friend force love on us - simply wait and overwhelm us when we want with the realization that "love is always both gift-based and relational." There is no God outside of relationship (that's why God appears as a Trinity (3) in Genesis one and John one.

I will now be recommending that people first watch the Living Hope video of Paul Young (William P. Young is his book name), then reading (or re-reading) the book. Our life group has been going through The Shack this summer and I must say that it may very well become a classic in history (like Pilgrim's Progress).

Paul's Big Ideas: (as my mind gathered them)

1) We all have a shack (our past failures, expectations, and hidden stuff). We ARE as sick as the stuff we keep hidden. (Learning to let it out in a healthy, healing way IS a process, never an event!)

2) Religion is very often a tool that keeps "hidden" what needs healing. Religion can be used as a drug. (Performance is a very big drug; Jesus spoke of the religious types who kept the outside of the cup very pretty, but never washed the Giardia from the inside). The way out is almost always from within (Guard your heart for out of it comes everything.)

3) Jesus came to save you, AND this means to heal your broken Shack. It's through the fires of pain, sorrow, and great loss that you gain that simply best gift, a forever friendship with Jesus.

Paul speaks of being free of measuring up, needing the measurement and approval of others, needing success, and "doing", to be at peace, and having a renewed love with his wife and kids.

Several hundred years ago I said to a professor I couldn't stand; "I can't respect you at all!" To which he calmly replied (to that very mature, brilliant, soon to be great scholar, Bruce Avery) "If you move close enough to an enemy they will very likely become a friend." I must honestly say I never tried out his advice in our relationship, but I learned, and am so thankful for what he said to me that day (I should thank him in person, and ask forgiveness - you think?)! I really believe those who have so strongly expressed, before thousands, their belief that William P. Young's book, The Shack, is heresy should, First - read the entire book first! And then Second, try to meet the author, or at least listen to his motives and purpose for writing before ripping on him.

Most of the criticism has been for what he didn't write (as if he was obligated to write a dull, often worthless, apologetic). Paul Young's journey is similar to many who have found healing at Living Hope. His freedom from legalism and his story of finding God as a friend (the greatest compliment God ever gave to a human) is powerful. We need hundreds of books like these. Last night I met with two inmates at the Clark County Jail. Both have been passing around The Shack to the other inmates. One said to me, "Several of the guys who won't read anything religious have been willing to read The Shack. It's changing their lives." He went on to tell me about an inmate who is very hard, and far from a relationship with God, who after reading the book has said, "Please tell me about God. I want to know Him." How many of our "Christian books" are reaching and touching the lives of those who don't yet have their hope in Jesus? I rest my case. (Cheering sounds in the background!)

I've long walked with a permanent limp in my heart, and loved Paul Young's retelling of Jacob's fight with God. Jacob, the one named "thief and liar," gets a new name after wrestling all night with God (disguised, not as a large black woman but rather a UFC fighter who dislocates Jacob's hip. Ouch! I had my shoulder dislocated on a black diamond ski hill once, and also, upside down under a kayak . . . not fun!), THEN God says, "What in the world do you want Kid?" To which, after 6.5 hrs of wrestling, Jacob replies, "I need real peace. Please bless me!" God then whispers, "Already done dear friend. You now have a new name, it's "Israel". (The guy who fought God and finished last!)

You really can go to your own personal, private, unique shack and discover that God is there already. You can wrestle, throw punches and do a round-house kick or two. God can take it (and give it back), but God's motive for winning (beating you up) is always the same: (I want to be your best friend ever) so that you will say yes to my healing (freedom).

Buy the DVD! Read The Shack, then read John one; chapters thirteen through 15, and the entire book of 1 John (especially I John 4).

"Perfect love," (that's God!) "throws out fear. Because fear has to do with punishment . . . we are able to love BECAUSE God first loved us! If you have (a friendship) the Son you have life. If you don't have the Son (you can heal, raise people from the grave, write and preach very religious stuff, be a "good person" and still not have a friendship with Jesus) you don't have life. Today, right now, you can KNOW that you are forever connected with God! Will you say yes to love? God IS love! We get to reflect, shadow, live it out to others!

Thank You Paul Young for not hiding! Thank you for sharing what was given as a gift to you. Thank you God for not having any big "Christian" publishers publish this book (God has an amazing sense of humor!)

A side note (grinding my ax): If you call a book "Christian" or a "Song" Christian you often take away the neutral choice of those who read or listen to it. I got this idea from my son Gordon. As he shared with me this morning, "If you have a "Christian" coffee shop then people who drink your coffee and don't like it are very much influenced to associate your "bad coffee" with the name "Christian." I believe we often fail to see how dangerous labels can be - that's why I don't like bumper stickers (I don't drive that safe and I hate making others read my opinions from my most unattractive side).

Don't miss tomorrow's blog: Two amazing Oswald Chambers quotes (so like Paul Young's story) and the ONE bumper sticker Living Hope I would consider putting on my car (I'll tell you why . . . maybe we can get this bumper sticker brought back?) - I'll share it ALL tomorrow!

Friendship Frenzy # 3 - personal dirt on the author of the Shack!

Just got out of our weekly pastors meeting and I'm blogging and eating lunch in my office. Having pastors who really are friends, meeting and sharing our "real" stuff is so refreshing. After years of seeing pastors "look good" while with other pastors, its so inspiring to live and work with friends in God's ministry. Pastor John founded Living Hope on friendships. Those core couples are still doing life together and it's rubbed off on those "newbie" pastors who are living this dream.

So I ended my blog yesterday talking about SIN! I made the statement that sin's root, the basement level core, isn't selfishness. I do think this ties into my series here on "friendship." Here's what I suppose --- Sin is a relationship word. It simply means, "I'm into me more than you!" Sounds like selfishness don't you think? But I still don't think the self-mush-ness is the core! I love the A&E story. Two lovers lusting after a tree ripe with avocados! They were warned about the guacamole mojo but somehow forgot (?). The first thing the dragon (want to refresh on this story right now?) says to them is, "Is God holding out on everything wonderful in your life? Did He say you couldn't eat any of the great treats from ANY of the trees in this luscious garden? Sin is DISTRUST! The very first fall was Adam and Eve questioning, then believing that maybe God wasn't 100% good! It's not that they saw their Creator-friend as bad, just off on the current avocado tree they were about to chip into (Who said it had to be an apple?).

Sin takes us away from that vital friendship with the one who makes us whole. Sin's result is we become more isolated, pulling away from friendships (hiding from God and each other . . . "Don't look at me like that!"). Our selfishness is a result of distrust!

Oops I ran out of time (tomorrow I'll attack those who are afraid of "The Shack"). To call a book heretical is a very, very strong statement at best . . . tomorrow I'll examine Tim Challies' review of the "The Shack". Tim is a self-employed web designer, and is a pioneer in the Christian blogosphere, having one of the most widely read and recognized Christian blogs. He is also editor of "Discerning Reader". It seems to me Tim needs a God with big steeples and great "Otherness." Tim gets a bit wrinkled with a God is our friend and can understand even our outbursts. This is from Tim's review:

"This portrayal of the relationship of man to God
and God to man is a far cry from the Bible's portrayal.
And indeed it must be because the God of The Shack is
only a vague resemblance to the God of the Bible.
There is no sense of awe as we, through Mack, come
into the presence of God."

Friendships (WOW advice today) and The Shack, day # 2

Let's start with The Shack! I told you I had a theory as to why some have gotten so tweaked about the book. So!!! Here's my Frankl Theory:

"Every person searches for personal meaning. Some can only relate to the God who is totally OTHER than them. This Bigger, Beyond, UN-like, and Perfectly Omnipotent Powerful-all-the-time GOD is what enables them to continue to hope. Without something to hope in, life loses all meaning. People lash out at whatever appears to be attacking their continued search for meaning."
So, those who relate totally, only, or mostly to this picture of God can find stories, Bible texts, and theology that supports this view. But when a book comes along that touches millions of people and presents God as a being who wants to be so close that S/He takes on human form (a large motherly black lady no less) and lets Jesus play with her feet after messing up breakfast . . . , well, that's way too much! From this sense of protecting the LARGENESS of God, some may be tempted to construct some very creative, unusual arguments to protect their view! In medieval times this was done by building HUGE churches that would "blow away" the poor peasant who felt unworthy even to enter such a vast "Disney-and-beyond" fantasy structure. I've stood in a few of Europe's churches and felt overwhelmed, small, and very "other" than God. I felt like kneeling, asking forgiveness, and hoping for Grace. I must admit, I'd much rather be in the observation chapel overlooking Clark County at the Grotto (Portland) when I listen to God's smile.

There I said it - REMEMBER, IT'S ONLY A THEORY (I find so much built-in custom prejudice in some of my previous sentences . . . I relate to the God who speaks as one would to a child, giggles, and wrestles with me in a "WWF, Unlimited Fighting" kind of way. I smiled deep within myself as I read The Shack - over and over again. It' s my way of refueling up on HOPE. Is my way the only way? Of course (And you're an idiot if you don't agree with me . . . that was a joke! Relax)! I really think we need a kind of Yin-Yang in our picture of God (The Yin-Yang has a history before Eastern religion - Really!). God comes in clouds, and sunshine. He speaks in thunder, a whisper, and even when we only hear silence. But God speaks over and over to us a friend! John 14-17 presents one of the most perfect pictures of God. "Remember," says Jesus, "Every time you really see me you are seeing the Father." Read John 15:15 three times, or more, a day for a couple weeks and then tell it's dangerously wrong to portray God in a way that cracks our hollow "holy" pictures that keep us from trusting Him deeply. The Shack is willing to mess with you in an attempt to bring you to the promise of Hebrews 4 (read it and believe). God wants to sit with you over fish and chips and ask you three questions: "DO YOU REALLY LOVE ME?"

Friendship is about expanding to become more of who God made you to be. To do this we need:

1) to move towards someone other than our own "self-limiting self " (proximity always benefits friendship)! Laura and I have been together about 35 years. We keep looking for things that keep us close - physically, emotionally, spiritually - in every part of our being! You want great friendships - draw close . . . walk , crawl, limp, take little-bitty-baby steps. Keep coming closer. The first perfect day in a perfect world was spent doing NOTHING better than just BEING together - To enjoy our being in our connected friendship is what makes us alive (it's the master plan - the perfect CAD drawing).

Check it out: What does that "other person like?" Cycling (Laura is watching the Tour de France with me for the first time - it's just one more "proximity" experiences). Maybe your friend hates running but loves shopping (Bribe a friend to get you a pass to the Nike employee store - wow . . . think and plan proximity into your life!). I can find something in common with anyone if I want to grow closer!

Listen to others. Listen to their fears (be still and you will hear them come out), their dreams (also hidden from one's first layer of what we usually see), and their daily happenings! If you listen to others (and respond), you will find yourself coming closer.

2) What activities can you do with "friends" that recharges their battery the most? This takes the proximity practice and super-sizes it because it leads you into another key factor of friendship practices (tomorrow I'll focus on this key). When you do things with others that they "love to do" it so fills your sails with life. Do you know what your spouse, friend, or co-worker gets jazzed about? Read up on it. Buy them something fun that has to do with your friend's hobby or interest.

By the way, I was very touched by Frankl's life about 20 years ago. He's a cool guy. Frankl is thought to have coined the term Sunday Neurosis referring to a form of depression resulting from an awareness in some people of the emptiness of their lives once the working week is over. If you don't have moments to look forward to, dates with friends, then you might be suffering from nothing to look forward to after work. (Men struggle with this when they're not working.)

Another - off the subject thought: Sin IS NOT selfishness. Selfishness is the radioactive after affect. More on that tomorrow as it relates to the idea that true friendships make us less selfish! I'll try to convince you that Sin finds it's roots at a deeper level than self-focused selfishness!

Vital Friends - The Shack, day # 1

So, hopefully I've cooled my jets and can talk about "The Shack" without sounding self-righteous and condescending towards those who are so "narrow" and "closed-minded" and "totally ignorant" about what really matters (sound OK?)!

Here's what I think is wrong with "religion" in America - I believe we are far more devoted to a "cause" than we are a "person." Knowing religious facts, possessing missiles of destruction wrapped in the "King Jimmy" holy language of "TRUTH" can make one feel so safe, so right, and so able to depend on oneself. I'm like Nick in John's gospel (John 3) - I start arguing "left-brain" details about doctrine when I feel the uncomfortable call to trust the Wind ("You can't tell where it began or where it will end!").

You can't expect me to talk about friendship without quoting my favorite author, OC, right?

"There is a difference between devotion to a Person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause— He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted love-slave of the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not devoted to Jesus Christ."

In the next few days I'll examine some of "questions" raised by those who write "with great passion" against the author of "The Shack". I find it interesting that several of these "well-known" writers have no problem with C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia or the classic Pilgrim's Progress. I can understand someone finding fault with the "Left Behind" series which attempts to promote "just one" doctrinal position regarding the End Times (I don't like the fear-based emphasis in this popular series). I could even get someone questioning a series like Frank Peretti's "Present Darkness", but why "The Shack"? (I think maybe I know - this is a guess at best as none of us can get inside another person's motives - more on a later blog.)

"The Shack" is now #1 on the NY Times best seller list (paperback fiction). It's pretty amazing considering the lack of a major publisher. A local Portland guy writes and prints at Kinko's a few copies for his kids, family, and friends. Paul Young never planned to publish a book for millions to read (over 1,000,000 in print as of now)! But the book has touched off a fire. I've personally seen it's affects on those burned by religion, those who are currently stuck in our county jails and by many friends who don't read much! I started reading this book before it became such a huge bestseller (I was very skeptical because it was praised so highly). I actually heard of the book about a year ago from a very dear friend in Idaho, but because he rarely reads, and I'm not so impressed with his reading choices, I blew it off. To date Laura and I have bought 36 copies of the book. I really don't think this book will go away anytime soon.

Why the big hoopla about this book? It's a picture of "Friendship." A picture so appealing, so attractive, that you want to believe it's true. IN FACT I DO! I really believe we are only Human when we are IN friendship (I just spoke at Living Hope this weekend - check out the story of John and Bob at our Living Hope Resource Center - ask for my DVD from last weekend).

Vital friendships are what we are described as BEING (Genesis 1). Tomorrow I'll elaborate more on two of the most important elements of growing a fantastic, authentic friendship. They are 1 - Proximity, and 2 - Being Invested. Laura and I have been working these out for 33+ years now and I really think you will see how simple, hard, and good they are . . . tomorrow!

Sponsor our friends

Our friends have decided to go to India. Audrey is already there, but Dustin and Ashlin are now going to be going to our new children's center. Laura and I love the Lewis family so much. Here's an ONLY GOD experience that was born out of our Portland campus. I feel this is a wonderful opportunity for so many of us to invest in eternity. Check out Dustin and Ashlin's blog. God may be setting you up for a huge blessing!

Lewis family Blog


All this week I'm going to be blogging on Vital Friendships AND, William Young's book, "The Shack"!