May 14, 2011 · 10:32 pm

Doug Rees – Musician

Tonight was date night, so yesterday I googled “Live folk music Quad Cities.”  We love listening to live music.  It is one of our favorite things to do together.  I love to sit in bar or a coffee shop with a mug of a strong-tasting brew (hot or cold) and just lose myself in music.  I can close my eyes, tap my fingers and be made new.

Tonight we were not disappointed.  We found a place called Mojo’s, which is a sort of songwriter’s academy.  We found some comfy chairs, ordered two decaffs, and sat back and listened to some amazing music.  We were treated to the music and storytelling of Doug Rees.  We not only met a great artist, but we made a couple of friends.  It was a wonderful evening.

I’m not a music critic, so I’m not going to try and describe Doug’s music.  Instead, I posted one of his songs.  It was a song that touched me.  It reminded me of the many towns that I call home.  It reminded me of the unifying spirit of people in community.  Many of his songs had this spirit flowing through them – the spirit of friendship, love and roots that run deep.

I hope you take the time to listen to some of his music.  He played a few of his new songs, which will be released soon.  I’d love to hear “Nature Boy” again.

Doug, if you read this, I want to say thank you.  Thank you for a wonderful night.  Thank you for your stories.  Thank you for your songs.  Thank you for making the trip up from Cape Girardeau to sing to a few folks in a coffee shop in Davenport.  It might not have been the bright lights of an arena, but I will remember your concert forever.  Above all, thank you for your sincerity and joy.  It was a pleasure to spend a little while with you.  My only regret is that we couldn’t stay longer.  I’m looking forward to the next CD, and eagerly anticipate your next trip to the Quad Cities.

To hear more of Doug, and a few other great artists, check out the Music link.

Follow Doug Rees on Facebook

11 Comments

Filed under Personal Reflection

Tagged as ,

May 6, 2011 · 5:32 pm

What would they think?

I remember mixing the blueberry muffin batter.  I was so careful not to spill the little tin of blueberries on the counter, because I knew it could stain.  My brother was really in charge of the batter, but he would let me mix it too.  He added the secret ingredient – the honey.   It was my job to make the tea, which meant I put the mug of water in the microwave.  We put the carefully crafted breakfast on our Dukes of Hazard TV tray, but we would cover up Bo, Luke and Daisy with something classy – like a paper towel.  Just one more added touch to make it perfect – go out in the yard and find a flower.  Pick the dandelion, put it in the glass and a perfect Mother’s Day breakfast in bed was ready.

anna jarvisI wonder how much the founders of Mother’s Day would recognize today’s ritual?  What would they think of the handmade cards, the breakfast in bed, and the dandelion bouquets?  There are three women generally recognized as the co-founders of  Mother’s Day.  All of them had similar ideas, and were inspired by similar motives.  They were churchgoing women who wanted to recognize the role of mothers.

They were crusaders, rallying around the universal power of mothers to make the world a better place.  Their passion, their overriding sense of call, was to the cause of peace.  Julia Ward Howe, who wrote, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was appalled by the evils of war and wanted to create a day where women would come together to make change in the world.  Juliet Calhoun Blakely came to the pulpit in her Methodist Church in Michigan when the pastor was too drunk to finish the job and preached about temperance.  Anna Jarvis taught Sunday school at a Methodist Church in West Virginia.  Jarvis advocated for children’s health and welfare and promoted peace in a community torn by political rivalries.  It was in West Virginia that the first Mother’s Day was officially recognized in 1908.  On Mother’s Day we stand in the shadow of these mighty women, and I wonder what they would think.

These were women that had a strong sense for the pain in the world.  What would they think of the sentimentality of the day they helped create?  They understood pain in the world as only a mother could.  Their sons’ bodies were sacrificed on the altar of war.  Their sons had missing limbs, broken bodies and shattered spirits.  Their sons abused alcohol, wasted their income, their time, and their energy on the promise of an empty bottle. Their daughters lived with terror of domestic violence.  Their sons and daughters died slowly of disease.  They were mothers – not just of the offspring they raised – but of all children.

It was in the midst of this pain that they stood.  Out of the ashes of war, out of the shadow of abuse and alcohol, out of the despair of disease, the mothers stood.  They were angry with the state of the world, and wanted a day to recognize the power of mercy and love.  They wanted a day to recognize the power of women – mothers – to make a change in the world.

What would they think now?  What would they do when they saw women in Africa weeping over a child dying every 45 seconds of malaria?  What would they say to those that claim that health care is a privelege, not a right?  What would they think when they saw more sons and daughters going off to another war to kill the sons of other mothers?  How would they respond to the meth labs in living rooms?  What kind of pain would they feel?

I’m guessing that they would feel just as mothers do today when they see their children suffer.   I’m guessing they would continue to stand with their fellow mothers and support a local shelter for victims of domestic violence.  They would get involved with Imagine No Malaria, a project with a plan to eradicate malaria deaths.  They would help at food pantries at their church, organize health clinics, contribute to literacy campaigns.  What would they do when they saw that their children were in pain?  They would do what mothers do today: they would work, volunteer, preach, donate, teach, mentor, guide, and pray.

What would they think of a dandelion bouquet?  I think they would treasure it just as my mother did – like all mothers do.  They would see the love out of which it was made.  They would know that all the work they do in the world is for this: So that children every where can live in peace.  Those women, and women before them, and women since them have wanted this: to live in a world where all of God’s children are free to pick a dandelion bouquet – free of disease, free of fear, free of war.

Its a dream we all share.  It is a dream for which we all work.  In the meantime, take the time to pick a dandelion bouquet, and say a prayer for mothers.

Follow The Fat Pastor on Facebook

Follow on Twitter

5 Comments

Filed under Christianity

Tagged as , , ,

May 1, 2011 · 11:02 pm

USA! USA!

Is that what I’m supposed to be chanting right now?  Should I be waving my flag and shaking my fist.  Should I pop some champaign, honk my car horn and shoot off some fireworks?  I just heard (on ESPN of all places) that Osama Bin Laden is dead.  I’m not sure how I’m supposed to react.

Should I be excited?  Should I be proud?  Should I feel safer? Should I feel sorrow?

At this point, I’m not really sure what I feel.  I still remember the numbing sadness of September 11.  I remember running out of tears on that horrible morning as I was glued to the television for hours on end.  I remember the anger, the sadness and the confusion.

Now that Bin Laden is dead, should I be happy?  Does the death of this sick and twisted man take away any of that pain?

I’m thinking of the last ten years as the United States has responded to that awful day with two wars, trillions spent, an economy in shambles, and thousands dead.  Will the death of Bin Laden bring our troops home?  Will it make any of them safer tonight as they sleep on foreign soil?

The President is about to speak.  Should I feel proud that I voted for him?  Should I think more of his presidency?  I’m not sure how much he had to do with this.  I am sure in the next few days Republicans and Democrats will tell me about how I should feel about this night.  And I have a feeling that they will tell me very different things.

On September 12, 2001 I bought an US flag and hung it outside my balcony window.  I called a Muslim friend of mine, hoping that he was safe, afraid that he might face violence because of the church at which he chose to worship.  Will he face violence again tonight?

All I can know for sure tonight is that I am thankful for the American soldiers that have dedicated their lives to my protection.  I am thankful that someone else was able to do the work that I could not imagine doing.  I pray for our American soldiers everywhere as they continue their efforts to protect us.  I pray for those that are now in increased danger because of bin Laden’s death.

Above all I pray for peace.  Osama bin Laden died tonight.  It’s not often that I feel that the cause of peace can be advanced with weapons of war, but surely that has happened tonight.  Surely we have taken a step toward peace, right?  It is difficult to know how big of a step.  A man who dedicated his life to evil – to killing innocents and framing it as the will of God – is dead.

I pray that no one else has to die in order to defend liberty.

Follow The Fat Pastor on Facebook

Follow on Twitter

8 Comments

Filed under Politics

Tagged as ,

May 1, 2011 · 7:54 am

The Princess Paradox

After writing a blog about the Royal Wedding, which I called “materialistic pornography,” I decided I should clear a few things up.  I read a few debates on FB and understood the points of all those that were critical of my post.  I decided a long time ago to not engage in long-running online debates with people on this blog, so I am not going to address anything in particular (Although the assertion of one critic that the royals used “their own money” to pay for the wedding made me smile.  I’m not sure how we define what “their own money” is- and neither does the NY Times.) 

The point I was trying to make had nothing to do with the kind of people Will and Kate are.  It had nothing to do with their philanthropic efforts.  It really didn’t even have anything to do with the exact amount of money that was spent – or the source of that money.  My point was this: things like the Royal Wedding, and especially the way the American media portrays it, contribute to the princess mythology that girls are drenched in from birth.

I can spend the next few paragraphs explaining the princess mythology, but instead I’ll share with you a conversation I had last night with my four-year-old daughter. 

“Am I a princess, Daddy?”

I resisted the temptation to just say, “Yes, of course you are.”  Instead I asked her, “What does it mean to be a princess?”

“It means you have lots of pretty dresses.”  Okay – this was her first response to defining what a princess is.  By this definition my daughter is a princess.  She has a lot of pretty dresses.  And I love them all.  I love seeing her in them.  I love watching her twirl her skirts.  I love the joy and confidence she exudes when she wears them.  I love the look on her face when she opens up a gift and finds a pretty dress and she exclaims, “Thank you, I love it.”  I love that she would wear a pretty dress every day of her life if we let her because she knows in her heart that she is, in fact, a princess. 

I have to insert here that this conversation took place while my daughter was wearing one of her favorite pretty dresses.  It’s her “ballerina dress.”  It is pink and has a wide flowing skirt made of touling that twirls when she spins.  She had on a white sweater and a pink overcoat and had a big pink flower in her hair.  And I was wearing a sportcoat and a pink tie.  We were on a date, and were heading to the ballet to see – yes, I am aware of the hypocrisy in this – Cinderella.  And she loved every second of it. Afterwards she met the dancer that played Cinderella, and I now have a new favorite dancer.  I was moved to tears several times during the night while I watched my daughter’s face light up.

But here’s the problem – if the feminine ideal is to be a princess, and being a princess is defined by “having lots of pretty dresses,” where does it stop?  How many pretty dresses is enough to be considered a princess?  And does having lots of pretty dresses define happiness?  I can say with confidence that to my daughter, there is more.  She is kind and compassionate and appreciates what she has.  On our way to the theater we got a little turned around, and for a few tense moments I wasn’t exactly sure how to get there.  She sensed my stress and told me, “It’s okay Daddy, even if we don’t get to the theater, I still had a great time because I’m with you.”  So I feel good about my daughter, the princess.  But even so, here is more of that conversation:

“So, princesses have lots of pretty dresses.  What else?”  I waited, then asked, “Are princesses smart?”

“No, they are beautiful.” 

“Are princesses brave?”

“Yes – but well, sort of.”

“What do you mean, they are sort of brave?”

“Well, princesses wait for Prince Charming to come and rescue them from evil witches and monsters and stuff.”

And here is the princess paradox.  My daughter is a loving, compassionate, intelligent and articulate little girl.  She is smart and brave and beautiful.  She is a princess.  Not because she has a lot of pretty dresses – but because of who she is inside.  She is a princess because she should be honored and adored, and I pray someday she finds someone who loves her as much as I love her mother.  She is a princess, but I do not want her to ever think for even a second that she has to wait for Prince Charming to come and rescue her from monsters and stuff.

There are plenty of monsters in this world, and real monsters are a much bigger threat to my daughter then watching the Royal Wedding.  When those monsters rear their ugly heads, I pray my daughters will have the strength, courage, and confidence to defend themselves and rely on God, family and friends – not wait for Prince Charming.

Maybe the Royal Wedding is just a moment to escape.  Maybe it is just a chance to live in a fairy tale.  Maybe it is just a celebration of two young people who fell in love and want to help make the world a better place.  Maybe Kate is the kind of princess my daughter can aspire to be – I have no idea, and frankly I don’t care.  I have bigger dreams for my daughter than anything that was on TV this week.  I have bigger dreams for her than anything Disney can package and market.

I want my daughters to know how much they are loved.  I want my daughters to know that they are smart and brave and beautiful.  I want my daughters to be strong like my Aunt.  I want my daughters to have faith like my mother.  I want my daughters to be passionate like my sister.  I want my daughters to be kind like my grandmother. 

What turned me off about the Royal Wedding wasn’t so much the wedding itself, but its place in the greater princess myth.  It is a story that is told over and over by our culture.  Disney, celebrity news, tabloids, commercials, and our surrounding culture drown our girls into believing this myth.  The tell them why they are princesses, and most of it is a lie.  My daughters are princesses – not because of anything they own or buy or because of anything that is marketed to them.  They are princesses for this reason:

They are princesses because they are daughters of princesses.  They are princesses because they are daughters of the King of Kings.

4 Comments

Filed under Media

Tagged as , ,

April 29, 2011 · 4:16 pm

The Royal Wedding

I watched about 15 minutes of the Royal Wedding.  Afterwards, I felt like I needed a shower.  There was something about it that just made me feel dirty.  Let me apologize up front to those of you who loved watching it.  If it is your thing, then fine.  I know, respect, and love lots of people who watched.

I had trouble putting my finger on exactly what it was that bothered me so much.  At first I kept thinking of this Eleanor Roosevelt quote:

Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.

I think there is something to this.  Celebrity news makes my skin crawl.  I like to watch the Oscars because I like movies.  I don’t like the red carpet. I like American Idol.  I do not care if Paula Abdul is in rehab or not.  I love to watch sports.  I’m not interested in Giselle and Tom.  But I realized that there is something more real that is bothering me about the adoration of the Royal Wedding.  To me, it just seems like materialistic pornography.

Think of all the things that are wrong about pornography.  It creates a false sense of reality.  It perpetuates the subjugation of women.  It objectifies bodies in an overtly graphic way.  It manipulates reality and gives people fantastic images that real life cannot live up to.  It draws men in with a point-of-view image that creates a false sense of invitation to sexual elation.  It poisons other real-life relationships.  It is a multi-billion dollar industry based on defiling sexuality – which is a God-given gift.

Those are all the things I found distasteful about the Royal Wedding.  The whole thing is based on this fairy-tale image of what a perfect life can be, and it is wrapped in pomp, circumstance, and over-the-top luxury.  It presents an image of happiness that is beyond the imagination of anyone.  Think of the opulence, extravagance and expense that went into the wedding.  It drew people in with the false sense of invitation.  It was a voyeuristic look at what it is like to be enormously wealthy.  Watching this sort of event sets up  an ideal for life that is unrealistic and antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It was a multi-million dollar affair based on taking God’s gift – a marriage – and turning into a celebration of worldly luxury.  Oh, and they all get great big fancy titles to boot.

Why don’t more people recognize this for what it is?  Few have trouble seeing pornography for what it is – a relationship-destroying temptation.  Why don’t we see this sort of luxury in the same way?  Americans use and consume and waste and strive to acquire more and more status, money and power.  Materialism is a part of the American Dream.  It is what we are all supposed to be striving for.  So we gather around this orgy of opulence.  We are fascinated by this graphic display of luxury and wealth, and I can’t help but wonder, “Would Jesus be at the Royal Wedding? ”

And if  you think this Royal Wedding doesn’t affect real people – that it’s just entertainment and no one really takes it seriously, consider this:

  • Kate and William’s wedding is estimated to come in at $35 million.
  • The median US household income is $52,000 (in 2008, according to US census bureau)
  • 13% of Americans live under the poverty level. (in 2008, according to US census bureau)
  • The average cost of a wedding in the US is $24,000.  This does not include engagement ring of honeymoon (according to costofwedding.com)
  • The average age for a woman at her first marriage is 25.9 years in 2009, according to psychology today)
  • The median income for a woman at 25 years old is $19,000 (in 2003, according to US Census bureau)

Why do people spend so much on weddings?  Because they have these images for what they want.  We wrap little girls in images of princesses and tiaras, horse-drawn carriages and flowing white veils.  They are engrossed in materialistic pornography for their entire life and then grow up to spend half their income or more on a ceremony that is supposed to be about love.  Watch an episode of Bridezillas or Say Yes to the Dress and tell me people don’t have an over-inflated image of what a wedding is supposed to be (and it has little to do with God).

To be fair, I am writing this with my own wedding in my rear-view mirror.  It was an extravagant wedding.  It was an amazing day, and it was a gift from parents that wanted the best for me and my wife.  I also write this with my daughters’ weddings in front of me.  Who knows what I will want or be willing to pay when my girls are married.

My point is simply this: things like the Royal Wedding create a standard – an image – that is impossible to reach.  It creates a model of happiness that is based on little more than material wealth.  Jesus calls us to more.

1 Comment

Filed under Media

April 24, 2011 · 10:05 am

An Easter Moment

I’m not sure why I have waited so long to tell this story, but on this Easter morning as my overwhelming joy is being converted to tears rolling down my cheek, I thought I’d share.  This is a brief story about my ordination last spring.  But I think you’ll see that it is really a story of Easter.

On that evening at Annual Conference I was ordained by Bishop Palmer.  I was given a Bible and a certificate and the authority to preach, teach and administer the sacraments.  On bended knee I accepted the responsibility, privilege, and humbling honor to be called an Elder in the United Methodist Church.  Bishop Palmer, along with Rev. Keith Zimmerman laid their hands on me and called upon the Holy Spirit.

I do not remember much that Bishop Palmer said to me in those moments.  I remember tears flowing down my face, and I remember the feel of his hands on me.  I felt the loving presence of my family – whom I knew to be standing behind me, in body and spirit, amongst the congregation of those gathered.  I knew that members of my church were there as well – beloved saints who had made the drive to be with me on that holy night.  But there were so many more.

As I bowed my head I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit.  It filled me with an unspeakable joy.  Then I saw something I wasn’t expecting.  It was a woman.  A beautiful woman smiling at me with a radiant glow.  She was so beautiful.  Her brown hair and brown eyes glowed.  Her face was youthful and filled with love and joy and I recognized her in an instant.  It was at the same time unexpected, completely real to me, and somehow no surprise.  It was my Aunt Jean.  Then she sort of nodded in a way that said to me, “Look who I brought.” She wasn’t alone.  Standing there with her were my Grandma Esther and my Grandpa Nick.  And with them were my other grandparents Eugene and Lucile.  The five of them stood there for a moment, looking at me with pride and joy.

When I was a boy, I remember going to the Communion rail with my Mom and Dad at Our Redeemer’s UMC.  We would kneel at the railing and take the bread and the cup and linger a little to pray.  I would always wait there, even if I was done praying, because I knew that if I waiting long enough, my Father’s hand would reach out and grip my shoulder.  Then his arm would wrap around me, and I would feel the power of his love and the love of my heavenly Father wrapping me up.  As I knelt at the railing at my ordination, I could feel the loving arms of my father and mother, my sister and brother, my wife and daughter and all of those that had lead me to that moment.

Then I saw my Uncle Larry and Aunt Janie and more and more saints – until I was completely surrounded.  I could hear them clearly saying, “We love you, Robby.”  There was a golden glow that surrounded them and fully embraced me.  I could feel again my father’s arms wrapping me up in unconditional love.  It was the single most powerful moment of my life because, you might have guessed, none of these people dwelled on earth any more.  I was surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses – the resurrected saints of God who were claiming me.

This was not a dream.  This was a holy vision and it was as real to me as holding my daughter at her birth.  It was an Easter moment.

Today we celebrate Easter and I am reminded of the power of the Holy Spirit to conquer sin and death.  I am reminded of the words that I have read at so many funeral services, “Where O death, is thy sting, where, o death, is your victory?”  I am reminded of the words of Charles Wesley, who wrote, “Lives again our glorious King. Alelulia! Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alelulia! Once he died our souls to save, Alelulia! Where’s thy victory boasting grave? Alelulia!”

I feel the sins of which I have been convicted.  I feel the sins of which I have been forgiven.  I feel the sin that remains in this world – the sins of war, poverty, hunger, racism, sexism, greed, corruption and the rape of the earth.  I know that the world threw everything it had at Jesus, and that on this day Jesus rose.  And just as Jesus defeated death, so too will God conquer all of these sins. On this day Jesus won the victory.  On this day life won. Grace won. Love won.

All of those that have died are alive again.  All of the battles I fight as a pastor, as a husband, as a father, as a son, and as a man – I fight surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses and by the power of the Holy Spirit.  I will surely fail.  I will fall and I will be beaten by temptation.  But I will rise; just as Aunt Jean rose.  Just as Eugene, Lucile, Esther and Nick rose.  Just as Jesus rose.

And so I invite you to rise as well.  Claim Jesus as your own.  Claim the victory that Jesus has won.  Be a part of the fight to redeem the world.  Rise and live in the Kingdom of God.  Rise because Christ is Risen.

 Follow the Fat Pastor on Facebook

Follow on Twitter

2 Comments

Filed under Christianity

Tagged as , ,

April 8, 2011 · 1:26 pm

Lazarus: Miracle and Motive

Listen to a podcast of the sermon “Lazarus: Miracle and Motive”

The lectionary text on Sunday is about Lazarus.  The Gospel of John tells us of the illness, death and raising of Lazarus.  This Sunday is exactly why I am not a lectionary preacher.  All too often, the lectionary cuts off stories just when they start to get interesting.

(A note to non-preachers: the lectionary is a tool used by preachers in many denominations to help guide worship.  It is a three-year cycle that offers four different Biblical texts from the gospels, the epistles, the Psalms, and the Hebrew Bible.)

It doesn’t just cut off the story before it gets interesting, it cuts off the story before the most important part is revealed.  The raising of Lazarus, as it is found in the lectionary, is about the power of Jesus.  The story, in typical John fashion, has Jesus almost floating around in his divine cloud, then raising his dead friend with only words.  The one glimpse of Jesus’s humanity is revealed in words of the story, “Jesus wept.”

To me though, the story of Lazarus is not so much about the power of Jesus.  The story of Lazarus is about how people react to this miracle.  The lectionary selection ends with, “Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him” (John 11:45, NRSV).

It sounds like a happy ending.  Jesus raises his friend.  Everyone rejoices.  Many people believe in him – “Woo Hoo!”  Here’s the problem: that’s only part of the reaction.  Ending the story here is irresponsible, and I think is symptomatic of a much greater problem we have in the church (and our culture) today.

Everyone likes the happy ending.  I can understand that, but focusing on the happy ending without also seeing the dangerous ramifcations of what Jesus accomplished simply capitulates to a christianish way of knowing Jesus.

Read more of the story – the part that the lectionary (and thus thousands of churches on Sunday) cuts out:

But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation,and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. So from that day on they planned to put him to death. (John 11:46-53, NRSV)

Here we see the other reaction to Jesus.  In Lazarus, we see Jesus’s greatest earthly demonstration of his power.  We see Martha recognize Jesus as the “Mesiah.”  We see many come to believe in Jesus.  We see Jesus offer life, and ultimately, we see those in power respond with death.

It can be difficult to understand their motive.  Why would they want Jesus dead?  He offers life.  Why would they respond with death?  It is hard to understand. Didn’t they understand what they were doing?  Why would they respond with death?  Didn’t they understand that Jesus offered life? Didn’t they know his power?

The answer is: Yes.  They understood, and that is why they were scared.  Their response was motivated primarily by fear.  They feared Jesus because his was a power they could not abide.  They feared Jesus because he was threatening their way of life.  He was threatening their comfort, their position, and ultimately their power.  The Chief Priests were in power because they had capitulated to the greatest power that the world had ever known – the Roman empire.

They killed Jesus because he offered life, and they knew that the only thing that Rome had to offer was death.  They killed him because he offered life.  They killed him because they understood what his message was, and now they realized that he had real power behind him as well.  Until Lazarus, he was just another reformer.  He was just a vagabond with some followers stirring up trouble here and there.  After Lazarus they knew his power.  They knew they were in trouble.

It is unfortunate that in most churches on Sunday, no one will hear this part of the story, because hearing this part of the story makes us answer the question: What is our response to Jesus?  Who are we going to be like, Martha – calling Jesus the Mesiah, or the Chief Priests – fearing what Jesus might do if he were allowed to live.

Before you jump to an answer, let me offer this: If you don’t have a little bit of fear, then I think you might be christian-ish, or as Kendra Creasy Dean would put it, you might be Almost Christian.  I say this because I think the Chief Priests had it more right than most people give them credit for.  Jesus is dangerous.

Jesus has the power to turn your life upside down.  Jesus offers life, but he also offers a cross.  He offers life, but only to those that would turn their life away.  He offers comfort, but only to those that mourn.  Jesus came to afflict the comfortable.  He came to turn sons against fathers and daughters against mothers.

If we don’t have at least a little bit of fear about what discipleship really means, than I’m not sure we really get it.  Following Jesus can lead people into dark places – uncomfortable, dirty, smelly places.  It can lead us into danger, and bring us into contact with dangerous people.  Following Jesus calls us to our pews and our hymns and our rituals, but it also demands that we go out into the world.  Jesus calls us to love.  And love can be difficult sometimes.

Following Jesus means that we have to love, and its okay if that scares you a little.  It should.  It means that you’re paying attention.  It means that you have your eyes wide open to the cost of discipleship.  It means that you didn’t stop reading the story of Lazarus with the “Woo Hoo!” moment.

The Church, by and large, on Sunday will end the story of Lazarus with a happy ending, but they will forget to see the danger of what Jesus did.  Jesus revealed that his power was of God, and those that held onto Earthly power reacted in the only way they knew how.  But here’s the part the chief priests didn’t understand: they thought the death they gave him would be the end of him.

They thought the cross they hung him from would break him.  They thought the tomb they sealed him in would keep him.

How wrong they were.  And how wrong we are if we think that the power of Jesus is something that shouldn’t be feared.  I hope that when the Church hears Jesus cry, “Lazarus, come out!”  all the people heed his words.

Church, Come out!  Come out of your comfort zone.  Come out of your fortress.  Come out of your “good old days.”  Come out of your sin.  Come out of the lies that tell us how to succeed, consume, spend, buy, then donate and be happy.  Come out of your slumber, and go into the Kingdom.  Come out of your slumber, and go into your  mission.  Come out of your slumber, and go and make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Go knowing that it can be dangerous.  Go knowing that Christ is with you.  Go knowing that the Holy Spirit will sustain you.  Go knowing that love is the only power that lasts.

Follow The Fat Pastor on Facebook

Follow @FatPastor on Twitter

scare

4 Comments

Filed under Christianity, Sermons

Tagged as , , ,

April 6, 2011 · 5:08 pm

Star Wars the Musical

This is, without a doubt, the greatest thing I have ever seen on the interwebs.

There are six parts, and each is about 15 minutes.  To be honest, I haven’t watched it all yet, but so far it is awesome.  It combines clips from the movie, a few decent singers, music from popular musicals, and an impressive use of sweatpants and sweatshirts. The videos were supposed to be embedded into this blog, but for some reason that is not working.  So I just included the six links that will take you directly to a musical that took place “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”

Act One

http://vimeo.com/22019730

http://vimeo.com/22019808

http://vimeo.com/22019890

Act Two

http://vimeo.com/21995764

http://vimeo.com/21995630

http://vimeo.com/21995539

Leave a comment

Filed under Media

Tagged as

March 30, 2011 · 2:44 pm

D’oh!

Today I had another “D’oh!” moment.  You know – those moments when something becomes to obviously clear that you know you should have seen it before.  How many times have I told people to spend time daily in prayer?  How many times have I preached about the power of daily devotion?

And how many times I have begun the discipline, but then allowed myself to slip?  How many times have I picked up a Bible, with full intention to just read, but then allow myself to be distracted by a game of Zuma Blitz or some article on espn.com?

Today I created a new page.  I called it #Fat2Fit and in it I described another effort to rededicate myself to healthier living.  I created a list of things I want to do to be more healthy.  Guess what I left off?  Daily Bible study and prayer.

A few minutes ago I got back to the office from a lunch with some guys from church.  I sat at my desk, and pulled out the Upper Room from my top desk drawer.  I read the scripture it suggested – the story of Daniel in the lion’s den, and read the little devotion about daily prayer.  I thought to myself, “Well, this is an appropriate topic for me to read today, when I’m trying to clean up my life.”

I spent a few minutes in prayer and asked God to help me in my journey from Fat to Fit.  I felt a surge of Holy Spirit power come over me.  I breathed in, and felt good deep inside my heart.  It was a little moment of worship at my desk that gave me so much peace.  Then I looked at the “Thought of the Day” part of the devotion.  1 Timothy 4:7 reads “Train yourself in godliness.”

D’oh!

Isn’t that what I’ve been talking about?  Isn’t this exactly what I need to hear at this exact moment?  After slapping myself on the forehead I literally laughed out loud.  I’m an idiot – an imperfect, fat, slow-witted, good hearted, trying to be better idiot.  I’m training.  Thank heavens God loves me anyway.  Thank God I’m not training alone.

2 Comments

Filed under Personal Reflection

Tagged as , ,

March 27, 2011 · 4:59 pm

Dear readers

Dear Readers,

I’ve spent a lot of time the last few nights working improving the connectivity and marketability of this blog.  I have accomplished a lot, and am hoping to push The Fat Pastor to new levels of traffic with all the work that I’ve done.  Here’s all the new gadgets I’ve been working on:

  • The tagline.  Inspired by Dr. Minor Myers, I have added the tag line “Striving to live well and do good.”  It is the mission statement of this blog.
  • The logo. It incorporates a new color scheme (blue and tan), the name, tagline, and html address into a 200×200 frame, which is usable in a lot of social media pages.
  • The Facebook Page and badge.  On the right sidebar you will see the logo as a Facebook badge.  Click on it, and you will be a follower of the Fat Pastor on facebook.  You will receive updates when there are new posts, as well as occasional status updates (and tweets!).  As of now, I only have 15 followers.  I need you, the readers, to increase that.  Invite your friends to “Like” the Fat Pastor.
  • The Twitter page and badge.  If you are into twitter, you can follow the Fat Pastor on twitter.  It took me a few hours, but I finally linked the FB page with the Twitter account.  Right now I have three followers.  One total stranger.  My wife, and Mike Slaughter (one of my pastoral heroes).
  • The Email Subscription.  If you want to get an email when I finish a post, you can subscribe at the bottom of the page.
  • The only thing left to do is to buy the domain http://www.fatpastor.com.  It doesn’t look like anyone is using it right now, but someone else owns it, so it will cost more than the usual $10 at godaddy.  Oh well.

So there, the Fat Pastor has now reached 2009.  I’m proud of the work that I’ve done, and I’m proud of this page.  I hope you enjoy, and share it with friends.

Sincerely,

Robb (The Fat Pastor)

Leave a comment

Filed under Blogging

Tagged as ,