“It”

As per request and continuing with my poetry theme, I decided to post a poem I recently used in a sermon.

“They laugh and smile and talk and embrace and I do too. But sometimes my smile covers a tear. And no one knows. Right now my tear is from an ‘it’. I’m sorry, so very sorry I did ‘it’. I feel like a broken record and the skip is the ‘it’ that never completely goes away. What would they think if they knew my ‘it’? Would the laughs vanish? The smiles disappear? Would the talk be hurled at me? The embrace taken back? Do they have an ‘it’? What do they do with ‘it’? Why do we act for each other when there is no play? There is only life. And that life includes a lot of ‘it’. The point is not to celebrate ‘it’. But only to admit to ‘it’. I am told Jesus knows everything which means he knows about ‘it’. And yet, He whispers in words too good to be true … I died for you. ‘It’ is dealt with. Don’t worry about ‘it’.” –Chip Heim

Boxes

I was moved by a great poem in Brian McLaren’s book, The Last Word and the Word After That.

Boxes

We like things boxed. Cereal,

Candy, soap, gifts, and corpses.

They seem safe when boxed, as are

We. As is God and other

Potential dangers. So we

Sleep in a box, awake in

A box, shower in a box,

Refrigerate food, store knives,

Drive to work, work for hours, where

We stare each day at boxes,

In boxed lives. Boxed-in we live.

Through boxed windows we look out, in.

God, once boxed, broke out, broke free.

But we keep pushing God back,

Our Jack, popping out on cue,

To music, though it’s not fair.

Nests have birds. Dens have foxes.

God will have none of our small

Boxes. God is free, and we

Are too.

Hypocrisy at its Finest

Finally, someone calls it like it is and points out the obvious reality that nobody seems willing to admit.

Check this out.

A New Look at Preaching

A verse in 1 Corinthians stood out to me today and I admit that I’m a bit perplexed by it. The verse is 1:17:

“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel–not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”

When I think of good preaching, wisdom and eloquence fit nicely within my view. They seem to me to be two great aspects of an effective sermon. However, Paul seems to think that using them (to what extent?) has the potential to empty the cross of its power. That is a pretty in-your-face statement. Wisdom and eloquence could have the potential to cause people to focus on the preacher instead of the God being preached about but it seems like even then those are the people who change my view of God. Andy Stanley comes to mind. He has some of the most insightful thoughts on Scripture that I would naturally classify as wisdom but I’m not sure that Paul would. As of now, I guess I’ll put this in the category of Christ being made powerful in our weakness although I admit that I’m trying to wrap my mind around this concept.

My Lesson at Ironman

I spoke again at our men’s morning Bible study for 200+ guys and would love to hear any feedback that you have from my message. Follow this link and click on the message from 9-28-06 called “Dry Shipwreck.”

V for Vendetta

This has quickly become one of my favorite movies for numerous different reasons. I highly recommend it. In the first scene that you see “V” he gives a monolgue that pretty much lays out the movie…did I mention he mainly uses big words that start with V? Here is what he says in the movie:

Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.
Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.

This sounds pretty cool when he says it although as you probably can tell it is hard to know what the heck he is saying. To fix this, one of my buddies decided to take the time to translate this. Here is what he is actually saying in normal language:

Look Here! In sight a humble experienced performer cast in substitution as both sufferer and afflicter by the changeability of Fate. This face is no mere front of excessive pride, is a trace of the voice of the people, now empty, disappeared. However, this brave return of a dismissed annoying imitation, stands renewed, and has promised to get rid of these corrupt and poisonous animals of prey advancing immoral practice and bestowing the extremely immoral and ravenous disrespectful act of will . The only end result is retribution; a feud which both members of opposing parties murder each other, held as a pledge, not in failure, for the worth and adherence of truth of such shall one day make right the alert and the morally excellent.. Assuredly, this soup (potato soup) of words turns most wordy, so let me simply add that it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.