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After attending a retreat with top environmental scientists and evangelical leaders (I was representing Vineyard because the national director couldn’t make it), I found myself working on a project to remind evangelical pastors that environmental stewardship is a normative part of Christian discipleship. Sounds pretty obvious. Except that a few big time evangelical leaders have for some reason decided that climate change is bogus and somehow a problematic issue to tackle from a faith perspective. Read the rest of this entry »

Psalm 7 this morning, and something accumulating or dawning already in this slow motion walk through the prayers of these psalmists. When it comes to content, how polite my prayers are in comparison to theirs.  All these years of skim reading the psalms doesn’t  do  the difference  justice.  But the discipline of lectio lets you slip into the mindset of the  psalmists.   And you realize these lads are praying  straight from the amygdala, the reptilian complex, the limbic system, or some of the most primitive parts of the brain. Read the rest of this entry »

Second or third morning on psalm 6: I weary in my sighing/I make my bed swim every night/ with my tears I water my couch/From vexation my eye becomes dim/is worn out because of all my foes/Turn from me all you wrongdoers/for the Lord hears the sound of my weeping (7-9). Last night Ebony said it well, reflecting on the model of daily prayer she inherited: “I was expected to pray with weeping and screaming and bleeding, and I just didn’t have the energy for that on a daily basis.” Sometimes you just can’t keep up with these psalmists in the intensity department…. Read the rest of this entry »

Of course it figures that I’m a U2 fan. Went with daughter Grace and two other friends to the IMAX yesterday after a funeral, the dear brother of a dear friend. So the heart was already well pummeled over and tenderized. The movie is about as close to the concert experience as is possible. The sound was enormous. And again, as at every other U2 concert (four live ones under my belt, hoping for more) there is this liturgical quality in the best sense–a joining with others to experience one’s self beyond the borders of one’s self, which is, so far as I can tell, the quivering nerve of mysticism. (You may drop out from this post now if you’re in a cynical, or even a sober-minded mood, because this will only get worse…..) Read the rest of this entry »

This morning psalm 4 meditative reading, verse 4, “Quake, and do not offend./Speak in your hearts on your bed and be still.” An extended time of stupid thinking on “quake.” For all the concern about moral trespass in much of contemporary evangelicalism (for all its foolishness, yet the most vibrant form of Christian faith on the planet right now), there is little exhortation to quake. Somehow this lodged in the morning’s meditation. What does the psalmist know that I don’t that allows him to urge others to quake, as if they ought to? Can, on command? As if quaking is something one does, something that is part and parcel of knowing God.

Lectio seems to invite us to accept the experience of the psalmist and to see the world through the eyes of the psalmist. The meditative part is to suspend disbelief or criticism of the psalmist long enough to simply see the world through his eyes for a time. Like the movie Cloverfield, Read the rest of this entry »

Second or third morning on psalm 4, Robert Alter translation. I’m still intrigued by the process or way of praying that is meditative rather than analytic. Which is not quite the way of saying it because thought is happening. But it’s more like awareness. Stupid thinking. Or very slow thought. The thoughts don’t cascade as in normal thought mode. Whatever it is, it’s a different way of being inside your head, and it’s an important way of being inside your head. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m off to our MLK day world cafe at church, then a blues concert at the Ark in A2 this evening. So I’ve got MLK on my mind today. Great op-ed piece in the NYT this morning with a wonderful quote from the man himself: “So this morning as I look into your eyes and into the eyes of all my brothers in Alabama and all over America and over the world I say to you: ‘I love you. I would rather die than kill you.’The love of enemies is the pressing concern of the Spirit, the challenge, the demand of the Spirit to the church in the 21st Century. We’ll be judged on this one, so I’m thinking we better bore down into it. Read the rest of this entry »

After a long bout with depression and cynicism, my father (many years ago) got himself turned around and toward God. He spent a time of personal recovery hanging out with my imprint pastor Dick Bieber at Messiah Lutheran Church in Detroit (they are no longer Lutheran, however.) Dick took my dad to a meeting of local pastors, who were doing what pastors are want to do when they gather in professional circles, that is to say piss and moan about their congregations–how they don’t get it, etc. My father, a Christian newbie, took them to task: “Why don’t you stop pretending you’re set-apart- from-the-flock professionals, and go home and actually join your churches, instead of treating them like a bunch of dissatisfied employees. I thought Jesus was looking for shepherds, not hirelings.” An awkward moment ensued. Read the rest of this entry »

Saturday morning prayer is usually about the sermon. So rather than mediate on a psalm (4 is up next) I let things spin out from the sermon, third in the happiness series on the role of focused attention through gratitude and pondering-dwelling on the good as forms of meditation. Mechanics of prayer this morning: lit a candle, read over the sermon notes based on Philipians 4: 1-9, then closed eyes and gave myself over to the focused attention practice of gratitude (meaning decided to spend a chunk of time in prayer to let my mind/heart/brain focus on things I’m thankful for.) Read the rest of this entry »

I am amazed to meet so many young or aspiring pastors [or staff members of para-church organizations like Young Life, Inter-Varsity, Campus Crusade, or those involved in exploring international missions through YWAM or other organizations] who don’t have, know, or connect with a trusted advisor-pastor. Someone who knows them, cares about them, and has their long term interests at heart. And maybe as important, someone who has earned their trust. Read the rest of this entry »