Restore to Factory Default

You have probably noticed by now people can be pretty messed up sometimes.  Oppression and exploitation, empires, abuse and manipulation.  It's everywhere and it's not just "them"; we all have our moments of failure and selfishness.  Please don't think me misanthropic, I just don't believe humanity left to its own devices will ever save itself.  We were not designed for this; we were not meant to live and operate in sin.  In the Beginning God created us good, whole, and sinless.  

Ever since the Fall humanity has been glitchy; some of our files and systems have been corrupted.  Not only are we born broken into a broken world, but we pick up more bugs along the way (wounds, lies, wrong priorities, etc).  Our sin goes against our programming and slows us down from living as God intended.  In truth we become less and less ourselves as we accumulate more problems and stains of this world.  On our own we all will spiral down to the "blue screen of death."

This is where Jesus steps in.  He came to save us from ourselves and our glitches.  By God's grace Jesus comes into our lives and goes about helping us reboot our system and restore us to our perfect factory defaults of Eden.  Thankfully this does not wipe our memories or personality; instead we are freed up from the burden of harmful thoughts, patterns, and behaviors.  We are made new and renewed.  Praise God for accomplishing what only He can.  With this new freedom we are now able to walk in our true identities.  But this world is still a dirty place and we will continue to pick up glitches along the way.  Thankfully by the same grace of God we can be restored and renewed again and again and again.  I know I need this grace.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a coffee shop

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a coffee shop;  
A caffeinated retelling of three parables 
(Matthew 13:44-48)

People love stories; it is a part of how we are wired.  There is no coincidence 70% of the Bible is narrative.  Stories are fun, inductive, and memorable.  Good communication requires the audience be able to recall what was told to them, and studies have found stories are well suited for this.  Beyond simple storytelling, parables require the audience not only to listen but to engage with and decipher the story; to wrestle the meaning out of the parable.  This sheds some light on why Jesus purposefully told stories and parables.  With that in mind let's have some fun retelling three of Jesus' parables from Matthew 13:44-48.

1.  "The Kingdom of Heaven is like searching for the best cappuccino in town, and having found it, joyfully not settling for any other drink." (Mt 13:44)

We often read the familiar parable of Jesus declaring "the Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field" and think of it as just that, a treasure, and miss the meaning of the parable.  Is God's Kingdom the object or the verb?  Can we own or obtain the Kingdom of Heaven?  Or do we seek the Kingdom?  

The Kingdom of Heaven is a verb and Jesus is our treasure.  His parable illustrates the only proper Kingdom response to finding such a great treasure as Jesus is to sell everything and surrender all that we are for Him.  The Kingdom is not a prize but a pursuit.  We do not earn God's Kingdom, but we gladly give up everything for what has been offered to us through Jesus.  

2.  "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a barista who shops around to find the best coffee beans, to find the right temperature and timing to make the perfect espresso." (Mt 13:45-46)

Again we often try and make the Kingdom into an object, a pearl of great value, when in reality the Kingdom of Heaven is like the merchant looking for fine pearls.  The Kingdom is an occupation; it is a way of ordering and arranging our lives.  Have we centered ourselves around Jesus?  As promised in Jeremiah 29:12-14 when we search for God He will be found by us.

3.  "The Kingdom of Heaven is like an open wireless internet network.  It is available to everyone, but you have to get connected." (Mt 13:47-48)

Finally, there is no auto login option with God's Kingdom.  God's Kingdom is everywhere and we have the opportunity to respond to what has been offered us, but it requires us to take an active step; there is no passively entering the Kingdom.  Furthermore the Kingdom affects everyone, not only those logged in, and the reality of the Kingdom will affect everyone come Judgement Day.  There are affects and consequences for both those who log in and those who do not.

I hope you have enjoyed this retelling of three parables.  Jesus is the master storyteller.  Cheers!

Dangers of Music Theory and Theology

Studying Music Theory and Theology both share an inherent danger.  As a lover of both disciplines it is important I guard myself from this common risk.  Music Theory and Theology each serve their appropriate roles as means to an end, but have the capacity of becoming ends in and of themselves.

When I became a student of Music Theory I did so to expand my understanding of music.  I love how music ebbs and flows and engages with the world.  Tension and release.  Music is awe-inspiring, and learning some of the theory which undergirds it has only increased my adoration of music.  But studying Music Theory was never meant to overshadow my engagement with music.  I studied key signatures, chord structures, and harmonic progressions not to gain mastery over music, but to learn how to better appreciate it.  I want to go deeper in my love of music.

But a frustration I encountered as a music major was the belief every aspect of music, the nuance and sense of beauty, can be explained away by Music Theory.  Arnold Schoenberg articulated this academic belief succinctly saying "music need not be performed any more than books need to be read aloud, for its logic is perfectly represented on the printed page"(1).  I reject the belief Music Theory is superior to music.  A work of music does not exist in score form; music is a temporal and physical art (2).  We cannot divorce music from performance.  Theory exists to assist music and not the reverse.  To reduce music down to only theory assumes our modern academic beliefs trump the centuries of musical expression which predate written musical notation and academic analysis.

My approach to Theology mirrors my approach to Music Theory.  I study Theology because God is awesome.  God is infinite in ways my finite mind will never conceive, and I love this about God.  I do not read Theology books and ponder aspects of God's character so I can somehow express comprehension or control over God.  I study Theology to grow deeper in my understanding and appreciation of who God is.  Any time my learning does not increase my wonder of God I know I am doing something wrong.  Theology must be rooted in the truth God is God and I am not.  If my Theology ever tempts me to think otherwise my Theology has become an idol.  Finding security in my knowledge, even knowledge of God, and not in God Himself is folly.  Therefore Theology must be studied with great humility and caution to safeguard it remains a true avenue of intimacy with God.

So why study Theology?  Why study Music Theory?  If studying both subjects has this inherent danger why bother at all?  Ignorance is bliss right?  But the danger is not in the learning and discovering; the risk is in my ability to twist this knowledge to my own end.  I do not need to fear Theology, but I should instead be wary of what I may be tempted to do or justify with my Theology.  Theology is not God.  Theory is not Music.

In the midst of all this let us remember God is worth knowing.  God is absolutely worth knowing.  He alone is the Infinite and Independent One.  For every moment of the rest of Eternity (a number I cannot and will not ever understand) I will be in awe of my God and learning more about Him.  The key is for me to ponder the mysteries of His infinitude and of my finitude.  God Himself said it best:
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9)

1. Arnold Schoenberg in Newlin 1980: 164.  Spoken in 1940.
2. Jeremy S. Begbie.  Theology, Music and Time. 2000. p 55-56.

Christmas is over, now what?

We are now over one month post-Christmas and life has settled back into our normal routines.  Life continues like nothing happened.  But something did happen; we celebrated Christmas and the mysteries of Emmanuel and the Incarnation.  The whole course of human history changed with Jesus's missions trip to Earth.

If Christmas is not a Civil War reenactment and Jesus has truly come into the world, my life today should look different than it did on 12/24/2012.  But how?  Now what?

We must allow the truth of Jesus' coming, dying, and resurrecting to permeate our lives.  Every aspects; every nook and cranny.  We have to live with the truth our world and our lives will never be the same, nor should we allow ourselves to complacently think so.

Where to begin?  When Jesus was about ready to beam back up to Heaven in Acts 1 He lays out the next stage in His plan for global domination/reconciliation saying "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8).  We see Peter in John 21 trying to go back to fishing, to his old life.  But Jesus follows him there and calls Peter back into the identity Jesus has for him.  Instead of returning to our old lives of 2012 let us seek Holy Spirit and God's power to be His witnesses here, there, and the world.

With this call to be Jesus's witnesses we cannot afford to stay in our Jerusalems.  I don't want to sonud too dramatic, but the Greek word for "witness" is "martyr", and our call is to martyrdom in whatever forms this may take.  Sharing the Gospel is risky.  It has always been risky.  It will always be risky.  We cannot wait for a "better opportunity" because such a thing will never come.

If we are truly honest with ourselves and with God, we will realize God loves us and God cares about us, but God also loves and cares about everyone else around the world too.  God in His goodness never promised His disciples safety.  Jesus never guaranteed comfort.  In fact He assures us of quite the opposite (Mt 24:9-14, Mk 13:9-13, Lk 21:12-19).  But Jesus did promise to be with us.  "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Mt 28:20).  We may lose in life, we may suffer, but we will never be abandoned.  This is the mystery of Emmanuel; even now in 2013 God is still with us.

My motivation is not based on a guilt-trip, it is rooted in my Jesus who is with me.  He has called us not only to be reconciled with Him, but also to be agents of reconciliation.  We are Christ's ambassadors to this world (2 Cor 5:19-20).

We have to take the Gospel to the world.  We have to live to see God's Kingdom advanced.  This Advent season the Lord continually reminded me of the billions of people on Earth who have never heard of Jesus's first Advent.  We have to see the Gospel taken to the unreached people groups and the far corners of the globe.  Jesus said the "Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations(ethnic groups), and then the end will come." (Mt 24:14) and we need to take His statement seriously.

May your 2013 be an excellent and Jesus-y year.  May this year not be just another lap around the Sun, but see God's Kingdom come and His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Love and sharing the Good News

Merry Christmas Eve!  With Christmas now only a day away we are preparing to switch gears from Advent to Christmas; from the longings in exile to the joy and good news which has come into the world.  Our messiah is coming.  Through Jesus's birth we see God's love demonstrated; we see the lengths He has gone through to show His love of us to us.  Jesus went on a missions trip to Earth to be our good news.

We remember the awesome truth of Emmanuel ("God with us") who came to this dark and lonely world.  God is with us and we can rest in the truth of His love.  We have the assurance that humanity in all our depravity cannot push God from this world.  Try as we have throughout human history, we cannot eclipse His love; we cannot make Him who is faithful give up.  God's love for this world is too great to be drowned out, and this incomprehensible truth continues to bring me awe.

With this in mind, an often un-discussed but central topic to Christmas is the un-reached people groups of the world.  We can relate to the people of Israel who waited in darkness for the coming of the Lord, and now we too are waiting for the Second Coming.  Our hope is in the assurance Jesus is coming back to bring us home.  Our exile will end and we will be with God.  As we prepare to celebrate Jesus's birth and His Second Coming, there are almost 3 billion (Joshua Project) people who have not heard the truth of Jesus's first coming.  Christmas is about the good news coming to Earth; not to certain regions, not only to the Church, but the whole world.

John the Baptist was sent ahead of Jesus to "prepare the way of the Lord" as testified by all four Gospel authors.  He fulfilled Isaiah 40:3-5 and went before Jesus to be the voice crying out in the wilderness.  John's great task was to go into a dark world and begin testifying about Jesus to any and all who would listen; he prepared the way for Jesus's first coming.  Similarly our great task is to (like John) go before Jesus and prepare the way for His second coming.  Like John we are called to be the voice in the wilderness crying out "prepare the way of the Lord."  We are not called the comfortable, we are not called to the complacent; we are called to "the wilderness" and "the desert".  Our task is not an easy one; we are called to serve the hard, dry, and resistant areas.  Finding such places does not require stepping much beyond our front doors, but on a global scale we have to consider the regions and people groups who have no access to the good news of Jesus.

As we transition from Advent to Christmas may we remember the un-reached who have not heard about our Emmanuel.  We will once again celebrate the truth that Jesus has come into the world and life will never be the same.  May we be people who will take this truth, the light of this good news, and carry it to those still in darkness who have no hope.  May we not look to the Second Coming without thinking to share the message of the First with all the world.