A text for Ash Wednesday

Lord, you have promised
A text for Ash Wednesday
vv. 1,2,4 2002, v. 3 2006 © R. Lindholtz for the tune “Bunessan” (aka ‘Morning has Broken’)

Lord, you have promised beauty for ashes
Freedom to captives, sight for the blind
Lord, you have promised comfort for mourning
Freedom to prisoners, hope for mankind.

Lord, you have promised gladness for grieving
And for the broken, words that bring peace,
Bread for the hungry, help to the homeless
And to the captive, words of release.

Lord, you provided grace and forgiveness
When on the cross You showed us your love,
Bringing us pardon through your afflicttion
Making a way to raise us above.

As we await the promised fulfillment
Lord, we delight in Your loving grace
For You have clothed us in Your salvation
And we will see You face to face.

Joyful Joyful - a new text

Joyful, Joyful, we Adore You, God of Glory, Lord of Love.
Maker of the world around me, weaver of the sky above.
I believe your hands have made me, fashioned me in every part;
Maker of the earth and heavens, Lord, I give to you my heart.

Thankful, Thankful, we exalt You, singing praise to Christ the Son,
Born among us of a virgin, Heaven’s child and Holy One,
Teaching of your Father’s Kingdom, off’ring up your life for all,
Bursting from the grave, you offer life to those who hear your call.

Holy, Holy, we declare you, Spirit of the Living Lord;
Come to dwell within your people, You are worshiped and adored.
God my Father, Christ my Savior, Spirit living in my heart:
Finish in me your salvation, make my life your work of art!

© 2006 Rick Lindholtz

Monday's Post

Our new Care Group met last night. We had 8 people: 3 couples and 2 singles; one of the couples were members of the church that I pastored 7 years ago, who are now attending CTK (since the previous church closed about a year ago). We've agreed to meet twice a month: once in a home for fellowship, relationship-building, and spiritual encouragement, and once away from home, in service ministries such as feeding the homeless, or things like that.

I shared with our group about the enrichment I've been getting reading the ebay atheist and off the map . One of the recent posts invited Christians and atheists alike to offer one word characterizations of the other. Here's what the atheist said about Christians:

zombie - Fundamentalist - evangelical - Tedious - skeptical (most people are skeptical of what they have to say) - sheep - oppressor - Fat - hate - follower - boring - dangerous - When someone labels him or herself as a Christian, I tend to think of that person as a fundamentalist or someone who holds very strong religious beliefs - sanctimonious - hypocrites.

And here is how Christians labeled atheists:

Muggle - questioning - misunderstood (most Christians don't really want to know the Atheist or what they think) - questioning - empty - interesting - indignant - bitter - Seeker - lost - thinker - Blind - intellectual pride (in the sense of confidence that their brain can figure out and *think* their way through the existence of God; also in the sense that they often express contempt for the intelligence of those who are believers.) (that last one was mine)

Our converstaion at the group led me to write the following, which is now posted and receiving comments at off the map:

I find this entire site and discussion very stimulating. On your person blog you asked Christians and atheists alike to offer a one word characterization about the other side. Some of the replies were honest, some were harsh. My question is, have you ever encountered a Christian whose character and manner of engagement with you challenged the preconceived notions you had about followers of Christ? If you have had such an experience I would find it very interesting to know what you learned about them and in what ways they seemed different than you expected. Thanks! Rick

The idea being that the extremes tend to classify each group in the eyes of many people on the other side of the fence.

This conversation is very worth listening in on. AMong other things, Hement (the atheist) reveals something we should evaluate very carefully:

“I’m always listening for something I can take back with me (whether in person or on TV). If it’s an anecdote, wonderful. If it’s a lesson I should learn, fine. If it’s only someone spouting Bible verses, it’s in one ear, out the other. Unless it’s in a context I can enjoy listening to, the scripture part of it will do very little for me”

Incidentally, the pictures are not coming up on my blogs because they are linked to the CTK server, and we've just redirected our DNS to point to the site that is hosting our new website. We haven't yet made advantage of all the new features, but we're very pleased with church fusion.

Jibstay - a good read

My friend Don N. Johnson moved from the midwest to Santa Barbara, just down the hill from where Alicia and I first met, where he is pastoring Montecito Covenant Church. He's started blogging too, and often has great stuff to post. I've always enjoyed Don's way of seeing life and experience through a homiletical eye, and this post is no exception.

A Theology of Glory

The church that bought Lakewood Church's former facility has this page up on their site. Take a look. Note the ticket price, the attire suggestions and the gift suggestions.

"Without the theology of the cross, man misuses the best in the worst manner". - Luther

Off the Map's "Ordinary Attempts"

I found them because they are the people who bought the ebay atheist's church attendance for $504.00. I love their slogan: "Helping Christians be Normal". And I am very impressed with their approach:

"Christians still don’t really believe me when I say 'We are not trying to convert Hemant' . The purpose of this assignment is not to get Hemant saved (using some secret methods he can’t quite figure out). The one and only purpose of this assigment is to have Hemant tell us christians what he thinks about us and our products and services (we call it a service don’t we?). I would like to suggest that we refrain from trying to overtly or covertly convert Hemant and instead ask him questions about his experience, observations and thoughts after parchuting into our world. We are the ones who need to be converted - Hemant can work his own issues out with God (or his non god)"

The Ordinary Attempts section includes stories chronicling a very nontraditional approach to evangelism -- ordinary activities that you’re already doing. Not a program, pitch or presentation, but a simple shift in how we view the people formerly known as lost. Jesus said, “If you give a cup of cold water to a little child because you are my disciple you won’t lose your reward.” Matthew 10:42

Our culture's equivalent of a cup of cold water is attention.

Here's my oa (in as close to 200 words as I could make it):

After Hurricane Rita, we welcomed a man and woman into our home for 2 weeks. The woman professed belief in Jesus; her friend had been raised in catholic schools, rejected his faith, was a 60’s radical for a time then a Jehovah’s witness before totally rejecting faith in God. He seemed to use his impressive knowledge to keep people at a distance.

He went downtown to search for work and his car broke down. I drove down to pick him up and as we waited for the towtruck, we talked. I just listened mainly to his story. At one point he marveled at the feeling that despite his repeated rejection of God, God seemed to be “still pursuing” him.

After a long pause I asked “Why do you suppose that is?” He took a few deep rapid breaths and mumbled something and changed the subject.

On the drive home, as he continued to speak abstractly of God I requested permission to ask a question. “How do you see Jesus fitting into all this?” He spoke for a few minutes of his understanding of “the Christ”. Then he asked me who I thought Jesus was and I described my understanding.

At the end of two weeks he told me that he felt re-discovered by God.

Paul at the Grammys

This guy's an awesome entertainer and performer. He played two numbers at the Grammys and here they are. "Fine Line" sounds better live than it did in studio. And "Helter Skelter" never sounded better. (Press Play)

My confession.

OK, I admit it. I have a habit. Ebay. I'm into it. I buy. I sell. I buy and re-sell.

There. Now that I have that off my chest, I can share the most unique auction I have ever seen. An atheist auctioned his church attendance. Offered to go to church for $10 a visit. Any Chicago-area church the buyer chooses. It sold for over $500.

I've written to the winning bidder asking if he would share the rest of the story as it develops over, presumably, the next year. I'll keep you informed. I also see that the atheist will be blogging about his experience here.

Here is a link to the auction for as long as it stays up (usually 30 days after the auction ends).

Here is the basic text of the auction:

I'm a 22-year-old Atheist from Chicago. I stopped believing in God when I was 14. Currently, I am an active volunteer for a couple different national, secular organizations. For one of them, I am the editor of a newsletter that reaches over 1,000 Atheist/Agnostic college students. I have written several Letters to the Editor to newspapers in and around Chicago, espousing my Atheistic beliefs when Church/State issues arose. My point being that I don't take my non-belief lightly. However, while I don't believe in God, I firmly believe I would immediately change those views if presented with evidence to the contrary. And at 22, this is possibly the best chance anyone has of changing me.

So, here's my proposal. Everytime I come home, I pass this old Irish church. I promise to go into that church every day-- for a certain number of days-- for at least an hour each visit. For every $10 you bid, I will go to the Church for 1 day. For $50, you would have me going to mass every day for a week.

My promise: I will go willingly and with an open mind. I will not say/do anything inappropriate. I will respectfully participate in service, speak to priests, volunteer with the church if possible, do my best to learn about the religious beliefs of the church-goers, and make conversation with anyone who is willing to talk. (Though I do reserve the rights to ask the person questions about the faith.)

I will record my visits through a journal, pictures, or whatever other method of proof you'd like-- I will uphold my promise.

Will I become religious? Well, I don't know. I really do have an open mind, but no one has convinced me to change my mind so far. Then again, I have also never attended a real church service. Perhaps being around a group of people who will show me "the way" could do what no one else has done before.

If the Irish Church doesn't work for you, we'll just find some other place local to me. I'll go to any place of worship-- a Christian Church, a Catholic Church [revision: I realize a Catholic Church is a Christian Church... so let me rephrase. By Christian, I mean Protestant], a Mosque, a Synagogue, etc. They're all nearby. Makes no difference to me, but perhaps it's your faith that could change the mind of this Atheist.

I also assure you that if you bid on this, I will write an article about my experiences in the newsletter mentioned earlier. The article would reach over 1,000 college students who share my current views. Even if you don't end up changing my mind, perhaps you can change theirs.

If you have any questions about this auction, I'd be glad to answer them.

Jesus Creed

I am finding so much good reading in Scot McKnight's blog. His breadth and volume of output is very impressive, and the community that is interacting with him is enriching.

The past week or two Scot has been posting on "Jesus and Homosexuality" and while he's not done, there's just so much good in there - a balance of grace and truth that hits the spot.