Mudshot Eyes

If you’ve been unsuccessful in reaching us lately, it’s because Krista and I have been two weeks in Europe, half of which was a mission trip to Estonia where our friends Brian and Renee Alex are serving. I’ll write more about that in the next few days.

For now I want to update you about a decision Krista and I have made recently. Starting next Sunday, June 8, we will begin leading worship together at Emmaus Church in Nashville. Both of us are excited and feel strongly that God is leading us to join with them.

The church was started by a Michael Reddish, a friend of mine at work. Emmaus is reaching out to the atypical church crowd: cynics, homosexuals, church dropouts/rejects, strippers, drag kings/queens, along with a few regular folk that don’t fit in. It’s the most unlikely of churches, with a most unconventional approach to a lot of things. I would even say that anyone walking in with regular church expectations has about an 84.5% chance of leaving bewildered or possibly offended in some way. (So if you are looking to visit, there is your official heads-up).

If you know Krista and me at all, you know that we enjoy traveling off of the beaten path, and Emmaus certainly qualifies. However, our attraction is based more upon the people who gather each week and our opportunity to serve in a way that uses both of our gifts. Along with leading worship, I will also have the occasional teaching opportunities. If you want to know a little more about the church, here is their website.

Each week Emmaus’ worship is shared by anywhere between 10-20 people, depending on what week it is. So while our faith adventure intersects with this small band of Christ-followers in downtown Nashville, we ask for your prayers for us and for the church.

History is crucial for understanding not only the life of Jesus, but also the entire biblical message. A good deal of the Old Testament is historical narrative. The Bible tells the story of God’s revelation in the life and history of the people of God. Without that story, it is impossible to know that revelation.

- from The Story of Christianity, by Justo L. González

The history of the church isn’t much different than our lives. Its story is made up of people who regularly made horrible mistakes, got depressed, doubted God, and found every way under the sun to misrepresent the love of God. However, these same people had big dreams and they discovered redemption through their frailty and faith as they met Christ.

We have a lot in common with those who have gone before us.

Over the next few posts, I’m going to highlight five interesting and influential Christian thinkers from throughout the history of the church. This is not intended to be a list of the 5 most influential people. I have simply chosen to highlight five persons in church history who have intrigued me and inspired me:

- Saint Augustine
- Saint Anselm
- Thomas Aquinas
- Martin Luther
- Saint Teresa of Avila

You may have been to one before: a men’s retreat. They exist only for one purpose and that is to make sure we never attend another one.

That’s what I thought, anyway. My church recently claimed that theirs was a men’s retreat for men who didn’t like men’s retreats. They had my number. I’ve never actually been to a men’s retreat, but my experience had me convinced that these were for high-end extroverts and the cheer-led crowd. I have been to a couple of Promise Maker rallies, where we are encouraged to commit to something besides football, beer, and sex. These rallies are usually highly motivational, full of chants and cheers, and peppered with big name speakers. Personally, I appreciated about 20% of the two Promise Keeper events I attended. I figured a men’s retreat would be about the same.

I have to admit that I was wrong on this one. It didn’t carry the kind of life-changing impact that a visit with the apostle Paul might produce, but from the start it was unassuming and humble. The message I got from the beginning was that we were there to hear from God and his Word by taking time to listen on our own, with the group and in worship. I was glad for the intentional times of retreat-within-the-retreat which allowed me to turn off the noise and listen. This is one aspect of our church which I am grateful for. When we show up for Sunday mornings, a retreat, or any other gathering, I know that we won’t be bombarded with noise, heavy church marketing, or flashy presentations.

Christian events are often planned with non-stop activity, with no time and space for quiet and solitude. I spent four days this past week at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, GA. Catalyst is one of the leading training and motivational events for leaders in their 20s and 30s.

The event was full of top notch speakers, powerful videos, and lighthearted fun. I realize that an event of this size would probably not attract as many participants with this approach, but I still wonder what it would look like to send 10,000 leaders into an extended time of quiet for reflection and prayer. This may or may not be a good idea for an event of this size, but I can’t help but think that we emphasize noise over quiet in many of our gatherings.

Why can’t the church take five minutes in a service for some intentional quiet? Are we competing for the short attention spans of people who are conditioned to a noise-saturated culture? Are we afraid that people won’t have anything to pray about and think about if we are not talking or singing into the microphones?

Consider how a Sunday morning would feel if we took five minutes out of seventy to simply be still, without any music or talking. It would probably feel awkward at first, but that kind of environment would eventually give our ears and our souls the space we need for listening to One worth hearing.