Beyond Eloquence

The only poem I have ever written:

With words an idea is released from its prison
With words a feeling is given flesh
The impact of words is both now and forever
For with words, legacy is left

All nature is subject to the nature of words
For oceans “roar” and thunder “rolls”
And though they do not, words make it so

The abstract is made concrete, the distant made relatable
Words have power to challenge and affirm
Power to affect

Yet within the immeasurable reach of words
There is one limit never to be overcome
For how can words be effective when aimed at You, oh, Indescribable?

You who cannot rightly called “great”
For said word is used for the profane as well
You who cannot be called “awesome”
For that has lost its worth
You who makes the oceans “roar” and thunder “roll”
Are so far above them that describing You is not an option

We who have words may have power
For we wield definition and perception
But praise be to You who dwells above words
Reign beyond eloquence

In Love pt 4

God dropped this in my heart and this one thought has been on my mind all day:

If I love others based on how I am treated in return, I am merely loving myself indirectly.

I do not want to present you with a long exposition of this concept because the impact of it for me is in its concise and convicitng truth. Meditiate on it and allow Him to apply it to your life to bring about change...I sure am.

Bravo Maestro

Last night Amanda and I got the privilege of meeting Maestro Anton Coppola. In Amanda's words "He is probably the most famous person we have ever met." Indeed! Before I get into the thoughts that I took away from our conversation with Maestro, here are some facts about him and his life:

• He is 93 and about 4'10" which already makes him amazing.
• As a child, he sang at the Metropolitan Opera in a children's chorus under the baton of the great Giacomo Puccini
• He has conducted countless operas and musicals and composed and opera himself!
• He has many operas memorized, meaning he steps up to his podium, opens to page 1 of the score, raises his baton, and conducts the entire opera without turning a page. This is a magnificent ability if you consider that he must know every note written for every instrument (violin, horn, cello, oboe, harp, piano, voice) as well as the timing of each second, as well as the volume dynamic. Unreal!
• He is Nicholas Cage's uncle.
• His family created the Godfather films and he conducted the score.

Okay, now you have a picture of the magnitude of this man's life. Amanda and I, along with the a few other friends and colleagues, wait outside his dressing room until he invites us in. He shakes each hand as we enter being sure to ask our name and repeat it back to us. After we showered him in well-deserved accolades, he begins to address us with simple words the simply inspired me.

"Are you musicians?" (most of the group responds affirmatively) "Well, things are really bad right now so it's amazing to see young people like you interested in music. Just know that it isn't...hmmm...you know what, I don't want to discourage you. I grew up in the Great Depression wanting to be a musician and everyone discouraged me because there would be no money in it. But you have to do what you feel in here (patting his heart). You have to devote your life to what you are most passionate about, what makes you feel alive in here. I pursued music with my whole life. Looking back I realize that it probably wasn't the 'right' choice. But it is the only choice that made sense in here (heart) and I still love it today. You have to remain true to what you feel in your heart because that is all that will matter when it is all said and done."

Anything a 93 year old says, I am going to latch on to with a fierce grip. These words, however, gripped me. It was amazing to see such raw honesty. "I realize it probably wasn't the right choice." He admitted that the wisdom of those in his life was valid and that the difficulties in his chosen path were far greater than he could have anticipated. Yet it was still the only thing that struck a chord in his heart (pun-somewhat-intended).

My life is a little different from the average 20 year old. Many big choices have already been made, but in all honesty, there are still many open doors before me. How many times have I considered giving in to what makes more sense, seems more logical, and is just more beneficial? One dangerous habit I see in myself and in my peers is that we tend to make decisions based on the needs of the moment and leave our heart's passion aside waiting for everything to "look right" before we begin pursuing it. Perhaps this is a flaw of the youthful. Perhaps it is a flaw of humans. Whichever the case, it is fatal to defer the drive and zeal we have in our hearts.

Amanda commented on the way home that the reason Maestro was so healthy at such an age probably has much to do with the fact that he has spent his entire life doing what he loves. Being in a undesirable circumstance has a way of draining the life out of us. We have all had to do things we simply did not want to do and most of us exclaim quite dramatically, "This is killing me." Unfortunately, we often do not realize the reality of the lethal effects such a situation may have. If our life is void of passion, it is void. We must acknowledge the dreams in our hearts and pursue them! They are the pulse in our existence. Working a job to make ends meet can be pretty frustrating. However, working a job to make ends meet and seeing your dreams get further rather than closer is the lethal part. What I am saying is that you are responsible to pursue those God-given dreams in your heart that only you know about. Otherwise, you will find yourself empty and resentful in everything that you do.

Be warned, however, that even the life of your dreams can be quite a nightmare. Do not idolize your dream. Every path in life has dark, dark valleys. In fact, that is the whole purpose behind what I am saying. When you find yourself in a valley on the path of your dreams, you may feel like giving up. Yet in that moment, the one ray of hope that can get you through is the realization that "I am made for this."

Maestro's words reminded me of Paul's charge to Timothy. Paul has literally spent his life ministering the Gospel. Yes, he had to make tents on the side to support the ministry, but I can just see Paul biting his tongue as he fashioned those tents considering each one as the funding for one more soul to be saved and reminding himself, "I am made for this." Paul has been beaten, mocked, rejected, abused, and sentenced to death. In his last days before execution, Paul begins to communicate with a vibrant and hopeful young pastor named Timothy. He could have very well told Timothy, "Turn back while you can. Pursue law or farming and make a decent living, raise a family, live a comfortable life, die at an old age. The ministry has bucked me and then trampled upon my head. It is exhausting, frustrating, and painful." Yet, like Maestro did in front of me, I believe Paul still felt a flame in his heart when he pondered his life's passion of preaching the Word. He honestly and boldly exhorts Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:3-5:

"You're going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They'll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you're doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God's servant."

After nearly drowning in the ministry, Paul confidently looks back at Timothy and beckons, "Come on in, the water is fine!" He doesn't say it will be easy. He doesn't say people will respond well. But he DOES say that Timothy is called to serve in this way. He DOES say that Timothy is made for this.

Cue Maestro quote: "You have to remain true to what you feel in your heart because that is all that will matter when it is all said and done."

Please, consider your dreams well. Do not defer them any longer. Even if you can only take baby steps like journaling about what you want to do or making a five-year plan for how you might get your dream started-DO IT! By at least actuating our dreams we find meaning and hope to draw from in everything else. Knowing your purpose fills you with a sense (which means a motivating awareness) of purpose.

As all this is reeling through my head, Maestro concludes his brief but profound monologue. Then with the bravado that only a man of his status could carry, he looks at us and sharply says, "So, good luck and good bye."

Bravo Maestro...bravo.

God on I-4

I commute. My home, my job, and my school are 52 miles apart from each other resulting in a 104 mile commute-5 days a week. I am not complaining, believe me. I love the drive time and how it gives me a great excuse to just sit back and enjoy an hour and a half of my life. I think all kinds of thoughts. I sings ALL kinds of songs. In fact, most of the foundations of my relationship were laid somewhere between mile markers 38 and 58 on I-4. (Anyone trying to work on your relationship should try commuting with your significant other since you are forced to gain good communication when you are stuck in a car doing 70;) This past week I was driving by myself and God started showing me some things that I wanted to write about...

The drastic weather here in Florida lately has notably effected the landscape. In other words, everything is brown right now. Much of the grass that runs alongside Interstate 4 is dry and dead and the trees stand bare like ominous skeletons cheering on the chaos of rush hour. Driving home a few days ago I noted how bleak everything looked. Then God showed me something. Now whether He organized these events for me to see or heightened my awareness to see them I do not know. All I know is as I looked at a tree void of leaves, I noticed how all that was left was the moss that hangs from the branches like droopy sackcloth. As I watched, a beautiful bird, perhaps an eagle (pardon my incompetent ornithology), swoop down and grasp all the moss that it could. The majestic creature soared alongside my car for a few moments until it reached a half-completed nest further down the road. It added the new addition to the work-in-progress and I smirked at how there was such purpose for something I thought was so uselessly ugly.
A few moments later I saw the fields of brown grass that are usually filled with grazing cows, void of any signs of life. Dead grass does no service to hungry cows. A few moments later I passed a row of trees that were dead on the top but had lower branches that were regaining their green vitality. I then saw cows with necks raised up, eating leaves from trees. Cows eating from trees!! Perhaps my child-like attitude towards life attributed more amazement than necessary, but I am still in awe over that sight.
How many times has this dumb cow looked at the grass of my life and fretted over the lack that I see? How many times have I stressed about how everything would work out? How many times have I neglected to see the purpose in moss and low-branches? This is a long passage, but please read it openly. Jesus said in Luke 12:
"Has anyone by fussing before the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? If fussing can't even do that, why fuss at all? Walk into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They don't fuss with their appearance—but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the wildflowers, most of them never even seen, don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don't be afraid of missing out. You're my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself."
Jesus has a way of lovingly stopping us in our tracks doesn't he? According to Him, if we worry, it means we don't really know God. Ouch. We must be steeped in God-reality, seeing things the way He tells us to see them. Where others might see a dry and barren land, we must be the ones gazing upward for manna and looking to rocks for water. When others are looking at the mountains of economic and circumstantial impossibility, we must be the ones who look BEYOND the hills to where our help comes from. If you know your Father, you will trust Him. I need to get to know Him more...perhaps you do too.

In Love pt 3

I saw this a couple of days ago and instantly knew I would have to write about it. Please, study this picture.

Kill 'em all
Let God sort 'em out!
Only God will judge me.

Pardon me...WHAT?!?!?

I am not going to take the time or energy to address the theological inconsistencies with this, and I refuse to try and dive into the political squabble that it is trying to entertain. I actually have no interest in discussing what this person is saying nor am I angry at him or her for saying it. Rather, I am more intrigued by the liberty in which it was said. It got me thinking about the way that I, and other Christians, speak. Our self expressions are often just that, expressions of our very selves. We are often careless with out words, but that is not what I am referring to here. I am talking about when we say what we mean and we mean what we say. In this instance, "Kill 'em all." Even if it was intended to be humorous, it was still intended. How would you feel if you were 'em? The death threat would be bad enough, but then what about the symbol of the cross being used as justification for your murder? I'll admit up front that I am pulling no punches here, but please know that I am not nearly as passionate and enraged about the words on this car as I am about the things I see in myself.

I may never say, "Kill 'em all" but what do I say? What do you say?
"She is an idiot." "I hate people who..." "I want to punch him" "I am so stupid" "People like that make me want to..."
There are plenty of other things I could list, but I hope you can see that I am talking about our emotionally-charged self expressions. Please take caution when exercising your freedom of speech. I would submit to you that as Christians, even as American Christians, ESPECIALLY as American Christians, we really do not have the freedom of speech. When we entered into covenant with God through Christ, we gave up our rights to do whatever we want to do. As I have written in my love blogs before, the way we love others is the very proof of our salvation. When it comes to loving others, it is encouraging to know that as we do so we are doing it unto God. However, that rule applies when we are firing off our verbal bullets. The way we speak to and about others shows our heart towards God. James puts it this way:
"The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!"
How can you kill 'em all, call 'em idiots, punch 'em, and despise 'em, when God made 'em? I am really serious about renovating the way I speak, even in my frustration. The Bible tells me that the things I say are actually samples of my heart. If I can verbally execute someone in a moment of anger, what must my heart look like? I urge you to look at the little (your name)-isms that pepper your vocabulary. It would be a very sad thing for your love, the evidence and completion of our relationship with God, to be compromised by the way you speak. Choose your words wisely and pass them through the filter of love.
...and if you don't have anything nice to say, don't plaster it on your car at all.

Bird Brain

Yesterday I watched the Met's production of Puccini's La Rondine. The plot was basically about a woman, Magda, who had everything except true love. She meets a man who seems to fill her every dream and leaves everything she has to live this alternate life she has always desired. La Rondine, the swallow, flies from the safety and comfort of her nest to find something else. To make a beautiful and long story short, she ends up empty and discontent with this new life and decides to go back to what she had. Obvioulsy there was much more fanfare than that...it's opera:)

However, it got me thinking about being truly content. Are you truly content with your life? Or is the grass greener on the other side for you? A couple days ago I was sitting on my dock with Amanda, my lovely gf, and for once instead of gazing at the sunset on the lake, we were looking back towards the house. Upon looking at our lawn she said, "I never realized the grass was so green." Now you need to know that our lawn is nice, but it is no landscaping marvel. Like most Florida lawns you can find plenty of scorched brown among the green. However, from the distance we were at, all you could really see was the overall color: green.

Sometimes we are discontent with where we are because the brown is so evident to us. We gaze elsewhere and see how much greater it is "over there." Not only is this a sad waste of time and energy, but also a dangerous distraction. Like Magda, many of us may dream of leaving our humble nest and flying to something, someone, some place, that seems more fulfilling. Yet, when we get there we realize it is not all we thought it was. Instead of this flighty behavior, we must learn to be content where we are and seek the beauty of God instead of the beauty of a far off land. If we would stop hopping around staring at the brown blades and would use our wings to get a bird's eye view we might realize that the place where we live has an overall color: green.

Don't be a birdbrain. Love your life. After all, God fashioned it. True, there may be some seriously rough patches, but if you have patience and let Him have control, He can take care of those. Don't fly the coop...renovate it!

Broken Toe-A Lesson Learned

I broke my toe Saturday night. Okay, so I am not medically certain that I broke it, but I hit it pretty bad and I tend to err on the side of exaggeration. My family was sitting around having a nice time and laughing about all sorts of things. I decided to film the moment to capture the memories and the minute the camera turned on everyone got quite. To keep the moment interesting I passed the camera to my girlfriend and got up to taunt our new puppy to chase me around the house as she always does. I began to run quickly, navigating all the obstacles that exist in a house right after Christmas. Yet in my rush, I neglected to dodge the solid oak dining table and chairs. My toe connected and bent in a sickening way and well...the rest is on video to go down in shameful and comedic history.

Anyway, Sunday I was up to preach a sermon called "The Overture of Heaven." I dealt with how God prepares us for newness in our lives. At one point I was discussing the dangers of rushing a season of preparation and the Lord quickened the painful event of the night before to apply to what He was trying to communicate. It was so simple and profound for me that I had to come home and write about it.

Many people believe and understand that God has a destiny for their lives. This grand scheme is overarching and all-encompassing. Yet the Bible also teaches us the the STEPS of the righteous are ordered by the Lord. The daily, tedious, seemingly insignificant progressions of our lives have just as much to do with God's plan as the milestones do. Many times, the Lord puts us in a position to be prepared for what He is going to do next. If you are anything like me, seasons of waiting and slow preparation are quite taxing. Drive, ambition, and urgency are usually very valuable qualities I possess, but when it comes to waiting patiently, they create quite a conflict. This entire year has been a year of waiting in some of the deepest and most personal areas of my life. For almost 8 months of the year I struggled with God to just "get on with it!" As I was preaching yesterday, though, God showed me what that is like.

When you are in a race on a track with a finish line in front of you, sprinting is crucial, especially in the spiritual sense to which I am feebly trying to analogize. Going fast in a place that is built for speed makes sense. However, sprinting in a place that is made for walking slowly-like a house after Christmas-will probably result in breaking your toe. If God has brought you to a place where He wants you to act, please sprint with all your might. However, if he has placed you in a season of preparation, please don't rush. Let Him do what He needs to do. His timing is perfect. When you finally do reach that event for which He is preparing you, the fact that you soaked in every designated second of His divine preparation will make it that much more valuable and invigorating.

...and please...don't run in the house while being filmed.

In Love pt 2

The past few days have been an endless slot machine of emotions for me. My circumstances are like spinning reels and flashing lights and at every turn, a new combination results in a different payout. I have felt more unique combinations of emotion this week than I have in quite some time. How does one feel contentment, grief, and relaxation all at once? Is there a name for being delighted, devastated, and determined? How can you feel all these things in the same day, or even worse, the same HOUR? Yet from this endless emission of emotion emerges another thought pertaining to my recent fascination with true love in Christianity. (If you haven't read "In Love pt 1" you may want to do so, but this thought is freestanding nonetheless.)

Though I may express them a little theatrically, the variety of emotions I have felt do have a name: humanness. Each and every person is so extremely multi-faceted that one individual could feel an innumerable amount of emotions over any given issue. Some say they are "torn" while others call them "mixed feelings." Semantics aside, we all feel much more than our words can keep up with. (That's why feelings are felt instead of spoken) This poses quite a problem when it comes to relationships. You love your best friends because they know you better than anyone else, but what about when that friend has to be out of the country for an extended period of time and that familiarity is removed? You love your family because you can be yourself with them, but what about when they misunderstand you? You love God because He first loved you, but what if you can't feel that love in the combination of your emotional slot machine? How do we love consistently when we are so inconsistent? How do we have deep-rooted love when life seems to bring upheaval to our landscape? How does love exist in the face of tension, bankruptcy, illness, loss, anger, jealousy, and every other anti-love force?

Humor me as I take a dip in the waters of theology.

One "hot" topic in Christianity, or at least Pentecostalism, is the Baptism of the Spirit. There are plenty of opinions on what it is, what it isn't, what it does, and what it means. I don't aim to unleash the fullness of that discussion here, only just a thought. Some say that the "initial physical evidence" of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues. This experience with the manifested power of God's Spirit is indicated by speaking in a heavenly language. Let me say clearly that I fully believe that this and all other gifts of the Spirit are available to Christians today. However, I also believe that being baptized or immersed in the Holy Spirit may have more implications than many people realize. In the days of Paul, there were plenty of cults in which the members believed in speaking in tongues. In particular, Mithraism taught that a person could be filled with a spirit (perhaps of a god or otherwise) and that speaking in tongues was the sign of a spirit coming into the body. Paul doesn't dismiss this totally, but rather launches from it into a deeper point.

"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's Word with power, revealing...but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love." 1 Corinthians 13 TM

Paul writes these words not just as beautiful poetry, but to teach Christians. Chapters 12 and 14 deal with many of the gifts of the Spirit, but here in 13 Paul gives the true meaning. In his day, people believed in tongues and miracles as a sign of a spirit indwelling a person, but Paul distinguishes by saying that the "evidence" of being filled with the One True Spirit of God is love. It is more than just an ecstatic experience producing otherworldly phenomena. The Baptism of the Spirit is an intimate communion with God that grants the believer the power to infuse each and every action with supernatural love. Yes you may speak in tongues, prophecy, and see miracles, but all these things occur within the context of a life of love and that is the true miracle. Being immersed in the love of the Holy Spirit allows us to love people despite what the slots say. It enables us to go boldly into the difficult issues of life and show true love. Many churches stay silent when it comes to suffering, pain, and unexplainable injustice. A group of believers immersed in the Spirit, however, have love so bold that they do not have to run and hide. Someone who has been immersed in true love can see their friends after extended absence and continue constructing community. Someone who has been immersed in true love can push through family misunderstandings. Someone who has been immersed in true love is not destroyed by even the worst report. Baptism in the Spirit brings us into a tangible circle of relationship with the Trinity that manifests in our relationships with each other.

So, continue relying on the Spirit for all the gifts of power for service, but begin relying on Him most of all for the greatest power you could wield: love. He is the source from which we can draw true love. The church must be concerned with evangelism. It must be concerned with social justice. It must be concerned with holiness. However, these things in and of themselves result in fanaticism, activism, and legalism respectively. They are only effective when they are the overflow of a genuine and supernatural love for people. True love is the most supernatural act that a Christian can partake in and it can and must infiltrate every facet of life. If, at any given moment, you are not operating in love...doesn't that mean that you are operating outside of it? If so, your impact is as life-changing as a penny clinking at the bottom of a bucket. If, however, you have been immersed in the Spirit, meaning you have entered into intimate communion with God, the love that will flow from you will be an endless jackpot that will bailout the bankrupt world in which we live.

In Love pt 1

I'm writing this first sentence at 5:27pm on Saturday night. Officially, over the past three days I have had a combined total of seven hours of sleep. Yesterday, I actually headed to bed as my Dad was waking up for work...quite a comical exchange:) I am usually a sleep junkie so this is not usual for me, but a combination of finals week, finishing classes, and Christmas parties resulted in it. Believe it or not, I am pleasantly energized. God has been doing renovation in me and I am exhilarated by what is happening. I know for a fact that the totality of this shift will not be contained in this post, hence the pt. 1, but I have to start putting words to what is occurring in me.

On 11/23 I preached a sermon entitled "The Romance of the Ages" and it dealt with the God's love for us. The conclusion of the sermon pointed toward believers loving others. Little did I know that this closing thought would catapult me into a much more intense personal learning experience. 2008 has been a year of dramatic change in almost every area of my life, but all of that combined seems to be just a pre-game show to what has begun in me this week. I feel like the deepest, most foundational, structural parts of who I am and how I think are being rearranged, renovated, and in some cases, removed. It is hard to explain what it feels like other than to say I feel certain paradigms melting away and new worldviews sprouting. It is all centered around what love really, really, REALLY is and how I can better live in love. As I'm starting to see glimmers of what true love means, I realize the multitude of areas in my life that could use more of it and this thrills me. This is perhaps the deepest, most exciting shift that God has ever initiated in me. Please keep me in prayer as I journey through it because I know that what will come is what I need. Any "In Love" entries you see will deal with this journey of mine. In the meantime, here is one thought that I have had in this overhaul:

What if I did not go to church? Now this is a very hypothetical thought so stay with me. What if my Wednesday nights and my Sunday mornings were totally cleared. What if there was not a "church" in the organized sense that so many are familiar with? What would distinguish me as a follower of Jesus to those around me? Obviously my personal prayer and devotional life could continue, but that's not the question. What would be my visible, public, and evident distinction? The only answer would have to be found in my relationships. Hard work is the trait of a believer but those who do not believe can still work hard. Integrity is the trait of a believer but there are unbelievers who live with integrity. But when it comes to loving people, not just liking them and not just enjoying them, but truly and sacrificially loving someone, we find the unique and defining factor of a true believer...the Bible tells me so. "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”John 13:34-35 NLV.

Okay, now lets step out of the hypothetical and back into reality...does that truth change? Do I have any less responsibility to love others as a means of "proving" my belief in Christ or am I exempt from this burden of proof because I sit in a building twice a week and can sing the songs without looking at the words? Don't get me wrong, I love coming together in a worship service perhaps more than most, but I also recognize that as just a part of the life Christ came to give.

More to come...but now I lay me down to sleep:)

I See The Church

inspired by the events in a worship service on 12/03/08

I see The Church...

...crowned in humble triumph. There is something remarkable about this church as it is existentially victorious and yet evidently undistinguished. Let it be understood that I am not beholding a building, nor am I observing an organization. I am looking at people, precious in His sight...and perplexing in mine. These people are not truly 'these' but rather a 'this.' They are many yet one. The remarkable thing, however, is not the ethereal qualities that make up the nature of this being. The remarkable thing is the way this being-The Church-operates. It is a force of powerful, victorious, rambunctious love. It has tapped into the world's most desirable resource: true Love. 'This' people lives in a world addicted to a drug. The masses call it love, but the insidiousness of this drug is found in the fact that it is the furthest thing from Love. Self-centered, self-seeking, self-gratifying, self-serving, self-indulging and self-destructive. The masses sway back and forth in a riotous fashion reaching, hording, and groping for a fix on the drug and sensations of this pseudo-love. They takes hits of the drug from needles of empty relationships, from pipes of secret sins, and from joints of careless living. This riot pulses, pushing the individuals around like pawns until they reach the edges and are carelessly and quietly trampled beneath its lethal force. In this very same riot world, I see The Church...

...it proclaims justice, hope, restoration, and life. All these are beautiful messages that many people would willingly accept. However, the primary message of this church-entity is also the very thing that causes vicious hate, searing strife, and repeated rejection from the masses: Love. The rioters do not want to hear The Church's message of Love. They are in a continual cycle of either feeling like they are moments away from attaining love by their own might, or like they have just been abused and defiled by it. The rioters have a love-hate relationship with love. It is their unstoppable addiction yet the ever-present carrot dangled before them leading to their own demise. They want it and fear it all at once. Their very definition of love is different from what The Church knows as Love. The rioters hate love, but insatiably crave it. So, between the riot and The Church, there is a language barrier. The Church sends a message of Love and the riot quakes in vile repulsion. They have had enough with love since it is the reason they are caught in the riot. Yet The Church says that God is Love...and therefore the riot hates God. The Church means that Love must be defined according to God, but the riot hears that God is defined according to love. With a skewed definition of love, the riot's concept of God is lost in translation. They see God as an abusive force from which all pain stems, for that is what their love is. They see God as an unattainable goal that strips us of all dignity and leaves us dejected, for that is what their love is. But in the face of this devious definition, I see The Church...

...it is filled with compassion and hurls itself into the riot. Some will most likely be trampled, yet all enter fearlessly. The Church used to be on the other side of the street shouting out its message. Now, its members have permeated the crowd and are whispering in the ears of the rioters. The hands of the addicts shiver and grapple in habitual attempts to find love, but the members of The Church hold their hands still with gentle strength. The eyes of the addicts dart to and fro in fear, but the members of The Church send a calm and piercing gaze that does not break. The addicts push and shove one another, but the members of The Church stand still and take the brunt of the momentum. Slowly, the swaying mass stills and the noise of shouting has died down. Now a roar of whispers is all that remains. The whispers of affirmation, acceptance, and validation are both foreign and refreshing to the addicts. The addicts are puzzle as the members of The Church perform a strange custom they have never seen. They had lived in a riot of taking, but these peculiar people begin giving. They remove their outer garments to warm the crowd. They offer their shoulders to support those who have been wounded. They empty their wallets to those who have been robbed. They give their car keys to those who have none. They offer their homes to all that can fit. A new sound is heard, clinking and clicking as the addicts drop their needles, pipes, and joints. They abandon those old behaviors they had of living life trying to feel love. I do not see a mixed crowd of rioters and rescuers any longer. I see The Church...

...they are one once again. They are the new riot. A gentle revolution looking to overthrow the next riot with love. Concerning this vision, a friend of mine from the Middle East replied:

"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. " (Matt 5:14-16)

Are you part of this community? I understand you may be a part of a church, but are you a part of THE Church. Do you shine enough to bring out the God-colors in a world of colorblind art critics? Is your love backed by action or do you merely give your faith lip service? I see The Church...

...do you see what I see?