Hassidic Hip-Hop Reggae

I love this song by Matisyahu, as he expresses views of G-d from his Orthodox Judaism in a way that I think many Christians could really learn from.  (I'm using "G-d" in this post to be respectful for his tradition.)  

He talks about G-d as water for his soul and the very air that he breathes.  He thanks G-d with joy and passion.  He expresses how the love he feels out of this relationship is so big that walls cannot contain it -- it will rip a hole in the ceiling!  In response, he gives himself to G-d from "the essence of his being" and sings songs of "songs of love and healing".  

How beautiful and powerful!

He also talks about our need to strip away our ego and the things that hinder our relationship with G-d.  Our pride keeps us from relying on G-d.  It's a great reminder at this point more than half-way through Lent that once we've been introspective and identified the ways we wall off G-d, we need to strip them away!  We need to release ourselves into G-d's care and allow our joy to overcome us -- to bubble out in song and in loving action towards those around us!

Take a listen: 

Lyrics - "King without a Crown" by Matisyahu

You're all that I have and you're all that I need

Each and every day I pray to get to know you please

I want to be close to you, yes I'm so hungry

You're like water for my soul when it gets thirsty

Without you there's no me

You're the air that I breathe

Sometimes the world is dark and I just can't see

With these, demons surround all around to bring me down to negativity

But I believe, yes I believe, I said I believe

I'll stand on my own two feet

Won't be brought down on one knee
Fight with all of my might and get these demons to flee

Hashem's rays fire blaze burn bright and I believe

Hashem's rays fire blaze burn bright and I believe

Out of darkness comes light, twilight unto the heights

Crown Heights burnin' up all through till twilight

Said, thank you to my G-d, now I finally got it right

And I'll fight with all of my heart, and all a' my soul, and all a' my might

[Chorus:]  What's this feeling?

My love will rip a hole in the ceiling

Givin' myself to you from the essence of my being

Sing to my G-d all these songs of love and healing

Want Moshiach now so it's time we start revealing

[repeat]

Strip away the layers and reveal your soul

Got to give yourself up and then you become whole

You're a slave to yourself and you don't even know

You want to live the fast life but your brain moves slow

If you're trying to stay high then you're bound to stay low

You want G-d but you can't deflate your ego

If you're already there then there's nowhere to go

If you're cup's already full then its bound to overflow

If you're drowning in the water's and you can't stay afloat

Ask Hashem for mercy and he'll throw you a rope

You're looking for help from G-d you say he couldn't be found

Searching up to the sky and looking beneath the ground

Like a King without his Crown

Yes, you keep fallin' down

You really want to live but can't get rid of your frown

Tried to reach unto the heights and wound bound down on the ground

Given up your pride and then you heard a sound

Out of night comes day and out of day comes light

Nullified to the One like sunlight in a ray,

Makin' room for his love and a fire gone blaze

[Chorus]

So I lift up my eyes where my help comes from

And I seen it circling around from the moutain

Thunder! You feel it in your chest 

You keep my mind at ease and my soul at rest

You're not vexed

I look to the sky where my help come from

Seen it circling around from the mountain

Thunder! You feel it in your chest 

You keep my mind at ease and my soul at rest

You're not vexed

Merry Christmas!

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

God became human.
Yet God didn't just fashion a new body and then strut into town as a powerful and merciful conquerer, fixing all that was wrong.
God didn't choose to be born a prince or to a family of power.

God became weak and powerless...experienced the depths of humanity.
God became flesh as a baby born to unwed peasants far from home alongside animals.
Love became flesh: Jesus.

God did this for you, for me, for all who experience brokenness, for all who have experienced love or joy, for all who feel like the world is crazy, for all of humanity and all of creation...

And now we celebrate this unlikely birth.
Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ. All praise to God!

Have a very merry and joyful Christmas!

U2charist and Yahweh video

So I've begun attempt planning a U2charist with some friends. I've been wanting to do this for a while...and some folks have been asking about it lately...

The idea is to pull together a full worship service, complete with communion, using the music of U2. The band has given blanket permission for their songs to be used in the special services so long as the message ties into the Millenium Development Goals (which is pretty easy) and any money collected goes to a charity that is doing something to help the MGDs along (such as Bread for the World, Lutheran World Relief, etc.)

One of the people who originated the idea has a cool U2charist resource blog, if anyone happens to read this and be interested in more information. (There are also resources HERE.)

Anyway, I found this video and wanted to share:



So I now have an interested guitarist and keyboardist...now I need to find a bassist and a drummer (or I suppose I can play kit for it)...

Dear Mr. President

I just saw a different version of this video on a friend's blog & had to share -- it's just so powerful!



Lyrics - "Dear Mr President" by Pink
Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me.
Let’s pretend we’re just two people and
You’re not better than me.
I’d like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?

Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say
No child is left behind?
We’re not dumb and we’re not blind.
They’re all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell.

What kind of father would take his own daughter’s rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You’ve come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?

Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you ’bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don’t know nothing ’bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh

How do you sleep at night?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Dear Mr. President,
You’d never take a walk with me.
Would you?

Merry Christmas!

Hello world.
On this overcommercialized-Christianized-pagan winter festival day, take a moment to thank God for all the blessings in your life, such as friends, family, food, shelter, clothing, opportunities, etc. Also, take a moment to pray for those on the margins of society -- the oppressed, hungry, poor, lonely, weird, sick, etc.

As you look forward toward the new year, consider assessing how your priorities are reflected in how you spend your time. Maybe make a resolution about how your can make the world a better place. You could decide to pay attention to people around you that you wouldn't normally notice -- to listen to their stories & pray for them. You could commit to making or finding opporunities to serve people who are less fortunate than yourself. You could resolve to find and support a charitable organization whose values reflect your own.

I wish you a very merry Christmas & a happy new year. May you make the most of it. I pray that you are overwhelmed with a peace & joy that surpasses all of your understanding.

Ordinary Attempts

So I recently started reading a blog called Ordinary Attempts. (Full disclosure disclaimer, I've recently started reading over 50 blogs, rather then just a couple, but that is mere trivia.)

Anyway, so an Ordinary Attempt (OA) is basically a really non-standard evangelism. They call it "doable evangelism for ordinary people". Examples include:

• Praying for people who seem stressed out as you go through your day. (No, they don't need to know...you can "pray behind their backs".)
• Free attention giveaways -- actively listening to people and having real conversations. (Isn't it sad that we have to treat this as a new idea?)
• Noticing the people around you as you go about your day -- any maybe even actually thinking about them! (Rather than always thinking about yourself, what you need to get done, etc.)
• Intentional acts of kindness.
• etc.

This reminds me of something that Jacob's Porch (the Lutheran Campus Ministry at The Ohio State University) started doing last year. One of the students there formed "a group of people who are interested in reaching out to others without any ulterior motive. What if as a church we gave away free food and purposefully never let them know where we were from so that this would not be a tool to get them to come to join us or be an advertisement, but simply to tell them someone loves them." Based on the emails I've seen, some of their ideas on ways to seek opportunities to radically show God's grace simply through organized chaos for the sake of love rather than an ultimate agenda or residual reward have included:

• Taking pillows to people in the hospital just because they could use them.
• Giving out free food without telling people who they are, simply because it's nice to do.
• Randomly washing cars in their lot. (God's love is free, so is this carwash...)
• Mobile soup kitchen: setting up a table on a busy sidewalk and handing out soup and sandwiches to those who pass by.

I don't know exactly what they have and haven't done, but I'm intrigued. What if Christians and Christian communities everywhere started doing things merely because they were nice things to do? What if people walked down the street handing out clothing just becuase they realized that they've been blessed with more than they need...more than they can really use? What if every Christian community took the locks off their doors to their facilities, leaving them open to the hungry and homeless...with pantries full of food and sanctuaries full of beds? What if congregants dropped in on the way home from work to lend a listening ear to those who were their...letting them know that they are loved?

When another care cuts us off on the road, what if we prayed for peace for the driver, rather than cursing them and blaring our horns? What if we were courteous to the telemarketers who call us during dinner, praying for God's sustaining presence and spirit to be with them, rather than making a rude retort before slamming the phone receiver back on its hook? What if we, as Chrsitians, really truly prayed for our enemies? Heck, what if we actually even spent more time praying for our friends? What if churches spent more time focusing on the world than on their buildings, furniture, and personal happiness? What if Christians spent more time thinking about others than we spend thinking about ourselves?

What if our understanding of evangelism wasn't 100% focused on "when are we going to tell them about Jesus?" (We already are, in everything we do. See my previous post.) What if we took seriously our vocation as members of the body of Christ? What if today, we started trying to live as the hands and feet that carry on the ministry of healing and listening that Jesus started in the Gospels? What would that world look like?

What if this radical revolution, this modern day reformation, this fire, could be kindled by a single person person or a number of small groups? What if it has already begun?

What am I going to do about it? Am I going to join in the movement, or sit on the sidelines? I certainly don't plan to let other people have all the fun, so what will my contribution look like?

What do you think your contribution will look like?

We are ALWAYS telling people about God...

I recently heard some people express the following statement:

Helping the homeless and hungry is nice and all, but I really feel my
time is better spent preaching the Gospel.

Think about that for a minute. There are several underlying sentiments inherently expressed within that statement, such as:

• The lives of the homeless/hungry are worth less than minutes of my time.
• God doesn't care about homeless and hungry people!
• Helping the homeless/hungry isn't part of the Gospel.
• God doesn't call me to help people, just to preach words at them.

However, one of the most prevalent themes in all of scripture is call to care for the poor, oppressed, and downtrodden! Furthermore, such activity IS sharing the Gospel. As Christians, we are always conveying messages about who God is. If we ignore the homeless, hungry, and persecuted, then we are making a statement that God doesn't care about them!

Instead, if we care for the oppressed, homeless, and hungry, then we are implicitly stating that God loves and cares for them. It is a Christian imperitive to care for the needy. Look especially Matthew 25:31-46, which states that whatever we do to the least of humankind, we do to Jesus.

Furthermore, when asked to point out the greatest commandment in the Law (Matthew 22:36-40 & Mark 12:28-34), Jesus tells people that all the Law and the Prophets depend from:

• Loving God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength;
• Loving your neightbor as yourself.

Author Scott McKnight has identified this as "The Jesus Creed" -- the mantra by which Jesus lived his life. It is Deuteronomy 6:4-9 + Leviticus 19:18.

For those interested in the WWJD question, or more relevantly: "What is Jesus calling me to do?", it seems that the answer is that if we look to Jesus as a role model, we should place incredible importance on loving God, praying, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, helping the poor and oppressed, showing love to all of humankind and creation as a whole, and answering the questions we are asked. If we do that, isn't evangelism automatic?

It has been said: "Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary." This has been attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, but evidence suggests it was written well after his death, though it does flow from his theology. Regardless, the point is well made that our actions spread our understanding of God, and I believe that God values the poor and oppressed, and I believe God calls me to love all people.

Furthermore, mere human words are to weak to convey this gospel, it requires action. The only way to spread this gospel is to expend the time, energy, and resources to feed the hungry, house the homeless, and care for the oppressed.