Calibrate

At Trinity Lutheran Church Brownsville, TX

What's in a name?

The day before yesterday the Lord united these two in Holy Matrimony.  He used me to do it.  It was a great celebration.  After the blessings, prayers, vows and ring exchange it became real–I pronounced them Husband and Wife.  Both Patricia and Gerardo got a new identifier that day.  For the first time they were announced as Mr. and Mrs. De La Rosa.  Patricia got a new last name, and was called wife.  Gerardo was called husband.  The pronouncement of those words–wife, husband, Mr. and Mrs.–they indicated something changed about this man and woman after stepping up to the altar that day.  Names are important.  They are important to God.  They give us identity–like Child of God.  God calls us His Children.  And when He does–we are.  Through the vows and pronouncement of God's blessing this man and woman became husband and wife in the eyes of God.  Through my signing their marriage license they became husband and wife in the eyes of the State of Texas.


Self given names are a different story.  Self identification is a different story.  We can self identify wrongly.  We can can self identify selfishly.  We can self identify ignorantly.  Words matter.  Names matter.  And sometimes what we call ourselves, the boxes in life we check, don't give an accurate picture.

There has been quite a bit of heated opinion about a recent Pew Study (what's that?-Wiki Pew Research Center) that has indicated a change in the "religious" landscape of America.  Let me save you all the messy reading.  The major finding of the study is that over the past 7 years the number of self identifying Christians has declined by 8 percentage points–from 78.4% to 70.6%.  That's significant for 7 years.  In the same period, those who identified themselves as "unaffiliated" has risen over 6 points from 16.1% to 22.8%.  There are the numbers, folks.  Now let's talk about them.
Remember: names are important.  They are important to God


Calibrate

A lot of my feelings in response to the results of the pew results are not new or special.  I agree with a lot of what others have already said–like this pastor in Canada eh!
Everybody Panic!–why we are all wrong about church decline.
At the heart of the matter is being able to let the results speak to us.  And the best way for the results to speak to us is to listen to what's being said.  A knee-jerk reaction is to simply look at the drop in those self identifying as Christian, and clutch our pearls in fear.  But because Jesus–great big ole Jesus is Lord and King of the Church, let's listen closer.  The majority–the near whole of those who are no longer identifying as Christian, aren't identifying with any organized religion.  They are not following Allah, or the teachings of the Buddha, or the pantheon of gods in Hinduism, or any other religious value system.  They are identifying themselves as "unaffiliated."  Some of us in the business call them the "nones"–not Nuns, but "nones."  As in the religious affiliation box is check marked "none."  So isn't that a negative thing?  It is if we believe that this shift is an actual change in real faith in Jesus Christ.  But some folks, myself included, believe that the 8 percent shift is actually a symptom of something else.  It is the death of the Nominals

See "nominal"–think "name."  Like nombre in Spanish means "name."  Nominal Christians–the nominals–are those who are Christian in name only.  That doesn't mean they are big 'ole sinners or anything like that.  It doesn't mean they are "bad" Christians.  If you show me a "good" Christian, I will tilt your head and make you see a Christian who doesn't need Jesus–that is to say no Christian at all.  Nominal Christian doesn't mean that they didn't put enough in the plate last year.  A Nominal Christian is truly a Christian in name only.  Somebody who self identifies themselves as Christian for a myriad of reasons that has nothing to do with faith in Jesus Christ as the savior of the world.  Some may identify as Christian for cultural reasons–as in it's an American thing.  Some may identify as Christian because baptism is cute for the picture album...plus it couldn't hurt right?–placating Grandma by going to church on Christmas Eve and Easter keeps you in the families good graces, and the cash stuffed birthday cards coming–having a moral structural system looks good on college applications, and in the community sphere–etc. etc.  I think a large portion of nominals identify as such because...well they know they aren't anything else.  So Christian is the least demanding from people who have no clue–at least here in America.

So here is where the death takes place.  The death is in the need to identify with a religion–with an organization.  It's a tendency that has been sick for a while.  And the past 7 years or so–it has begun to succumb to its injuries.  Here is somebody who says it better than me.
Nominals to Nones: 3 Key Takeaways from Pew’s Religious Landscape Survey

Thank God for the Pew Study.  I'm not encouraged by any declining numbers.  I am encouraged by followers of Jesus.  I am encouraged by faith in Jesus Christ–as it manifests itself in many different forms.  The death of some pressure–whatever that pressure might be, to identify as Christian apart from the faith and obedience to God's Will that actually believing in Jesus brings, leaves something behind.  It leaves a number behind.  Maybe that number is 70.6% of Americans–it's probably less.  But we are moving in the right direction.  Towards a direction of truth.  The remanent of the death of the nominals is this–believers.  Followers.  Christians.  Children of God.  The Kingdom of God remains.  And so I don't see these declining numbers as a fall, a failure, or any indication that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is any less effective than it was in the 1950s–or any other time.  I see it as a calibration.  It is a calibration of the real truth of things.  And for that I am joyful.  Because we have a clearer view of the mission field.  I rejoice because we have a bigger opportunity to Gospel people with the good news of Jesus.  I rejoice because the label Christian is being moved closer to what it was in that 1st century Church.  It is moving closer to indicate a follower of Jesus.  Thanks be to God!

Wild things

I never saw a wild thing 

sorry for itself.

A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough

without ever having felt sorry for itself.

D.H. Lawrence

Wild things

The above poem from D.H. Lawrence is titled "Self Pity."  It was highlighted in a movie that I watched for the 3rd time just the other day–G.I. Jane.  You can see the clip here
It's kinda true.  At least from what I can tell, wild things, do not feel sorry for themselves.  I don't know if a wild thing can really "feel" anything like humans do–but it doesn't feel sorry for itself.  Hungry yes.  Threatened yes.  Loyal some animals yes.  Happy probably.  Sorry for itself–as in self pity...no.  What do wild things have to do with the Jesus' Kingdom?  Well more than we might think without looking further into it.  God likes the creation.  All of it.  Not just humans.  God likes all of the creation.  He knew what He was doing when he made it.  God's Word–the Bible, talks about the creation A LOT.  Like a lot, a lot.  Jesus talked about the creation too.  He talked about wild things.  Mr. D.H. Lawrence is not the only one who talked about the nature of small birds, and what they can teach us humans.

"Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them..."

–Jesus (Matt. 6:26)

Jesus was in full-out teacher mode that day on the mount, when he spoke those words.  Jesus was a good teacher.  He was a good speaker.  Jesus was masterful at the use of rhetoric.  He use to do this thing–let's just call it lesser to greater.  Jesus wanted to make an important point, and so he would bring the hearer carefully to the understanding of a simple point–something like "Hey look at those birds living their little bird lives.  They don't seem very stressed out over where their next meal is coming from."  The simple point would be that the Heavenly Father feeds His creation.  Because He likes His creation.  Because He cares for His creation.  After the simple lesser point was made, Jesus would drive home the thesis, greater point of His teaching.  He continues in the same verse

"...Are you not of more value than they? [the birds]

–Jesus (Matt. 6:26)

Jesus likes the birds.  But Jesus was not interested in talking about birds that day.  Not really.  He wanted to talk about other created things–you and me.  And so in true Jesus fashion, He didn't encourage us to the party of one, navel-gazing that usually fits so comfortably on us.  Jesus points us outwards to wild things.

Woe man

Woe is me!  It's a favorite song of ours.  A seductive picture.  An alluring addiction.  We like self pity.  Even if you aren't the quintessential pity party of one, you like self pity.  I know you do.  Because, I do.  We all do.  It's the reason that our heart beats a little faster when the people that sat down after us at the restaurant get their food first.  It's the reason we are stabbed in the heart a little bit when we find out we weren't invited to that one get-together.  It's the reason that we sometimes go to bed collecting all of the terrible, sad, unfortunate moments of the day, and hit the repeat button in our mind.  We are quick to pity ourselves.  We kinda adore it.  Deep down we do.  And I think it's because it's the easiest way to deal with pain of this world.  The sin of this world.  Pity is the easiest form of pain to feel.  Because it's out of our hands.  It's what's being heaped upon us.  And so we translate a lot of the hurt of this world into self pity.  Pity is the tasty poison.

I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself...

Teachers in our midst

And so why are Jesus and Mr. D.H. Lawrence interested in us looking to the birds?  Assuredly, these two men are on slightly different trajectories.  But there is commonality that remains between them, and that is fantastic enough to highlight.  Wild things are teachers in our midst.  And the lesson?  Being a creation.  Wild things know that they are a creation.  They, and we, were created to worship God.  Whereas, we make the SELF, the infinitely small part of who we are in our self-to our self, the universe-shaking Governor of our lives–wild things don't.  Wild things worship at the thrown of God when they are fed by what the Lord provides.  Wild things worship when they expect the rain–the good rain, and the bad rain.  Wild things worship then they receive from God both good and bad, abundance and famine, favorable and unfavorable, and without any pity or confusion at all, live as what they were created to be–His creatures.  Are you a creature?  Yes–thank God, yes!  You were created.  That makes you a creature.  In fact you are the best created, creature.  You are the pinnacle of His creation.  You turned the Creators "good" work, into "very good" (Gen. 1:31).

"...Are you not of more value than they?

Free lunch

The good, the bad, and yes, the ugly will continue to come our way.  We will pout.  We will drink in pity.  But every once and a while...stop...find a bird to look at (seriously they are everywhere, you won't have a hard time finding one).  These, and other wild things remind us that good and bag things come to everyone, everything, everywhere.  And yet one goliath truth remains–God has not forgotten a single one of His creation...not now, not ever.

"and yet your heavenly Father feeds them..."

And yet...yet...your Father feeds them.  "Yet" is a beautiful word.  It's a Gospel word.  It's a Kingdom of God word.   "Yet" is our word.  Pity is on repeat, yet that song is almost played out.  The world is broken, yet Jesus' Kingdom is coming.

Need a reminder?  Look to the wild things.

Best served

It's Cool in the Furnace

Looking the wrong way

Last Friday we had our spring musical and BBQ at St. Paul Academy.  "It's Cool in the Furnace"–a telling of the story of Daniel and his buds Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in a heated situation.  (For more read the first 3 chapters of Daniel in the Bible).  I could say a lot about how proud I was of everything–but I'd rather say a little.  It was a great night.  They are great people.  A lot of hard work.  One thing I like to do when I go to big worship service, a performance, a concert, or something similar is to watch what everybody is doing.  No I don't mean I like to people watch–I do that at the airport and the mall.  I mean I watch what everybody working the event is doing.  I often find myself looking the wrong way because to me, what's going on up front is only a piece of the show.  I like to see everything that it takes to get an event going–the orchestration of it all.  It's definitely something to see.  Last night I saw a lot of servants.  Servants doing things they liked to do, were trained to do, maybe even were born to do (we might have a future actor or two).  Now here is the best part–nobody was more important than anyone else, and nobody was working harder than anybody else.  Everybody was doing there part–and it was just happening.  And, unless I looking you the wrong way, I might have missed it.

The proper ingredients

One of the things that I believe–am wholly convinced of–have swallowed feathers and all–is that God's Kingdom is filled with all kinds of different people.  I don't mean red and yellow, black and white.  I don't mean tall and short, guys and gals, old and young.  I don't mean any of that–although it's all entirely true.  I mean it's full of people who like different things, who are good at different things, who excel at different things.  And,  just one of the cool things about God is that he uses us just as we are.  Jesus didn't pick guys that were just like him to follow and be His 12 witnesses.  God used all kinds of people throughout the scriptures to serve Him.  Different people and one God.  Different strengths, and one God.  Different times, and one God.  Different personalities, and one God.  Different problems, and one God.  You get the idea.  The constant here is God, and what He does with His people.  It's undeniable.  Something beautiful happens when God's people get together.  It's beautiful.  Let's just take a second to gawk at it.


Plan A

What if God's Kingdom had to be that way?  What if you need to be in His Kingdom–here and

now– because you fulfill a specific role?  I believe it is so.  Here is the really cool part.  It's not like God is just working with what He has available.  I do not believe He looks at us and thinks to himself, "now what to do here?"  You are not lemonade because sin in the world has given God lemons.  Are we sinners?  Yes.  Is sin still a hauntingly relentless factor.  You betcha.  But having particular strengths is not a result of sin.  And God's Kingdom (here or heavenly) doesn't make us the same.   Will we be good at everything in heaven?  I have not clue.  Will you continue to excel in what you are good at now?  I have not doubt.


Exponential 

There is an extremely cool idea that C.S. Lewis plays around with in his novel "The Great Divorce."  Lewis writes fantastically about a group of travelers taking a bus ride to just outside the gates of heaven.  They find out that inside the gates God has glorified the strengths and weaknesses of people in the Kingdom of God (heaven).  Strengths are better.  Weakness have been transformed into beautiful things.  I think Lewis is on to something.  What if in the future Heavenly Kingdom, what we are good at now is made exponentially better in the service of others and God's Kingdom.  What if you are going to be more YOU in heaven?  The glorified you–the non fallen you.  What a glorious thing indeed.  So I want to rejoice in all kinds of service now.  Not just what's going on up front on the stage, I want to rejoice in the whole production of life.  That's you–however, wherever, whenever you serve.  Serve God.  Serve others.  What's the best way to serve?  Well...like you do.

-DK

Small and scared

A damp downtown Harlingen

"The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever."
Isaiah 40:8


Small and scared

Last night there was a large thunderstorm that hobbled it's way across the Rio Grande Valley–deep south Texas where I live.   I know that some were not particularly looking forward to the rain.  I know a few who were not all that fond of the thunder; especially if they needed to get up earlier than usual this morning (cough, cough-Jennifer).  Thunderstorms are beautiful–as long as they don't directly effect my everyday life.  I mean who wants to be woken up every 10 minutes by thunder that rattles the windows and seems to vibrate the whole house?  Well nobody really.  But who can control such a thing?  No me–not you.  And that brings to mind something that we all know deep down.  Whether you love a good storm, or would rather it miss you just to the north, storms don't ask your opinion.  Storms don't belong to you.  Storms are big–and you are small.  I know because I am small with you.  Small.  That's a good word for it.  If you haven't felt small while a storm rages, a tornado looms, wind destroys, water eats away, and lightning zaps–well then you haven't been in a big enough storm.  Truth is it just takes the right weather to remind us that we are small and scared.

Yesterday yet another earthquake hit Nepal.  It wasn't small or scared.  It was a 7.3 on the Richter scale.  That's BIG!  Add 19 more people killed to the death count of the previous earthquake.  That's over 8,000 people killed.  If you don't remember what it feels like to feel small and scared turn on the news–feel small and scared for the people of Nepal.


Against the grain

Most days we would stand back with arms folded and snicker at small and scared.  But some days, different kind of days, we understand small and scared.  But let's not kid ourselves, these days are the exception.  Too often we are convinced that we are big and in charge.  In charge of our day, in charge of our circumstances, in charge of our breath and strength, in charge of our life.  We are in charge right down to the miniscule.  If you don't believe me go sit at Starbucks and listen to the audible *huff* of a patron who just found out that the supply of half-and-half has run out–and before you laugh turn to make sure that it's not me.  Truth is friends, we don't like to be small or scared.  We darn sure don't like to be small and scared.  Out of our control, well it's just not chic.  But sometimes the big and out of our control strikes us.  Sometimes it strikes us in a small way like wind, rain, lightning and thunder.  Sometimes it strikes us in a more substantial way like natural disaster, cancer, mental illness, war, or plague.  And when it does, we are made small and scared.  It goes against the grain.


Make room for "I AM"

I don't like small and scared.  I don't applaud small and scared.  Small and scared is not good by any stretch.  I do however find value in the small and scared moments of life.  Not because it puts us in our place.  Not because people need to be taught a lesson.  Small and scared is not something to play with; and it's not a romantic idea.  But when we are small and scared, we will do anything to be under the shelter of something that is big and strong.  There is only one thing, one person, one force bigger and stronger than the big scary stuff in life–God is bigger, God is stronger.   The children at our childhood ministry remind me of this often.  "My God is so great, so strong and so might, there's nothing my God cannot do."  When you are small God is big.  When you are scared God is steady.  Sometimes it is only when we are caused to shrink back and be small that God can fit, and sit in the comfy chair of our lives.  God being big to us is good for us.  Because it's seeing clearly.  Because God really is big.  He's the biggest.  In fact nothing is out of His control.  Not even that thing that has been continually rubbing your mind raw with worry.  I'm serious, He's huge!  When we see things clearly, not in a dark dirty mirror, we get a glimpse into Jesus' Kingdom.  A place where God is neither big nor small–He's everything.  Let's just be small and scared together when those times come.  And let's look towards God together when those times come.  Let's hide under under His roof together when the storm comes.

A guy by the name of Buddy Davis–who works with "answers in Genesis"–wrote a song with a line:

"I've often wondered what Noah thought, after the flood when he felt a raindrop"

-DK

First things first...

Not necessary

I am not a blogger.  I don't REALLY know what that is, or what a blogger does–not really.  I guess they just give commentary on stuff.  I know I'm not really a blogger.  I do know however, that I like to write.  I do–I like to write.  At first I thought I would be a lifelong student.  Who knows?  But I think this has been a consideration because I like to write stuff.  Oh I must mention that I really, really like Jesus too.  So writing about Jesus is a good thing for me.  I am not a blogger, but having a blog just might be the best way for me to write and share with whomever might be interested.  You love Jesus too–this blog is for you.  Writing is good for me.  Writing is necessary for me.  Is it necessary that I have a blog?  No.  But what the heck, why not?  And so this is going to be a blog about Jesus–and Jesus related stuff.  Thoughts and opinions are my own and do not necessarily represent the thoughts and opinions of St. Paul Lutheran Church Harlingen, TX– a congregation where I have the privilege of being one of the pastors.  This will be good for my personal development.  That makes it good for people God has placed in my general sphere of interaction and influence.  So is this blog necessary?  No.  Do I have unique insight into anything at all?  Seriously, highly doubt it.  But as with so many things in 2015, there is no need for this thing–it's just a thing.

About the title 

Thy Kingdom Come?  Let me start by saying that I take very seriously the idea the Kingdom of God/The Kingdom of Heaven.  It's a thing...a real, real thing.  We pray "Thy kingdom come" in the Lords's Prayer because we are actually asking God to bring His Kingdom to us.  It's a way of asking Jesus to come back and finish it–come back and get us believers–bring an end to sin, sickness, evil, suffering and death–to bring the Kingdom that He promised (Revelation 21 and 22).  But you know what?  What if I told you that Jesus' Kingdom is already here?  In many and various ways the Kingdom of God breaks into this world here and now.  We see it all the time...we recognize it rarely.  We still pray "thy kingdom come" because––well it's not here enough.  We want His Kingdom more here.  And so there is a final act of the story that is still coming our way.  Jesus is still planning His return trip.  But this blog is only slightly about that return trip.  It is largely about the now time, this time–the waiting time.  Thy Kingdom Come is a kinda sorta blog about that waiting–Jesus' Kingdom in the process of coming to us.  It's starting now, and it's being perfected later.

So now

If you would like to join me for one, a few, or more than a few of these posts–Great you're invited!  I don't know how often these will come out.  I guess they will come out as regularly and fluidly as Jesus' crashes into my life to teach me something.  I think you can subscribe via email down at the bottom [insert downward facing arrow here].  Or I will make new blog posts known over Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Snapchat–just kidding!  But seriously I will share the link on Facebook at the very least.

A transparency for the reader:
-I don't think that I or this kinda sorta blog is a big deal.  I'm not important, influential, or unduly popular–at least not any more than the next person.  The very thought of "having a blog" makes me wince a little.  Blogs are for people with something to say...or at very least somebody who people want to hear–regardless if they have something to say.  In spite all the negative stuff that comes to my mind when I think of blogs and bloggers, I'm choosing to look at the positive.  I'm choosing to ignore the copper-like taste in my mouth when I think about being compelling enough to have a blog. But *sigh* it's a way to write, and share.  And even better–it's easy for you Mr. and Ms. Reader to join along or ignore.  And so without a dash of false humility about the smallness of any work of mine, I am dedicating any joy, encouragement, growth, or peace found in these kinda sorta blogs, to you: the reader.