Lindberg Family Living on the Edge - Mission Updates

Changes

Fri, 2 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Dear Friends,

I was informed last week that AIM would no longer be subsidizing my position. They are going to essentially outsource the work to a local company.

For the foreseeable future, I will still be working for AIM, but only on a contract basis and this will eventually end also. If you are a supporter and have not already been contacted, please know that we still need your support to be sent into AIM. We'll inform you when things change. If you have any questions regarding this, please contact me.

I have been applying at multiple places and have gotten a few nibbles. Feel free to lift me up in prayer job-wise.

Also, if you know anyone that needs a web developer or teacher, let me know. :)

I will no longer be blogging at this site, but have moved to gothere4.wordpress.com. The content of this blog should remain here indefinitely.

If you would like to get an RSS feed or emails from my new blog, you can do either on the right-hand side of gothere4.wordpress.com.

Thanks, it's been real.

Tree of Knowledge

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Did you know that Genesis mentions TWO trees in Eden? The tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. The only tree God told Adam and Eve not to eat from was the tree of knowledge. The implication is that they could eat from the tree of life all they wanted.

When God discovers their sin of disobedience, He says to Himself ..."The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." Genesis 3:22. Can you imagine having to live forever in this mortal, sinful body? As my good friend Bubba points out, God banished them so they wouldn't have to live forever in their depraved state. In other words, the only way to save them was to banish them from Eden. Wow. I always thought they were kicked out as punishment, but he did it for their own good. That's crazy.

A few years ago, I heard Andrew Shearman talk about the trees. His point was that man is still doing the same thing he did in the Garden: we're still going to the tree of knowledge when we should be going to the tree of LIFE! (That's how he says it - with an English accent.)

I know that I had heard about two trees, but for me, there was really only one tree: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life was just the part of the verse I skimmed over. Lately, God has been showing me how I still do this. I want to KNOW: Why is this happening? What does my future hold? Why am I like this? What should I do? How will it work?

Yes, I know we're supposed to study and know the Word: "Study to show yourself approved unto God", "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you", but my knowledge will not save me. Only Jesus, the giver of life can do that. My knowledge keeps me worried and wondering about the future. Focusing on Jesus causes me to focus on the now. Jesus is Life, he created it and all life exists because of Him and in Him. I don't want to go to the tree of knowledge, I want to go to the tree of LIFE! I want to live this life that God has given me with my eyes focused on him, not on me.

Wrecked

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

In the little sub-culture (AIM) I get to hang around in, we have a bunch of our own buzzwords and TLA's

AIM = Adventures In Missions. I know, it was easy, but it was there... Also, it's not 'AIMs', please, I beg you.
OTF = On The Field; as in "He's not in the office, he's on the field." I'm not sure why it isn't "In" the field...
ATL = Ask The Lord, an exercise we do OTF in which we ask God what he wants us to do, test what we think we heard, and then, if appropriate, DO IT!! Tres cool.
Wrecked; as in "God wrecked me." Please see a more detailed explanation below.
Speak Truth Into; As in "I spoke truth into their lives." I'm not really sure about this one. I've been hearing it a lot lately. I think it might be a fancy way of saying "I said something that was true." Such as "God loves you," "You're forgiven," etc.
Came to faith; As in "He came to faith in Christ." Most people would say "He was saved."
TLA = Three Letter Acronym. Thanks to Jeff Dunn-Rankin, a YP*, for this one

There are more, of course. Meet me for lunch and I'll tell you some.

Do you remember the first time you went into the deep end of the pool**? For some bizarre reason, you decided to face the twelve foot deep monster under the high dive. Once you jumped, you looked around and thought "Wow, I did it. That wasn't so bad!" You even tried to get your friends to join you, knowing that they, too, would enjoy the adventure. After this, you only wanted to swim in the deep end. You were 'wrecked' for the shallow end of the pool.

Wouldn't it be cool if that's what life was like? Can you imagine what it would be like if your normal, average life wasn't good enough, that all you wanted to do was throw your life into the wild abandon of living for Jesus?

Right now, my life feels pretty normal. I know it's silly, but this is really bothering me. I think that maybe I'm addicted to the rush of being OTF. I keep waiting for something spectacular to happen so I can blog about it. As a result, I've been spending a lot of time begging God for guidance. "God, show me the way to go." "Help me!" "What do you want me to do?" "Can I have a wave runner?" You know, the typical stuff.

His answer to me has been "Fix your eyes on Jesus." "Seek Me and be glad in Me." "Cast all your anxiety on Me." "Trust the Lord with all your heart."

I keep trying to turn my focus inward, while He tries to get me to put my focus on Him. I know, it's crazy...

*Youth Pastor and all around cool guy from Venice, Florida. I was talking about doing an ATL or some such and he said "AIM has a lot of TLA's" and then he waited, staring at me until I asked him what the heck a TLA was.

**I've done a statistical analysis and it appears that I'm 32.6% over my limit of "deep end of the pool/life" analogies. I promise to stop for a while...

***The picture above is of Tori, Kaylie, and Lane Walker OTF. They were helping people load donated supplies into their cars after Katrina and then praying with them - all on their own initiative. That's my babes...

Identify

Wed, 2 Sep 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I worked for Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) for three and a half years. Just like most jobs, it was alternately fun and exasperating. Overall, it was a good job: I learned a lot, was well paid, and got to work with good people. I got laid off in September of 2003.

Just like any layoff, it was pretty traumatic, but that's not what I want to write about.

It was more than a year later that I stopped identifiying myself with the DART name and logo. Every time I saw a billboard, bus, or train with the DART logo, I had to remind myself that I didn't work for them anymore and that that was OK.

I've talked with other people who have had this happen and it seems like a common occurrence. When you work for a company, you do not really notice it because it is not a problem. When everything is peachy at work, you don't mind being associated with a commercial or product. As a matter of fact, you're kind of proud and that is probably OK. But, once you are no longer part of that organization, it is difficult for you to separate yourself from what was, at one time, your identity.

Everyone does this to some extent. When you are young, you identify with your school, team, friends, family, boyfriend/girlfriend, and (maybe) church. As you get older, you may identify with your college, hometown, company, husband/wife, and family.

People in ministry find it very easy to get their identities totally wrapped up in their work; their lives ARE their work. When someone leaves, gets fired, or laid off from ministry, they feel that they have been betrayed. Everything they are is tied up in serving God through a particular ministry or church.

The problem is, Christian companies and churches are the same as secular organizations in that they are run by people. You know, humans. They have contrasting goals, poor communication skills, different ideas about the best way to do things (gasp!!), and egos galore. Also, no companies have morals and goals; people have morals and goals. A company cannot have morals any more than a car can have morals. It is people that matter.

I've been doing some writing/thinking about how churches should not use marketing to do outreach because marketing, by its nature, focuses on groups, not people. Now I'm going to turn that around. Are you focused on some sort of group or organization for your identity?

I have this picture in my head of a person walking through life carrying bits and pieces of their identity. The pieces are all the things in your life that you have been told were true about yourself by friends, enemies, bosses, parents, siblings, etc. It doesn't matter if these bits of identity are true or not, what matters is we believe that they are. All the pieces come from outside of you.

Then, something happens to make you lose a piece of your identity. You get laid off, hurt, shamed, divorced, or scorned and find yourself sitting at home with a piece of you missing. When this happened to me, I spent the next two years finding a new identity and I have spent the intervening four years building on that identity. But I'm still building it with human/outside pieces.

I think that, just like churches need to focus on individuals, we need to focus on one person for our identity. The one person who will never betray us, the one person who really has our best interests at heart, the Man from Heaven who knows our true identity; Jesus.

I wish I could say "Follow me, I know where to go" but I can't. I CAN tell you that I'm the person above. No, I haven't been laid off, scorned, or divorced, but my identity has been shaken. The bits and pieces I carry around are falling off and I don't like some of the things I see beneath the facade. I am trying to "find my identity in Him", but I really don't know what that means. I'd love to be able to weather all life's storms with the calm assurance that I am a child of God and that he loves me without measure. I know he does, I just can't seem to add that to my facade.

Here's hoping that it's all just part of the process...

Lindberg Family August Update

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Hi all,

Here the latest news from the Lindberg family. Let me know what you think.

mark

Humiliated

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

When Carla and I were about 22, we worked at Starfire Day Camp in Tijeras Canyon outside of Albuquerque. It was a blast. We were both counselors and she was responsible for the music teepee. We also got to be 'horse' counselors. This meant that when another counselor's kids were riding horses, we took that counselor's spot at the horse ranch while said counselor stayed at Starfire and took a break. It was one of the funnest things I've ever done; riding a horse around the mountains of New Mexico.

Fast forward one year.

I decided to work for the University of New Mexico Conferences Services and Carla went back to Starfire. One day, Carla told me that they needed help for a day and that I would get to ride horses again. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance. I was out of practice, so I only helped one kid get onto her horse. I got onto my horse and the next thing I know the owner of the stables was yelling/screaming at me, asking if I was the one who helped this particular girl get on her horse. I said that I was and he told me to get off of his horse and to never set foot on his property again. All this with twenty people I didn't really know looking on.

I was so stunned that I was speechless. I had no choice but to comply, so I left. Turns out that all summer someone from Starfire had been forgetting to tighten the cinches on the horses' saddles and kids were falling off. When he saw that the girl I helped had a loose saddle, he thought he found his culprit. He didn't realize that I was not working for Starfire any more and hadn't been there all summer. Although he acknowledged that I was not the one he was looking for, he said that he still didn't want me to come back. I don't remember what I said after hearing that, but I'm sure it was something Jesus would have said...

I was humiliated. Even as I'm writing this, I can feel the burn that washed over me while he was yelling at me. This event is one of those things that I've tried to let go of and have mostly succeeded, honest. And of course, there are other times I have been humiliated that caused much more pain than this one. In the scope of life, this one event wasn't much. I'll live.

The past months, I've had some experiences that I would call humiliating. They were made all the worse because they happened in full view of people that I knew and respected. In addition to that, I had to go into these situations knowing that they might get ugly. I did a lot of "Please take this cup from me (#14)" prayers, but it was very clear to me that He wasn't going to. So, with the full confidence that God wanted me to be in these situations, I went, kept my mouth shut, and did the best I could to have a good attitude.

I'd love to say that because I was ready, it really wasn't that bad. However, if anything, it was worse than I expected. I would also love to say that I had a good attitude the whole time. I didn't. But I know that God's hand was in it and that he was with me.

Hebrew 12:3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you do not grow weary and lose heart.

Pure Relationships

Fri, 7 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

From "Letter to My Young Friend."

After you read the words below, you might be tempted to say "Hey!! That was about dating! I hate it when he talks about that!" I promise you, it is not about dating. As a matter of fact, let's take the act of dating out of the picture completely. Instead, let's talk about pure relationships.

After you get married, there are certain rules that you need to apply to your relationships if you want to STAY married. You may not agree with all the rules, but believe me, if you break them, you'll be asking for trouble.

As much as you can possibly avoid it, don't be alone with a member of the opposite sex that you are not related to.
Don't hold hands with a member of the opposite sex that you are not related to.
Don't kiss a member of the opposite sex that you are not related to.
Don't have sex with someone who is not your spouse.

Can we agree that these are good rules? I don't think they're that difficult or abstract. I've been married for nineteen years and have followed them. (OK, except for the holding hands thing. What is it with those kumbaya moments at church? Is it a rule that we have to hold hands? No offense, but I don't want to hold hands with anyone I'm not related to.)

Bottom line: when you are married, you are not allowed to do anything on the list above with someone who is not your wife.

So, what about the girl you are hanging out with right now? Is it OK to do all the things on the list with her? Again, walk with me here... Is she your wife? No, she isn't. So, if after you get married you are not allowed to break these rules, why is it OK to break them BEFORE you get married? Do you honestly think that, just because you're married, you'll suddenly be chaste and save yourself only for your wife?

I'm not saying you can't date - really. Maybe we just need to redefine dating/relationships. Is it possible to really get to know her and still apply all the rules listed above? Yes, it is. When you finally get married, which would you rather tell your wife: "Don't worry, I've been practicing!!" or "I've been saving myself for you."?

Can you imagine what it would be like if your wife said that to you?

It's going to be difficult, but you can do it.

More to follow...

Letter to My Young Friend

Mon, 3 Aug 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Hi, I've been meaning to talk to you for a while about this, but haven't been able to find the words. It may sound crazy to you, but I'm actually kind of worried about you and the path that you're (#13) on.

Part of the reason that I haven't written is because I'm afraid that you won't listen to what I have to say or, even worse, that you'll dismiss what I'm saying because you think it isn't relevant. Another reason I've been reluctant to speak is that I think you'll ignore what I'm saying because I'm older than you and I've seen many people your age reject what older people say, simply because they are older - I know that I did. If you missed the dripping irony in that statement, you should probably stop reading now.

Lastly, I don't want to be labeled with the "J" word. Yes, I'm talking about being called judgmental. Believe me, I'm perfectly capable of being judgmental. It's easy and fun to point out other people's failings while ignoring my own. Think of what I'm saying now as more of a "I've got some problems in my life and many of them are a direct result of doing the same, exact things you're doing right now" kind of attitude. Remember Solomon in Ecclesiastes? "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." Yes, even at the advanced age of 44, I am still striving to make friends, be needed/relevant, find meaningful worship, deepen my relationship with God, and find my purpose in the world. Just like you.

So, here we go...

How many R-rated movies can you watch before your thinking begins to bend to reflect the the mores of the people who make those movies? How many hours of prime time TV does it take before you start to think like them? The same applies to music, books, and anything else we use to fill our minds. Seriously, how about 10 movies? 20? How many hours of TV a day? 1? 3? Think about it.

You want to learn to be more like God, right? How do you do that? Spend time in his word, right? I know you know that. Walk with me here...if you spend twenty minutes a day in the Word and four hours a day immersed in the World, which one is going to win?

The scary thing is that it's very subtle. You're not going to wake up tomorrow a totally changed person, but you will be a little different. And the next day, a little different. And so on. I'm sorry if this sounds melodramatic, but remember, I'm looking at this from way down the road. I've already seen these changes in my own life and I wish I could take them back. Now I'm watching God slowly change my life so that I look more like him, but it's much harder to change at my age. Think about trying to bend a tree: the older the tree gets, the harder it is to make it bend without breaking it.

No, I'm not saying you shouldn't watch anything. But, if God is calling you to purity, how would you know when very little of what you put into your mind is pure?

More ranting to follow...

Better Than Jesus

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I've never had a beer. My church in Fairbanks used to serve wine for communion, so I've had a sip of wine a few times. It goes without saying that I've never had any hard liquor, although I guess I've just said it.

When I was younger, I made sure that everyone knew that I did NOT drink alcohol. Of course, I also didn't smoke or party. I had my list of unacceptable sins and, whether I wanted to admit it or not, looked down on those who committed them. Believe it or not, there are repercussions from this attitude that still linger in my life.

When I was 20 or so, I was invited to a graduation party. I refused to go because they were serving alcohol. I still know the people who invited me and they haven't forgotten how I slighted them. They aren't angry at me, but, about two years ago, when I asked if I had ever apologized for my attitude, they said "no." I didn't score points for my purity, I caused damage to our relationship because I put my image over all other concerns.

The irony (hypocrisy, really) was that, at the time, I was involved in some serious sin. Sin that had the potential to cause much more damage to my life than having a beer. And yeah, the effects of that sin are still with me.

But it was OK, because I was being better than Jesus.

Why is it not OK to have a beer, but it's OK to be a glutton? Why are homosexuals reviled but adulterers are ignored? Why is it OK to hate someone else's sin, but to sweep ours under the rug?

I'm kind of scared that if Jesus were living in the US today, we would be the Pharisees, standing on the outside of the crowd, wondering why this guy wasn't acting like us. Then he would say that we were whitewashed tombs; beautiful on the outside, but dead within.

The Desert Road

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:00:00 GMT

So, how are you? It's been a while for me. I don't know why, but it's been very difficult for me to write lately. I read a blog from Jon Acuff titled "Refusing the Gift of the Desert Road" and it really spoke to the way I have been feeling.

In Exodus 13:17-18, Moses tells of how God took the Israelites on the desert road toward the Red Sea instead of taking the shorter route through Philistine country. God said, "If they face war, they may change their minds and return to Egypt."

Think about it. They (the Israelites) saw the shortcut. But the cloud starts going the long way...and the road is rougher. Did they complain? Was there some guy standing there with a map or some ancient version of a GPS device pointing out the impracticality of going that way? I can see it happening because that's what I would have done.

I'm a shortcut kind of guy. In 10th grade, I had a teacher tell me "Lindberg, if there's a shortcut, you'll find it" as I was turning in some homework. I knew he was trying to insult me, but I chose to take it as a compliment and thanked him.

I haven't changed much. As a programmer, I even get paid to find the most efficient way to get things done: shortcuts. Yes, I know that sometimes you have to take the long way around, but I'd still rather go the easy way.

When it comes to my life, I want the shortcut. I don't want to have to spend a lot of time and effort getting to know people, I want to have a deep relationship right way. I want to lose weight now, I don't want to have to be careful what I eat and to exercise. I want to be the exact person God wants me to be NOW, I don't want to have to go through the trials required to be more like Him. It hurts. Walking on this road is hard and everywhere around me is desert.

Sometimes I get so discouraged. Haven't I been on this road long enough? At times it seems that I can't even see the grass on the other side of the fence and when I can, it looks just as bad as my side. When will I have learned what He wants me to learn so that I can move to the next level - whatever that is... When this happens, God usually (not always) shows me something like the verses above and reminds me that He's doing this on purpose. I am where He wants me to be, even if it doesn't look like what I think it should look like.

About three weeks ago, I was begging God to speak to me, it was one of those "throw me a bone" moments. I know He answered. He said, "Go read your Bible." So I did. Honestly, nothing big happened. God was just reminding me that if I want to hear His voice, I can always find it in His word.

Several of my friends are on this same road with me. I've spoken with many people who are struggling with life right now. Not necessarily tragic circumstances (yes, some are dealing with very tragic stuff), but rough and/or unpleasant. I hope that these thoughts are an encouragement to you - the idea that God could be taking you the long way around because He knows it is what you need.

Giving credit where credit is due - the idea for the article comes from Jon Acuff on Stuff Christians Like. The beautiful picture is called "High Lonesome Road" and is from Eric Vondy's Flickr stream

People, Not Groups

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

There's an old line that says, "Communists love people, but only in groups of a million or more." The implication is that Communists and Socialists don't care about individuals and everything is sublimated to the State and the greater good. Just in case you missed the subtlety there...

I think that this is the approach marketing takes. Again, I don't think that marketing is a bad thing. If you want to reach large groups of people, you need to treat them like, well, groups.

I even love the study of demographics. Sometimes, when the girls and I are watching TV, we switch channels and try to figure out what kind of show is on based on the commercials. For example, if there is a football game on, there are not going to be any commercials for baby food. There will be commercials for beer and cars. It was during one of these times that Tori noted that Dr. Pepper commercials are structured exactly like beer commercials...who says the Lindbergs never have any fun?

But, is that what the church should be doing? Should we be trying to reach groups or should we be trying to reach people?

In the entry "Betrayed," I wrote about the fans of Insane Clown Posse (ICP) who, in my opinion, were betrayed by the band and by advertisers when Viacom bought ICP and marketed it back to the fans. In a way, I feel like this is what has happened to the church. It has been bought by marketers and is now being sold back to the fans. Why do I feel this way? Because when I go to church, I get marketed to. I'm always a member of some group: a member of the congregation, a Sunday School teacher, a father, a potential committee member, a male, a Sunday School member, a tither. But that is not who I am. I'm Mark, the goofy guy. I'm Carla's husband. I'm Kaylie and Tori's dad. I want to be totally sold out to Jesus, but I will NEVER be totally sold out to a church.

The thing is, I AM a member of all the above groups. And, if the emphasis of a church is to reach large groups of people, I guess they have to do marketing. However, I do not think that should be the goal of ANY church. WDJD? He focused on twelve individuals for three years. He discipled them and got to know them. The sad thing about many churches is that, even when they try to do small groups to have a more personal touch, it still has a marketing feel to it.

The problem is that you can't market Jesus, his message is all wrong:

You have to give up your life
You have to be a servant
You have to seek good for others, not yourself
You have to give away the things you want to keep
You have to be simple
You have to be like a child
You have to die to yourself

Nothing from the above list is good marketing fodder.

I know I'm WAY too cynical about marketing and I'm not sure the church has a chance in this fight. But, if anything, that's my point. The church cannot win the battle of marketing against the world's advertisers, mostly because Madison Ave execs are generally missing anything resembling scruples. I think that the PEOPLE in the church need to start living the way that Jesus demonstrated and stop depending on the Church to do our work for us. When our friends and neighbors start to see humble, caring hearts and changed lives, then they will want to know what we have.

What do you think?

*The picture in the entry is entitled "The symbol of Brasilia" and is used with permission.

Update

Wed, 27 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Hi all, I've got a family newsletter posted for your reading pleasure. It comes in two versions:

Hope you enjoy them.

Mark

Betrayed...

Fri, 22 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I read an article the other day on Townhall.com that really got me thinking. The article is "We Must Do Better By Our Children" by Rebecca Hagelin. I recommend that you read it.

The article talks about how marketing today is much more hidden and insidious than it has ever been. I don't think that marketing is necessarily insidious - it's just a thing - but I do think it's more hidden and subtle than ever before. I'm going to summarize the video as briefly as I can and then get to the meat: Marketing in the Church.

In the article, Hagelin references a Frontline program called "The Merchants of Cool" and she recommends that you watch it with your teens and talk about it. I watched the video and I DON'T recommend that you watch it with your teens. I trust and admire Hagelin, but there was much in the video that shocked me. So, if you end up watching it, just know that I'm giving it a major content warning. Frontline showed some things that were being broadcast on MTV and some stuff from a few popular movies that I wasn't prepared for (the Frontline program was made in 2001).

The video focused on the efforts of Madison Avenue ad execs to market products to people who don't want to be marketed to; teens. It talked about the Mook. A normal, everyday, teenaged, fictional male who never grows up. His quest is for fun and he is obsessed with sex. Not only do advertisers want males to watch the Mook on TV, the advertisers want teens to BE him when they get older.

For girls, Frontline called the perfect advertising character the Midriff. Apparently, baring one's midriff is a sign of empowerment and girls find their identity in what they are (beautiful), not who they are. I wasn't shocked at the ideas (alas), but I was shocked at the ages of the kids that were trying to market themselves so they could "make it."

The last segment of the video is called "Teen Rebellion: Just Another Product." This got a "duh" from me. Of course teen rebellion is marketed and sold. Frontline showed a bunch of kids in line for a concert by "Insane Clown Posse" (ICP), a band that does Rage Rap. The kids were dressed in goth/emo style and had their faces done up with a stylized black on white or white on black clown makeup. Frontline interviewed the kids in line and then the band members. The fans said (paraphrased) "We own this. It doesn't belong to any corporations. It's ours." The band members said, (paraphrased) "The thing that makes us unique is that the fans own what we do." Of course, shortly after the Frontline segment, ICP signed with a major label, went on MTV, did a WWF cameo, and hit number 20 on the charts.

No big deal, right?

I'm sorry if it sounds silly, but I felt really bad for the kids in line for the ICP concert who said, "We own this" only to have it bought/co-opted by rich, savvy adults who then turned it around and marketed it back to the fans. What a betrayal.

I know this happens and that it's part of life. If you want to avoid being taken advantage of, you need to know that people are going to try to sell you something. People are interested in what you can do for them or what service they can sell you, they're not interested in YOU.

Marketing focuses on groups of people (demographics) and asks the question "How is our product being perceived by (teens/tweens/adults/young marrieds/etc.)?" If marketers are ever concerned with individuals, it's only to find out how the group is thinking or feeling about certain issues or products.

If one has to be constantly on guard against the marketing messages of the world, why does the Church use marketing to reach people?

To be continued...

Fathers in the Field

Sat, 2 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Through a series of seeming coincidences, I have stumbled across a ministry that I would like to bring to your attention.

Fathers in the Field (FitF) is an outdoor ministry that seeks "To rekindle and establish the spirit of boys who have been abandoned by their fathers; mentoring them one-on-one in life skills through outdoor activities, and by sharing a Christian understanding of our heavenly Father's love and sacrifice for his children." [taken from FitF's website.]

Working with young men has been a passion of mine for a long time. I don't have a son, but have worked with young men as a soccer coach, teacher, Sunday School teacher, friend, and mentor. As I have lately been asking God for guidance in my life and work, he has been constantly reminding me of James 1:27, referring to helping orphans and widows in their distress. In our modern times, there are plenty of orphans and, unfortunately, many of them have been created by abandonment.

Please pray with me as I ask God's direction in bringing FitF to our church. Also, please pray for your own involvement: whether as a mother or grandmother of a fatherless boy or as a man who God is calling to reach out to the young men around him. Please go to the website listed above and read about what they stand for.

Contact me if you are interested in talking more about this.

Worship Without Music

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

See this post for background.

After I asked "What would it look like if we had worship all week without a worship leader?", Eric just kind of stared at me. Then, he got this gleam in his eye and I got my notebook application ready to go. I had a feeling that Eric was about to start some serious brainstorming (click to see the list).

We spent about an hour talking about what worship was, what it wasn't, and how to do it without a music leader.

After talking for a while, we decided to table the discussion and recharge our brains. We got in the car, headed back to High Island, and immediately started talking about it some more. It was actually getting kind of exciting. Weird, I know.

In the end, we decided to do a couple of different things:

Have a bonfire on the beach Sunday night.
Have the participants bring something from the graveyard and talk about it.
Have each of the four teams be responsible for leading worship one time.

Normally on an AIM trip, we have music worship twice a day. This time, we weren't planning on ever having music worship. This doesn't mean we weren't going to have music in our worship, we just weren't planning on it. Does that make sense? This way, if there was music, it would be a part of worship, not the only thing.

I'd have to say that the most important thing we did was to get High Plains Church and the Mares family caught up with us and officially on board. So, we spent Saturday evening telling them the story and getting them thinking about what worship really was. I mean, we talk about it, but have you really thought about how the people in Acts did church? There was no professional clergy to tell them what to do and to run the show for them. They had to get together and worship...whatever that meant.

Here's what we did:

Sunday - went to church with St. Matthew's UMC and had a bonfire that night
Monday - Morning - had a share time. Evening - Travis Shannon's team from HPC did a skit, had some sharing time, then he talked for a bit.
Tuesday - Morning - prayer circle*, Evening - we got together and talked about the things that people had found in the graveyard. People found something interesting at the graveyard and brought it back with them. We talked/prayed about what the object meant about the person that brought it.
Wednesday - Morning - people shared verses they liked. Evening - we went to church with FBC High Island.
Thursday - Morning - shared verses, had some music from an iPod. Evening - Tori and Connor led worship music and then we had communion with St. Matthew's and then final trip debrief.

*We sat in a big circle. There were five people holding candles. We were supposed to pray for the other people in the group. If you had a candle, you gave it to the person you were praying for. With this, the candles were continually passed around the group. We did this for about twenty minutes and this was the worship time that people liked the most - as I remember it.

I'll be posting a "What we learned about worship" blog soon.

Brainstorming Worship

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Notes from a brainstorming session with Eric Jones and Tori Lindberg on "what is worship?".

worship is
    Loving God
    is it always praise?
    attitude
    way of life
    things we do
    who we are
    designed to be worshipers
    everyone is created to be a worshiper
    expression of adoration
ideas
    singing
    Listening
    crafts
    seeking
    nature
    bible study
    working out
    work
    meditation
    Bonsai
    speaking
    praying
    dancing
    drawing
    silence
    writing
    laugh
    have fun
    expression of our gifts
Activities
    Nailing to the cross
    magazine craft - find picture
    leading worship
    ipod worship
    Fall on me
    15 minutes of kneeling
    15 minutes of silence
    Find the metaphor
    Sunday - going to Galveston
        Tell them some of the stories of Ike - invite Marty, Nicole, Shawn
        Go to the beach
        Bonfire on the beach coming back - burn something away
    Find something in the trash @ the graveyard
        something that they find interesting or weird
        pray over it that night
        Talk with team/large group
    Forgiveness/Repentance
    Burning away representation
    Rob Bell DVD
Worship
    is this a safe place?
    Can we make a safe
    We say it's more than just singing, but is it really?

Help, We Don't Have A Worship Leader!!

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Close your eyes and think about worshiping. OK, read that last sentence first, THEN close your eyes.

I'd be willing to bet big money (at least $1) that you saw yourself and/or other people singing, listening to music, or playing an instrument. OF COURSE there's nothing wrong with that (#3).

Imagine yourself in a position where you could not do that. What would you do? Would you call off worship?

On Friday, 4/3, Eric Jones (that's him above in the spiffy hat Tori knitted) and I found ourselves sitting in a McDonald's in Beaumont, TX trying to get online and worrying about the fact that Arnie Borowsky, our worship leader, was home sick and would not be joining us on the mission trip.

Here's what happened by the numbers:

I had spent about six weeks trying to find someone to lead worship on this trip and could not find anyone.
Carla, my wife, normally leads worship on the trips we lead, but because it was Holy Week, she had stay home to practice with the choir.
Christy Barnard, AIM's project leader and worship leader coordinator, also had lots of trouble finding a worship leader and finally moved Arnie off of another trip that didn't have enough participants.
Arnie got sick and could not go on the trip.
I called both groups coming on the trip and asked if they had anyone who could lead worship. They both said no. As a matter of fact, the Wyoming group was bringing their entire worship band...except for the guy who led it.
I can sing, but am most assuredly not a worship leader as one currently thinks of worship leaders.
Eric is a dancer/actor type, not a singer (at his own admission). In our 'getting to know you' conversation the day before, he mentioned that he liked to worship God in creative ways that were not just musical. (That's the way I remember it, anyway)

At this point, I was starting to get a glimmer of the idea that God didn't intend for us to have a worship leader for this trip and as the project leader, I needed to figure out how to run with that. (I know that sounds all fancy and religious. It would be more accurate to say that I was scared spitless and was looking for someone to blame. OK, not exactly; I was surprisingly calm about the whole ordeal, but still had no idea what to do.)

So, sitting in the booth at McDonald's, I asked Eric (and Tori), "What would it look like if we had worship all week without a worship leader?"

Caveats*

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

You know how when the preacher or Sunday School teacher is talking about sex, he always feels obligated to talk about how good it is before he talks about how bad it is? I've noticed that we do this a lot in our Christian bubble.

So, I've started compiling a handy list that we can all refer to by numbers in the future. I'm sorry, I don't see how I can write about this without having some fun. Having said that, I'll be doing my best to write in full Markie style.

If you would like to contribute, please email me and suggest a caveat. If it's funny/perplexing/true, I'll post it.

God created sex, he meant it to be good. Mankind has messed it up. God is OK with it as long as you're married to the person you're having sex with. Otherwise, sex is bad.
You shouldn't go play on a freeway and expect God to save you. Unless He tells you too...
Of course music can be worship, but worship isn't always music.
When on a mission trip, you're allowed only one expectation; God will use you if you let him.
God made alcohol/wine/beer, but you still shouldn't drink it, even though Jesus did; people might talk. Jesus, Peter, Paul, and Mary needed it because the water was bad - you don't unless you live in Wylie, TX. Or Mexico.
Talking/Hanging out with non-Christians = Bad. Witnessing with your life = Good. How exactly this works, I'm not sure. I know about "In the world and not of the world" but I'm still confused as to why people would be watching how you live if they don't even know who you are.
You should turn the other cheek. Unless you shouldn't.
You should help the poor, unless he's a bum on the street asking for money. Ouch.
You should not judge people. Unless they're doing something wrong AND they're Christians, then you can judge away. Gossip is also OK in this circumstance. At least, I think that's how it works.
Is that movie rated R because of violence? No problem. Sex? Big problem. (OK, that wasn't a caveat, just a pet peeve.) Why is violence OK, but sex isn't. Arguably, God created sex, but not violence. Please see #1 before responding.
Secular music is bad, unless it's played by an orchestra.
Of course, I'm not talking about YOU.
I understand that some people will feel a reflexive need to respond to some of the above points. Just remember, as I heard a pastor say many years ago, "If you throw a rock into a pack of dogs, the one that gets hit is the one that's going to yell."
What I'm going through is nothing like what Jesus went through. Are we good?
Yes, Jesus was in complete control and submitted to everything that was done to him.
More to follow.

Have a nice day.

*Caveat

Expectations On a Mission Trip

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The first thing to get rid of on a mission trip is expectations. Hopefully, pride leaves right behind it. If you have an expectation of what should happen, you will probably miss what God is doing while you wallow in your disappointment. How's that for a picture?

I went to High Island, Texas last week with the expectation that I was going to lead a regular mission trip. You know, some door to door, sports evangelism, prayer walking, construction, praise and worship, and maybe some sort of VBS. I was also going to make sure that the teams I was meeting left their expectations at home. In that light, I was excited to meet the two groups that were coming on the trip: Travis Shannon and his youth group from Gillette, Wyoming, and Scott and Dana Mares and their four kids from Virginia. Eric Jones was going to assist me as AIM staff. We had talked on the phone a few times and I was looking forward to working with him.

However, the first thing I had to do was lose MY expectations. Because so many people had lost their homes in the area, there wasn't going to be any door to door witnessing because there weren't that many doors. Ditto for sports evangelism. We could have prayer walked in High Island, but the communities closer to the ocean didn't even have roads in most places; scratch prayer walking. Then, the worship leader, my buddy Arnie Borowsky, got sick and had to miss the entire mission trip. The only thing left was construction. Thankfully, Marty Broddie, the pastor of St. Matthew's United Methodist Church where we were staying, gave me Shawn Hall's name.

Shawn is in charge of the Galveston section of Nehemiah's Vision, a ministry under the Southern Baptist Convention that rebuilds homes. He needed help finishing the home of a man who had been injured in an elevator accident and broke five vertebrae. We were going to frame and drywall the bottom floor and do as much touch up and repair on the second/main floor as we could. Shawn also asked if we would be willing to help clean a graveyard. It is a national historical site and the use of heavy equipment is prohibited. I told him to count on us for the house and that I would ask the group leaders about cleaning the graveyard.

So, with Shawn's help, we were able to plan work/ministry for the week. But we still had a big problem. Worship.

Worship Music

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Before I start talking about worship and the cool stuff that happened on our trip to High Island, TX, let me establish some bona fides.

I come from a musical family. My mother was a pianist and singer at church. I have played an instrument and sung since I was nine years old. I was first a trombone major and then a voice major in college. I'm in the choir at church. I don't have a solo voice, but I love to sing. My wife is a professional pianist and worship leader.

Are we good?

Worship isn't music.

Music is worship.

It is the Rivets That Matter

Wed, 1 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I recently read a story that said one of the reasons the Titanic sank so quickly was because of the rivets. You know, the millions of tiny pieces of metal that held the ship together. Apparently, when the Titanic hit the iceberg, whole sheets of metal came apart because the rivets were substandard. This allowed water into the compartments too quickly and doomed the ship.

Tori and I are about to head south to Galveston to lead a mission trip for AIM. Prior to a mission trip, we always have to be careful of how we handle things at home. For some reason, it is much easier to get into an argument, say something really stupid, or to get your feelings hurt in the week before a mission trip than at any other time.

I have always said that we are especially vulnerable to attack from the enemy (Christianese for Satan) right before a trip. While I still believe this to be true, this morning I was given a slightly different view...

When I'm stressed, for whatever the reason, all the little inconsistencies and problems in my life suddenly come to the front. Things that I've been able to ignore, put on hold, or postpone are now pressing problems that can't be put off any longer. In other words, my junk comes back to haunt me; I can't hide from it. Maybe next time, if I don't have so many loose ends to tie up, things won't be quite as stressful. It's radical, I know.

Have said all that, Tori and I are going on a mission trip and Carla and Kaylie are staying home. Please remember us in your prayers this next week. We'll be meeting a group from Wyoming and a family from Virginia in Galveston. I'll be updating regularly here. Sorry I've been gone for so long. I hope you missed me. :)

Not Don't, Do!*

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I've been struggling with how to finish the major sermon series :) "You Can Stop Sinning": The Perfect Me, The Perfcet me, Cont., Can You Do It?, and Apparently You Can - Stick Edition.

I had fully intended to write another blog called "Apparently You Can - Carrot Edition", but just haven't been able to. I even found a really cool picture of a carrot cake. Yum.

Did you know that the law was NEVER intended to save us? Jesus "...was the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." But how does this fit with Jesus fulfilling the law? Are we supposed to obey/follow the law or not?

Do me a favor and take off your church glasses for a minute. Do you realize that God uses His kindness to lead you to repentance? I know you may have heard this 100 times, so think about it for a minute. God is not about the business of saying, "do this or I'll punish you." He says, "I love you so much that I died for you when you were at your worst."

It's easy to quantify the don'ts. I didn't lie, steal, murder, commit adultery, etc. this week. It's much harder to quantify the do's because you have to actually...wait for it...do something.

I'm really tired of doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. I don't want to do what God wants because I'm afraid he going to punish me if I don't. I want to do what God wants because I want to.

If you want to give up on the "Don't lie, don't steal, don't covet" way of living, then do this: Love your fellow man! Don't harm your neighbor.

OK, I stole that from the Bible. It's in Romans 13:8-10. Go read it.

This is very freeing to me. Rather than worrying about all the things I'm not supposed to do, all I have to do is love my fellow man**.

*I'm SORRY for the pithy title. It's just so much fun to say!

**Let the caveats begin

Apparently You Can - Stick Edition

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Continued from "Can You Do It?"

I'm really big on excuses. You want one? I've got one for you to borrow. Don't worry, I have plenty to spare. You won't even have to give it back.

I have struggled with being disciplined my entire life. I was not disciplined as a child and have had to learn many hard lessons as I have grown older: How to work hard without someone watching, how to keep my word, how to not make excuses but to own up to my failures.

Look at me (upper left-hand corner)! I'm fifty pounds overweight. OK, more than that, but we'll just go with that number. I've got just as many problems as the next dude. You want sin? I carry mine around on my waist for everyone to see. I remember standing on a sidewalk in China and some guy walked up to me and just stood there, looking at me. He looked at my stomach, then at my face and back again. He smiled and put his hand on his stomach and wiggled it up and down. You know, the universal sign for "Fat American." The whole time he was standing there, smoke from the cigarette he was puffing on came out of his nose and mouth. I just smiled back and said "Race you!!"

You want undisciplined? In some areas I'm disciplined, in others, not so much. Having said that, I believe that we need to put much more effort into cutting sin from our lives than we are willing to accept. I also believe that we are capable of much more than we think we are. This isn't that "we only use 10% of our brains" baloney. This is more of a "God has commanded us to do it" kind of thing.

Please read the passage below from Colossians 3:1-17. We'll talk more tomorrow.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. ³For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ, who is your^[a] life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

⁵Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ⁶Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.^[b] ⁷You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. ⁸But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices ¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. ¹¹Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

¹²Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Can You Do It?

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I read a great article this morning from J. Lee Grady. It talks about staying pure in our times. Don't think that just because you're married you don't need to read it.

I do not think we can be too diligent in protecting ourselves, our spouses, children, and churches. One of the pastors at my church has recently fallen away because of sexual sin. He was an all-around nice guy and loved by all. Believe me, if can happen to him, it can happen to you.

I think that most of us are more like Samson than like Joseph. We think, "Oh, I can step on that line. I'm not tempted to sin in that area so it's OK for me to go there." Or "I can go to lunch with that man/woman, we're just friends."

I know it's fun to step close to the line; you get that little thrill of looking over the edge without jumping. But if you're teetering on the line, there's no difference between falling or jumping, you still go over the line and take your spouse, children, friends, and church with you.

Young husband, protect your wife, self, and marriage fiercely, with all the manhood you can muster. Don't fall for the enemy's lies of compromise.

Are you a father? Protect your daughters and sons with the ferocity of a cornered lion. Don't buy the lie that "they're going to learn this stuff anyway." My children know about some of the horrors that sex, lust, and sin have visited on the world, but they learned it from some awkward and unpleasant conversations that they had with me and their mom, not from TV or some kid on the playground. Sometimes, our kids will ask us about something and we'll tell them "you don't need to know that right now. I promise I'll tell you about it when you're older, but not now."

For some reason, many men seem to have forgotten or never learned that one of our primary roles is to protect the family. Mothers and wives, pray for your husbands, that they would take the leadership that is theirs in this situation.

Continued with "Apparently You Can - Stick Edition."

Sheepdog

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

So, I've been dealing with a bit of a dilemma the last year or so.

At what point do you turn the other cheek?

I'm not talking about "at what time," I'm talking about "in which situation."

Do I only do this when my faith is involved? Could one say that one's faith is ALWAYS involved?

What about helping someone else? Is it OK to stand by and let someone be abused who cannot help themselves? If I were a pacifist, why is it OK to let other people fight in my place? Is it wrong for me to use a gun/fight, but it's OK for my friends who are both Christians and police officers or in the military? Why should only they bear the guilt that comes with using force? Do we really believe that 'violence never solves anything?'

That might all be a bit much for an introduction, so let me send you somewhere else.

Mike S. Adams is an author and college professor in North Carolina. He wrote an article a while ago called, "Three Kinds of People." Do me a favor, go read it and then come back and leave your thoughts in the comments.

How does being a Christian fit into all of this?

The Perfcet Me, Cont.

Fri, 6 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Continued from "The Perfect Me."

I was doing the dishes.

That's a good thing right? After all, you've never heard of a man being shot by his wife while he was doing the dishes...

Anyway, as I was finishing, I remember thinking "Carla had better appreciate this." No sooner had the thought echoed through my brain than God asked me, "Have you ever done anything without want of reward?"

I started to try and answer the question. Of course I wanted to say "Yes, I've done lots of things without want of reward." But I couldn't. Believe it or not, I could not think of one thing I had done in my entire life that I had done without weighing the relative costs and rewards associated with it. In other words, "What's in it for me?"

This did NOT fit with the image I had of myself. I love my wife and want to do things for her, just like I love God and want to do things for him. I wanted to be a full-time missionary and live overseas. I wanted to serve God with my life.

I'm sorry if it sounds silly, but I was so stunned by the shaking of this pillar in my foundation that I had to sit down. I spent about an hour going over my life and talking with God. He gently showed me the real Markie. The one I didn't like and definitely didn't want to spend any time with.

It happened again this last weekend. Carla was talking about something I did NOT want to talk about - I'm sure it had something to do with money. What she was talking about HURT and I wanted nothing more than to be somewhere else where I wasn't faced with this unflattering picture of myself. As quickly as I could, I managed to find an excuse to go back out to the garage and keep working on the garage door opener. When I got to the garage, I remember thinking, "Why do I always run from pain? God doesn't run from pain. Some pain is actually good. Why do I always run away if I know that God is doing it for my own good?" (I'm referring to the pain of discipline). So, I walked back to Carla and said, "I'm sorry that I always run away from pain. I know this needs to be fixed. I'm sorry I'm like that."

Carla said "I love you. That's the real you and I love the real you, not the one you always want people to see." Wow, what do you say to that?

I want to be the real me. The person that God created me to be, not the one that I show the rest of the world. Most of all, I want to welcome the Lord's discipline, no matter how much it hurts.

Proverbs 1:7, 3:11-12, 5:12 - to name a few.

The Perfect Me

Wed, 4 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I really like this guy. The perfect me. He's the one I want to hang out with and the one I want people to see and get to know. He's the one that goes on mission trips, teaches Sunday School, helps all the time, gives people money, and sacrifices his time and life for others. He's nice to his wife and kids, even when he's tired, and never snaps at anyone or loses his temper. He always puts other people first and is, generally, on his best behavior. This guy is a conflict resolver, a problem solver, and an all-around helpful guy. He would drop everything to help you and wouldn't think twice about spending his own money to get you out of a bind. When you talk, he always listens with rapt attention and does that repeating thing. You know, "So, what you're saying is..."

I think the first time I met this guy was when I realized that I was consistently nicer to people outside my house than I was to my wife. This doesn't mean I wasn't nice to my wife, just that I was always nicer and more polite to people I didn't know than I generally was to her. This still applies. I'm nicer to and more patient with other people's kids than I am with my own.

I can look back in my life and see the times that I have had to face the fact that the idealized view I had of myself was not necessarily shared by the people around me. In high school, most of my friends' parents really liked me (or so I remember...). There was one guy, Charles, who I always thought saw right through me to the lazy person that I was. I knew that he didn't dislike me; he just didn't tolerate my excuses and the facade I presented. Maybe it was because he was an officer in the Air Force.

There were other times in my college and early married life that I had God's incandescent spotlight of truth shine on my life. It was always painful and I usually came away slightly wiser. I say 'usually' because I'm not sure I EVER welcomed the change. If I did recognize God's hand in the change, I still just wanted to get it over with so I could add another brushstroke to my image of the perfect me.

I was about 38 the first time I truly confronted the fact that the REAL Markie was not the person I wanted him to be.

To be continued...

God Can't Look On Sin, II

Wed, 4 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

So, after reading the blog and comments yesterday, what do you think? Please read the comments from yesterday.

Did God turn his back on Jesus while he was on the cross or at any time?

If God did turn his back on Jesus because of the sin he was carrying, does this mean that He will turn his back on you in your depravity?

God Can't Look On Sin?

Tue, 3 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT

God can't look on sin...

For some reason, I've been hearing this a lot lately, especially in reference to Jesus's words on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The next thing people usually say is "God turned away from Jesus" or something like that.

I would like to put this to you for help.

Where does it say this in the Bible? I'm sure that lots of really smart theological types think that God can't look on sin and that he turned away from Jesus on the cross, but I want to know what Scripture says about this issue.

Please believe me when I say that I am not trying to be rude or confrontational. One thing I don't like about this medium of communication is that it is impossible to convey what one truly means as we read so much from body language and such.

Rest assured, I do have an opinion on this subject, but I'll hold off on that for now. Please let me know what you think in the comments. Please back what you say with Scripture references.

Be nice.

Friday Night Light

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

I have a challenge for you today.

Read the following article and watch the video without getting weepy. If you can do it, you're a better man than I am...

Cheering for the Underdog.

More than a game.

Then, if you can make it through this without laughing...

Evangelism Linebacker.