Archive for September, 2004

Diana & Erin

Published
by
GKB
on September 15, 2004
in General
. 5 Comments

We’ve been through two hurricanes. In 1984, we endured seven hours of Hurricane Diana in Wilmington, NC. The highest winds were 115. It was a memorable night as we were joined by members of our church who lived in trailer homes. We lost nine trees in our yard–along with our front screen door and the guttering. One of the people staying with us that evening had an artificial leg. In the middle of the storm, he took it off. Matt, two at the time, woke up and walked in only to see the guy missing a leg. He thought the storm was worse than he’d imagined!

The second one was in our beloved Pensacola Beach in 1995 when Hurricane Erin made a direct hit. This was not as strong as Diana had been, but still had wind gusts of up to 110. We have fun memories (especially nine years away!) of spending a couple days with the Porches in the home of Buddy and Stephanie Bell, who had just moved a few miles inland.

Our prayers continue for all those in Florida and on the Caribbean islands who’ve been impacted by the three hurricanes this season as well as for all those in New Orleans . . . and Biloxi . . . and Mobile . . . and Pensacola Beach . . . who wait to see which way Ivan will go this morning.

109515913961149244

Published
by
Mike
on September 14, 2004
in General
. 12 Comments

Yesterday I got to begin Mark’s gospel with a classful of eighteen and nineteen year olds. “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.” It is holy ground. My interest in teaching is more about formation and transformation than just about information (as important as that is). Some will see that Christianity isn’t just signing your name to a creed and shopping around to find the hottest church with the hottest worship and the most to offer.

Some will see that it is a Way. A way of suffering. A way of love. A way of power-in-powerlessness. A way of concern for “the least among us.” A way of mission. A way of service. A way of forgiveness. A way of long obedience.

Really, it’s a dangerous thing to teach the gospels. What if . . . well, what if some students took it seriously? What if they decided not to explain it away or dumb it down? What if they decided to follow the Way of Christ for a lifetime? What if — without condemning others around them who’ve made different choices — they chose not to live with a polite, domesticated version of the story of Jesus?

It’s enough to make a professor wake up early and pray!!

Pick Your Butt Off the Pew

Published
by
Mike
on September 12, 2004
in Church and General
. 26 Comments

If you don’t want to start your week off with the rantings and ravings of a lunatic, please — stop right here.

This weekend my wife talked for a long time to a woman who is one of the unnamed, unrecognized saints in this world. This woman (in another state) gives round-the-clock care to her mentally-handicapped son who is about the age Megan would be if she were still alive. The two have talked a lot over the years. They both understand how wonderful, yet challenging the life of a caregiver is.

Recently this woman got an anonymous letter from another woman at her church, asking her if she wouldn’t mind keeping her son in the cry room during the assembly because during the songs he tends to get loud (since he loves singing). It bothers her, and she’s quite sure she’s speaking for others who aren’t “bold enough” . . . (excuse me while I pause to laugh) . . . to write to her.

The chances of Anonymous being a reader of this blog are not good. But just in case.

Dear Anonymous:

How about this? Get off your selfish, complacent butt and help this woman!! She cares for her son 24-7. Would it kill you to give her a hand? Offer to take care of her son while she’s at church. The moment we walked in the door of Highland in 1991, someone stopped Diane and took Megan’s hand. She said, “For the rest of the week, Megan is yours. When you’re here she’s ours. You need to be able to worship with the rest of your family.”

And if you aren’t willing to pick your butt off the pew, maybe you could listen to this young man’s utterances. It might be that there is an angelic choir near you, but you aren’t hearing it.

For crying out loud, how have we lowered the bar of discipleship so low that someone could go to church week-after-week, year-after-year without even coming close to the way of Jesus Christ?

In Christian Love,

Mike Cope

Horns and Hogs

Published
by
Mike
on September 11, 2004
in General and sports
. 1 Comment

As Chris and I watch the Horns and Razorbacks tonight, it takes me back. WAY back. My parents were UT graduates, so every fourth year when the big game came to Fayetteville we were there. Dressed in burnt orange amid a sea of Red. It was in that environment that I learned the meaning of being a counter-culture. I was also first exposed to obscene gestures there.

We were at the big game — often called “The Game of the Century” — in 1969 as Texas and Arkansas fought for the #1 ranking in the polls.

Let’s see, that would be 35 years ago. That would make me . . . about Chris’s age.

One special part of this game is that Cedric is still running for the Longhorns. There were two great games (Matt’s junior and senior years) when he was Abilene High’s middle linebacker and Cedric was Midland Lee’s running back. Those are good memories. (Truthfully, they were both losses. But still good memories.)

Institution or Outpost?

Published
by
Mike
on September 10, 2004
in Church and missional
. 26 Comments

Are we an institution that needs to be preserved or a vibrant outpost of the kingdom of God?

That’s what church leaders have to keep asking.

When institutional concerns are paramount, then preserving the status quo and making the clientele happy drives all decisions. Experts are brought in to preach the institutional mantra: “slow change, slow change, slow change.” Cantankerous people run the show with their objections. Meeting consumer demands (with the members as the consumers!) rather than forming people as disciples becomes the preoccupation.

But when the spiritual leaders figure out that they are not an institution to be preserved but a body of believers who are following the way of Jesus, then missional–rather than consumer–concerns drive decisions. There’s less talk about prayer and more prayer. Less talk about the poor and more ministry with and among the poor. Less of a desire to let immature naysayers get their way and more of a desire to form them into disciples. Less of a devotion to “slow change” or “fast change” and more of a devotion to the leading of God’s Spirit (as discerned by the group–not as “discerned” by one minister who just got back from a cool conference).

I don’t believe in being insensitive. We need to take time to teach people and care for people on our journey. Everyone is important! But for too often, out of our love for institutionalism and professionalism, we’ve let the most immature guide the decisions of the church.

When will the church hear the missional voice of God? When will the poor, the unemployed, and the lost help determine what the church does? When we will realize that Christianity isn’t just a tradition we believe but a way we live? When will we quit worrying about preserving the institution and start opening ourselves to the leading of the living Christ?

Only Grievers Move On

Published
by
Mike
on September 9, 2004
in grief
. 4 Comments

This addendum to last night’s message:

Jeremiah, faithful to Moses, understood what numb people will never know, that only grievers can experience their experiences and move on. I used to think it curious that when having to quote Scripture on demand someone would inevitably say, “Jesus wept.” But now I understand. Jesus knew what we numb ones must always learn again: (a) that weeping must be real because endings are real and (b) that weeping permits newness. His weeping permits the kingdom to come. Such weeping is a radical criticism, a fearful dismantling, because it means the end of all machismo; weeping is something kings rarely do without losing their thrones. Yet the loss of thrones is precisely what is called for in radical criticism.
- Walter Brueggemann

Spiritual Imagination

Published
by
Mike
on September 8, 2004
in scripture
. 13 Comments

Permit me one more whack at the idea of spiritual imagination.

The apocalyptic poetry of scripture is alive, full of electricity, and mysterious. It peeks at history from God’s perspective. It imagines a world where the way of Christ is pursued. It is full of bolts of lightning and galloping riders. This poetry seeks to open our eyes to see that prayers–even prayers that seem tired and rote–are really atomic bombs that light up the heavens. It helps us grasp the love of God that is missional to the core. It reminds us that the final trump card will be played by God. He, the Ruler of the Universe, will win.

Too much reading of this chunk of scripture has been flat and deadening. The life has been sucked out of it so that it becomes bizarre crystal-ball guessing. Poetry is reduced to prose. It’s the worst kind of Western, enlightened, scientific “study” of scripture. (We have spent so much time working on scripture rather than letting scripture work on us! Perhaps we should spend less time trying to bring scripture into our world and more time on letting ourselves be drawn into the counter-cultural world it spotlights.)

Is your life short on spiritual imagination? Go back to the prophets. Read Revelation again. Instead of trying to figure out “what this is secretly referring to,” use all your powers of imaginition. Picture a world where hope and grace are leaking through every window–even in the midst of suffering.

The Next Time You “Go to Church”

Published
by
Mike
on September 7, 2004
in Church
. 26 Comments

I enjoyed having Jeff Nelson back at Highland to lead the singing for Gwynneth’s funeral. Over the years, some pretty decent worship ministers have been launched from Highland: Jeff (Oak Hills), Brandon Scott Thomas (Otter Creek), David Chrane (Lake Highlands), and Ryan Porche (Highland Street in Memphis) are among them. When do we get to quit launching and actually keep one?

More now about the idea of being in a spiritual flat earth society.

Years ago when I was speaking at Northeastern Christian Junior College, Tony Campolo was also on campus to address a luncheon crowd on the topic: “A Sociologist Looks at Churches of Christ.” Among the profound things he said was, “YOU GUYS ARE THE RELIGIOUS EQUIVALENT OF THE FLAT EARTH SOCIETY.” (You have to put Tony’s words in bold and caps.)

He wasn’t mad at us. In fact, there is a lot about the restoration heritage that really resonated with him. But he couldn’t believe the naivity it took to talk about “the church” and “the Lord’s church” as code phrases for the denomination known as Churches of Christ.

It does take a pretty good dose of blindness and/or pride to make that kind of assumption. We are surrounded by Christ-seeking people.

But there are other ways in which people can be part of the spiritual flat earth society. Some have lost a sense of wonder and mystery as they plow through life getting tasks done. They don’t have time or the inclination to stop in amazement at the bursts of joy and hope around them.

With busy lives and with low-level exhaustion, it’s easy to miss out on the wonders of grace leaking in from all sides: from spouses, from children, from friends, from prayers, from movies, from books, from W TX sunsets.

Try this for an experiment. The next time you go to church, open your eyes to everything and everyone God puts in your path. For once ignore the expected; forget your routine. Pray as you walk in for everyone you see. Shake the hands of people you would normally walk right past because you don’t know them. Pretend you’ve been appointed DEACON(ESS) IN CHARGE OF GREETING. Instead of looking through the worship schedule to see whether you’ll like it or not, imagine every possible source of amazement and wonder. Jump into the songs with everything you have. Look at the people around you. (Some did that at Highland this past year and saw a fortysomething woman who was losing a battle with cancer but who was so full of life and love that she drew them into the upside down world of the kingdom.) Absorb every icon, every picture, every facial expression. Be amazed at the body of Christ and the blood of Christ that is shared with you in communion. Imagine brothers and sisters in Christ who are sitting in huts or gathering under trees or huddled in rented public buildings from around the world.

This is the art of spiritual imagination. It is apocalyptic. It sees the hope amid the suffering, the joy amid the routine, the love amid the bitterness, and the shalom amid the wars.

The Spiritual Flat-Earth Society

Published
by
Mike
on September 6, 2004
in General
. 5 Comments

Happy Labor Day. This morning I’ll be speaking at the funeral for Debi Hudspeth, a courageous woman who blessed people her whole 47 years. Then this afternoon I teach at ACU (motto: “ACU: Putting the LABOR Back in Labor Day”). Then dove-hunting with Chris and Dr. John.

Congrats to John Lackey, who grew up at Highland, for his two-hitter last night. Watch out, A’s and Red Sox — the Angels are making their move. The Cardinals don’t have to make a move. They’re whippin’ everyone. They have three players who’ll be in contention for MVP!

Enjoy these wonderful words by Barbara Brown Taylor: “By the power of our beliefs, we choose what kind of world we will live in — a porous world, full of glory doors leaking light, or a flat world where everything is exactly what it seems.”

I know too many people living in the spiritual flat-earth society.

George Burns on Preaching

Published
by
Mike
on September 4, 2004
in General and preaching
. 2 Comments

Wise words passed on to me by my mom. (Mom, are you sure this is from George Burns and not from Dad?): “The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible.” ~George Burns