Archive for May, 2006

The Da Vinci Code

Published
by
Mike
on May 17, 2006
in Books and movies
. 42 Comments

Yes, I read the novel. And yes, I thought it was well crafted.

But as one reviewer said (I think it was in Time Magazine about three years ago) — it’s well-written, but it’s one of the few novels that leaves you dumber after you read it than you were before you read it.

That’s because if you’re not careful you’ll start assuming that Dan Brown is dealing with well-documented facts. He’s not –despite the deceptive foreword.

Combine that with the eagerness on the part of so many people for secret, insiders’ information that has now wonderfully been revealed to them (an eagerness that has made several Christian novels popular, too!), and you can have some real problems.

However, having said that I don’t think this will undermine the Christian faith! Here’s what could happen:

First, believers could be forced to ask questions about why they believe what they believe. It would do lots of Christians good to consider the possibility that they may be wrong. This story of God coming in the flesh, living and teaching among a predominantly Jewish audience in the first century, dying on a cross, and being raised on the third day — well, it isn’t a scientific fact. It is a truth, a story, that we believe by faith. (Of course to “believe by faith” certainly doesn’t exclude the use of our reasoning abilities.)

Second, for nonbelievers it could lead them to investigate the Jesus story. They might find that they, too, have to decide something about this remarkable person named Jesus. They could decide that the Christian story is a hoax — that he really was just a man who got married and had kids. Or . . . they could have the experience of Paul — the experience of encountering the Risen One in a way that all of life turns on a dime.

At least this is what I hope will happen!

Food Women

Published
by
Mike
on May 16, 2006
in Church and food
. 33 Comments

I went to Paradise yesterday.

And Weatherford. And Bridgeport.

Diane, Chris, and I went to the “visitation” yesterday to be with the family of Raydean Mattis. Mrs. Mattis became a widow in 1965 when her husband was shot down in Vietnam. After this tragic loss, she returned to college, finished her degree, and became a high school teacher. (It’s because of her story — and my friendship with her son — that I was so interested in the book Hero Mama.)

The visitation was at the Cates Street Church of Christ in Bridgeport, where she was a member. As soon as we walked into the fellowship hall, we saw a few women behind a counter — stationed there to make sure that everyone had food. (It was a welcome sight to my son after a quick 2.5 hour trip right after school.)

It made me think that most churches must have food women — the ladies who express their compassion by providing meals at funerals and family visitations. They’re usually behind the scenes. But they use their talents to make life a bit more tolerable during loss.

Food women. The ones who brought the casseroles and banana pudding to the church lunches we had in the church in Neosho growing up. The ones who fed the whole church on Wednesday nights in Wilmington (along with enough fresh vegies brought in by F. W. Mattox from his garden). The ones at Highland who fed our extended family when Megan died.

Today I’ll be making my first trip to the Iowa Park Church of Christ.

Want to guess? Yes, I was invited to lunch. The food ladies will be at work.

Blessed For a Reason

Published
by
Mike
on May 15, 2006
in missional and scripture
. 17 Comments

There is such a simple power in the priestly blessing of Numbers 6:

The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.

But like any blessing, there is the danger that we start thinking that our blessing is the final goal. But it’s not.

In the words of Genesis 12, we have been blessed to BE a blessing to all nations of the world, since God’s concern is for all of creation.

So Psalm 67 borrows that old priestly blessing and adds a “so that” — just in case people start thinking that the final goal of faith is for us to be satisfied with how our life is turning out.

May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us –
so that your ways [note that God is now addressed in 2nd person] may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.

He prays for the blessing of God — however that may look (and I doubt that it always looks like what’s described in pop theology) — so that God’s salvation may be spread among all nations.

My Mother’s (Firstborn) Son

Published
by
Mike
on May 13, 2006
in family
. 28 Comments

I am my mother’s son.

Whenever I think passionately about my faith, whenever I act in ways of compassion — I remember that I am my mother’s son.

Whenever I curl up with a good book and enter into another world for an hour — I remember that I am my mother’s son.

Whenever I think about the needs of the poor and oppressed and try to imagine another way — I remember that I am my mother’s son.

Whenever I lose my keys, my ring, my pen, my wallet — I remember that I am my mother’s son.

Whenever I remember something I read twenty years ago but can’t remember where I read something yesterday — I remember that I am my mother’s son.

Whenever someone compliments me on my speaking ability and my way of putting words together — I remember that I am my mother’s son.

It’s one of the greatest blessings of my life. I am my mother’s son.

And yes, Mom. This is your Mother’s Day card. :)

(Others feel free to add something about your mom!)

Pilgrim Heart

Published
by
Mike
on May 12, 2006
in Books and spiritual formation
. 29 Comments

I told you earlier when I was reading the manuscript that it was going to be a must-read in Christian spirituality.

Now it’s out. Darryl Tippens, former English prof at ACU and Highland elder and now Provost of Pepperdine University, has written Pilgrim Heart: The Way of Jesus in Everyday Life.

Maybe I’m a bit prejudiced here. Full disclosure: Darryl is a close buddy and has been a spiritual guide in my life for fifteen years.

But this is one incredible book. As my little blurb on the book says, it belongs on the shelf right next to Richard Foster and Dallas Willard.

After chapters on “The Call to a ‘Worldly’ Spirituality” and “The Blessing of Body and Soul,” the book explores these spiritual disciplines (called “practices of the pilgrim heart”):

Emptying: A Fresh Breeze as We Let Go
Welcoming: Opening Doors to Strangers
Resting: The day Sabbath Becomes Joy
Resting: More Sabbath Blessings
Befriending: The Mutual Regard and Care for Souls
Confessing: I Swear to Tell the Whole Truth
Forgiving: The Love That Travels Farther
Listening: Within the Deep Stream of Silence
Discerning: The Gift of Wisdom
Singing: The Way to Heaven’s Door
Creating: The Truth of Beauty
Feasting: Memory and Mealtimes
Reading and Storytelling: How Narrative Builds Faith
Suffering: The Fire That Purifies
Seeking: The End of the Journey

Here’s a taste from the chapter on feasting — a section with the heading “Strawberries, Bread, and Jesus”:

While in college, our older son, Kyle, made a prospective mission trip to Romania. When he arrived at the Bucharest train station, he was unable to locate the missionary who was to meet him. Hours passed, and Kyle did not know what to do. He had no way to reach the missionary. As the afternoon turned to evening, he stood under a streetlight, reading a book, hoping the man would arrive. As night fell, an old woman approached our son. Though she could speak no English, and Kyle knew no Romanian, she gestured to him to come to her house. Lonely, hungry, and a little desperate, he didn’t know what else to do, so he went home with her. In her rather spartan apartment, she prepared him a simple meal that included a few strawberries with a dusting of sugar. Clearly she was offering her best. Later, the woman’s English-speaking daughter came home and learned our son’s problem. Eventually Kyle found his way. I have often thought about that nameless woman who extended such unexpected courtesy to this foreigner, my son, who did not speak her language; and I have been chastened to consider whether I would have done the same had I been in her situation. The one I proclaim to be my Lord said, “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me . . .” (Matthew 25:35).

It is remarkable how simple, material objects can occasion the holiest of moments. A cup of cold water, a slice of bread, strawberries with just a little sugar — through such small things the God of the universe sometimes reveals himself to us.

The theme of journey develops through the book as Darryl keeps exploring the importance of the pilgrim people. Then at the end, these words:

Bob Keeshan, known to millions as Captain Kangaroo, was for decades the beloved host of a morning television show for children. When he began his role as the grandfatherly Captain in 1955, Keeshan was only twenty-eight years old; and so, to look the part, he had to wear a great deal of make-up, fake whiskers, and a wig. But as he played the role through the years, his hair turned white and wrinkles appeared. Keeshan found that he needed less and less make-up. Near the end of his career he could say: “I have grown into the part.” Exactly.

The pilgrim heart will, in time, be shaped in the image of Christ. Initially, the likeness will be faint, hardly plausible at all. But if we walk the road with him, loving as he taught, then we become what we perform in due time. “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). At first we speak these words as a hopeful prayer; one day they will be true. . . . We are changed (Paul employs a Greek word which is the root of the English word metamorphosis) into the divine image incrementally, step by step, “from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Furthermore, it occurs through the Holy Spirit’s powerful work in our lives, not through our effort or ingenuity. These two facts lead to patience (for the transformation requires much time, trial, error, pain, and failure) and humility (since it is never our doing; we are recipients of a holy gift).

Get this book. Digest it. Share it.

The Dweam Wifin a Dweam

Published
by
Mike
on May 11, 2006
in marriage
. 56 Comments

It’s wot bwings us togeder today.

It’s that bwessed awangement.

It’s that dweam wifin a dweam.

Mawage.

And for me it all started 28 years ago today.

I’m still surprised by her beauty, still amazed by her faith. The journey has been full of joy, pain, ecstasy, grief, hurt, and forgiveness. We’ve welcomed three children into this world, buried one, and come frighteningly close to losing another.

I can’t imagine my life without her. I can’t wait to see what lies ahead in the next 28.

So here’s my wise advice for today: tweasure your wuv.Mike&DianeMike&DianeHawaii

Inorganic Music

Published
by
Mike
on May 10, 2006
in Church of Christ
. 163 Comments

Once again, there were classes at Pepperdine (as there have been at ACU and Tulsa earlier this year) on the need for greater fellowship between Christian Churches and Churches of Christ — again taught by Bob Russell and Rick Atchley. Of course, this is just a beginning. A small beginning. But, it is an important beginning. (At least it’s a beginning in some places. Many of you are in places where you already realize that anyone who is a Christ-follower is WITH you not AGAINST you!)

So here’s my take on instrumental music: God doesn’t much care. Most of the old arguments were lame, built on shoddy hermeneutics.

Nevertheless, those in the a cappella tradition don’t need to be ashamed of it. There is a rich tradition in the church that runs through the centuries of singing without instruments. Even today, when people enter our churches, they are dumbfounded to hear people singing — full voice, four-part harmony.

That doesn’t mean it’s the only way, or that it’s God’s way. Sure, I could be blessed by being in a church with Chris Tomlin leading worship.

But I’m not. I’m in a congregation with a heritage of being a cappella. That doesn’t mark us as being the REAL people of God or as being RIGHT. But it is a rich heritage that can be, if continued in love and humility, a gift to Christian community, reminding us that worship is a place of full participation where we all offer ourselves again to God, seeking to be reshaped by him to live for the sake of the world.

So God bless the drums/guitars/saxophones that are played for the glory of God. And God bless the pitch pipes and the tuning forks that find a pitch so that others can sing without instruments.

Preserving this a cappella heritage isn’t nearly as important to me as it is to others. It’s nothing I’m going to fight a younger generation on. If they decide to set it aside for the sake of the mission, I’ll be with them. (Sad, perhaps, but still with them.)

But in the meantime, I want to participate at the top of my lungs; I want to remind others that such singing is a blessing; and I want to share with others a growing appreciation for the many different looks of the universal church that lives for Christ.

On Lightening Up a Wee Bit

Published
by
Mike
on May 9, 2006
in Church of Christ and memories
. 76 Comments

I’ve mentioned before the three views one can have of parents: a child’s view (my parents are perfect and have no faults); an adolescent’s view (my parents are embarrassing embeciles); and a mature adult’s view (my parents have strengths and faults).

Those are the same views one can have of a religious heritage.

I continue to bump up against the childish view: our heritage was wonderful and should never be critiqued or laughed at. If you critique it or laugh at it, then you hate it and think it’s stupid.

Last year for the Zoe conference I made a silly little video called “Mike Cope Sings the Classics.” (Soon it will be on www.zoegroup.org. Thanks, Keith!) Most people have enjoyed it.

After I showed it at Pepperdine in my class with Zoe, a woman came up and chewed me out so long people gave up trying to visit with me. She said I despised people like her and the songs they like. I tried to remain calm and explain kindly why people liked it — not because they HATE the heritage but because they LOVE it.

We suffer from humorlessness.

In healthy families, you’re able to spot weaknesses and tell humorous stories about the family. Not because you despise it, but because you love it and see the humor and joy of it. Dysfunctional families — those that remain in childish states — can’t allow humor. It’s just too fragile to joke about.

Some of the stuff in our heritage needs to be critiqued, like the exclusivism. (There’s a reason people thought we believed we were the only ones going to heaven.) However, if we attack our heritage like adolescents — as if it was totally devoid of spiritual impulses and spiritual people — that needs to be challenged.

But when we find humor — in skipping the third verse of every song, in the love of singing 728B, in the “scare you down to the front” invitation songs, etc. — that’s not because we despise the past. We are part of that past. It helped shape us and form us. And while we’re aware of flaws and quirks, we’re also deeply aware of the amazing strengths.

Will people in the future find humor as they remember my quirks? Oh, I hope so! And if they do, I trust that it will be with appreciation for the past.

Please, lighten up.

Invitation Songs

Published
by
Mike
on May 8, 2006
in Church and memories
. 96 Comments

We were a three-time-a-week family. Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, Wednesday nights. It didn’t matter if we didn’t want to go, if we didn’t like something that was happening, or if it was the middle of “The Wizard of Oz” and we’d never seen the ending because it always started at 6:00 on Sunday evening and church began at 7:00.

And somewhere in all three of those services, there was an invitation song. Here are the ones I remember at the moment:

“Just As I Am” (of course)
“I Am Resolved”
“Softly and Tenderly”
“What Shall It Be?”
“O Why Not Tonight?”
“Jesus Is Tenderly Calling”
“Why Keep Jesus Waiting?”
“Out of My Bondage”
“Bring Christ Your Broken Life”
“Lord, I’m Coming Home”
“Sinners Jesus Will Receive”

I know I’m forgetting some others. But these are downloaded into my head. And many of their lyrics are powerful.

Just as I am! Thy love unknown
Has broken every barrier down;
Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

Oh, for the wonderful love he has promised,
Promised for you and for me;
Though we have sinned, he has mercy and pardon
Pardon for you and for me.

Which invitation songs have I omitted? Which ones have spoken meaningfully to you?

The Most Profound Words at Pepperdine Lectureship

Published
by
Mike
on May 5, 2006
in faith
. 7 Comments

I haven’t heard everything said at the lectureship, so I can’t prove this. But my guess is that if you listened to all the messages given here (and you’d be blessed again and again), you’d find nothing more profound than the words of faith from Rachel and Klint Pleasant.

Klint was ACU’s basketball coach when he decided to accept a job at Rochester College to allow him to be home more with Rachel and their new baby, Abigail. They moved there last August, and two weeks later tragedy struck. Rachel came within a breath of dying.

There’s so much to tell, but you can check it out at klintpleasant.blogspot.com.

What I heard the two of them say this morning would have been worth coming here for. She, still up against some challenges (such as severely impaired vision) even after having her skull reattached a few months ago, spoke about how she sees more clearly than ever before about her place in this world in light of the kingdom of God. He spoke eloquently, at times choking back tears, as he spoke about his love for his wife and daughter, about his appreciation for the people of God, and about his faith.

One thing I’ve always loved about Klint’s faith: he doesn’t like carefully, packaged, one-size-fits-all answers. He’s nervous of people who always think they know exactly what God’s up to and who promise that if you pray things will happen just as you hoped.

I can’t wait for them to return to Highland to share this journey some Sunday.