Trans-Siberian Fun

We went recently to Greensboro to enjoy the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Christmas concert. And it was thrilling! The guitars wailed, the violins danced and the drums thundered for a riveting 2.5 hour show.

As I understand it the TSO uses the largest set up of lights, lasers, pyrotechnics and effects of any major traveling act.

And I'd believe it!

To introduce the principal guitar and violin players, they were lowered on platforms as they played seemingly out of the sky onto the stage. Even the large metal frames that were hanging above the stage supporting other lights were movable. They were laced with lights and often moved up, down, tilted and curved in different directions to add to the show (see left).









My favorite part was probably the fire (see upper right). At one point is was so hot you could feel the heat way back in the upper section where my wife and I were seated.

We got really cheap tickets so it was definitely worth the money. I would recommend The TSO to just about anyone and I hope to see them again!

A "good message"

Growing up in the Bible belt I was exposed to a healthy portion of good o'le Southern Baptist doctrine. And one of the staples of southern conservative Christianity is Evangelism. Few faith groups in America are as good at sharing their faith and message to gain converts as Baptists. (However, as I understand it, the Mormons have us beat.)

As I have made my way through seminary I have gotten a taste of the more moderate flavors of the Baptists pie. One thing I have noticed is that Evangelism looks quite different in a moderate Baptist church. You might say that moderate baptists have shied away from 'traditional' Baptist evangelism for fear of appearing to be Southern Baptist. And this trend has impacted me in one way or another. I have found myself more removed from teaching about evangelism or faith sharing. I have even found myself keeping away from the "E" word all together. and this is regrettable.

However, recently I have found a renewed appreciation for euaggelizo. We get the word "evangelism" by transliterating the Greek word seen above. When taken apart, the Greek word euaggelizo is made up of two parts.

The first word, "eu" is a prefix meaning "good." It is the same as the "eu" prefix in the word 'eulogy' (meaning "good word") or 'euthanasia' (meaning "good death").

The second part of the word, aggelos, is the word from which we get "angel." It literally means, "messenger."

So when put together "good" and "message" become "the good message" or "good news." The verb would be "to share the good news."

I don't know how or why, but somehow this understanding of the word helps me to come back to a healthy respect for what evangelism is. I helps me to disassociate evangelism with overly anxious Bible thumping street preachers that preach more condemnation than grace and re-associate it with a genuine telling of something that is good and worth while.

If you have been like me and strayed away from traditional evangelism, perhaps you can join me on the shore of genuine faith sharing that isn't concerned with counting baptisms or one-hit-conversions .

In my opinion, meaningful evangelism is done through life giving relationships with people and with Jesus the Anointed One rather than through reciting a prayer or walking down the Roman Road. From Jesus' own mouth we know that faith sharing is important, but I hope we can hold an honest picture of what that looks like.

However we do so, let's be sure to share the good message.

Dog Theology, part 2: Learning to Swim

For many dogs swimming, as well as the desire to swim, just comes naturally. Not so with my dog: Dakota. However, there was a time, once, when I did successfully get her to swim.

While camping at Jordan Lake during a hot summer my wife and I took Dakota to the water. Getting her to splash and trot around with her feet in the water was easy. But to get her out any deeper than her belly took a bit of coaxing. Dogs seem to instinctively know how to swim, but ours only knows how to instinctively be a wuss.

Being a hound breed she is very food motivated. She'll do just about anything for a tasty morsel. And that's just what it took to get her to swim on her own. I put a treat in front of her curiously sniffing snout just out of reach and slowly lead her step by four-legged step into deeper water. With this tactic the two of us walked all six of our legs into deep water. There were a number of times when she abandoned the treat and turned around. But with enough motivation and encouragement from her dear o'le doggy dad she swam on her own.

Yay!!!

Isn't that just how growth happens? Most of us have not gotten to where we are in life by jumping into the middle of our vocational pool. We gradually took steps toward the deep water and who we would become. We may have turned back due to fear, but this slow gradual process seems to be the way in which God chooses to grow us emotionally, spiritually, and even vocationally.

Whatever morsel is in front of you right now, giving you reason and inspiration to move deeper, let me encourage you to step back and take in the big picture of your life. Sometimes it might be helpful to turn back, look at the shore where you began and notice just how far you've already come, instead of focusing on how far you still have to go.

This has been my own experience through grad school. If at the beginning of seminary I had seen where I am at now, I would have thought there is no way I could grow so much or swim so far. But I must credit those who walked out there with me and encouraged me along my path.

Step by four-legged step as I come to the end of seminary I, too, am learning to swim.

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Best.

"Shabbat"

A friend of mine at Campbell who is also a pastor told a story once. He was mowing his lawn on Sunday afternoon one day, when a member of his church drove by in the car. The church member stopped and greeted his pastor kindly. However, during their short conversation the church member asked what the pastor was doing mowing his grass on a Sunday? “Keep the Sabbath holy” was behind this question no doubt.

We get the word, Sabbath, from the Hebrew word שַׁבָּת (shabbat) meaning "cease." After six days of creation, God 'ceased' his work during the seventh day. Like wise, the fourth commandment is a command to take a day of rest and honor it, because rest is simply important.

I recently read a passage in John where Jesus is "caught" healing on the Sabbath and getting into trouble with those wily o'le Jews. Jesus responded to them by saying, "My Father is always at work, to this very day, and I, too, and working."

But when Jesus healed on the Sabbath the Pharisees, or religious leaders, paid the healing part no mind. They were too concerned that Jesus had "worked" on the Sabbath and thus broken Jewish religious tradition. Jesus had not broken a commandment, but simply religious convention. Over time, the Rabbinic oral tradition had made the Jewish laws even stricter. They had set regulations about what you could and couldn't do on the Sabbath so as to avoid doing work. These were regulations such as how much weight you could carry and even how many steps you could take on the Sabbath. What Jesus did was not forbidden by the Torah, but by tradition.

The Sabbath is supposed to be a time of rest. Got rested on the seventh day and so should we. For many of us it is also a time of worship. It ought, however, to be a break from the daily grind. (Get it, God took a break from the "day-ly" grind!) My guess is, whether you mow your lawn or not, the Sabbath should allow you adequate rest before you resume work.

Americans are probably the worst for never taking a Sabbath. We quit working at our regular job on Friday, but then too often fill up our weekend with other obligations and other forms of work. This often leaves us drained for work come Monday morning. That is not a Sabbath.

Perhaps you need to take a time for quality restful rest. When is the last time you took a Sabbath: time to rest for rest's sake? If you can't remember, it might be that time.

Rest well my friend.

DOG Theology

There's an older but familiar bumper sticker that reads, "God is my co-pilot." Soon responses to this sticker began appearing on car bumpers. One response was written trying to one-up it saying, "If God is your co-pilot, switch seats." Another was written looking to make a clever come back: "DOG is my co-pilot."

As a dog owner and lover I have often had the opportunity to reflect on the strange yet profound connections between dog and man, and man and God. Over the years I have noticed parallels in these two relationships. And at times they have been a bit eerie, but sometimes they are teachable moments.

My dog, Dakota, is a hound. And any hound owner knows that hounds are driven by their noses even more than other breeds. Her sense of smell is amazing...and frustrating. It causes her to get into anything and everything.

Her two favorite places to stick her elongated snout are bathroom trashcans and our house plant's dirt. Dakota knows she is not supposed to do this; many punishings and time spent in her cage have taught her this. And so she never gets into them while we're around. But often, when my wife and I come home we find little bits of dirt scattered playfully around our plant, and oftentimes bathroom tissue in various rooms of the apartment. Mostly she tells on herself when she happily greets us at the door with dirt on her nose.

Grrrrr.........!

Isn't if funny how sometimes we people think we can 'get away' with certain things when God isn't watching. Mark 13:35a says, "Therefore, be on the alert-- for you do not know when the master of the house is coming." We may be able to fool other people about what we do, but God sees us even when no one else does. Dakota doesn't know when we're coming back, and too many times we have caught her "dirty snouted."

I wonder if that's how God sees us sometimes? We come running to Him in prayer or to church and all he sees is dirt on our snouts. The neat part is just like I always forgive my daughter dog and end up rubbing on her floppy velvety ears, God will always forgive us too.

And lastly, Dakota has never stopped being cute. I wonder if sometimes, to God, we just look cute?!

A step in the right direction

Recently, for her birthday my wife was given a Wii Fit pad and game. Anyone who knows the two of us knows that gift would probably better suit me than her. Just to be clear I did not give this to her as the stereotypical male attempt to get something for myself out of her birthday. No, I'm not so think as you dumb I am.

When the Fit first arrived on the market I was skeptical at the potential for variety. I knew the Fit would be a novelty and sell out just like all of Nintendo's Wii products. However, I wonder if the Fit pad is something that can reach longevity in usage. But now I can see for myself.

Video games have had a history of doing two things, 1) entertaining both youngsters and oldsters with games that tap into scenarios only attainable in the digital world, and 2) causing long time gamers to spend hours on a sofa engaging in no more exercise than rigorous thumb work. For years, video games have been a contributing factor to childhood obesity. They keep kids indoors gaming when they should be running and getting dirty.

Dance Dance Revolution was the first modern game to incorporate physical movement into the gaming scene. (I do recall a track and field game for the original NES that utilized the same concept.) But the Nintendo Wii provided the perfect marriage between physical movement and gaming. This is something overweight gamers can benefit from.

With its newest product, the Wii Fit Pad, Nintendo has taken a step in the right direction towards physical activity for gamers. The game that accompanies the pad is very health conscious. When you first turn it on the computer gathers your weight and height to calculate you Body Mass Index (BMI). Then gamers are encouraged to set a fitness goal involving how many pounds to lose within a time frame. Health facts and tips are sprinkled throughout the tutorial. Actual game play involves yoga, aerobics, strength training and other balance games to help build stronger muscles. The game also promotes good posture, something most lazy Americans could use.

All in all, after only having played it once, I give the Wii Fit Pad a thumbs up. There are too many fat Americans that aren't getting healthier playing video games. I doubt American teenagers will ever be weened fully off of their dependence on gaming media and get outside to exercise instead, but Wii Fit sure is a good start.