A quick hello from Nikki...
First day in Senegal! Which, strangely...feels like it's been a couple days...hard to believe we arrived at 5:00am this morning.
First day in Senegal! Which, strangely...feels like it's been a couple days...hard to believe we arrived at 5:00am this morning.
Just made it to Senegal. Nikki, Donna Cruz (from "Afternoons with Donna Cruz") and I are here with World Vision, to see how they operate. Senegal is a Muslim nation on the very western tip of Africa. This is where the hurricanes originate that wind up hitting Florida and causing big hassles.
...as she gets a chance to perform a Southern Gospel song with me. She was right proud.
I wrote this a couple years ago, but thought about it yesterday, after watching South Carolina's governor in his press conference. Of course, it isn't about him, and doesn't need to be. It's about all of us.
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A friend of mine did something really, really bad a couple years ago. Real bad. Not illegal bad, but...bad enough that even this week, it showed up on page two of a metro newspaper, a thousand miles away from where he did it.
I love this guy. He's fun, smart, and fairly new to Christian belief. He's accepted responsibility for what he did, and he's had to live with it every day. He told me the other day he was sorry even I was having to deal with it now. "I'm amazed how many people this has affected. One stupid, wrong decision I made and it keeps affecting so many people. My wife, my kids...it just keeps going."
And so it does.
We marvelled at that, and, just stood there, quietly, just shaking our heads. Amazing? Yes. But not really surprising.
The older I get, the more convinced I am there is no private sin. They don't all wind up on page two, but the surface of the pond is never undisturbed by the pebble. The ripples move well beyond ourselves, and, in many cases they radiate through generations.
Or, another recent example: One day, you're a minister getting in a quick ego-stroking flirt, thinking you're in some kind of private soap opera...and soon, there are 300 people in a flourescent-lit room, on metal folding chairs, discussing what you did. And they're cautioning each other not to judge you, and then they talk some more about what you did.
And then, some little kid you dont even know, like my daughter, has to hear some stranger talking in church about how the pastor-guy won't be back, he did something called "sexual misconduct."
Your soap opera? It wasn't private.
Sins on the computer aren't private. Larry Ellison, from Oracle, said years ago: If you think he doesn't know what's on your hard drive, you're kidding yourself. By the way, Google knows, too.
But even if they didn't know, the sins in your head aren't private. Mine affect my attitude. They keep me from being concerned about other people. They make me a jerk, in seemingly unrelated ways. ("Why's Brant a jerk?" "Probably something seemingly unrelated.")
There is no "private sin." Turns out few things have done more harm than the "do no harm" ethic. The as-long-as-it-doesn't-hurt-anyone-else construction of morality is built atop the swamp of affluence. We afford this lie, because affluence loves not only privacy, but the fantasy of it. But like the 77's said, "The lust, the flesh, the eyes, and the pride of life -- drain the life right out of me."
And then...I'm not the person I'm supposed to be. I'm less creative. I'm less joyful. I have less social energy. My patience is gone. I care less about my neighbors.
Private rebellion. Public consequence. And if it seems unfair that what my friend did was so horrible, but what you or I do in our minds is somehow not so horrible -- well, you agree with Jesus. There IS no difference.
The ripple metaphor works. There's a better one, really, for what our "private" sins do to each other, but I don't want to gross you out with a picture of a fan being hit by organic material. I have higher standards than that.
Plus, I Googled for 20 minutes and couldn't find one.
Here's an excerpt from "A Jesus Manifesto", which is newly-written by authors Frank Viola and Leonard Sweet. Thought I'd post it, since it echoes so well some of the stuff we talk about on the show. Can't hurt to have someone else say it...
It is possible to confuse an academic knowledge or theology about Jesus with a personal knowledge of the living Christ himself. These two stand as far apart as do the hundred thousand million galaxies. The fullness of Christ can never be accessed through the frontal lobe alone. Christian faith claims to be rational, but also to reach out to touch ultimate mysteries. The cure for a big head is a big heart.
Jesus does not leave his disciples with CliffsNotes for a systematic theology. He leaves his disciples with breath and body.
Jesus does not leave his disciples with a coherent and clear belief system by which to love God and others. Jesus gives his disciples wounds to touch and hands to heal.
Jesus does not leave his disciples with intellectual belief or a “Christian worldview.” He leaves his disciples with a relational faith.
Christians don’t follow a book. Christians follow a person, and this library of divinely inspired books we call “The Holy Bible” best help us follow that person. The Written Word is a map that leads us to The Living Word. Or as Jesus himself put it, “All Scripture testifies of me.” The Bible is not the destination; it’s a compass that points to Christ, heaven’s North Star.
The Bible does not offer a plan or a blueprint for living. The “good news” was not a new set of laws, or a new set of ethical injunctions, or a new and better PLAN. The “good news” was the story of a person’s life, as reflected in The Apostle’s Creed. The Mystery of Faith proclaims this narrative: “Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.”
The meaning of Christianity does not come from allegiance to complex theological doctrines, but a passionate love for a way of living in the world that revolves around following Jesus, who taught that love is what makes life a success . . . not wealth or health or anything else: but love. And God is love.
Warning: This article, that we talked about this morning, isn't for kids. Mature stuff.
Another warning: Life + Jesus = Challenging
"Mornings with Brant" Labs presents the StickyShirt (TM) in this how-to video, demonstrating the StickyShirt's practicality in day-to-day situations. Absent-minded folk can use the StickyShirt to organize and store pens, calendars, keys, phones, sports equipment, beverages, snacks, dry goods, prescription drugs and other medical helps, weapons, educational materials, and agricultural supplies.
And all in style.
This video features Brant, along with Nikki and Pablo and "the Beej" and also Britney and maybe some other people.
Nothing like quantifying your marriage!
Here's a link to the study (scroll down) we talked about this morning. It explains that, while "unchurched" young adults are more open to traditional Christian belief -- like the resurrection of Christ -- church attendance just ain't happenin'.
It's called "Beauty Control". Man, did they name THAT thing right.
Nothing against Beauty Control (TM) products and/or services and/or salespeople and/or legal representatives preparing a defamation suit at this moment, but at least that one night, BC wasn't cool. Carolyn went to this "Ladies Night" thing at church, years ago, and the Beauty Control rep was there to do a demo make-over-thing-deal.
They picked Carolyn as the make-over-ee, which made no sense, because she didn't, and doesn't, need a makeover. I wasn't there, but, apparently, they did a bunch of...stuff...to her face, and then everyone got to see how great she looked, and she was showered with compliments the rest of the evening! You look great! Wow! Beauty Control did that? Wow! Awesome! Look at you, girlfriend! etc., etc. etc.
Then she came home. I couldn't believe what I saw.
They made her look like Bozo the Clown. Without even the dignity of the floppy red shoes.
I was stunned. Uh...I didn't know what to say. But I said something. Turned out, she hadn't had a chance to see herself all evening long. I told her to go look in the bathroom mirror. She broke up laughing. No exaggeration: This makeup job was mind-blowing.
"Beauty Control", indeed. What was their motto? "Controlling Beauty Since 1942"?
It was ha-ha funny, but you know? Deep down, it bugged me. It's hard to explain. It was sorta like -- I don't know -- someone messing wtih your wife's face. Yes. It felt JUST like that. And Carolyn was, and is, beautiful.
Two rules I've always had: #1: No one messes with Carolyn's face, especially if this violates #2: No one makes her look like she should have a sidekick named "Mr. Slappy" or whatever.
We thought it was bizarre that all her friends would go through the evening as if nothing was amiss, nothing was painfully awry, but, hey, they were being nice. Nice to her, nice to the Beauty Control Lady. No feelings hurt. Just a little charade.
But she got home, where any loving husband would say something, and I did.
Because I love her face. Her real face. So we talked about it, looked at it in the bright light, had a good laugh, and then she cleaned off the silliness and went back to the beauty she is.
So my wife says she wants me to know her – really know her. She longs for this, she says. And, I, being a serious, committed husband, think that’s a
great idea. If I do that, we'll have a great
marriage!
So I’m learning things about her! And I’m spending a lot of time, doing it!
First, I started reading books about her, and studying
them. I underline facts about her, and
highlight others. I do this every day, because
it’s the right thing to do! I now know
everything from her hair color to the birthdays of her parents to the address
of the first house she lived in! I’ve
got these facts memorized! I recite them.
Not only that, I now attend multiple Wife Fact Studies during the week. Some guys and I get together and discuss facts and remember them and sometimes argue when we disagree. But we learn things.
By the way, did you know my wife’s exact height is 5’7” and a quarter, and also that she got a B in biology once? I know that. I really know her.
Of course, since she’s told me she really wants me to deeply know her, I can’t spend enough time listening to teachings about her! Even on CD in the car! And I learn much about her from these!
Once – sometimes twice! – a week, I drive to a big building
to learn more about her. She doesn’t "live" there, but it’s a great place to feed me more information about her.
If I don’t learn anything new, or if I find a more entertaining teacher...? I switch buildings!
I know a LOT now! I’m
thinking about going to college to become a full-fledged expert! That’ll make
her really happy! One fact I found out is that she's the jealous type, but that doesn't worry me, because I'm only studying facts, all the time, about her -- no one else.
It’s not easy, I can tell you that! See, there’s always more to learn, so I can still
feel pretty stupid. It’s really very
complex. I’m pretty busy with all this
studying, but man, it's exhilarating, this knowing her -- I have 4,332 facts about her memorized so far!
And someday, in the by and by, when I have time to spend with her, to just live life with her, to listen to her, to bear my heart to her and hear her voice, to just be with her -- well, I think she’ll be impressed by how much I know.
Speaking ONLY for myself here, a few thoughts. I've attached a picture of penguins in santa suits to lighten the mood. Thank you.
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I"m not sure we've played a song on the show that's prompted more comment than "You Found Me". That feedback is not universally negative -- not by a long shot -- but there's been a lot of it.
A striking feature of the complaints: They're about a variety of things. But here they are, as I've heard them:
1) The Fray is not a "Christian band"
2) The song has a negative tone
3) God is depicted smoking a cigarette, and God actually does not, in fact, smoke cigarettes, so we shouldn't say that He does
4) Saying "You've got a lot of nerve" to God is just too disrespectful.
5) The song doesn't end happily
Here are a few brief responses:
1) The Fray is not a "Christian band"
They are artists who are professed believers, and have not hidden this.
On a wider note, I'm always taken aback by the certainty many have about who is "in", and who is "out". Paul himself writes that only God knows the motives of our hearts -- we don't even know our own! -- so don't act like you know what you don't. Check out I Corinthians 4:3-5:
"I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God."
Sounds -- to me, anyway -- like we should be very careful in thinkng we really know what others' motivations are. In fact, we shouldn't think we know what others' motivations are at all, or how God views what is hidden from us. That goes for The Fray, Mercy Me, Steven Curtis Chapman, and, yes, even Billy Graham.
To say that these men -- The Fray -- simply "aren't a Christian band", when they are thoughtfully-spoken, professed believers -- takes some moxie. The wrong kind.
Yes, they are played widely in the mainstream market. I think that's wonderful. So is Mercy Me.
(Interestingly, many tell me U2 just isn't a "Christian band", either, and I shouldn't plug them on the air. Okay. Meanwhile, we should warn Mercy Me, as well, who will play their songs in concert. And Chris Tomlin, who does a great recorded version of "Where the Streets Have No Name", too. And Sanctus Real covers them. And Toby Mac covers them...and Tait, and so on. They're all under the impression that "Christian" isn't pre-packaged and labeled quite so cleanly.)
By the way -- a Biblical aside: Ever see "Christian" used as an adjective in the Bible?
For my part, and I'm just one guy, "The Fray is not a Christian band" isn't a coherent statement. I literally don't understand what's meant. Perhaps it's time we mature as believers to the point that we can look for truth, beauty, and goodness wherever it lay.
I can tell you, giving up the I-have-to-label-everyone-j
ust-so impulse is a very, very freeing thing. I'm not totally over it, but man, it's refreshing.
2) The song has a negative tone
Yep. Yes, it does. Like many (most?) Psalms. "Where are you, God?" is hardly foreign to the Bible, which is one reason I'm a Christian: The Bible is not a sing-songy children's book, full of just-so stories. It isn't a math textbook, with an answer key in back. It's a love story, and a grueling, beautifully messy struggle, start-to-finish. Kind of like reality.
Ironically, this song is VERY encouraging to many people: Those of us who have felt this way before. We've wondered "Why didn't God stick to MY timetable? Where WERE YOU?"
I see characters in the Bible honestly struggling (even physically wrestling!) with God -- and not being struck by lightning. No -- they're rewarded for it.
I don't close the Bible when I read these stories, and say, "How unChristian." I say, "Thank God. My experience is not unique. I'm not a freak. God wants all of me, including my honesty."
What He does not want is our silence, in the service of a narrow definition of what constitutes "encouraging."
God is revealed in our weakness, in our heart cries, and in our humanness. He made us this way. And He loves us -- the honest us. What He doesn't want, and what He can't stand, is a religious charade.
3) God is depicted smoking a cigarette, but God does not smoke cigarettes
Well, it's poetry.
Interestingly: Most people with this complaint understand this, but "fear for others who might not understand." And that is...understandable...but,
so you know, I haven't talked to anyone yet who actually thinks they're claiming God literally smokes. So everyone seems to get it, but suspects few others do.
There's more meaning to this, of course, in how God uses people to represent Him, possibly even us fallen-types, and one of us might, poetically, hang out at the corner of First and Amistad.
There are those who say Jesus-types don't "get" poetry, can't handle it, and have to be strictly literal and representational. That's patently untrue, of course. But, on the other hand, I can see why they might want to say that.
4) Saying "you've got a lot of nerve" is just disrespectful
Just my opinion, again: I don't think so. But maybe I've got a lot of nerve.
But I'm not even sure, here, of the real objection:
-- Are we saying we shouldn't ever FEEL this way?
-- Or are we saying we shouldn't ever SAY it, even though we feel it?
-- Or, lastly, are we saying, perhaps, that while believers, and Biblical characters, feel it and say it, that Christian radio shouldn't acknowledge that?
Honestly: Which is it?
Or, hypothetically: What if they wrote a song about "Where are you? You've abandoned me." and then ended it with "Darkness is my only friend." And that's the end. Period.
Would that be out of bounds? If you think so, you've just banished the song that is Psalm 88. Should the Bible contain something, but a Christian radio station never "go there", even in a tamer sense?
Amazingly, even Jesus felt abandoned. Eloi, Eloi lama sabachthani? -- He cried from the cross. God, where are you? Why have you forsaken me?
I'm so glad even that scandal is in the Bible. God is mysterious. He is good, but you don't have Him all figured out, either. He is mysterious. And he honors our pursuit of Him -- our honest pursuit of Him. Maybe He can handle more than you think.
5) The song doesn't end happily
Well...yeah, there's that. Very true.
No bow-tie ending, no on-time Brady Bunch wrap-up. Just someone calling out to God, continuing to converse with Him, wondering, without all the answers.
Sounds like my life. Maybe it sounds like yours. Not everything is resolved yet.
Maybe there are millions of people who previously never "got" Christian media because it didn't quite seem to ring true, like real life. In real life, there are few storybook resolutions. We are in the midst of it, the awkward tween period, and we still see through a glass darkly.
If you've felt that way, like your own actual life is too messy, too -- horrors! -- unresolved; or maybe you've felt like God didn't always do things the way YOU wanted...well, you're welcome here, too.
Here's the link to buy a Wearable Towel!
It's a towel...that you wear!
Yep!
You betcha.
First sentence on the site throws up some red flags, like maybe they have a special customer base: "The Wearable Towel has three arm openings which..."
So here's the story about the cat...with wings.
That's right: I said cat. With wings.
Creepy, yet lovable. Kinda like "Mornings with Brant".