Interview with Jeff Bell

Jeff Bell is a musician & visual artist currently living in Mansfield, OH. He is a key member of YelloWall Collective. He has been performing music for 15 years and, between his former band & solo projects, has put out12 CDs . He has been a visual artist for 10 years. I sat down with him in the square across from his downtown loft where we shared a smoke & explored how music & art collide in his life.

GypsyLuc: Can we start off by you sharing about the different facets of your artistic/creative life?

Jeff Bell: My art ranges from making djembe drums, mandolins & guitars to odd prototype instruments which are mostly unsuccessful but fun to do. Then there is painting, drawing, sculpture, playing, singing, songwriting & all aspects of composition.

GypsyLuc: Knowing you for a year & a half, I think it’s safe to say that music is very important to you. In addition to the actual music, your artworks usually have a musical theme. What is it about music that speaks to you?

Jeff Bell: More than anything it is probably just the freedom of expression. With art you have to have stuff & have to use just that one material. With music you can do it with almost nothing - with the simplest instruments even.

GypsyLuc: What is the nature of your relationship with music? Would you call it love?

Jeff Bell: No, I wouldn’t call it love because I think love is mostly an emotion or state of mind or feeling. I’d say I’d probably call it an obsession - something I have to do. It’s like checking the door lock two or three times before you leave. It’s more like a sickness than an emotion. Maybe like a disease… It’s sort of a relationship/obsession in some ways.

GypsyLuc: How long has this obsession with music been going on?

Jeff Bell: Since the age of three - as soon as I could climb up on the piano bench. I grew up with my grandparents. My grandma was a music teacher & probably 60 students came through there in a week.

GypsyLuc: If you see an artwork or hear a piece of music you created 15 years ago, how do you respond to it?

Jeff Bell: It depends on the piece. Obviously, some things from the past you like & are still attached to for a long time. Some things you knew you weren’t going to fall in love with when you finished them - although you still feel a connection to it regardless. You realize you were still honing your craft at that time.

GypsyLuc: What percentage of songs have you written which have never made it out to a public venue? How many artworks have you completely painted over?

Jeff Bell: Maybe 25% of songs I’ve written have never been heard publicly. As for paintings I’ve completely painted over - the number is low! Maybe 2 or 3... I don’t do that often because it’s just something you shouldn’t do. I’d scold myself for that! That would be one more painting you would have.

GypsyLuc: You recently quit your day job. Why was that? Was it difficult?

Jeff Bell: I’ve never had a lot of day jobs. If I do, they last for a while, but it’s always about the music! It’s always been about music. After 15 years of traveling & touring, I quit the band I was in to take some time off. I got offered a job building carrousels. It was great but it was easy to let that go. Music somehow always pays better. If you compare it to a day job, working 40 hours per week, you can make that in one night with music. It makes it hard to say yes to any day job.

GypsyLuc: While working for ‘the man’, how did you ensure you still had time for creative pursuits?

Jeff Bell: I only worked two days a week! I made sure when I took that job that it would be part-time. I don’t choose one or the other. I made that choice a long time ago. I decided that if I took day jobs I would keep it to a minimum.

GypsyLuc: What progression or changes have you seen in your materials, methods & subject matter over time?

Jeff Bell: It’s true that with any medium you work with you gradually go up & hit plateaus. It’s never a steady climb. With music, you notice your playing & songwriting getting better. Your wordsmithing gets better over time. With art, the more you think about it - the easier it is to come up with better ideas.

GypsyLuc: When performing or creating are you ‘present’? Are you aware of your audience & surroundings or do you go to some other place?

Jeff Bell: Both. There are times when I’m painting or creating art of some kind & I get lost. That right-brain-switch just happens & I get lost. When performing you’re aware of your audience most of the time. You can be thinking about what you might do for the rest of the evening, where you’re going to eat, sex, anything. There are times, when it going well, that you get sort of lost.

GypsyLuc: If you had to lose your hearing or your eyesight - which would you choose?

Jeff Bell: Oh man! That is an unfair question! Those are my only two options? How about half of both? If I had to choose I’d rather be blind. I could still play music & still perform. But, I’d need a chauffeur…

GypsyLuc: What current projects or goals do you have in the works?

Jeff Bell: As for projects: I’m finishing a CD. I’m getting ready to finish the writing & begin the recording. There are always some paintings coming up on the list & probably some wood sculptures. As for goals: more traveling for music - more so than the last year or two. The South is always nice. I’m hoping to get into the Woodchoppers Ball up in Kent where they pick 10 acoustic guitar players from around the Midwest.

GypsyLuc: What would be the ultimate setup for you as an artist/musician?

Jeff Bell: Hell! I think I might already have it right now. It would be a situation where if you do work a day job you don’t work much & can devote, say, 95% of your time to art. That’s probably most artists’ dream situation. But, I’m not sure most people know what that is. From talking to some people, I’m not sure they would even know what to do with that time.

GypsyLuc: So let’s say that you are in that dream situation right now. How long can you remain content in it?

Jeff Bell: I think forever pretty much! Even in a dream situation I might switch media, play for awhile, go back to art. Yeah. Pretty much forever.

GypsyLuc: You possess multiple talents. Do you consider yourself to be any more gifted than the next guy?

Jeff Bell: Hell no. Hell no! I think everybody has attributes or excel in certain areas. It may not be art or music. There are a lot of people who can do things far better than I can do them!

GypsyLuc: Any last words? Is there anything you want to toss out - one last song - before this show comes to an end?

Jeff Bell: Not really. I’m not a soap-boxer. I’m not political. I don’t really take a stand on a lot of things. I’m much happier to live life & not get too serious about any one individual situation.

Check out www.myspace.com/jbellguitar to hear Jeff’s music, book a show or find a listing of places where his art is on display.

Smediums: TAI Intro

Smashing the proverbial bottle of champagne on the maiden voyage of The Artist Interview, John Hargis kicks off his column by interviewing his alter-ego, GypsyLuc.

John: You’re one of the talented writers that have come onboard with TAI. Can you unlock the meaning behind your column’s title?

GypsyLuc: Smediums. It’s a word that splices ‘small’ & ‘medium’. A friend of mine uses it to describe pants that hang a little too short. It speaks to those times when a person has too much leg for not enough pant. Growing up we called them ‘highwaters’.

John: How does that idea fit into the concept of an Arts magazine?

GypsyLuc: As an artist, I am always dreaming, creating & experimenting with just one more thing - a new medium, a novel idea, the latest creative challenge. It’s sometimes hard to squeeze it all in - to wring out enough moments in the day to make it all happen. It’s like I need 32” long pants but have to fit it all into a pair of 30” smediums.

John: So, Smediums will present interviews with artists on how they find the time to integrate the arts into their lives?

GypsyLuc: Exactly. I’ll be focusing on how artists in Central Ohio weave creativity into the fabric of their day-to-day existence. We all have distractions, commitments & constraints that drag us away from creating. I want to discover the thrust behind the passion, the tricks, techniques & methods - whatever magic there is - to keeping art a priority.

John: You’ve got your fingers in a lot of things yourself: full-time job, three hour daily commute, taking care of wife & kids, creating & marketing your art, writing, open mics, serious involvement in YelloWall Collective… How do you find time for it all?

GypsyLuc: It’s tough, no doubt. It comes down to art being a necessity in my life. While it might be possible for me to exist without it, I definitely can’t thrive that way. I’m equal parts planner & opportunist. I reserve Wednesdays & weekends for art creation. I set deadlines & hold myself accountable to meet them. I sketch at work during meetings & conference calls, refine ideas in my head around the clock, record writing snippets on my cell phone while driving. I reject other opportunities in order to carve out space for art. Sleep is optional at times! Plus, I have some amazing artistic friends who inspire me & push me to keep creating in the midst of the melee.

John: Is it going to be even more difficult to squeeze a monthly column for TAI into an already jam-packed schedule?

GypsyLuc: It’ll work out. The ideas are exploding in my head already! I’m excited about meeting with other artists & passing on the stories of what they’re currently into, why they choose to create & how they make the time. Hopefully, our readers can glean some wisdom & scraps to lace into their own lives. Writing is art. I strive to make time for art. And, in the end, what’s wrong with having a little more leg poking out of the bottom of my smediums?

As God Wants It

I found this quote from some guy named Wolfgang Simson.
Don't know who he is & don't know what he's all about.
But... I have, indeed, been hearing God say the same thing for quite a while now.

"God is changing the church, and that, in turn, will change the world.
Millions of Christians around the world are aware of an imminent reformation of global proportions. They are saying in effect,
'Church as we know it is preventing church as God wants it.'
Amazingly, many are hearing God say the same thing to them."

Makes me want to cry, work, run, pray, bail, jump, do, be!

Raise That Torch!

The glowing blue lights bobbed & swayed in the air - their rhythmic weaving reminiscent of fireflies dancing or a school of luminescent fish swimming in unison. But the periwinkle light was not coming from insects or underwater creatures. The soft blue glow was that of thousands of cell phones brightening the air.

‘Back in the day’ I attended concerts where the crowd lit & held their archetypal lighters in the air. Man did your thumb get hot pretty quickly! That was many years and a lot of technological advances ago. Since cell phones have become more prevalent than smokers, they have replaced the lighter as the unofficial concert torch.

As we worshipped & celebrated at an evangelism conference this past weekend, thousands of students (& chaperones) held up these digital torches. It might take some convincing if you’ve never seen it, but this display was actually quite beautiful. The crowd of over 9,000 was somehow unified by the constellation of lights scattered across the stadium. As the musicians used their gifts to enhance our worship, there was a connection of the worshippers with one another. We experienced that tangible thrill that comes when many individuals bond together for a common purpose, a common goal, a common task, a common mission. In that moment, our focus was on celebrating the love, joy & hope found in our saving God.

It’s easy to keep the torch in our pocket – refuse to hold it up. We can use our cell phones for their intended, functional purpose and never be part of something different & alive & beautiful. Who first decided to hold up his glowing cell phone in the context of a concert? Did others laugh, point, pull out their own digital lights? Innovation can be beautiful – especially if it leads to advancement or a deeper sense of organizational unity. In fact, without breaking into new frontiers & creating new uses for old things, progress cannot be made. The best way to propel the gospel forward is to pray for invigorating new methods, concepts & contexts in which to share it. And then, we must implement the guidance the Lord provides.

When is the last time you found a new use for an existing object – or giftedness – or strength – or idea that you possess? When is the last time you raised your torch in unison with others for a God-sized purpose? What exciting ministry, outreach, worship, discipleship, fellowship concept has been lying dormant within you – just waiting to be flipped open and held high for all to see? Would you discover it? Share it? Incite thrill in those around you with it? It’s time to raise that torch.

What Tribe Are You From?

“Can you help us? Our success rate is only 65%. How do we get more people to receive Jesus when we share the gospel?” This was the question that a native Kenyan posed to a short-term American missionary. This local evangelist was deeply disturbed because only 2 out 3 of the people he witnessed to accepted Christ. How would we, in America, feel about such a ‘low’ percentage?

Some of us may be blessed with a 100% success rate. You see, if we never share the gospel, then there is never the opportunity for failure. So, in essence, not sharing is probably the only way to keep a perfect record! But, I have a really tough time believing that God is pleased with that type of ‘success’. I’m sure He’d much rather us have a 100% obedience rate in sharing the story of the love of Jesus with everyone we come in contact with.

I asked this short-term missionary, Eric, to share how exactly the natives of Kenya shared the gospel with their fellow countrymen. “I don’t really know. Even though they spoke English most of the time, they used each individual’s tribal language when sharing the gospel.” How beautiful.

I see in this answer a great truth that we in the West need to learn. Regardless of how you slice it – America is no longer a ‘Christian nation.’ Sure, there are still plenty of Christians in it. There are thousands upon thousands of church buildings. But what about our heart? Our worldview? Our priorities? Our values? Our overall attitude to the exclusive claims of Christ? Whether we like it or not, many researchers tell us that we are actually in a ‘Post-Christendom’ America where churches no longer hold their once-prominent, central place in society.

If this is true, then believers have to reevaluate how we minister to the culture around us. One thing we can learn from the Kenyans is that we must speak to each soul in his or her own tribal language. Do we present the gospel to a 21 year-old the same way we present it to a 55 year-old not-yet-believer? Is there a different dialect that we must employ to engage each tribe? Is it OK to share the eternal truths of God’s Word in different ways based on a person’s background, age, lifestyle, needs, media exposure, communication methods, interests, etc?

It better be.

If we are not willing to engage people with a language they understand, we might as well shoot for the 100% success rate that comes from not even trying. But, once again, I have a tough time believing that’s what God expects from us.

Is It Just Me?

I read over our ‘Church Covenant’ again today. It hangs in the hallway right where the old & new sections of our building come together. It hangs there – where the new – and the old – come together. The glass covering the Covenant is cracked. Someone has made an attempt to doctor it and smoothen the sharp edges with a few strips of scotch tape. There are a lot of challenging concepts to chew on in those inch-high letters.

“…we…most solemnly & joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.”
Is it just me? Or does it seem like we’ve got the solemn part down but neglect the joyful part at times? When I step into the life of Jesus, I see a big, welcoming smile on his face. I smell life. I taste joy. I feel love. I hear laughter seamlessly woven into his words of infinite truth. Joyfully.

“…to avoid all tattling, backbiting and excessive anger…”
Is it just me? Or does it seem like we, far too easily, stumble into dry seasons where we forget this commitment? All it takes is one sharp tongue, one quick word, one tired moment, one untethered opinion and an inferno is unleashed in the forest. (See James 3:5) Living water can put it out.

“…to be zealous in our efforts to advance the kingdom of our Saviour…”
Zealous. Is it just me? Or does that word have power behind it? Zealous. Say it out loud. It sounds strong, immediate, sure, unstoppable. Zealous.

“…to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation & mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay…”
Is it just me? Or is there great wisdom in rinsing the dishes as soon as you get done eating? Otherwise, the food gets dried & caked on and it takes a whole lot more scraping & scrubbing to get them clean again.

“We further engage to watch over one another in brotherly love…”
Is it just me? Or does it seem like the spirit of this line is to take care of one another? It seems that our ‘watching’ should take place more in the role of a caregiver or a close, loving friend than in the role of a babysitter or a guarddog. And it ought to be done in brotherly love. Love.

There are some good biblical precepts behind that broken glass in the hallway. Those words give a strong sense of the reason that we exist as a body. I can see the wisdom in most of what is recorded there in the hallway - where the old – the new - come together. I hear echoes of Jesus’ all-knowing voice. Does anyone else hear it? Or is it just me?

Bleeding Into Society

The darkness is real. It is still lingering all around you.
Rip the match over that little sandpaper strip and ignite the little stick to life! Flick your thumb in that short quick motion and turn on the flashlight. Melt the wax off the tip of the wick and give your candle the flame it is hungering for. Flip the switch. What good is having a light source & not shredding back the darkness with it? What’s the point of placing 100 lights in one room while the rest of the house remains shrouded in darkness?

Listen believers! Light your torches & plunge into the thickening darkness. Ease into the black corners, the lowly out-of-the-way places. Head underground if you have to. Take the back alleys. Find a patch of the prolific darkness all around you. Then set it ablaze with the light of the good news that God misses those who are far from Him. He wants them back in his sunlit arms.

What good is the salt in the shaker? Shake it out! Fall onto some tasteless meat. Sprinkle yourself into the cracks & crevices of your own personal mission field. You know the one. You call it ‘My Life’. Season the unique culture, relationships, acquaintances, locales & interests you find yourself blessed with. Salt isn’t for church. It’s for the world.

Is God surprised by the people you work alongside, live near, sit next to, play with? Is it by accident that you live where you live, work where you work, sit where you sit in class & play where you play? Are you salting these people & places?

What about a new metaphor? The phrase ‘bleeding into society’ is ringing true in my spirit. It makes me think of the very real, very wet, very precious sacrifice that my Savior poured out for the world. It brings to mind the way a bit of dye soaks in and spreads into the very fiber of a cloth - in it, around it, through it. The cloth drinks in the dye - absorbs and receives it. But the dye must first come in contact with the cloth.

Are we doing all we can to make sure this color-changing grace seeps into the fabric of the lives all around us? As the body of Christ as a whole & as individuals in particular, are we bleeding into society? Or are we shrinking away from it – creating our own safe Christian version of it? The dye must touch the cloth.

“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?” Luke 14:34

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.” Eph 5:8

Lord, what do you want me to do to make a dent in the lostness right where I live? Help me bleed into society, be salty salt, be shiny light. Show me how I can help you in redeeming this place for yourself.

Random Year-End Thoughts

Random Thought I:
The Lord has been moving in my heart & life these last couple weeks.
As the year comes to a close, there are a few swallowtail questions that keep circling my mind. Where are we heading as a church? Why do we even exist in the first place?
Are we fulfilling that purpose? Am I doing my part?

Random Thought II:
If I were asked to name our greatest need as believers, I believe my answer would be that we need to be utterly broken before God. Then, his strength could be made perfect in our weakness. It wouldn’t hurt for us to catch a vision - like an incurable disease – to genuinely love the lost around us with both our words and our actions. That’s what I’d say if I were asked…

Random Thought III:
I have made some mistakes this year. I guess Solomon was right - there’s nothing new under the sun. (smile) Thankfully, my Jesus has helped me stay faithful and a few things have ended with eternal significance. I can see many beautiful ripples on the sea of 2007. I expect to see their rings grow increasingly larger in the upcoming year.

Random Thought IV:
Patience is a good, hard, slow & painful thing.

Random Thought V:
Sometimes we confuse paralysis with patience.

Random Thought VI:
As believers, we are !!FREE!! in Christ.
Free to dance. Free to love. Free to sing.
Free to serve. Free to breath. Free to laugh.
Why do we sometimes choose to return to bondage?

Where Did All the Genres Go?

I came across something unexpected at the new Wal-Mart in Marshall. The CD section in the store is not broken down into the separate genres of country, rap, rock, Christian & pop. Instead, it is arranged in simple alphabetical order by the artist's name. I'm sure this is a tremendous help to the employees who are stocking merchandise. As long as they know that "M" comes after "L" and then "N" comes after that, then they have it made.

We have a lot of categories that divide up those who squeeze onto the shelf of Christianity. There are little signs snapped into place that divide conservatives from liberals, evangelicals from mainliners, moderns from postmoderns. Further distinctions then subcategorize us by all kinds of topics from preferred musical style to eschatological outlook, baptism method to view on women in leadership, ecclesiology to spiritual gifts. Each local church and individual can peel and stick the labels they deem the most appropriate. There are an infinite number of designations within the broader Christian section.

Heaven is going to be like the CD section at the new Wal-Mart. No subcategories. There won't be an endless list of genres to neatly divide up and categorize followers of Jesus. We will all be one, in the presence of a holy God, worshipping for eternity. We will be there in a state of divine unison. No genres. Not even lined up from "A" to "Z". Just there in one accord, overwhelmed by the great truth that is the Alpha & the Omega, the beginning & the end.

"You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They'll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd." Jesus in John 10:16 (TMSG).

Christmas reminds me that each believer is part of a diverse, worldwide family of faith. We share a common Father & are bound together by a common bloodline that flows from our common Savior. Those who believe in Jesus' substitutionary death are members of that global family. Very soon, all of his true followers will be gathered together in one place with no unnecessary distinctions. Imagine Christ's entire body worshipping together in a community without categories. Christmas reminds us that God was born as a baby to make that dream a reality. While it may be harder to find a specific genre at the Marshall Wal-mart, we won't even think to look for any kind of label in Heaven.

Commercial Christmas

You had better hurry! Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. If you want to get a jump on things, you should go ahead and start decorating with hearts & doilies today! I know you’re still munching on Thanksgiving turkey and the Christmas tree just got plugged in for the first time. But, apparently that’s perfectly OK. Now is the time to start thinking ahead and begin buying roses, cards & candy for February.

It seems that every year the marketing starts flying at us earlier & earlier. Nowadays, you can begin stocking up on glitzy ornaments and overpriced wrapping paper in late September at some stores. If you’re a shopoholic or just like maxing out credit cards, then Commercial Christmas has your name written all over it!

Many battles have been fought over the last couple of years about calling this time of the year the ‘Holiday Season’ instead of ‘Christmas’. The reason: to make room for other faiths & winter celebrations and to keep from offending some with the name of Christ. But I wonder, if people are really not going to keep Christ in ‘Christmas’ in the truest sense, would it actually be better to just call it the ‘Holidays’? After all, if this time of the year has been boiled down to songs about Santa, slick marketing ads, flashing outdoor lights and enticing buy-one-get-one-free-sales, would Jesus really want his name associated with it?

We’ll soon begin hearing people talk about ‘the true reason for the season’. You mean it’s not about checking off items from my consumer wishlist as family, friends & coworkers spend more money than they have on things I don’t really need? Hmmmm…. Then what IS the season all about?

It’s about a baby.

But, not just any baby – the God baby. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Deity submitting Himself to wear skin for awhile. Royalty choosing to experience our poverty. Light piercing the darkness. Perfection willingly immersing himself in the stench and decay of a sin-tainted world. Glory veiling itself. Holiness dwelling among filth. The Author of creation wrapped in swaddling clothes, GOD asleep in a manger.

It’s about grace.

It’s about love. It’s about our need. It’s about the Savior invading our world. It’s about Christ. And it doesn’t matter what it’s called if followers of Jesus will set apart God in our hearts this season.

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” I Peter 3:15.

Will you keep ‘Christ’ in your Christmas?

A Lesson From Spanky

As a child, I watched “The Little Rascals” as reruns on TV. I can only remember a few scenes from all the episodes I saw. And even the ones I can recall are fuzzy in my memory. I do vaguely remember that in one of the episodes, Spanky was babysitting. And either because the baby was crying or just because he wanted to be free from the responsibility, Spanky spread tar on the baby’s diaper. Then, he stuck the baby inside a kitchen cabinet and closed the door! The baby was stuck in there. And, of course, he kept crying.

I bring this up for a couple of reasons.

(1) While working with a group of teens this past week, it came out that none of the teenagers knew there used to be a show called “The Little Rascals”. They thought the 1994 movie version was a new creation that stood on its own. They were totally unaware of the show that began as “Our Gang” back in 1922.

(2) As believers, leaders, guardians, parents & teachers – we can’t just stuff crying babies under the sink! It is up to us to make sure this generation and the ones coming up after it do not forget the GREAT STORY OF GOD. The evidence is crying out all around us. People are more and more forgetting God and His ways. The memories are becoming fuzzy – like my unsure recollection of an old TV episode.

Our world, our nation, our town is seeing a new generation that doesn’t know [or realize they don't know] the rich history of the Christian faith. They feel like it’s just some independent thing that exists apart from anything relevant to their lives. Instead of a newer movie with roots going back to a much-loved series, they see Christianity as an old black and white film that has no bearing on the lives they’re living today. That’s where we come in…

“…I will teach you hidden lessons from our past- stories we have heard and know, stories our ancestors handed down to us. We will not hide these truths from our children but will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord. We will tell of his power and the mighty miracles he did.” Psalm 78:2-4

Our children are crying out for hope, for direction, for relevance, for meaning. We know where all these things can be found. But – listen closely – it is not enough to just tell them about Jesus & righteousness & love & faith. We must live it out before their very eyes in vibrant, 3-D, technicolor, action-packed reality. A simple retelling of the old stories simply will not do.

The young ones are crying out. Just shoving the babies under the sink will not stop their heart-felt tears. Let’s do what it takes to meet the spiritual needs of this generation. The way of Spanky won't get it done.

Mistakes & Misunderstandings

MISTAKES.
I have some pretty strong opinions on things & [for better or worse] I'm normally not afraid to voice them. I recently recorded one of these strong opinions on this very BLOG. While it expressed my personal conviction on a particular issue our church was facing, I now understand that as a Pastor, it should not have been shared in the public forum of the internet. I apologize for that. I also apologize if those words hurt anyone. It was intended as merely an emotional release for me. I had a lapse in judgment. I made a mistake. Please forgive me.

MISUNDERSTANDINGS.
Through some insightful conversations with some Godly church members, I have also become aware of some misunderstandings. Unwittingly, my messages and demeanor have apparently been conveying something that I had not intended them to. Some very sincere Christians have shared that they sometimes get the sense that I look down on believers who are affluent, choose to dress their best on Sunday mornings or who prefer traditional music in worship. That idea could not be further from my heart!

My message is that Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. I believe we can honor God by wearing our best clothes or by choosing to wear our everyday clothes to church. We can connect with God through contemporary or modern or traditional or blended music. We can be financially blessed or in deepest poverty. The point is that none of these things decides where our relationship with God truly stands. Instead,“…whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Joel 2:32

None who are willing – rich, poor, middle-class, blue-collar, white-collar, no collar, turtleneck, v-neck, t-shirt, no shirt, shirt-and-tie… should be hindered from entering the Kingdom. While we all enter through one door – Jesus Christ – we don’t all take the same route leading up to that door. And once we pass through his blood into saving faith, it’s OK that we celebrate, worship, think & serve God in gloriously diverse kinds of ways.

If it hasn’t come through clearly – that’s what I’ve been trying to say all along. We should respect the diversity of how each of us relates to our loving God. There is no one right way to worship as long as we truly worship in spirit and in truth. Is it possible that our greatest unity can be found in acknowledging our rich diversity?

The Heart

Why is it so easy to look at the outside of a person and never be able to see the 'real' person within?
Why is it so easy to listen to a person's words but hear something totally different than what they actually said?
Why is it so easy to pass judgment on others without getting to know where they're coming from?
Why is it so easy to make accusations about someone you don't really know as a person? as a fellow believer?

What if I chose to get to know others by who they are on the inside?
What if I asked others to clarify what they mean instead of drawing my own conclusions about what I think they meant?
What if I got to know what makes a person tick - instead of trying to put them into a neat little box, all labeled and sealed shut?
What if I invited my fellow believers over for coffee, or asked them out to lunch, or invited them on a walk around the park and got to know their hearts?

United or Untied?

There are many beautiful and challenging metaphors for the ‘kingdom of God’ that stretch our imagination as to what it is really all about। A treasure. A pearl. A mustard seed. Yeast in dough. Some new metaphors that I have heard have included the kingdom as a canvas, a computer network and even an interactive, flowing dance. So I searched my heart and set about imagining my own metaphor for the kingdom…

The kingdom of God is like a woven tapestry. A thick yarn runs from the heart of God to the heart of each believer. And then smaller threads of a slightly different shade continue to connect each believer with one another. So the kingdom is woven together & these connections create the warp & the weft of the kingdom. The strings that make up this tapestry are invisible - but strong. And one-who-is-not-yet-woven-in may, perchance, run into one of its connecting threads. And, even without seeing it, may hold it loosely in the hand and walk along its length until coming to its source – either the Master Weaver himself, or another follower who has the thread woven into his heart.

At any moment, the Woven Ones can tug on the yarn leading to God or one another in order to interact. And at any moment, those wishing to join the tapestry need only to walk to the Master Weaver, unroll a bit of thread from the spool of her own heart and offer it to the Weaver’s skillful hands. In less than a moment, He will intertwine the two threads in such a way that they can never be untied again. If you could see this new connection at all, you would not be able to tell where one heart ends and the other begins.

Now, even though these hidden, invisible threads stretch and cross, weave in & out and bind believers & God together in inseparable bonds, others may pass right through them without even knowing they are there. And the Woven Ones may, at times, forget that there are threads that link them together. But the loosely woven tapestry is still there nonetheless.

The Weaver is a patient one. He knows that one day all the needed threads will be added, woven and knit in just the right pattern. And when that time has come, when all the individual strings of yarn are in place, He will slowly draw all the Woven Ones to Himself. The space between the threads will shrink & disappear. The expanded, loose Woven Ones that have been separated by time & distance will be cinched together into a close-knit tapestry of beauty & grace. And that tapestry will reflect the glory, diversity, unity, beauty, intimacy & design of life as the Master Weaver intended it to be. And together, wrapped around the Master at the center, their perfect interconnectedness will remain throughout eternity.

This metaphor is certainly not perfect। But the metaphors of the kingdom can never catch it’s truest beauty. It is about something bigger – better – other – than the kingdoms of this world. Where would you fall within this metaphor? Are you united to others in the tapestry or are you alone, unwoven, untied?

Q: What metaphor of the kingdom rings truest in your own heart?
Q: Would you dream it, write it down, share it, live it?

No Strings Attached

Kites. Marionettes. Guitars. Good deeds.

What do they all have in common? Well, most of the time, each of these has some strings attached. We understand the need for the string on the kite because we don’t want it flying off without us. And when it comes to the marionette – it would only be a doll if it didn’t have the strings necessary to make it dance. And a guitar – well, I guess that without its strings it could double as a sorry excuse for a drum, but it certainly would lose a lot of its capacity for creating beautiful music. But then there are those ‘good deeds’. I’m pretty sure we would all get along just fine if there were no strings attached to those.

I think about Christ and how he healed people, preached the Good News and even fed 5,000 starving followers. Did He expect anything out of them in return? Well, sure, He wanted his good works to point them towards the Father, but did He expect them to return the favor or pay Him back for the good? No way! He gave those precious gifts out of the overflow of his heart. They were stringless - like free kites, porcelain dolls and rhythmic drums.

When Jesus gave – his gifts were priceless, yet they were absolutely free.

When he gave you a bite to eat, He did not expect an invitation to lunch. When he provided a salmon sandwich, he did not require a hunk of fish & a chunk of bread to be paid back to him at a later date. You had no obligation to follow Him after He touched you with those healing hands. He didn’t guilt you into anything. You could love Him or leave Him. The choice was yours. Even today, Jesus still carries out the same no-strings-attached ministry that He practiced while on this earth.

Do we operate in the same way? Or are our good deeds laced with reciprocal expectations? Do we give & serve for the mere joy of the act? Or do we wait around for a pat on the back, a word of praise, a plaque in our honor? I long to be in that place where my gifts and good deeds are free and clear. I ache for God to do a work in me so that all that I do is truly for Him and for nothing or no one else! I want my acts of kindness to be just that – without any disclaimers or hidden agendas buried within the fine print.

I am asking God for a consuming fire to rage through my heart. What would happen if each of us would minister – like Jesus – with no strings attached?

The Only Antidote

There it is – pulsing with its evil rhythm and staring up at you with those beady, black eyes. Breathing in the beauty of life and exhaling darkness & death. The parasite eats, devours and destroys all that is good. It taints your thoughts. It warps your mind. It slowly consumes every ounce of life in you and then licks its insatiable lips - wanting more.

Sin is an ugly cancer – a wicked destroyer. It permeates all of God’s creation leaving its toxic trail of destruction behind. And try as we might with weapons & medicines, philosophies & technologies – we will never be able to cure its vicious ills. Its parasitic nature drives it ever onward screeching, “More! More! More!”

It bites and chases. It stalks and preys. Its grip is too strong. Its hold is too firm. Sin has infested the sacred cells of each and every soul. It has invaded the secret chambers of each and every heart. There are none immune to its ravening appetite. There are none that will not ultimately succumb to the chronic ravaging of its gnawing, grinding teeth.

No matter how hard you try to resist, the disease will overcome you. You can push it down into remission at times but it always – always – awakes from its dormant state. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way…” (Isaiah 53:6a) We leave the way that the Lord has laid out for us. And when we do, the sickness of sin sets in like a dark wetness in our bones.

We can’t go on like this! Our bodies are wasting away. It is only a matter of time. The consumption has overtaken us and we are very near the point of an infinite, irreversible death. If only there was a cure – an antidote! Our strength is dwindling. Our resolve is breaking. We are in desperate need of a miraculous elixir that can eradicate this dreaded disease that has invaded our bodies and souls. Desperate.

There is one antidote – but only one. It is found in the purest of all blood. And what a potent antidote it is!

“…if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)

There is only one cure for the fatal disease of sin. You don’t drink it in by accident. You can’t just sip it in one drop at a time. You’ve either been cured or you’re still wasting away with a slow-moving death. When that precious blood touches your soul, it cleanses it once and for all. The sickness is gone. The healing begins. But, you must accept the cure.

The One Thing

As her mother headed out the door, she gave Evangela one solitary task to perform before she returned – wash the dishes. So Evangela turned on the faucet, squeezed in the dishsoap and placed the glasses and silverware into the water. She dutifully watched until the sink was filled to the top. Then her stomach grumbled.

Feeling a little hungry, she made herself a scrumptious turkey sandwich. Since she couldn’t eat it with wet hands, she decided to sit and watch a little TV while the dishes soaked. Just as she took the last bite, her friend called to make sure their early afternoon shopping trip was still on…

We know how the story ends, don’t we? Mom returns home to find the dishes still soaking in the sink – unwashed. The one task Evangela had been given was left undone. She had started it, but had gotten distracted. The church has been given one solitary task as well. That one thing is to make more and better followers of Jesus. How are we doing?

There is a concept that – if we could just see the great need to engage it – can revitalize our church and help us stay focused on getting that one job done. The term used to describe that concept is “Missional”. What does it mean? Simply put, it means that the local church functions as a missionary to the community in which God has planted it.

As a missionary, the church should do all within its God-given power to make more and better disciples. As a missionary, we should evaluate every task we perform, every dollar we spend, every change we consider and every decision we make based on the Great Commission. If it will help us make more and better disciples, then we should do it. If it will not help us complete this one task, then we should leave it alone!

Are we, as a church, washing the dishes? Or have we just thrown them in the sink and forgotten about them? Are we doing the one thing we have been commanded to do? Or have we gotten off-track with tasty food, entertaining distractions, chatting with our friends and going on shopping sprees? If we’re going to be the church at all, let’s be the real thing! Daddy’s coming home soon… We need to be about the Father’s business and stay focused on that one thing He has told us to do.

The Wild Blue Yonder

My feet had fallen asleep due to the awkward, cramped position. I was 10,000 feet in the air - strapped tightly to a virtual stranger. My adrenaline was pumping. My heart was racing. And that was before the airplane door even flew open. The fear probably would have paralyzed me if I wasn't too frightened to realize that I ought to be scared! And with one simple roll to the right, we were plummeting towards the earth.

The wind rushed by. The clouds swirled around us. We flipped, rolled and spun as we hurtled through the sky. The ice crystals in the clouds ripped away at my face. I could barely hear my instructor above the roar of our descent, "Arch! Arch!"

I thrust my arms and legs out and arched my back just like I had been trained. We stopped flipping end-over-end and leveled out. Our freefall slowed to a mere 120 mph as we broke through the clouds. There was no sense of falling, just a steady rush of wind as the ground moved closer and closer. My instructor yanked the cord and our chute deployed. We suddenly jerked to a slow drift and found ourselves in an immediate, peaceful silence. We floated there in the beautiful stillness between the earth and the clouds.

Some people have called me crazy for jumping out of a perfectly good plane. Others have expressed a deep-seated fear that would hinder them from ever skydiving themselves. Even though I was scared at the time, my determination and desire to go through with the jump were even greater than the fear.

God often calls us to do crazy things that bring us face-to-face with our fears. He may call us to take on a new ministry role. He may nudge us to share His good news with a complete stranger. (Or maybe even scarier - our closest friend...) He may even call us to go against the grain, to fight for a deeper sense of right, irregardless of what all others think. These are definitely scary challenges to take on.

"You're afraid? So what! Everybody's afraid. Fear is the common ground of humanity. The question you must wrestle to the ground is 'Will I allow my fear to bind me to mediocrity.'" Andy Stanley, The Next Generation Leader

We can all look back on times in our lives when we let fear keep us from jumping out of the plane, trying something new or speaking up when we knew we should. Hopefully, we can also remember even more times when we wrestled that fear to the ground and let God use us inspite of our fright.

"...so I will save you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong." Zechariah 8:13 (NIV)

It may seem a lot safer to sit on the ground and watch the chutes of others flare open above you. But the ground is where the dirty fog of mediocrity settles in. At some point very early in my Christian walk, God moved me to quit watching and start jumping. Has it been scary? You better believe it! At times it has even been almost-pee-in-your-pants scary! Yet still, I have found that it is far better to strive for a trust in God's faithfulness than to suffer the regret of staying on the ground when I knew I should have jumped.

The challenge that God places before us is to strap in, push through the fear and lunge out into the wild blue yonder. And if the chute doesn't open and you hit the ground - oh well! At least you went out with a bang instead of slowly choking to death on that dirty fog of mediocrity. The chances are in your favor that God's faithfulness will flare open like the millions of times before. And when it does, you'll get to experience that beautiful stillness that's only found in the wild blue yonder.

What’s The Difference?

It’s amazing to me that two people can experience the exact same thing and come away with two completely different reactions. My wife loves mushrooms. I would rather chew off my own ear than let a chunk of the nasty fungus anywhere near my lips! Two people can sit down at the same football game and each of them can fervently root against the other one’s favorite team.

A difference of opinion such as these was amplified recently. A trusted friend from an older generation responded to Hillsong’s “From the Inside Out” with an “I didn’t like it at all.”

Did my jaw really drop open and land in my lap or was that just an internal response?

At youth camp last week, the lyrics and desperation in that song left me completely undone. As I worshiped and lifted up the words to my Savior, my heart was as “totaled” as a car flipped end-over-end off a cliff.

In my heart, In my soul
Lord, I give you control
Consume me.
From the inside out.
And the cry of my heart
Is to bring you praise
From the inside out
Lord, my soul cries out.

So the same song that resounded so clearly within my own heart, left my friend’s heart untouched. The same lyrics and driving beat that rippled through me to the point that I was sobbing and could no longer stand, had no effect on him whatsoever.

“For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him.” – Romans 10:12

I suspect that believers will continue to have preferential differences until Christ returns. Until then, we all must strive to call on Him out of a sincere heart. Just remember: the mushrooms you love may make me sick to my stomach. And I’ll try to remember the team I’m rooting for might be your mortal enemy!

What Really Matters

What Really Matters…
…what his hair looks like or how much he loves the Lord that saved him?
…the kind of clothes she wears or her deep need to be selflessly loved?
…how big an offering he can make or his obedience to God’s will?
…how well she can sing or how earnestly she longs for the Lord?

What Really Matters…
…that everyone has a soft seat to sit on or that all the seats are filled?
…that the music is what I like or my worship connects me to my God?
…that there were visitors this week or that people started following Jesus?
…that the messages are ‘good’ or that lives are forever changed?

It’s so easy for us to get off track, care about nonessentials and forget why we were created. Yet God calls us to focus on those things that really matter. Each of us must ask ourselves, “Are the things that matter to me and the things that matter to God really the same things?” What really matters to God is what I want to be all about.