Those who followed Jesus were looking for a king who would overthrow the oppressive Roman government. They welcomed Jesus as this king, but did not understand that they were being led, and loved, by a very different kind of king.

They didn’t expect to see a God of justice and mercy.
They didn’t expect to be loved completely.
They didn’t expect to watch him die.

We may be different than these followers.
We aren’t looking for a king.
We are happy to rule our own lives.

Most of us are desperately, quietly, trying to keep our lives spinning.

But we do want to be loved completely.
We do want to know there is a loving, just God.
We know—we know—our ‘spinning’ can’t be all there is.

Because Jesus died, we can live forever
Because Jesus came back to life, we can fully live.

We find our greatest fulfillment when living in the way Jesus taught.
We were created to live this way… with Jesus as our king.

So… is Jesus your king?

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This was written for a part of the Good Friday worship experience at FirstMBChurch tomorrow night.  Good Friday is a traditional Christian holiday commemorating the day Jesus was crucified and died.  Our church has chosen to observe this holiday through a guided journey called the Road to Jerusalem, starting at 7:30pm.  It’s a simple, interactive experience where participants will walk with Jesus and his disciples through the last week of his life.  The experience has been designed with families & kids in mind, but will be compelling for all ages.  If you are in the Wichita area, join us!

Today, here’s what jumped out at me:

In Luke 2, we learn about Simeon, a devout God-following Jewish man.  God had told him he would not die before seeing the one who would save Israel… the Christ. God prompted him to go to the temple on one particular day, the same day Joseph and Mary took their baby, Jesus, to the temple as was the custom.  Simeon immediately recognized that this newborn baby was the Christ, saying… my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. (Luke 2: 30-32)

Simeon recognized Jesus because the Holy Spirit led him to do so. He was walking with God closely enough that it was natural for him to recognize God’s ‘salvation’. He saw because of God’s Spirit.

Years later, Jesus, his family, and his disciples (the men he had asked to travel with and learn from him) were all attending a wedding. The host ran out of wine, and Jesus ended up turning multiple jars of water into the best wine of the night (after a little exchange with his mother… which I would love to have witnessed).  John 2:11 says this, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

Later these same disciples realized that the things Jesus did fulfilled the prophecies in the scriptures they had studied as boys.  This strengthened their belief that he was the Christ.

The disciples recognize the truth about who Jesus was by his actions and through the fulfillment of prophecies happening right in front of them. They saw because of God’s word and the experience they were having together.

Our pastor says this over and over… God’s Spirit, God’s word, God’s people. This is how we know God… this is how we live within his will… this is how to live the best possible life.

This is how we can recognize Jesus at work, around us, wherever we are.

As a kid, I cried when my someone came to buy our little old pickup.  We were buying a big, shiny truck to take its place, but I was still sad.  I felt bad for the old one.  I cried when I came home from school one day to discover a new color TV sitting where our trusty black-and-white set had been.  I didn’t get to say goodbye.  The few weeks before moving to college …. how many ‘lasts’ can there BE for an 18-year-old?  This is the last time I’ll go to church as a resident of this town…. this the last time I’ll sit in this kitchen as a full-time resident of this house. The kitchen itself was sad about this, I thought.  No sentiment was left unturned.

In just a few days our church throws open the doors on a new worship center.  You can read about that project here. We have lots and lots of things to look forward to in this new part of the building.  But we also say goodbye to our ‘old room’.

At the time our original building was built, the people of this church had the wisdom to create a space that could be used for everything. And 23 years later, it has been.  The room has held all the expected things, like weddings and funerals and meals and meetings. But it has cheerfully held its fair share of unusual things… like rappelling and basketball and entire villages made of cardboard.

We’ve now had our last band rehearsal and our last set of Sunday worship services in this room. It isn’t going away; we now get to dream about new ways to use it. But it turns out I have a little emotional attachment to this space.  I have been learning how to worship in this room for 15 years; I have been learning to create opportunities for the church family to worship here for 10. I have learned what a ‘band’ sounds and feels like.  I have planned and led worship experiences during great celebrations, and during times of confusion and grief.  In this room, Neil and I dedicated our kids, and we said goodbye to a dear friend. I’ve laughed and cried and messed up and stumbled into great ideas.

Never do I want to slip into believing that the church IS the building or that the building IS the church. The church is a group of people unified by God’s grace and purpose to be His hands and feet in the world. The building is a tool. But memories are linked to locations, and this part of this building is linked to my entire ministry career so far.  It’s a room.  But it’s been a cheerful friend, willing to handle whatever we’ve tried to create within its walls.  For that I am grateful.

I have found my oasis in an event that unfolds this week.

I know this is oasis because we spent much of today laughing and creating and working alongside good friends that we love dearly and don’t get to see often. I know this is oasis because we walked into a cozy venue tonight, welcomed by friends with whom we share passion for ministry and art. I know this is oasis because we met a new table full of people, and immediately were connected in conversations about faith and ministry and family. We did not know everyone in the room, and we won’t by the end of the week. But we are drawn together through a common love for God, for the church, for art, and for music. A true blessing.

I know this is oasis because my soul was quieted and inspired as we listened to stories and songs by a woman who has been one of my favorite musician artists since I was ten years old. As the words of Ephesians 6 were sung over us in a holy moment at the close of the evening,  I found myself saying over and over in a noiseless whisper, “thank you… thank you… thank you…”

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ….. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

There will be more noiseless whispers during holy moments throughout the week, and there will be an uncommon amount of thankfulness expressed by me. Because this oasis helps me stay humble and makes me thankful.

Whatever you oasis is, make sure you get there from time to time. You will not regret it. Purpose, thankfulness, and blessing. A drenching of the soul.

Oasis.

This was one of my favorite breakfasts when I was growing up.  My mom can’t remember if she made it up, or if it came from my dad’s family. Regardless, it is a treat now often requested by my own kids.   It is a simple recipe, a distant relative of eggs benedict, that consists of three basic things:  toast, sliced boiled eggs,  cheese sauce.

Creamed Eggs

boil eggs (5 or 6 for a family of four), and allow to cool slightly
while eggs are boiling, make the sauce

cheese sauce (triple this for a family of four)
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 cu milk – heated
salt & pepper
1/2 cu grated cheddar cheese
optional: ham chunks, browned sausage, or cooked bacon

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly until paste cooks and bubbles, not allowing to brown. Add hot milk, continue to stir. Bring to a boil. Add salt & pepper to taste, add cheese. Lower heat and cook 2-3 min stirring. Add meat, if preferred.  Remove from heat.

remove shells from eggs, and slice eggs into the sauce. stir gently.
serve sauce over toast. we prefer to cut toast into pieces before adding sauce.

adjust proportion of eggs and sauce as you like. feed to your family, and prepare to make it again.

This is our dog, Sparky. He has been a part of our family for one year now.
We can’t even imagine life without him. Except that it was less fur-covered.

We adopted Sparky in the middle of winter, and brought him home to our fence-less property.  He had a reputation for running away, so for about 3 months, we took him outside on a leash.  Delightful in January and February.

Our situation (both geographical and financial) doesn’t lend itself well to fences of any kind, so we weren’t sure what to do to make it possible to allow Sparky outside without a leash.  Then, we discovered this.

This is the PetSafe wireless fence system.  Not underground wire… wireless.  The grey transmitter sits in our basement and emits a ‘safe’ zone with an adjustable radius.  Our dog wears the red receiver collar.  When he gets close to the boundary of the ‘safe zone’, his collar beeps.  If he crosses the boundary, he receives a slight shock (the intensity is also adjustable). It took just about a week for him to get used to the beeping and the boundary location after experiencing just 2 low intensity ‘corrections’. Now, he doesn’t ever challenge the boundary and we’ve set the collar to its lowest level, where it only beeps.  We totally trust the system and the dog; he spends lots of time outside by himself (weather permitting).  With the transmitter set to the largest radius, he has freedom to run in the yard all the way around our house, striking fear into the hearts of birds and rodents and cats as he goes.

The only weaknesses of the system are (a) a power failure takes out the transmitter, or (b) the battery runs out on the collar.  Power failures don’t happen that often for us, and when they do, I’m fairly certain Sparky is oblivious to this effect.  The collar pack gives warning lights when the battery is failing, and so far we’ve noticed it every time.

This system is sold at Petco and at various online sources.

I totally recommend.

This was the third installment of our ‘Amazing Race’ series, which is a blaze through the entire Bible in seven weeks.  This week, our pastor taught about the ‘wisdom & poetry’ books (Job, Psalm, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,  and Song of Solomon), spending a little extra time on the story of Job.  We also took the Lord’s Supper together, which is an every-other-month thing for our church.

worship service
welcome/news
‘Blessed Be Your Name’ (Redman)
‘Mighty to Save’ (Laura Story arr.)
Lord’s Supper (songs: ‘You are My King’ and ‘Your Name’)
offering: ‘The Word is Alive’ (Mark Hall & Steven Curtis Chapman)
message

Songs emphasizing the sovereignty of God? the story of Job?  as potential vehicles for processing the many thoughts and emotions we’re all feeling during this week of the Haiti crisis?  Yeah. You can’t plan stuff like that.

In thinking about this series, I searched for songs about the scripture as a whole, which is how I found ‘Word is Alive’, recorded by Casting Crowns.  I had not heard this song before, but it is powerful.  Vocalists Greg & Dani did a great job singing it, and the band did a great job bringing the power.  Projected the words over this video loop, which fit beautifully. (Listen to entire song.)

I leave you with the lyrics (by Mark Hall & Steven Curtis Chapman)…

Looking out from His throne, the Father of light and of men,
Chose to make himself known to show us the way back to Him.
Speaking wisdom and truth into the hearts of peasants and kings,
He began to unveil the Word that would change the course of all things.
With eyes wide open all would see…

(chorus)
The Word is alive
and it cuts like a sword through the darkness
with a message of life to the hopeless and afraid,
breathing life into all who believe.
The Word is alive
and the world and its glories will fade,
but its truth it will not pass away
it remains, yesterday and forever the same
The Word is alive.

Simple strokes on a page, eternity’s secrets revealed
Carried on from age to age, it speaks truth to us even still.
And as the rain falls from the heaven, feeds the earth before it returns,
Lord, let your Word fall on us and bring forth the fruit You deserve
With eyes wide open let us see…

This post is a part of Sunday Setlists at theworshipcommunity.com. Check it out!

Every Friday I will post about something that is a ‘favorite’… food, movies, music, something that just makes life work better. We begin with something that is dear to my heart… the perfect, easy salsa recipe.

I love salsa.
I mean, I looooove salsa.
I choose restaurants based on salsa.
I only can handle ‘mild’, but I love it.
I’ve tried to make my own; I get caught up in what kind of peppers and what kind of tomatoes and how much of which. Mostly I end up buying something from this arsenal of amazing, fresh salsas.  Their only flaw is that they disappear and they are, all things considered, a bit pricey.

But then a friend gave me her recipe.  And ohhh my. Easy. Delicious. Perfect. No expertise in produce required.

1 can diced tomatoes (drained)
1 can original Rotel (drained)
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 c chopped onion
1/3 c chopped cilantro
1 clove minced garlic
1 T lime juice

Mix in a food processor to your desired texture.

To be honest, the first time I made it, I overlooked the tomato sauce, and it was totally delicious, although a little on the spicy side for me. The tomato sauce brings the heat down a little.

So try it and tweak to your liking!

Maize High School vocal music students will perform the musical
“Children of Eden”
January 15-16, 7:30pm
January 17, 3:00pm
Maize High School
11600 W. 45th Street North, Maize, KS

“Children of Eden” is a production by Stephen Schwartz (composer of Wicked).  Approximately 50 students and 16 children from the community are involved in the production. Three Maize alumni who have worked professionally in music theatre are also helping with the show:  Matt Udland (director, ‘Father’); Amy Baker (choreographer) and Jesse Warkentin (conductor).

Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students, and may be purchased at the door.

While your impression of high school musicals may not lead you to jump at this opportunity, let me just say that this school’s vocal music program is phenomenal, and they rarely perform entire musicals like this.  The story of this show is weighty, and the student performances are stunning.

If you come, be sure to look for a bobcat, an alligator, and a turtle that are doing an especially fine job.
The guy doing video backgrounds isn’t bad either.

photos by Justin Cary Photography

This was week two in our new teaching series, ‘The Amazing Race’, in which our pastor is taking us through the entire Bible in seven weeks.  He is, quite simply, teaching our church to know the overall story of the Bible better. There are charts and hand-outs, which is unusual for us, but I think people are enjoying it. Which is good because we should have some level of understanding of what it is we say we believe and follow.

This week, we reviewed the larger story of the whole Old Testament, but focused on the books of history (Joshua – Esther), specifically, the Israelites’ cyclical relationship with God.

Good thing we’ve all moved beyond THAT kind of thing, right? whew.

See the overview of this series here.

worship service
welcome & news
ministry highlight: compassion international
Love the Lord (Lincoln Brewster)
Glorified (Jared Anderson)
prayer
O God of Mine (Rita Springer)
message
Naive (Chris Rice)

a few notes
Overall, our short set of music went very well and seemed… relaxed. By that I mean, it was an environment of music that people could participate in without anxiety.  But it also did it’s job of pointing us all to God, together. At least, if one were paying attention.

Our pastor asked me on Wednesday afternoon if we could include the song ‘Naive’ because it matched so well with this theme of God’s judgment and our need for Him to come.  I had only a vague memory of the song, which was released by Chris Rice in 1998. We would need to learn it completely at rehearsal Wed night, and it’s an unusual style for us. But I found the music (with a little help from my friends), transposed it for my vocal range (with the short turn-around, I didn’t feel comfortable asking someone else to learn it), and we gave it a whirl. Our musicians nailed it.  I am so SO grateful for people who are willing to give extra time to learning something new.

In the end, ‘Naive’ was the perfect close to this particular sermon.  Like our pastor mentioned to me, it’s a song that expresses almost a desperate anger at God, but it’s wrapped in sweet music so it doesn’t seem arrogant.

Check out the song, and for that matter… check out lots of music by Chris Rice. He’s a great songwriter.

This post is a very late addition to Sunday Setlists on Fred McKinnon’s blog.  Check it out!