Most of you reading this know that I’m heading to Wrestlemania XXVII in just a matter of days. For the first time ever Wrestlemania is being held in my home state of Georgia, and I’ve had my tickets ordered for months now. Growing up as a huge wrestling fan, Wrestlemania XXVII is the culmination of 20 years of waiting for me.
You can’t create something beautiful without getting a little dirty along the way. Take our Summer Mission Trip to Jamaica last year for instance.
For one week under the scorching Jamaica sun our youth group worked alongside another small group from Minnesota to bring some much needed repairs and additions to a few struggling families in Montego Bay. This was not a vacation for us – we worked 8 hours each day mixing mortar and cement, stacking cinder blocks, pouring floors, and more. Each day we came back to our lodging sweaty, dirty, even bloody on a few occasions.
We all worked hard, but the most difficult day for me in Jamaica was the day we built this wall:
As we lined up cinder block after cinder block across and on top of each other, we did our best to make sure the wall was level. After a while I felt like I had the wall under control and went a little lax on making sure things were perfectly aligned. As the wall got taller, a problem became evident: our wall was becoming undeniably lopsided.
I a full day working on that wall, only to see it torn down to the bottom level and rebuilt the next day. I wanted to cry. I felt worthless, like I had completely wasted the time of our crew. I wanted to head back to the lodge and fake being sick the rest of the week because I had messed things up so badly.
There are days when it seems everything goes wrong. What do you do when you face those days? Do you cry? Do you scream? Do you pout? Do you give up?
When we see our lives getting a little messy, the temptation can be to run away. I wanted to pack up and fly home after I messed up the wall. But it is through the messes in our lives that God often creates masterpieces. Sometimes things have to be broken before they can be fixed.
When Jesus came into our world, he understood this. He did not come down to our level to go on a vacation from his Dad. He did not come here to become famous and take it easy. He came here create something beautiful, and He knew that in creating a path to salvation He would have to get messy.
Jesus’s disciples, however, weren’t quite prepared for how messy things would get. The disciples of Christ believed that Jesus would change the world, but they never quite understood how He would do it, despite His many attempts to explain His methods. When the time finally came for Jesus to be betrayed and crucified, it became a bit like the day when I discovered my wall was lopsided – a day where all the work you’ve put into a project just falls apart.
First a plot begins to capture and arrest Jesus. Then Judas, one of Jesus’s disciples, decides to betray his teacher to make a little money. Then Jesus tells the disciples that He already knows that one of them will betray Him. This leads to bickering and infighting amongst the disciples. Then Jesus tells Peter that he already knows Peter will deny Him soon, a heartbreaking piece of news for Jesus’s close friend. Next Jesus gathers His disciples for a time of prayer, but they all fall asleep on the job. Then Judas arrives, officers in tow, to betray his friend. A fight breaks out, an ear is cut off, and Jesus is taken away. A zealous crowd cries for Jesus’s blood, and Pilate gives in. After being abused, mocked, and beaten, Jesus is finally hung on the cross and hours later breathes his last. In a matter of hours the disciples have gone from breaking bread with the man they had sacrificed everything for to watching His lifeless body hang on a tree and wondering what to do with their lives.
Peter as anyone would, struggled to deal with this no-good, horrible, very bad day:
A servant girl, seeing Peter as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man was also with him.” But he denied it saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows three times today, you will deny me three times.” And he want out and wept bitterly. (Luke 22:56-62)
Peter loses it after he lets down his Lord. Already overwhelmed by the collapse of the kingdom in front of him, Peter denies Him in public and fulfills Jesus’s prophetic prediction.
I imagine Peter’s day going a bit like Dr. Cox’s in this clip from “Scrubs”. After trying to save a group of 3 patients in need of transplants, Dr. Cox and his staff get a blessing of an organ donor. Unfortunately they do not discover that the organ donor was infected with rare case of rabies until it’s too late, and now the transplant patients are all in jeopardy. It’s a day when everything falls apart:
How do you rise up when you’ve made a mess of everything? We have to understand that much like planting a garden or baking a cake, you have to get messy to get anything worthwhile out of life. When things get down and dirty, we have to have faith that this is all part of God doing a great work in our lives, and the messes will soon make way for something beautiful. As this quote from Henri Nouwen puts it,
We are invited to look at our history as the sequence of events that brought us where we are now and that help us to understand what it means to be here at this moment in the world. He who celebrates life will not make his past a prison, but will face the facts of history and fully accept them as the elements that allow him to claim his experience as his own. (Henri Nouwen, Creative Ministry)
When sin comes into our lives, when things fall apart, we must accept our imperfections and trust in God’s perfect love. This is all part of the plan. This is all part of the work He is doing:
“I am the Lord, your Holy one, the Creator of Israel, your King.” Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior, they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick. Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:15-19)
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13)
When it all falls apart, will you run away? Will you sit in the mess? Will you break down and weep? Or will you have faith and rise up, knowing that beauty comes out of the mess. The work we did in Jamaica was small, but it was powerful and made a difference in a few family’s lives. Through all the mess that we made, our group was able to create something beautiful. You can’t do construction work without getting messy. You can’t build something without expecting some mistakes. You can’t make something worthwhile without getting a little dirty along the way. You can’t see a rainbow without a little rain. When life gets messy, have faith that this means that God is at work, creating something bigger and better. Have faith that God turns messes into masterpieces.
Hold tight to your anger, and don’t fall to your fears. ~ Bruce Springsteen, “Wrecking Ball”
This Sunday night, Bruce Springsteen kicks off a brand new world tour in Atlanta, GA. I am lucky enough to have tickets to this monumental occasion. When I first saw The Boss in concert three years ago, I savored the opportunity because I did not know if it would be my last.
Bruce is only 63 years young. Artists like Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney are touring well into their 70s and aren’t slowing down. But once an artist crosses into senior citizen territory, you can never be too sure of when their last hoorah is going to be. Everything has to come to an end at some point. There’s no escaping it.
As fate would have it, that concert in 2009 would not be my last chance to see Bruce, but it would be my last chance to see the “Big Man” Clarence Clemons play saxophone for the E Street Band. Clarence has always been the soul of Bruce Springsteen’s band, and when he died last summer many were unsure of how Bruce or the band would be able to move on.
As Bruce has said in interviews since Clarence’s death, losing Clarence was like “losing the rain.” Bruce and Clarence have always leaned on each other to form the sound of the E Street Band (figuratively and literally). How do you move on from the loss of something so integral and ingrained in your life?
We can indeed make our sorrows, just as much as our joys, a part of our celebration of life in the deep realization that life and death are not opponents but do, in fact, kiss each other at every moment of our existence. ~ Henri Nouwen, Creative Ministry
The key to moving forward from death is in understanding the connection between life and death. In the creation of something new there is always the destruction of something old. In the destruction of something old there is always the creation of something new.
When hard times come and go and come again, we have a choice: we can let the hard times conquer us and stay down for the count, or we can rise up and begin to rebuild.
If you look back through the Springsteen songbook, it becomes clear that The Boss probably never thought twice about what he would do without The Big Man. Springsteen’s music, especially in the past decade, has always carried a theme of hope in the midst of despair. Bruce sings consistently of rising up, typically through the coming together of a community. If ever there was a time for Springsteen to gather his band back together again it was now. The E Street Band could not go quiet from the loss of one of their own. It’s not in their nature. It’s also not in the nature of Christ.
The life of Christ cannot be separated from the death of Christ. And the death of Christ cannot be separated from the resurrection of Christ. The power of new life in Christ comes not only from His death, and it comes not only from His rising. These two events kiss, to paraphrase Nouwen, and are intimately connected. If Jesus only died for us, or only lived for us, then He would not have won the victory over this world for us.
We must face death in every aspect of our life. Not only do we face the death of the people we love, we often face the death of beloved institutions.
The future of The Hill Baptist Church is uncertain. There’s no ignoring that. Even though it’s been around for over 80 years, there are no promises that it will exist for 80 more. One day the doors on this church building will close though, and it could be sooner than later.
Should we then sit back and accept defeat because the future is not clear before us? Or do we press on to spread the gospel of Christ in the community in the time that we have? That is the choice our church must make, because that gospel message will not die – no matter how many buildings fall.
Struggles, doubts, and disputes will try to bring the wrecking ball against the church prematurely, but as a community of believers we must stand together and not fall to our fears. Our job is to proclaim the love of Christ to the world for the time that we have, and not worry about how long that time may be. What lies ahead is not for us to know. All we can do is have faith and keep fighting.
We can’t back down in uncertain times. We must press on. We must place our hands in one another’s and pray. We must hold tight to righteous anger when the enemy tries to impede our mission. We must let the sting of the fight inspire us to keep moving forward. We must refuse to give in to the fear of the unknown. We must keep shining the light of God in the darkness of the world whether our building stands tall or whether we are rising from the rubble onto a new journey together. We must celebrate life, and we must celebrate death, for they are intimately intertwined.
We must gather the church together and say to the world, “Bring on your wrecking ball. Take your best shot. You may bring down our buildings, but you will never crack our foundation.”
What if Hulk Hogan never fought Andre The Giant? What if instead The Hulkster was just handed a championship and began calling himself the greatest wrestler in the world? What if instead of battling and bodyslamming the behemoth, Hulk Hogan just traveled the world talking about what a great athlete he was?
If Hulk Hogan was just a great speaker, and never engaged in any battles, he probably would not have been my hero growing up. But unlike so many of the stars in today’s WWE, and unlike so many people in the real world, Hulk Hogan went into battle every night in arenas across the country to back up the words he said. He didn’t just talk about being the best wrestler in the world, and then avoid opportunities to prove himself. He faced down conflict when it came after him, even in the form of a giant, instead of running from it.
Hulk Hogan would not be anyone’s hero if he avoided conflict. The life of Jesus would not have the same meaning if he had avoided conflict. Without the struggles, persecution, accusations, arrest, and crucifixion, His life would not be a story worth telling. Sure, His teachings would still make a great handbook for how to live our lives. But without the conflict, Jesus would not be a savior.
There is no great story to be told about the Son of God coming down to Earth to sit high and mighty over everyone else, refusing to get His hands dirty. What makes the life of Christ so incredible is that He came down to our world to endure the agony of sin in order tell a greater story of salvation.
For this same reason, we must not shy away from conflict in our own lives. Every bone in our body urges us to do the opposite. Every instinct pushes us toward ensuring our safety and normalcy. The comfort of complacency is undeniably attractive.
And surely we would be fools to walk into unnecessary conflict. No sane person would step off an airplane in midair without a parachute.
But a life searching only for the peace of a lottery ticket will never find fulfillment. A life that runs from the conflicts of each day is a life that doubts the power of a God who overcame the greatest conflict of all.
Peace does not come from the avoidance of conflict. If you want to know the peace that God offers, you must first embrace the conflict in your life. Only then can you understand the peace that comes from a savior who gives you victory over every conflict.
Face down the obstacles that come your way today. Stand up and fight them with the strength of a savior who did the same. Don’t just talk about having faith. Practice your faith in battle against the giants of each day.
Watch a minute or two of these versions of a classic 3 Stooges short. First this one:
And now this one:
Which version do you prefer? They are the exact same movie, with one important difference. The first, original version is in black and white. The second is in color. The short was originally shot and released in black and white to no complaint. Years later some film company executives decided that films shot in black and white were imperfect. After years of seeing entertainment in full color, why would anyone want to watch anything in black and white? So many movie studios set off on the task of colorizing some of their classic films. The process involved painstakingly painting over each movie frame by frame to add in color.
I’ll take the classic black and white any day. No question. Our eyes may be more accustomed to seeing in full color. And on first glance the version in color may seem more complete. But it bothers me to know that the color version was not the original intent of the filmmakers.
The color in the second short is an unnecessary addition that ultimately brings down the quality of the original work. Some high ranking executive thought that something was wrong with the original film. Someone thought the original black and white was not good enough.
As the recent Best Picture winner “The Artist” shows, there is nothing wrong with black and white. Sometimes simple is better. Sometimes it is all you need. Even though, as Adam and Eve felt, sometimes we think we need more. Read the rest of this page »
Who would you say is the biggest band in the world right now? Would it be Maroon 5? Lady Antebellum? Foo Fighters? LMFAO? Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros?
In the late 80s, the answer to that question would have undoubtedly been U2. In 1988, at the peak of their international popularity, the band released the documentary “Rattle and Hum” which chronicled the creation of the album of the same name. It was the same emotional, powerful, anthemic rock music that U2 had become known for over the past ten years.
After “Rattle and Hum” was released, U2 decided to take a break. After ten years of constant touring across the world and 6 smash records, the biggest band in the world took a few years off to, as Bono said at the time, “dream it all up again.”
When they returned with their next album “Achtung Baby” in 1991, most people expected it would consist of the same uplifting, soul-searching arena rock that was a trademark of U2. Instead, “Achtung Baby” sounded like this: Read the rest of this page »
Perhaps there is no truth more black and white than this: we all will die. No one is getting out of this world alive. The time and the date are uncertain to all, but what is certain is that at some point everyone’s life comes to an end.
Pour through the scriptures. Look for an exception. You won’t find it. There are certain cases where people are taken from this world rather than experiencing death. But everyone leaves this world at some point.
Still, we try to bargain and deal with death. We try to avoid his snare. And with science and medicine we can stave off his grasp for a moment. He won’t be satisfied though. He will return.
I am a mystery to my dog. The Roc (pictured) is a wonderful and friendly dog I adopted a year ago. He’s been a blessing to have in my life. And I think he’s pretty happy to have me as his owner after being abused in the past. But I don’t think he can crack me.
Roc has to have some questions. He has to wonder how this mysterious man produces the food and water in his bowls twice a day. He has to wonder where this giant goes when he leaves for work every morning. There’s no way that Roc understands the truck rides I take him on, or the leash attached to his collar, or why he can’t just run around in the neighborhood freely. These all must be mysteries to his brain.
My dog must also wonder why.
“Why does this man give me food instead of eating it for himself?”
“Why does this man walk around with me everyday?”
“Why does this man take me outside when I have to go to the bathroom?”
“Why does this man spray me with water and soap?”
“Why does this man give me pain pills and ointments when things are wrong with me?”
“Why does this man care about me?”
Roc will never fully understand why I take care of him. His brain will not comprehend my relationship with him. He will never quite understand how much I love him. I know that he cannot take care of himself in this environment, so I reach down to help him. The same can be said with the relationship we have with God.
If we take a good long look at our relationship with God, the only question that can arise is, “Why?” Read the rest of this page »
Who hasn’t wanted to be The Beatles at some point in their life? The Beatles were at the height of their popularity when their film “A Hard Day’s Night” was released, and this opening scene encapsulates a bit of what life was like for the most famous band in the world. As a child I had dreams of being as famous as John, Paul, George, and Ringo. I craved their notoriety. I yearned to have adoring fans chasing me down the streets.
So when I was 18, I set out to make my dream happen. Read the rest of this page »
This is my Finish List for 2012, inspired by Jon Acuff’s blog. These are my goals for the year, my resolutions, the things I want to accomplish. In case you can’t make out my handwriting, they are as follows:
1) Go On More Dates Than Caleb (a friendly bet I made with a friend of mine)
2) Read Through The Entire Bible
3) Write 500 Words (Approximately 1 Page) Everyday
4) Take 15 Students On A Summer Mission Trip
5) Run The Warrior Dash On May 19
6) Double The Audience Of The News 2 Me Podcast
7) Wear More Wrestling Masks (mission accomplished)
All of these goals are important to me for various reasons. I want to be more of the man that God created me to be, and I feel like all of these goals will point me in that direction. As important as these goals are to me, I will undoubtedly be distracted from all of them at some point during this year. Multiple times.
We all get distracted, even from the things that are important to us. Just ask Homer:
