From Henri Nouwen

Jesus' Self-Portrait

Jesus says: "Blessed are the poor, the gentle, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst for uprightness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness" (Matthew 5:3-10). These words offer us a self-portrait of Jesus. Jesus is the Blessed One. And the face of the Blessed One shows poverty, gentleness, grief, hunger, and thirst for uprightness, mercy, purity of heart, a desire to make peace, and the signs of persecution.

The whole message of the Gospel is this: Become like Jesus. We have his self-portrait. When we keep that in front of our eyes, we will soon learn what it means to follow Jesus and become like him.

Reflections at 37

A very good friend of mine just turned 37, and he took a moment to look at where he's been and what he's learned. He shared that with me, and I found his observations good enough to in turn share with you all (with his permission, of course). So, for better or for worse, here are his "Reflections at 37."

OK. So, now that I’m pushing 40 here, I decided it was time to reflect on what I’ve learned over the course of my life. Ain’t much really. Just a few simple things, nothing complicated. No psycho-analysis bullshit. Just a few lessons I’ve gleaned:

* There are only 3 great rock-n-roll bands: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones. In that order. All the others, and there were\are some good ones, fall somewhere after those

* There is only one, number one truly greatest of all time rock-n-roll song: Imagine – by John Lennon. That’s “by John Lennon” as in written by John Lennon, arranged by John Lennon, played by John Lennon and sang by John Lennon.

*Every rock-n-roll band, or performer, is imitating (in part or in whole) one of the following groups\individuals:
The Beatles
Led Zeppelin
The Rolling Stones
The Beach Boys
Bob Dylan
U2
Or, a host of early bluesmen

…..except for hip-hop or rap, which, doesn’t count anywho

* Every (recent) Country group of performer is imitating (in part or in whole) one of the following groups:
Any 80’s era bubblegum pop singer

* You can count on one hand the number of truly great friends you have. The rest, just want your time, your money or to rip the last album you bought.

* Nothing is ever as bad as it seems, and nothing is ever as good as it seems

* Most everything you pay to have someone do, you can do yourself. Look at ‘em…if they can learn how to do it, so can you.

* Money is not important. A job or career is not important. It’s necessary, but not important. I’ve known many people that were less fortunate that were still able to love, live and be happy.

* Everything you have is expendable. Everything, period. The only thing you have that’s worth fighting to keep and to hang on to is your family and those truly great friends mentioned above.

* NASCAR makes absolutely no damn sense

* …………I tried, and NASCAR still makes no damn sense

* Sacrificing for your kids pays off. Including sacrificing career and money. They will thank you for it in the end.

* Don’t Google “How to decorate a Christmas Tree” when your wife is not home.

* We live in a truly great country, and neither the radical right nor the radical left is responsible for that.

* There is no amount of money that will compensate for happiness

* The hippies were right.

* Sun beats snow, every time.

* Your legacy is….your children.

* Egotistical people who take themselves too seriously suck.


Took 37 years for that list.

Life in These Days

In reading an article on relevantmagazine.com that mentioned an experimental journal that passed from person to person, an idea started coming together. On Sunday, that idea was launched.

When I was asked recently about a vision for my church, I responded by saying that I really feel we -- each person who calls Tulip Street 'home' -- need to answer the question, "What does the gospel mean to me?" In answering that question, we can each then bring our piece of the bigger picture into focus. The vision of Tulip Street lies in bringing the Kingdom of Jesus to bear on the lives of those in our community now. How we go about doing that will involve us living out our definitions of the gospel message. From each of these pieces, a mosaic will be formed that will be both beautiful and unique to our church.

How the idea from the article kicks in to this deal is this -- I gave a friend of mine a simple journal with a short word of instruction. He is free to let it all hang out -- joys/rants/scripture/pictures/drawings/quotes/lyrics -- anything goes. When he is finished with his entry, he is to pass it on to any other church member that he is led to. From this traveling journal, I hope to get a sense of what life in these days is like for those I do church with. Ultimately, these journal entries can shape our upcoming messages, and beyond that, help us define our role as individuals and as a body in the Kingdom.

When the last page of the journal is filled, I left a short note to return the journal to me. From there, I hope to post the entries on a blog for our church -- and you all if you're interested -- to share. I'll keep you posted!