How to Save a Life

The Fray has a great song called "How to Save a Life." The song was written by Isaac Slade who worked as a mentor at a camp for troubled teens. He felt the frustration of how to communicate hope and life to distraught young people.

For thousands of years, the Church has been in the life-saving business and for thousands of years the Church has struggled with the best way to do it. Unfortunately, the Church has become such a complicated organization with all of its doctrines, rituals, traditions, and dogma that it has forgotten the basics of how to share the life changing message of the Gospel. In fact, I ranted about this a little last Sunday at TNC.

When it comes to the Church, I believe that we have complicated what should be a pretty simple organization. I didn't say it should be easy, but simple. In his book, The Connecting Church, Randy Frazee states that, "The key for the 21st century church will not be in buildings, programs, or great sermons or worship services, and not even in small groups as we have known them." Frazee goes on to say that, "The church's relevance and growth will largely depend on her ability to authentically connect people to the experience of doing life deeply together."

The message of Christ is transmitted best through genuine relationships, not meetings, programs, or events. Instead of focusing our ministry on doing church and learning all the ins and outs and do's and don'ts, we need to focus on how to do life with Christ. Instead of spending all of our time at various meetings, classes, and functions of the Church, we need to focus on spending time with those who need to hear the message. When Jesus is your focus, people will see the difference. At the right time, they will wonder how to get what you have and when you answer they will discover the greatest treasure known to man. That's how to save a life.

A Psalm of Wandering

I'm not into poetry, but I saw this in a recent issue of Discipleship Journal. I'm familiar with some of Joseph Bayly's writing and this caught my attention when I saw that he had written it.

A Psalm of Wandering by Joseph Bayly

Lord you know

I'm such a stupid sheep.

I worry

about all sorts of things

whether I'll find grazing land

still cool water

a fold at night

in which I can feel safe.

I don't.

I only find troubles

want

loss.

I turn aside from you

to plan my rebel way.

I go astray.

I follow other shepherds

even other stupid sheep.

Then when I end up

on some dark mountain

cliffs before

wild animals behind

I start to bleat

Shepherd Shepherd

find me save me

or I die.

And you do.

You Can't Take It With You

One of my favorite movies of all time is the Christmas classic, "It's A Wonderful Life" directed by Frank Capra and starring Jimmy Stewart. Several years ago, my friend and fellow blogger Andy (andyfbcdenmark.blogspot.com) told me about Capra and Stewart's first movie together called "You Can't Take It With You." I looked for it in our local video store to no avail. I thought about buying it online but it was pretty expensive so I never saw it. Until Saturday. It is currently running for free on Comcast On Demand.

If you have never seen it, you're missing a treat. Though it is nearly 70 years old (It came out in 1938) it still has an eternal message. Life is not about money, power, and possessions. Life is about relationships. It is a very entertaining and funny movie. I recommend that you skip watching CSI, CSI:Miami, CSI:NYC, CSI:Las Vegas, CSI:Peoria and American Idol one night and watch a classic. You won't regret it.

That Poor Old Man!

Back in the day - the 70's and early 80's - I went to a lot of concerts. Van Halen (many times), KISS, Foghat, Molly Hatchet, 38 Special, The Commodores, Earth, Wind, & Fire...can't recall them all. (BTW, though I was never a huge KISS fan, I have to say that it was the greatest, most entertaining concert of all time.) As a teen, I remembered seeing teenage girls coming into the concert with their dads. I would look at the father and think, "That poor old man! His daughter dragged him out to a rock concert."

Well, it dawned on me last night that I was that poor old man. I escorted my daughter, Bailey, and her friend, Sarah, to see John Mayer last night in Columbia. It was a good concert. Nothing fancy - just John Mayer and his band. It was a pure music show. No elevated stages, blood, or pyrotechnics like the greatest concert of all time. I think John Mayer's style fits a smaller venue better. But when you can pack in 12-15,000 in the Colonial Center at $30(?) a head, that's not a bad night's work.

I had the poor old man revelation during the warm-up act. Enjoyed them too, BTW. When John and his band came out. I was glad to see that one of John's accompanying guitarists was quite old himself. I would guess he was at least in his late 50's. So I wasn't the only poor old man at the concert last night.

It really was a diverse audience. I was surprised at the number of "old people" there. But, then, Mayer's music reaches a wide age range. Here's a sample from last night...