So, today I leave for South Africa. Internet access there isn’t always consistent. So, we’ll see how much blogging I’m able to pull off. At the very least I’ll hopefully be able to keep you guys updated just a bit through Twitter and Facebook. But, have no fear. That doesn’t mean that Enigmatic Meanderings is shutting down for a couple of weeks. I’ve got some blog posts ready and scheduled to go. They certainly won’t be the deepest or most enlightening things you’ve ever read, but they’re something.
Now, on to today’s post and Friend Friday feature: Learning 2 Walk.
Learning 2 Walk is the blog of Haley Nichols. I don’t know Haley terribly well, but she’s one of those people that you wish you did. She’s a pure soul. I met Haley when we went to South Africa together last year. She and some others from her Brook Hills small group (whom I lovingly refer to as the “Birmingham Girls”) went to work with my parents and host one of the camps we do in Mamelodi. God has obviously been working in Haleys life for a long time, but around that trip last year He definitely began leading here in a new direction.
Haley’s been a teacher here in the Birmingham area for a few years. Now, she’s preparing to embark on a new journey with Mercy Ships, a ministry utilizes large cruise-like ships as floating hospitals to provide free medical care to those in developing nations. Haley, amongst other things, is going to be serving as a teacher for some of the children of the crew. They’ll be primarily based at a little Benin on the south coast of western Africa. Check out her blog and learn how you can be of a support for her, if by no other means, then certainly through prayer. A big initial one is that her condo here in the ‘Ham still needs to be rented.
I don’t necessarily feature Haley here because of what she’s doing specifically or for her prolific blogging or anything. Instead, I wanted you guys to hear just a little bit about her story for this reason: there’s a lot of us (you know who you are) who continually talk about things we ant to do, big things. We wonder if God wants us to go and really do something amazing, make a big difference. For some reason, so many of us end up spending countless effort on trying to figure out what that thing is. We think of all of our commitments and responsibilities and what else is currently going on with our life and instaed sit in some perpetual state of discontentment. Haley hasn’t. She’s going. And I think that’s awesome.
Bon voyage!
Parachurch Youth Ministry = Baby Products?
Author: kinsley // Category: Ministry, Student LifeOne of my most favorite things about Student Life (which I’m sure, for some, would be the most frustrating) is that we never become complacent. We are always in a state of change, wondering how we can improve or innovate or do something new. For many of us, we get completely jazzed trying to figure it all out. At the same time, we can also get really tense, hoping and praying we get things right, that we know what we’re doing, that we’re fighting for the right things and ignoring the rest. We don’t always get it right. That’s for sure. But we try, and we try hard, and we do it all for good, I believe.
At any rate, we’re kinda entering one of those phases right now. Asking a lot of questions. Searching for the correct answers.
Inevitably when in one of these seasons we search for some help from “experts” that are out there. People who have been around in the worlds of ministry and business (since we are both) and know what they’re talking about (we think). However, one of the things that I find the most troubling in looking to these experts is trying to figure out just how to apply what they have to say to our “industry” (excuse the business terminology, if you will, but a lot of the guys we read are business dudes, so using their lingo just makes things easier). The reason, I think, it’s difficult to apply their principles is because our industry is really unique (by our “industry” I mean providing resources for youth ministry; I consider events a resource). So, one of the things I do is try to look outside of our industry to another that I might can compare it to.
Here’s the best I’ve come up with.
We’re kinda like the baby industry. Since I’ve become a father, I only realize more and more how true this is. This is what I mean.
When creating products for babies there’s a few different things you have to keep in mind.
1. The product has to work for the baby. It’s got to meet some need the baby has. It has to be appealing to them, entertaining to them. It’s got to be for them.
2. The product has to make sense to the parent. It’s got to be practical, easy to use, affordable. After all, they’re the one who’s actually going to be doing the purchasing.
Now some products will lean more one way than the other. For isntance, a toy is going to be much more designed for the baby. What parent wants some hunk of brightly colored plastic that flashes lights and plays annoying electronic xylophone music over and over? Most don’t. Believe me. But the baby does. However, when it comes to strollers, what does a baby really care so long as it’s comfortable. But a parent wants it to be lightweight, sturdy, have plenty of space to carry the rest of the baby’s stuff, have a cupholder for their coffee and look more stylish than all of their other friends’ strollers.
For most baby products, though, they are designed with a near equal consideration for both baby and parent, perhaps only favoring one slightly over the other.
Well, in the world of youth ministry resources, that’s pretty much what we do. We’ve got to make stuff for teenagers that works for them, appeals to them, meets a need they have, etc. At the same time it’s got to make sense to the youth minister, be affordable, help them in their ministry, accomplish their goals, etc.
Trust me, it would be much easier to make something for just one type of audience instead of trying to find the balance between two.
But who wants to do it the easy way, anyway?
First, thanks to those of you who had some reading suggestions for me. Between here and Facebook I think I’ve got some really interesting books to look into. If you’ve got some others, please feel free to leave them in the comments section of yesterday’s post. I’ll let you know later what I go with.
Now, on to today’s post…
If you follow me on Twitter or are a friend of mine on Facebook (I’m sure most of you do or are), then you know that I started feeling sickly the other day. Since I’ve got an international trip quickly approaching, I wanted to knock out whatever was going on with me. So I went to the doctor. I don’t always immediately go to the doctor. I don’t particularly enjoy doing so for a number of reasons. Usually I see if I can’t treat my sickness myself with OTC stuff, plenty of fluids and lots of vitamin C. Anyway, however, this time I went to the doctor.
As I’m sure you all know, one of the first things they do when you visit the doctor is measure some of your vitals. This might include, but not be limited to, your temperature, your blood pressure, your pulse, your height and… your weight. Now, I’m a big guy. I know. But I haven’t always been. I’ve never been particularly skinny (though during a particularly dark time in high school, I kinda stopped eating a lot and dropped to about 135 lbs.), but I spent the majority of my life at least at an average weight and decently healthy. Over the past, I’d say, eight years or so, that has ceased to be the case. I’ve progressively put on more and more weight. The problem for me, though, is since I haven’t been a heavy/overweight/obese/fat guy for most of my life, I don’t feel like one. In other words, I never really think about or realize how big I’m getting or have gotten until I’m forced to stare it in the face.
This has been happening more and more lately. First, a lot more pictures of me have been popping up. This is mainly because of Story. People want to take pictures of Story, and since I’m probably holding her half the time I end up being in a lot of those pictures. Then I see those pictures and think, “what have I become?” Second, my belt has started rubbing a sore on the front of my belly where my gut hangs over it while I sit at my desk all day. This sore hurts. A lot. So, either I endure the pain or stop wearing a belt. I’m a pansy. So, I’ve stopped wearing a belt. This means that my pants are always falling down. You wouldn’t think this was the case since, you know, I’ve got a big gut. However, the big gut serves to push my pants down rather than keep them up. So, now I’m one of those big dudes who’s either always pulling his pants up or revealing too much to the world around him. Third, I had to get weighed at the doctor yesterday. My weight typically fluctuates, not a lot, but in a range of about ten pounds. If you had asked me yesterday how much I weighed, I would have estimated around 270 lbs., definitely not light. When I stepped on that scale, I couldn’t believe my eyes. 290!!!! That means I’ve not yet reached the dreaded 300, but it’s still absolutely ridiculous and embarrassing.
It’s time to stop the insanity!
For one thing, I’m just not healthy and that’s not good. For another, I have a daughter that I’m sure is going to be a very active little girl once she gets moving around. I want to keep up with her and be able to play with her and run around and all that kind of stuff. Also, I think my obesity is mostly the result of sin in my life… gluttony… laziness… etc. Then I want to look good for Liza, and there’s also the fact that there’s a lot of things I want to do with my life. I want to have a long life in order to do all of them (God willing).
I’ve known things have needed to change for awhile and have genuinely wanted them to do so. I’ve tried a number of popular weight loss techniques with catchy names that worked, but then when I stopped adhering to the strict (and, frankly, absurd) rules I ballooned back up. So, I’ve known it would take a true change in lifestyle. I’ve been implementing small changes over the past few months. Drinking a lot more water. Cutting out most soda. Eating smaller portions. Introducing some exercise. Making better decisions about what I eat. Limiting fried food. Etc. However, the small things, while good introductory steps, just aren’t cutting. It’s time for big things. I don’t know what those are, exactly, but I’m working on figuring it out.
I also know myself well enough to understand that left to my own devices, I won’t do much. It’s too easy for me to convince myself to not excercise for whatever reason or why that large blizzard is okay “just this once” even though I know it won’t be just this once. So, a major part of this journey is going to be accountability. That’s where you can come into the picture if you want.
1. I give any and all of you full permission to call me out. Ask about what I’m eating, how much I’m exercising, what my plans are, how things are going. All of that. I won’t promise to always like it, but I will give my word to always answer you honestly. I just ask that you do so with the purpose of being encouraging and not amusing yourself with my struggle (I know how much you all love schadenfreude).
2. If you are in a similar position as mine, maybe you’d like to join me on my quest. We can work out some things to do together as part of our plans. Just let me know.
3. Maybe you have suggestions on the major changes I should make. Again, I’m not looking for the latest trends, a quick fix or something like that. I’m looking for a new way to live. This type of change doesn’t come easy and will have to happen over time whether than all at once. So, keep that in mind. You might also want to know that I’m not an early riser, I’m a pretty busy guy, running is not something I particularly enjoy doing and I have a wicked sweet tooth. I’m not saying I’m not willing to change/adjust/adapt any or all of those things. I’m just painting you a picture of where I currently am.
4. I’ll be putting regular updates of how I’m doing on this blog and elsewhere for the world to see.
5. Here’s the big one. My goal is to lose 50 lbs. in six months. That’s not a small goal, nor is it an unachievable one. I’m going to take the month of July to continue with my small steps, develop a plan and strategy and then start my six month journey on August 1. That would mean that if I achieve my goal I will have lost fifty pounds by January 31. If I do not achieve that goal I am going to pay $50.00 (that’s one dollar per pound) to anyone who comments on this post here on this blog (not on Facebook) in the next week (by July 8). Come on people, my failure could be your profit. If I achieve my goal, you owe me nothing other than a simple “congrats” and “job well done.”
So there you go.
Who’s with me?
So, I’m heading to South Africa on Friday. What’ll I be doing? A few different things that I’ll be telling you about in a later post. The purpose of this post is different.
Getting to South Africa requires a lot of flying. A few years ago Delta started offering direct flights to Johannesburg from both Atlanta and JFK. On Friday, I’ll be flying from ATL. This flight lasts anywhere from seventeen to nineteen hours. Yes, you read that correctly. It’s a long flight to say the least. The discrepancy is whether there is a fuel stop in Dakar, Senegal or not and if there is how long that stop ends up taking and whether or not we have to actually change planes (as you can see, Delta’s definition of a “direct”flight is a little flexible).
Unlike many other airlines offering flights to where I’m going, including South Africa Airways, KLM, and Air France, Delta does not offer personal entertainment stations unless you’re in business class (and who can afford that?). So, you’re usually stuck watching mediocre or lame movies on a community screen (if you can see that screen) and praying that your headphone jack (or jacks) works. So, usually I make do with watching some stuff on my iPod or computer, but usually I just read. I’m a fast reader, though, and can really get through some books. For instance, when I went to South Africa last year I read five books. When I went to Kenya, four. When I went to the Philippines, six. You get the idea.
Anyway, I thought I’d check and see if any of you have any good recommendations for me. What should I be reading? It might be new or old, popular or obscure. I don’t care. My interests are pretty varied. I probably won’t be too keen on “how to” books, self help, romance novels or gift books. And please, for the love of all things good and decent, no Twilight. I tried them already. I got through the first two and just couldn’t get through the third, much less the fourth. Those books make my acid reflux act up, plus I think they might be ruining adolescent females. But other than that, let me know any suggestions you might have.
What do you think I should be reading?
I’ve got to admit. I’m pretty excited about this.
I’ll see you at the theater October 9.
I met Aaron Ivey, along with his bandmates Bush and Jimmie, a few years ago. I don’t remember exactly what year. The circumstances were that Drew, Taylor, Eric and I had gone up to Ridgecrest to shoot a promo video about them for one of the Student Life Tours they for which they led worship. I had heard a lot about them from friends (some of you) who had had the privilege of working an event with them. Every time someone told me about them they would just go on and on and on about how awesome they were, both on stage and off. I was just late to the dance. Back then they, and a couple of other great guys named Chad and Guy, were called Spur 58.
Spur 58 was a band birthed out of Aaron’s time as a youth minister down in Houston, TX. It was during that time that he really honed his passion for leading other believers in the worship of God. Eventually he and the guys felt like their ministry should expand to leading worship for people and groups outside of their one church. This ended up leading to a move to Nashville, the heart of Contemporary Christian Music. They spent a number of years recording albums and traveling the country leading people to the throne. However, the whole game and business that is the Christian music industry never seemed to have a perfect place for them. Believe me, this is a good thing. There’s a lot of good things that happen in that industry, but there’s a lot of not-so-good things too. It’s a business. Business and ministry don’t always mix well together (that’s for another post, though), and Aaron is a minister first and foremost. Anyway, God eventually led Aaron, Bush and Jimmie to return to being worship pastors for a local body of believers. So, a little less than a year ago they headed back to Texas to The Austin Stone Community Church, where Aaron is able to serve as a worship pastor alongside others so that he also has time to continue leading for other churches and events.
Many of you know that it is a real pet peeve of mine that “worship” in our modern Christian culture is equated with “music.” However, Aaron isn’t just a musician or a music leader. He is a true worship leader with a heart for ushering others in to the throne of God. When you’re “in the room” with Aaron leading, you can tell that he is the one worshipping first and foremost, not just a worship leader but a lead worshipper as well.
In addition to music and worship he’s also passionate about matters of justice in the world. He, Bush and Jimmie are great advocates for Compassion as well as some other efforts both in their local community of Austin and around the world. He and his wife Jamie also have a huge heart for adoption. They’re currently working to add Amos and Story to their family of Cayden and Deacon. However, they’re not only active in their own adoption effort but are always more than willing to help others as well however they can. He sees both as ways to continue to glorify Christ in the world.
Aaron just released a new album this week. It’s called Between the Beauty and Chaos, and you can get it from iTunes or Amazon or just click on the banner ad below. I think you should, and here’s why.
As you survey the landscape of modern Christian music, you’ll discover that there are a lot of offerings out there of “worship” music. Since this is the case, it sometimes tough to really distinguish what makes one stand out from another. There’s the stadium anthems of Chris Tomlin or the maturity of a Michael W. Smith. David Crowder stands out for his experimentation, while labelmate Charlie Hall is probably known more for pure artistry. Hillsong United seems to be an embodiment of an entire church in one band while Todd Agnew brings a sense of the lone prophet. Matt Redman is known for his writing, and Delirious? is known for spectacle. Jason Upton doesn’t lead so much as follows the Spirit, whereas Fee choreographs every moment to accompanying video animations and graphics. You get the idea, the landscape is vast and while some stand out for certain, very specific things, there are a vast number of others that can get lost in the crowd.
So, what is it about Aaron that sets him apart from the rest. If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be this: sincerity. This doesn’t mean that the music isn’t great, that the lyrics aren’t heartfelt and moving, that there isn’t diversity and artistry, that there’s not risk and innovation, that maturity isn’t present, or that the Spirit isn’t moving. Because, trust me, whether you’re listening to the new album or worshipping with Aaron in the room (I’ve been telling him since I’ve known him that he should make a live album), all those things are definitely there. But Aaron is one of the most sincere worship leaders I’ve ever been around. He is real and genuine, and when you spend just a small amount of time with him, you can’t help but know that. It’s a subtle distinguishing quality, certainly not as flashy as some others, but it’s an extremely important one.
I’ve heard a certain evangelist/speaker/author/producer of Iranian decent (when speaking of Spur 58) say something like, “if you want to listen to them back home just get the new Coldplay album.” I’m not sure why some immediately think to associate Aaron and the guys with Coldplay. Maybe it’s because Aaron leads from a piano and that if you squint your eyes and the lights are dim he kinda resembles Chris Martin. At any rate, rest assured that Between the Beauty and Chaos isn’t a copy or knockoff of anything. It is something all its own.
Now, I’m no music critic by any means. So, I’m not gonna sit here and try to break everything on the album down for you. The best I can say is that I don’t find a lot of enjoyment in listening to albums of Christian music because it never really sounds “good” to me. But Aaron’s album is good, and I like it, and I actually listen to it. It’s not like the previous Spur 58 albums. Aaron, Bush and Jimmie reached a whole new level with this one. I was trying to think of what in particular stood out to me, but I had trouble coming up with one thing. At the very least, you should check it out on Aaron’s site or better yet, click on the banner below and get it for yourself. You won’t be sorry.
I’ll now leave you with the lyrics to my favorite song from the album: “Let Your Kingdom Come.”
Let Your Kingdom Come
Aaron Ivey, Matt Carter. ©2009 IVEYMUSIC. (ASCAP)
Give us a love for peace
Move us to brokenness
Our generosity
release from poverty
Your Kingdom here and now
To the least of these
Distribute what we have
That all may taste and seeLet Your Kingdom come
Let Your will be done
And all the Earth will say
And echo angels’ praise
That You are GodSo, let the sick run free
The orphan find her home
The captured man will know
Release from slavery
Your Kingdom here and now
To the least of these
Distribute what we have
That all may taste and seeLet Your Kingdom come
Let Your will be done
And all the Earth will say
And echo angels’ praise
That You are GodWe pray and ask for hope
We pray and ask for peace
We pray and ask for justice
We pray and ask for You
I’ve never been a particularly big Michael Jackson fan. However, you cannot deny the genius that is Thriller. I have a vague recollection of seeing the video at my grandmother’s house during a family gathering and my mom making them change the channel. Maybe this was the beginning of my zombie fixation. Who knows?
I hope he’s found peace.
Church Is Not A Palindrome, Part 3
Author: kinsley // Category: Church, Conviction, Faith, God, Let's Be HonestFirst, a brief (hopefully) intro to this post:
I’ve written about church before and the struggle I’ve experienced over the past few years to find a local body of believers to be a part of. It wasn’t the finding a local church that was the problem. I live in the deep South, and there are literally hundreds of churches within my area that I could have joined. The problem was finding a church that I liked. Though saying it that way makes it sound much more shallow than it is. It wasn’t that I wanted to find a preacher that I liked or music that I liked or a small group or somewhere with a cool children’s program or something like that. It was really that I had grown pretty disillusioned with church because of some experiences that I had, and every church I visited seemed to have something really wrong with it that I perceived as a reason not to go there. Anyway, you can find those other posts elsewhere.
Now, on to the post:
The good news? I have found a church. I’ve actually only been to it three times. So, I think it’s doubly good that I’m even to now say that I consider myself a part of it. I haven’t officially joined yet (I’m sure we will, soon; you know how summer is), but I’m glad we’re going there. The church is Westwood Baptist Church.
If you knew me really well, and I tasked you to find a church for me, I doubt you would have picked Westwood. Most people I tell that’s where I’m going now seem genuinely surprised. If I had just looked at it without actually going, I probably would have stayed away. This isn’t because there’s something wrong with Westwood. It’s more that you probably would have thought that I would have found something I considered to be wrong with it. And it’s not necessarily that I haven’t. So, why am I going there?
Two reasons.
1. I get a sense of genuineness and that goes a long way with me.
2. I’ve matured a bit and gotten over myself.
The past few years have been some intense times of growth for me in a number of areas. But all of that growth has constituted a season of life during which I’ve realized how much ego I have and how I have to constantly battle against that ego daily. When it comes to church this meant that I came to a point where I knew I needed a church home and where I knew that the major obstacle to me finding a church home wasn’t the churches but was actually my own ego. I was looking for things that were wrong instead of the things that were right. To expect a church to be perfect is ridiculous. To not be willing to be a part of the solutions to problems is selfish. So, I picked a church. Liza picked the same one. It only took one visit on one Sunday, and we’re in. It feels great.
It feels right.
This past Sunday, Les, the pastor, was preaching about personal responsibility. He’s been doing this whole series of sermons on “Lost Words,” which are basically character traits that are biblical and Godly but that our society doesn’t seem to value much anymore (if they ever did in the first place). Personal responsibility is one of those lost words. The sermon was good, but not like the most earth-shattering thing you’ve ever heard. He was preaching from a passage I’m familiar with, 2 Samuel 15. It’s where David and his army are fleeing from Absalom. David tells Zadok the priest to return the Ark of the Covenant to the city because he’s not going to rely on it like some good luck charm. Instead, he’s going to leave things in God’s hands and face whatever consequences the Lord deems he deserves.
Anyway, like I said, it was good and Liza and I were listening intently, but at the end, there was just a brief moment that I’m sure many other people paid no attention to, where Les slapped me in the face (obviously, not literally). In fact, I have a good sense that God prompted him to say this in particular just for me. Here’s what it was.
Les was pretty much finished with the actual sermon part and was leading a kind of decision time so that people could respond to what they had heard. He was challenging all of us to take personal responsibility for things in our own lives and then he began asking what those things might be. Were there things we blamed coworkers for or our spouses for or our children for or the economy or the government or our culture, etc.? Then came the clencher when he said:
“Is there something in your life that’s your responsibility but for which you’ve been blaming the church?”
Talk about hitting home. I realized in that moment, sitting there in this church I had decided to become a member of, the journey that God had been taking me on to heal me and change me and transform me. I’ve been so pissed at Him and so many others along the way because things weren’t going like I thought they should when all along I was the one not going the way I should. But He never gave up on me or abandoned me.
For that I’ll always be thankful to Les and to Westwood and, ultimately, to God, Himself, Whom I’ll be worshipping on Sundays with my new church family.
This may not make a lot of sense to you. I realize that. But it makes perfect sense to me.
So there you go.
Hey, all you Compassion sponsors. Check it out. ourcompassion.org. A way to network with the million or so other Compassion sponsors around the world. Find and connect with people who sponsor kids in the same project that you do.
Pretty cool.
Here’s a so-so video about it.
Don’t hold the so-soness of the video against the concept. Go. Sign up. I’ll see you there.
If you’re not already a part of releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name by sponsoring a child with Compassion. You can do so by clicking here… or the widget on the right.