Category Archives: From Out of Nowhere

Can we clean our own backyard?

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About two years ago I had the pleasure of attending a Christian Associates event called Thinklings. The topic was something like: “What does it mean to make the claim that Jesus is Lord in the pluralistic landscape of western Europe?” To be honest, this event was a hinge point for me and my view of the question. I left with the belief that to declare Jesus as Lord was not meant to be an ‘evangelistic’ statement, but rather a ‘discipleship’ call.

The early followers of Jesus called Him Lord in light of the Roman emperor’s command that he himself was Lord. In a sense, saying Jesus was Lord, was telling Caesar, “You are not Lord.” Saying that Jesus is Lord is not a phrase that we use to give Jesus another title. The phrase is a movement from ‘the competing Lords of our culture’ to a faith in Jesus as Lord. I believe that it is in this movement from one thing of ‘lordship’ to following Jesus as Lord that we find our meaning, hope, grace, and redemption.

I just got done finished reading excerpts for Chris Wright’s final address at the Third Lausanne Congress on world evangelisation. You can read it here if you want to.** I am both convicted and encouraged by what his points were. He said ‘Christians had lost their integrity and succumbed to the idolatry of power and pride, popularity and success, and wealth and greed.’ His last part on unity is also a crucial point.

Here are some quotes I ‘liked’:

“To be obsessed, or even concerned at all, about status, office, power, in the Christian Church and in Christian work, is in sheer disobedience to Christ and the Bible. And it destroys the very thing that we seek to accomplished. We are called back, in repentance, to humility.”

“The tragedy is that so many Christian leaders, including mission leaders, fail these tests [of power, popularity and wealth] at precisely the point Jesus overcame them.”

“The whole church pays the cost of their failure in the lost integrity and credibility. And so when we even dare to point the finger of criticism at the sin of the world we are told bluntly and rightly ‘clean up your own backyard’.”

I felt like this was the same message that I left the Thinklings event with. What leg do we have to stand on when we tell the world around us they need to follow Jesus when we don’t ourselves? I have a feeling that we’re living in a time where it is communicated that it is more important to be good Christian (go to church, read your Bible, be moral, tithe, etc) than it is to actually follow Jesus (redeem people, reject power, enter into suffering, etc). I think it is time that we as a collective Church start taking more seriously the reality that majority of the Bible was written to God’s own people who were not appropriately following Him. Personally, I would rather have Jesus tell me, “I know you followed me with your whole heart.” than to have say, “I know you worked hard to be a good Christian.”

Ok…off to get started cleaning my own backyard…or terrace seeing as I don’t have a backyard.

***You can also watch the talk online here: Integrity – Confronting Idols | A Conversa Global Lausanne


A Different Kind of Demonstration at Gay Pride Parade

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My friend Dennis sent me this article and I really resonated with it:

A Different Kind of Christian Demonstration at Gay Pride | TimSchraeder.com

Reconciliation is at the heart of the Gospel. Reconciliation between once-opposed enemies is truly good news for all people. (What the angels spoke of to the shepherds in Luke’s gospel)

Even as a kid we are taught to say we are sorry. Even if we believe that we are 100% right, we were taught to learn that there must be something that we need to apologize for. That we at least have 1% of the problem to own…but honestly only arrogant people would claim a measly 1%!

Being able to say sorry first is a humble expression to move towards the issue or the people. I think that what our brothers in Chicago did is a great example of moving toward an issue that needs reconciliation.

May God give us all the courage to reconcile the ‘wars’ that wage in our lives. When we do, we model His movement towards us as humanity. When we don’t, we miss out…We miss out on the Gospel coming alive in our lives.

When you think of reconciling an issue in your life, what comes to mind? What issues might have you been too afraid of to move towards?

May God’s grace be with you as move towards these things…


On the Train Tonight

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Tonight I had ‘futbol’ practice…it was the first time I’ve been able to go since Matias was born…To get to the practice facility I take a train that’s a bit bigger than the metro and goes way out of the city.

Tonight is the story of two train rides that have a sobering similarity.

On my way out to practice it was rush hour. There were hundreds of people out and the train was packed. There was no chance of finding of seat so I stood with backpack squeezed in between my ankles, certainly too cramped for me to wear the backpack! I had to hold the bar up above my head to keep my balance. This reminded me of my days in Paris when I’d ride the metro there at around 5:30pm! I love riding trains like this, unless it’s all four of us and we have a stroller and two kids that are getting smushed! The diversity of the people here is remarkable. Each person with a past, a story, a place they are coming from, the experiences of their day. Who knows where they are going…what their home is like. Most people are riding by themselves and sharing nothing other than a seat with the person sitting next to them. All that to say, the metro was packed with people from everywhere…and when you stop to really look at other people, you can’t help but be touched by their humanity and really wonder who they are…at least for me.

My ride home from training was much different. When I walked down to the track there was only one other person waiting for a train. I walked down the platform to the back of the train because I knew that the exit where I would get off was down there. I had my headphones on so I couldn’t really hear anything, but in that particular station there is always the smell of oily railroad ties…I kind of like that smell. I sat there smelling the smell, hearing my music, and looking for the train with virtually no other sign of life in the station. It would have made for a cool photo shoot spot. When the train came into the station I walked up to the door that stopped in front of me. I pushed the green button to open the door and I got on the train. This time, instead of ‘standing room only’ I had the pick of every seat in my car. I was alone. It was almost creepy…especially with my headphones on not being able to tell if anyone else really was on there with me. I looked over my shoulder a few time (as I often do in my neighborhood) to see if anyone was there because in situations like that, I don’t like surprises (not saying that the trains are dangerous at all in Barcelona…just saying I like to know if someone is behind me!) As we pulled into the Arc de Triumph station I stood up and looked around at all the empty chairs and realized something.

“Statistically speaking, there are probably just as many people on this empty train that follow Jesus as the crowded train that I rode on the way to practice early tonight: one…me”

I’ve probably said this 50 times at gatherings in the US…the reality in Europe is that when I ride the bus or the metro there is a high chance that I am the only Jesus follower on that bus or metro. It’s really a huge contrast to the places that I’ve lived before.

But tonight it was different for me to experience that reality like this. Being alone physically really heightened the truth that I am often very alone spiritually.

I guess there are two points to me processing this: one is to remind myself of the vacuum that exists here. I really believe that following Jesus is the hope for this life and the next…and it kills me that so many go through life never knowing the God who is Love…the love that brings grace, redemption, wholeness, peace…

The second thought that comes to mind is the story Paul when he was in Corinth and felt very alone. God reminded him that He had ‘many people’ in that city and that God himself was with Paul (Acts 18). I know that there are two kinds of people that God has here: one being other people that follow Jesus already (we’re trying to meet and connect with these people now), but the other being people that are seeking God…that God has already begun working in their lives and they just need someone to walk with them on the road. This is why we’ve come here…to trust God that we’ll be lead to these people and that they will with experience Jesus through us…and even better, taste and see for themselves that Jesus is who he claimed to be and that becoming ‘a learner’ of Jesus does bring the Life that Jesus said it would.

The beauty of living in the middle of a city (and sometimes difficulty) is that I just can’t escape human contact. I am constantly reminded of my smallness, my weakness, while swimming in this sea of life. I’m grateful for how this teaches me humility. I am also humbled by the work we have chosen to embrace…living out the Kingdom of God in a place like this seems small…like a mustard seed, or a bit of yeast, or something…but we look with anticipation to what is to come. I’m loving this lesson that I learned on the train…

A Scene of Racism in Modern Europe

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Ok…so huge title and I don’t think I’ll do much commentating on this topic, but here is an example of something that seems like it’s more from the Jackie Robinson era in baseball than it does from 2009 in Italian football.

BBC News – Racist abuse against Balotelli feared at Inter-Juve tie

The truth is that Europe is the first place in the world that is making (has made) the transition to being truly multi-cultural…or maybe synchronistic is a better word. Sure, there can be a case that the United States was first many hundred years ago, but even then it didn’t have the mix of religious, deep cultural, and ethnic synchronism that is at the core of how Europe’s modern culture is being formed. Europeans that may want to keep their countries or regions truly mono-cultural have already lost the fight. There is no end in sight for the shifting landscape of Europe as east, west, north, and south merge together here.

The ugly attitude (and words) of the fans in the article above is representative of this dying breed of people who hold onto the idea that Italians, Spanish, or French could maintain a historic hold on their image. This idea is no longer. People are going to have to live with the reality that a black man is as Italian as they are. And as time goes on all Europeans will have to live with the fact that what makes someone European or not will have nothing to do with their family history.

Commitment to Excellence? More like: Commitment to Self.

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Disgruntled Oakland Raiders fans post billboard asking owner Al Davis to hire GM – ESPN

Al Davis has done a fabulous job of preparing the Raiders to establish a new legacy when he’s no longer running things. I am a not a Raider’s fan at all, but still feel for fans who’ve had to put up with his selfishness and lack of wisdom.

Just to add some sort of relevance to this post…This situation reminds me of what happens at churches when new leaders aren’t developed and the church slowly loses relevance. The only difference is that these fans don’t just leave and start rooting for a new team and talk bad about the team they left! If only churches could have more healthy debate (key word healthy), but I guess that would require shaking up the current hierarchy that exists in many of the families of God…


Presence of the Lord….

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I love this song for a few reasons…

One: The words…

I have finally found a way to live, just like I never could before.
I know that I dont have much to give, but I can open any door.
Everybody knows the secret, everybody knows the score.
I have finally found a way to live in the color of the Lord.

I have finally found a place to live just like I never could before.
And I know I dont have much to give, but soon Ill open any door.
Everybody knows the secret, everybody knows the score.
I have finally found a place to live in the presence of the Lord.
In the presence of the Lord.

I have finally found a way to live just like I never could before.
And I know I dont have much to give, but I can open any door.
Everybody knows the secret, I said everybody knows the score.
I have finally found a way to live in the color of the Lord.
In the color of the Lord.

Two: As a guitarist, a rocked out, overdriven, wah wah pedaled, guitar solo has got to be one of the best ways to celebrate the presence of the Lord…Yes Eric, yes….and yes Jesus, yes.


Self Deception? or just deception?

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I recently read a book called ‘Leadership and Self Deception’ and in the book it told the story a man who truly believed that as a child he was in a concentration camp. He believed it to the extent that he wrote a book about it and won awards for his writing. But it wasn’t true.

Here is a story of another man who might be suffering from the same level of deception:

BBC NEWS | Europe | US veteran’s D-Day lies exposed

It would be sad if this man were just be a deceiver like some boys (in contrast to men intentionally) on the Bachelorette named Wes. But his stories and ability to continue with them make me think that this guy has just created some memories and really believes them. (Unlike creating the idea that you’re going to be a successful public figure when everyone now knows how cruel of a person you are.)

But if you’re interested in learning more about self-deception and false memories you should really read the book…it’s very very interesting!