A Christian Worldview from Silicon Valley

On Easter Sunday I said in my message that Easter was the most important Christian day, more important than Christmas. Christmas is a big deal to me (not just for the presents), and I don’t mean to relegate it to some second class status, but I think it is important for us to recognize the differences in these two incredibly significant events in human history.

At Christmas we celebrate the coming of God to earth in human form as Jesus. At Easter we celebrate the return of Jesus to heaven to sit at the right hand of God. At Christmas we marvel with the shepherds who are told by angels that Jesus is here. At Easter we marvel with those at the tomb who are told by angels that Jesus is no longer here. At Christmas we are filled with joy because of a birth. At Easter we are filled with hope because of a resurrection. At Christmas we know that Jesus is with us. At Easter we know that we can be with him.

Christmas is comfortable, Easter is comforting. In religious terms, Christmas is fairly non-threatening. It is all about the baby and the wise men and the miracle of the virgin birth. Who, other than Herod, is threatened by the babe of Bethlehem? Oh, yes, it is also about Jesus, but only in the sweetest, gentlest way.

Easter is not so comfortable, preceded as it is by the terrible flogging of Jesus, his crown of thorns, his torn flesh, his blood, and ultimately his horrible crucifixion, including nails in his hands and feet and later a spear in his side. But for those who believe, all of that pain leads to something that is amazingly comforting.

So which would you have? Some say that without Christmas there would be no Easter, but the truth is that without Easter there would be no Christmas.

In the “funnies” yesterday I saw a comic strip called “For Better or For Worse” by Canadian Lynn Johnston. In the first three panels the family is headed off to church, with the focus on a little boy who is perhaps six years old. In the last three panels, Mom is helping him with his jacket when he asks her, “Is church open every Sunday, Mom?” and she replies, “Yes, Michael” as he looks around. And as they are walking out, within earshot of his father, the minister and a few others, Michael asks, “Then how come we only come twice a year?”

Frankly, I’m glad that Christmas and Easter both bring people to church. It’s a start. And it shows that somewhere in their hearts is the realization that church is a place where they should be, the realization that Jesus means something and has something to do with their lives. My hope is that even those who only come to church on those occasions — whether it is out of a sense of obligation or duty or respect for family wishes or the direct calling of the Holy Spirit — will benefit from being with the body. Perhaps they’ll also hear something in the songs or prayers or message that works in their lives to bring them closer to God.

But I’m also glad that those of us who attend church on Sundays other than Christmas and Easter get there on those days. It deepens our appreciation for the gifts that we have received, it deepens our fellowship with other believers, and it deepens our faith. Easter, especially, does that for me as I focus on the resurrection and see my life in its glorious light!

I hope that you had a marvelous Easter, and I hope that the wonder of the resurrection lives in your heart every day.

I have never been much of a movie goer toer. I know, I know, I need to get out more. Still.

There’s another new movie out that I am not planning go see - Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.

“Guinevere Pettigrew, a middle-aged London governess, and daughter of a vicar finds herself unfairly dismissed from her job. An attempt to gain new employment catapults her into the glamorous world and dizzying social whirl of an American actress and singer, Delysia Lafosse. She consequently finds herself in a quandry because “morals are very important to [her].”

The theme - every woman has her day. Oh boy!

One thing struck me, morals mentioned in a Hollywood production? Is that possible?

The Point asks the question, and this also caught my eye, “What’s a movie without a Christian worldview angle, after all?”

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I have a confession to make.

I don’t like to sing. All that smiling, joyfulness, emotions dancing in my heart and escaping from my mouth. Eeww!

I can read music, play an instrument or two, carry a tune, make a loud noise, even wake up the dead if I put my mind to it. But, it’s not my first love nor my last. It’s not even on the list. I just do it. Nike would want me for a commercial.

But then I was asked to take part in the musical - THE SON. I came kicking and screaming, solely because I love the church (not the building), I love the Son, I love my friend, Lewis.

I determined I’d do my best with the part I was given. Being type casted as Satan helped. I have natural inclinations that I could tap into. Grr! (more…)

I’ve spent much of the day today reading about and thinking about three men who lived out their belief in Jesus and in a Father who is “able to do abundantly more than we can ask or think.” Perhaps I’m more sensitive to that topic because of the last two sermons I’ve delivered at the Palo Alto Church of Christ, or perhaps God is just trying to tell me something.

Whatever the reason, I share this with you partly as a warning. I cannot read about these people and how they lived their lives without some influence on my own life, and that undoubtedly means that I will try to influence you in those same ways. If you are comfortable being a part-time Christian or if you think that the church can somehow be separatist and still be the church, be afraid, be very afraid!

Of course I’ve already tried, and will continue to try, to convince you that your life has to be different if you are a follower of Jesus. Different than the world, I mean, and for some of us different than it is. More trusting of God. More extremist against injustice. More patient with each other. More urgent for the lost. More desirous of a deep and real relationship with the creator of the universe, including us.

Just who are these departed saints who have invaded my sunny afternoon and challenged me from the grave? Larry Norman (take a look at the PACC blog to see the entry I just posted about him), Martin Luther King, Jr., and Francis Schaeffer. It may be that you have only heard of King among those three, but what they all had in common while they walked on this earth was a willingness to be counter-cultural for Jesus. All of them gained some measure of prominence in their lives, using the gifts God had given them in ways that honored God, but not a single one of them sought fame and fortune — they sought to please their Father. One did it with protests, one did it with a school in Switzerland, and one did it with rock and roll music.

May we do the same — with whatever God puts in our hands!

Under the mercy,

Lewis

The worldview from Silicon Valley and the surrounding environs hasn’t always been about technology and money. Sometimes it has been about love, flowers, and very often it has been about music.

A little over three weeks ago, one person who was influenced by and influential in the world of music — and in the world of Jesus — died.

He was Larry Norman, and some at the Palo Alto Church of Christ had a “one degree of separation” relationship with Norman without even knowing it — he was the discoverer, early mentor, and friend of Randy Stonehill, who performed at PACC on December 2, 2007.

Larry Norman was, by all accounts, an amazing and powerful force. According to an obituary in the Guardian, he claimed to have had the idea of Jesus Rock in 1956 when he was just nine years old, “when he was as excited by the sound of Elvis Presley as he was by the words of Jesus Christ.”

But it was about 10 years later when he actually began the revolution that became Christian Rock.Behind and beyond the music, however, was Larry’s genuine love for the Lord and heart for the lost. According to his Gospel Music Hall of Fame biography, he started The Vineyard Church, which met in his living room in Los Angeles on Wednesdays. It is now comprised of more than 600 churches. He also led Susan Perlman to Christ, and with Moishe Rosen she founded Jews for Jesus.

(For a look at Larry at work, with a reference to the aforementioned Randy Stonehill, watch this YouTube video. Randy’s own memories of Larry are posted here.)

The Huffington Post obit included this paragraph:

While Christian Rock is sometimes assailed as formulaic and derivative, Norman was anything but and his admirers included Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, The Pixies, Van Morrison, John Mellencamp and Sammy Davis, Jr. among others.

Among Norman’s amazing list of songs is one that many Christians know, I Wish We’d All Been Ready. Based on what I know of the life, work, and death of this incredible artist, he most definitely was.Here is what he dictated to his friend the day before he died:

I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God’s hand reaching down to pick me up. I have been under medical care for months. My wounds are getting bigger. I have trouble breathing. I am ready to fly home.

My brother Charles is right, I won’t be here much longer. I can’t do anything about it. My heart is too weak. I want to say goodbye to everyone. In the past you have generously supported me with prayer and finance and we will probably still need financial help.

My plan is to be buried in a simple pine box with some flowers inside. But still it will be costly because of funeral arrangement, transportation to the gravesite, entombment, coordination, legal papers etc. However money is not really what I need, I want to say I love you.I’d like to push back the darkness with my bravest effort. There will be a funeral posted here on the website, in case some of you want to attend. We are not sure of the date when I will die. Goodbye, farewell, we will meet again.

Goodbye, farewell, we’ll meet again
Somewhere beyond the sky.
I pray that you will stay with God
Goodbye, my friends, goodbye.

Larry

See you in heaven, Larry. Thanks for the music.

Someday, I want to visit The Hotel Utah in San Francisco, which hosts an open mic every Monday, featuring a scheduled musician and whoever else wants to play. Every week or so, host JJ Schultz sends me a note, subject line: “The Utah loves you…,” and saying something like: “Hello. Hope you’re doing good. I’m doing pretty good. Blah blah blah.* So-and-so gave a great performance and you can download it here….”

And one of my favorite music stations, KFOG, “World Class Rock,” emails a personalized note to registered Fogheads like me. The note goes something like this: “Dear Susan, Blah blah blah.* Love, KFOG.”

I like those notes. I appreciate knowing what’s waiting for me some future Monday, and it’s especially nice to get a weekly reminder that somebody loves me.

I was reading a couple of them the other day, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside when my brain kicked in — hello, “loves” me? Yeah, right. Me and thousands of other registered rock fans. Not! That is, the sentiment shown here is not even LIKE, much less LOVE. To love a person, one tiny prerequisite is that you know them, right? When I filled out the registration forms, I had to divulge some information, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t submit so much that they would truly know me, much less recognize me on the street.

Maybe knowledge isn’t the distinguishing factor. After all, what about Christians, who are called to love everyone, even strangers? Maybe what gives love its potency is not its label but its action. Y’know, like Jesus said: “If you gave a stranger food, drink, clothing, shelter, medical help, or encouragement in the form of a prison or hospital visit, it’s as though you had given it straight to me” (Susan’s down and dirty summary of Matthew 25:31-46). In other words, “Just Do It.”

In “Pagans, Christianity, and Charity,” Christopher Price cites examples of how Christians began showing a gritty kind of love that was unheard of in the ancient world, (more…)

This week I did something that most people would have found frivolous to the point of annoying — I sent an email and then sent it again just 2 minutes later, changing only the subject line and adding a brief note that only the subject line was different. I felt some anxiety for having thus cluttered my friend’s in-box with an unnecessary repeat. He responded with such joy, though, saying, “That’s like a *perfect* subject line!” As a fellow writer, he understood my motivation completely as well as my worry, and his reply unleashed in me a host of exaggeratedly happy feelings.

I love my friends, and I enjoy their replies to my notes, but the depth of feeling surprised me, so I’ve been thinking about what it means to be known and why its appeal is so great.

One of my relatives used to occasionally say to me something like, “Aha, I get you. I’ve got you pegged.” His remarks would annoy me to no end, though I wouldn’t tell him that, figuring he would redouble his efforts to predict me if he sensed a challenge. I assumed that my reaction was because I wanted to be a mystery of sorts, unknown and unpredictable. Later I decided that my irritation stemmed from the fact that he didn’t get me at all, but he was audacious enough to believe he did.

Here’s the kicker, though: (more…)

The Beatles had a song with these lyrics - What would you do if I sang out of tune?

It might have been the title to the song. Somebody more knowledgeable than I about music (Wait! that’s everybody) will know the answer to that question.

This past week I found myself included in some funky email address list. I was asked to show up for a casting call. It reminded me of the time I was rounded up with a bunch of cows and someone took a swipe at my head. Moo!

It turns out there is a musical that is going to be put on at PACC on March 22nd and the powers that be are really hard up to fill places. A bit of type casting has me in the part of the Devil. Boo! (more…)