Hey y’all, if you hadn’t gotten word, I’ve moved my blog, portfolio, and the the whole shebang over to http://davidwasson.net .
If you havent been to the new site, I’d love for you to check it out, I’ve even been updating the blog regularly over there. CRAZY, right??
“…it is no wonder that the women were first at the Cradle and last at the Cross. [Jesus was] a prophet and teacher who never nagged at them, never flattered or coaxed or patronized…who rebuked without querulousness and praised without condescension; who took their questions and arguments seriously; who never mapped out their sphere for them; who never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female…”
Dorothy L. Sayers, Are Women Human?
It’s cliché to write a blog post about your anniversary, I know.
Indulge me this one, won’t you? It may be the only sappy and sentimental thing you get from me in the next four years…
Last week, my lady and I celebrated our tenth anniversary. I can hardly believe that. I know in the grand scheme of things, its not all that much, but to me it was monumental. I’ve not been a party to long lasting, healthy relationships – so this week has been incredibly significant to me.
Now, let me confess, I will be the first to say that I have not always provided a healthy relationship for us. I’ve done enough stupid things to make any reasonable human being give up on a scoundrel like myself. But my wife has been a pillar, an example of patience, forgiveness, and hope. I’ve done some damnable things that I won’t ever be able to shake out of my head (when you hurt someone you love, that’s what happens – mutual scars on the heart). But more than that, she has been my perfect counterweight in life.
She’s been sensible when I’ve been impetuous.
She’s been a peace seeker when I’m on the warpath.
She’s made me laugh when I was in the pit of despair.
My wife has seen my dark passenger*, and she still chooses to love me.
For ten years.
And I can barely put up with Facebook comments from my religiously fundamental friends that drive me up the wall.
And I guess that is what is sticking with me. I have seen the model of consistent, virtuous love right in front of me for over a decade now – and I beg that God would let some of it rub off on me.
No, she’s not perfect, but she shouldn’t ever have to be. She is my Queen; and I will fight every day to be a better partner to her than I have been the day before. Some days I will fail horrendously. Some days I may succeed modestly. In many ways, I am still learning how to love her.
Thank you for these past ten years, my love. May the next ten be filled with me returning the joy you have relentlessly to given me.
*Dexter reference. Deal with it.
For the majority of this week I was in Orlando, FL at a conference for church leaders who are starting new churches (some people call them/us “church planters”). I usually don’t go to conferences, so the whole experience was a little unsettling for me. Going into the event, I knew that I could be very cynical about some of the things I would see, so I did my best to be open minded and gather whatever ideas, concepts, resources would be useful to us in what we are doing at Phoenix CityChurch.
Now that I’ve had a few days to think about my experiences, here’s what I’m walking away with:
If I am “doubling-down” on my work, I need to “double-down” on my rest. (Chris Seay)
Clarity in trajectory is essential in developing new leaders. (Jon Ferguson)
There are still too many church leaders who want to be rock stars (See also, too many emcees, not enough mics).
The American expression of the church is still holding women (even women who lead) back.
There is no silver bullet. There is no silver bullet. There is no silver bullet. There is no silver bullet.
Being in grad school for three years has trained my brain to deconstruct, unpack, and parse the things I hear and see at a critical level that isn’t used in general culture. I can be seen as pessimistic and cynical if I do much of this thinking out loud. Moral: Don’t bring a grenade to a water balloon fight.
A charismatic person with smooth words and well placed tears can sweep bad theology under the rug. #sheep
There is a perpetuated culture of Christian celebrity and consumerism. Both of these would still make Jesus violently throw up.
There is this DOPE little Thai restaurant on International Dr. In Orlando by the Walgreens.
Reluctantly, I think I like Gungor.
Dave Ferguson, Bill Hybels, and Chris Seay are the real deals.
There are a ton of people who are genuinely grinding out work to establish new churches that express Jesus on his terms. Many of us will still fail.
A model or system, when looked at closely enough, will show its flaws and short comings, not matter what the person promoting it says.
Orlando, in German, means tourist trap.
Sometimes (much of the time, really). We forget why we are here.
The first chapter in the Bible isn’t about the scientific reporting of a creation event (not even close), it’s about why God created humanity.
He created humanity because he loves. He created humanity in his eikon (this is the septugent’s word for it, which translates into the word image). The Bible says we are eikons. We are the image of God. We are, within the communion with God and his creation, the image of perfect love reflected into the world.
But we often spoil it. We choose selfishness over God’s desire, and we become a broken eikon. McKnight writes that, “To be a cracked eikon means that our love is distorted in [all] four directions: we don’t love God as we can, we don’t love ourselves as we should, we don’t love others as we ought, and we don’t love the good world God gave us as we designed”.
But that is where the restoration comes in. Jesus, the perfect eikon (2 Corinthians 4:4), reconnects us with God, and empowers us to live as his image in the world.
–
I often forget why I am here. I chase after so many things, and in the process, I forget my roots. When I do that, my life becomes imbalanced and wonky. Sin creeps in, and I do more destruction than creation. I want to live as someone who remembers why they have life.
Because they are loved. In order to love.
Father, let me never forget that you created me in your image. Let me love as the Shema commands, but let me love even more as you have shown what love is through Jesus.
I’m probably too old school, but the idea of dancing with God just doesn’t jive right with me.*
so, scratch today’s contemplation – that didn’t go to well with prepping out Missional community (Phoenix CityChurch) and being anxious about my sleep study.. where my transformation to becoming a Cylon took another terrific step forward.
Also, I think I’m going to title the future posts differently. The titles of these posts are depressing, and not engaging.
*If you are new here, my Lent journey has been guided through the reading of Scott McKnight’s book 40 Days of Living the Jesus Creed.
I don’t look into the face of God enough, because I’m afraid of the face he will look back at me with.
I had a similar problem in junior high, and some of high school too. If I thought a girl was pretty, I’d steal glimpses at her, but the moment she would notice and turn her head to see who was looking her way, my eye would dart to the ground. Or if I had to go up to a teacher or coach and ask a question, I’d begin to look at their face to gain their attention. But when I did have their attention, I had a hard time looking their way.
I was afraid they might frown at me, or twist their face in horror, or say something mean.
Or laugh.
But none of that ever happened. My fear is what drove me from eye contact with other people. I think I lost out on a lot of friendships because I was so protective of how I thought others might see me, that I never let them.
But with God, it’s different. God already knows me – too well. God knows all of my high points, and my low ones. He knows my successes, and my broken edges. He knows all of me, and he still wants wishes desires craves (still not a strong enough word) to have me see him, face to face. The very nature of God is love, and to peer into God’s face is to see the very essence of love (1 John 4:7-8).
If I look into the face of God, the only thing that can look back at me is him. And he is love. To look upon the face of God is to look at love in its most perfect form, shining on me.
God loves me with a purity and intensity that I cannot begin to wrap my little brain around.
I don’t deserve that, but I will take it.
