I thought of writing a book review but ended up with a song inspired by a book. “Grace found me” is a phrase quoted from the book All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir which is the memoir of beloved author and speaker Brennan Manning. We think we can earn God’s love, God’s favor. We can’t. Even at our best, most religious selves we fall short. We all do. And, at our worst, God’s hand reaches out for us. All we have to do is reach for it. His hand will find our hand. 

As some of you know, I am working on a worship recording called Drink The Divine. This worship project is about grace–the cross section of our belief in it and our experience of it. This is why I believe in giving away the proceeds to help a very worthy cause, Doma International. There are many who need an arm reached out to them. As we in our well-equipped and tuned church facilities cry out in song and prayer, our hand should be held out to the least of these. We are all ragamuffins, anyway.

Fundamentally, I believe that drinking the divine of Jesus includes how we in our human, earthy and real selves live out love to others. It is not an “either or”…it is a “both and” way of loving. Love God, and love people. Follow Jesus. Express your worship to Jesus. These we should not separate.

If you believe in this as I do and desire to support, please do so. There are only a few days left and your contribution will get you a small perk, sure. But, it will give a lot more. However, only you can help make that happen.

God bless and peace in the New Year to you and yours!

Here are the song lyrics to “Grace Found Me”.

Verse 1:
In the dark of doubt
I’m closer to good news
For it takes a broken heart
To finally hear the truth
A prodigal I am
Reaching for the Father’s hand

Chorus:
Grace, grace, you found me
From my shame I am set free
Grace, grace, you saved me
From blindness now my eyes see
Grace

Verse 2:
God’s favor is not earned
My efforts fall in vain
Yes, I have a broken heart
And I’m the one to blame
A prodigal I am
Reaching for the Father’s hand

Grace…

© 2011 Rich Kirkpatrick/Tehilla Music

“Reflect: Fifty-two Stories for Worshipers” compiled by Stan Endicott was just released! This book is a compilation of stories from worshipers is designed for leaders and worshipers. The stories allow the reader to be reminded about finding points of worship from the perspective of many writers, some who are worship leaders and arts leaders such as Sally Morgenthathaler, Rick Founds and Joe Horness. I also am a contributor to the book, which of course I am humbled to have been asked by Stan Endicott.

My worship team enjoyed my reading of one of Stan’s reflections last night at rehearsal entitled “Eye of the Beholder”. I can see the potential of this book as a ministry resource both for personal devotions and for leading a team of worshipers through it. What is unique to me is the use of personal stories by people anyone can relate to. I am grateful to Stan for allowing me to be a part of this project and hope you pick up a bunch of copies!

The “new media” is no longer something church ministries are considering, it is a part of our new way of communicating. However, are most of us in ministry properly equipped to even ask the right questions in navigating this enormous and ever-changing method? Whether it’s an online church service, social media strategy or your online presence, Vince Marotte asks the right questions in his book Context and Voice. Those of you who listen to WorshipMythBusters.com podcast will remember Vince on our show about Tech and Innovation. Go get his book here!

The mainstream media, which means CNN, newspapers and crafted press campaigns have saturated us with the news of the controversial Rob Bell and his new book “Love Wins – A book about heaven, hell and the fate of every person who ever lived” released March 15. Really, the controversy was more about the statements Bell himself pulled from the book in a video teaser as well as bits from bloggers. Red meat was thrown to those who feel obligated to guard us all from false teaching and heresy. A firestorm brewed and Bell became a NY Times bestselling author as a result.

Fellow bloggers have flocked to either attack the teachings pulled from the book or defend Bell from these attacks. It seems few actually stood up for the teachings in the book, but were offended by the tenor of the conversation. Those attacking focused on “exegetical” issues like Bell’s use of the Greek language. Admittedly, even one supporter of Bell said the book is sometimes “disjointed” and “poorly written” while making a legitimate statement that some detractors did not even read the book. Good points!

Heretic or Not a Heretic?

I asked this question on a post here on RKWeblog. Now, I get to answer. One reader made it clear that “Jesus was a heretic. Martin Luther was a heretic.” That point is well taken. Surely Rob Bell is not a heretic. He is not in the Jesus or Martin Luther revolutionary kind, and also is not literally in the “false teacher” kind as some would claim. With some great thought I personally do not see Bell in his book espouse Universalism, or a “Christian Universalism” that one reviewer/blogger coined. He may leave that question in the air, which is another issue.

Rob Bell is a pastor who has a unique and generous connection to people who are seeking and asking questions. He gets them. He knows their language. He speaks their language. In the book, you get a sense that Bell has deep empathy for this woman who was molested and this Muslim turned off because of witnessing a village in Europe where Christians killed all the Muslims. Bell is a pastor of people who wants to be able to answer these questions. And, seeing that God is love means that Bell wants to justify that character of God to these hurting and Jesus-rejecting people.

Syncretize or Contextualize?

Where I see Bell making a mistake is that he almost syncretizes to these people he cares deeply about—his church members and those damaged by a gospel framed in fear. What is not helpful is the fact that while asking questions is good and a worthy contextualized way we can engage real people today, do we need to bend our faith? No. Does Bell do this. Maybe. Here is how that is might be.

Is it possible that the asking of too many questions about things that have been speculative for over 2,000 years lead us nowhere? Perhaps. So, the method is cool. But, can it detract from more concrete and clear things about the Story of God’s love? It could. And, in this book, I think the most powerful points he makes might be dwarfed from the buzz and bait Bell crafted in all of this.

Bell seems to slip in a jab at people who go to conferences to be more “missional” and “welcoming” then saying that if your God is “loving one second and cruel the next, if your God will punish people for all eternity for sins committed in a few short years, no amount of clever marketing, compelling language…will be able to disguise that one, true, glaring, untenable, unacceptable, awful reality.” (location 2099)

Essentially, this appears to ignore the Fall of man and fact that we are already judged and in need of a Savior. So, I am not sure I have heard many teach what he is against here, to be honest. However, the idea of contextualizing a God who will judge who is also loving makes more sense than syncretizing the fact that God is not going to judge those few years of sins since that would be cruel. Is Bell stating we are not responsible for our sins?

Love Won versus Love Wins

I do not think that he is. He appears to be against those that say God is capricious—changing from a loving God to a judging God. Most of us in Evangelical circles know there is a tension in that and believe the Cross resolved that. So, it is not “Love Wins” for us, it is “Love Won.” It is finished.

The Cross proves that God can be consistently both holy and loving—both just and kind. He banishes us from the Garden, wipes out the world at the Flood, swallows up his own in the wilderness and one day will have to call those who do not know Him to account. His loving kindness—past, present and future—is centered on the Cross. God’s Story of love has always been in history.

For the people of the Old Testament, love wins. For us, love won! We look back to the event of the Cross and what that means for us both this moment and all that follow. I believe Bell makes some of his most powerful points in regards not to the title of the book. What we do now matters. Bell does make this point.

Done. Complete.
As Jesus said, “It is finished.”

We are now invited to live a whole new life without guilt or shame or blame or anxiety. We are going to be fine. Of all of the conceptions of the divine, of all of the language Jesus could put on the lips of the God character in this story he tells, that’s what he has the father say.

“You are always with me and everything I have is yours.” (location 2058)

This recounting of the Prodigal Son shows how Bell attempts to teach us about what we have to live now. Bell asks us this: “So is it true that the kind of person you are doesn’t ultimately matter, as long as you’ve said or prayed or believed the right things?” (location 148) Great question!

Too often, many in Evangelical circles look for the ticket to heaven and preach that. We scare people about the afterlife and then get people to sign on the dotted line to get that taken care of. It is a “dip them and drop them” kind of deal. Bell is so right in calling us out on this. This does not feel great, but it makes so much sense to the teachings of Jesus.

I applaud now so much of the heart that Bell has to be sure we live a life of faith without fear of a God who is looking to be after us. This I believe is the central message of the book.

The Dialog About the Book

Now, in a polarized society, we will have debate and sometimes it will not feel so great. I am not afraid of that. Are we being too sensitive? Is it appropriate to question Rob Bell? Here is something that I would like to question Rob Bell about.

He writes a book then sends out teasers with controversial statements. And, no one has the book during his buzz building time and so by the time it is released a surge of news and interest is already in play. Bell is not naive. He is likely one of the most gifted communicators today. I say that he is partly responsible for the firestorm. He is not a victim. He knew the red meat needed to bait certain leaders into rabid behavior. So, he needs to take some blame for the framing of the dialog in the first place. Did he do something wrong in wanting to sell a lot of books and create buzz? Not really. But, he needs to own some of this as a consequence of that.

To those who are rabid, please. Why be naive? Do not take the bait! Have a dialog, not a rant. Some of you have the stature that you could get a coffee with this guy Rob Bell if you were just a bit nicer. Your ideas need to be heard and vetted just like Bell’s ideas. He is influential and you lose some of your platform by trying to break apart his. Sad. We need your balance in the Evangelical church. Please, just don’t be so mean about it.

I confess that it was a personal struggle to wrestle with hard things like what this book presents. However, we must. I am thankful for the many private conversations I have had that have shaped me and shape me. My men’s group rocks! Twitter rocks! I am but one voice. And, so are you. Let’s dialog.

I would love to sit with Rob Bell and have coffee, by the way. I am sure it would be a great experience. I applaud him because in all of this I cannot honestly say that about some other people who are prominent in this dialog. I sure hope I can be like Bell in that regard. After all, I love coffee.

Readers, please chime in but challenge civilly.

How does Rob Bell do in your opinion. Is he the “H” word–a heretic? Or, is he a historically orthodox Christian in his responses?

John Voelz is a pastor, speaker, worship leader and fellow Len Sweet admirer. Although, he takes the cake in that category given that his song “It’s Jesus” was chosen as the official song released June 1 with Len Sweet and Frank Viola’s book Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the supremacy and sovereignty of Jesus Christ. I really dig the honesty and approachability of the song which is exactly who John is.  Go download this song on iTunes!

Here is one thought I would love to discuss. God is a person.

We have almost forgotten that God is a Person and, as such, can be cultivated as any person can. It is inherent on personality to be able to know other personalities, but full knowledge of one personality by another cannot be achieved in one encounter.

Tozer reminds us that God can be known. In my daily life, it seems easier to figure things out on my own rather than get to know the person of Jesus who can figure things out with me. Or, even better he can simply be with me. After all, he is a person.

How does God being a person change how you live your normal life throughout the day?

It is that time when no matter the financial
or family problems, no matter the turmoil that pervades the
world, for a few brief moments, “all is right in the world.” As
we collapse in sweaty euphoria, we together realize a time
of transcendent wonder. There dawns a realization that we
have indeed been granted the privilege to see the face of a
holy God. — Randy Elrod

Sex, Lies and Religion — A provocative, thoughtful, controversial book by author, blogger and creative Randy Elrod. I have known Randy for nearly a decade and can attest to his passion for seeing people live a life of liberty before God and their church communities. This book, even though it may not reflect all of my personal views, is surely a must-read and certainly a conversation that is lacking in today’s Christian circles.Yes, we talk about sex. But, do we apply theology, thought and a sense of experience in our conversation like Elrod? No, I fear not. This is not a let-me-push-every-button kind of book. Even though there is controversial views, everyone of them is presented with maturity and thoughtfulness. I applaud such a brave work and hope to learn from Elrod even more in the future. It is a good thing that what some of us appreciate being under his mentorship many now can experience.

WMB is a series of posts here on my blog.

The Myth of Proposition over Experience in Worship

Why is it that in our evangelical church culture we seem to put the beauty of music, art and other expression of our faith and worship below reason? Where in scripture does this occur? In reading the Psalms and other poetry of the Bible we see imagery and drama as part of our expression of faith and yes, even theology.

This does not mean we put beauty and story above reason and proposition, however. There must be a better way of explaining the longing in our hearts when pulled to the mystical side that experience offers without repressing this part of our humanity. In other words, perhaps it is not an indication of a fallen nature or a danger of being captivated by that nature to be moved by the beautiful. It is human.

At the cre:ate 2009 conference, we had a lecture by Steven Guthrie, who delivered a lecture similar to his Worship Leader Magazine article earlier this year (Music and Lyrics, WL Magazine, pgs. 25-30). What Guthrie described was a man with two halves which he says is derived from Augustine. What we take from Augustine is a fear of the music drawing us to a “lower” nature. So, why not subjugate music to reason, which is a higher form of faith? We seem to face that in our worship expression often in the evangelical church.

Postmoderns, as Guthrie described to us at cre:ate flip the same logic of Augustine and argue for making story, beauty and so forth higher than reason and proposition. May it never be! To deny the propositions such as the substitutional atonement and other pillars of faith to some fuzzy narrative is just plain stupid. We are talking about our eternal destiny here, not how we feel a movie moves us to a place of experience or how  Coldplay reveals universal truth that we can explain away as relative. Proposition is still important.

I would suggest, as Guthrie does far better than I can, that we are not two people as he states the idea of having two halves. This is, as he says, an “unbiblical anthropology.” We are both people of reason and emotion. To pit parts of humanity against each other seems heretical, actually. How could we truly worship if “Spirit and Truth” are not employed and if we do not sing “with our mind” and “with our spirit” as Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 14.

At another cre:ate conference we talked with author Kurt Bruner about his book, The Divne Drama. Bruner’s assertion of a “both and” of “proposition and story” when talking about the gospel. The Bible is indeed made up both of narrative as well as proposition. Should we think these are ranked, or do we accept all scripture as “God-breathed” and authoritative?

For the sake of discussion, I wonder how many readers would agree with this idea or not agree. Should we put reason above beauty, story, mystery or are both sides of us who we are?

Fridays are for friends, so I wanna try to give some shout outs to some who are creating or serving or making a difference. This week here are my shout outs:

Connor is a blogger/student/musician/techy and beyond that takes great photos. He has a new photography book available. I love his accent, since he is Irish. Gotta love the Irish.

Tony Guerrero is an amazing musician/producer/songwriter/jazzdude and has put up a Facebook Music Page.

Mark Waltz is a hero of mine in ministry since he humbly helps the rest of us out there. Read about his new book offering!

Bill Giovannetti is my former pastor in Redding, CA and has published his first book. Click over to his site to learn more about it.

Anything I missed this week? Please let me know.