A Country Song (fb)

Todd Little introduced me to Hank Williams Jr. in seventh grade.  One Hank led to one George Strait and I was cooked- and hooked.  David Allen Coe joked about "You Never Even Call Me By My Name" being the perfect country song - or George Strait's "Amarillo by Morning" or Alabama's "Dixieland Delight."  Tricia Yearwood's "Walkaway Joe" should put a lump in your throat purely on the perfection of her voice paired with Don Henley's flawless harmony.  

Driving home yesterday I listened to the song that has become for me the perfect Country and Western song.  It is sung by the perfect country voice - compelling tone but not perfect, powerful but subtle - so easy to listen to and soooo freakin country!  Three chords that any beginner could play.  The song does what all great country songs do - heartstrings and homefires and pictures of the rural and loved ones but most of all a great story to tell.  It's a story about place, about redemption, about a return to simplicity, a story of hope.  It's a smile on your face and a tear in your eye and anxiety falling off all around you.   It could be "Highway 20 Ride" or "Pancho and Lefty"  or "You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma." 

I know they say you can't go home again -I just had to come home one last time.
Ma'm I know you don't know me from Adam - but those handprints on the front porch are mine...

Country and hip-hop and rock n roll - the genre is about culture but music - music is about the heart.  The music of a generation is the catalyst and the historian and the rallying center.  If we understood the power of music, the pioneers would swing for the fence there.

Fully Strange (fb)

A quick argument for fighting to be fully human, fully strange…it goes like this. 

People generally fit into five broad categories as humans made in the image of God, experiencing a world in transition, gravitating towards specific gifts and skills and callings.

Starters:   Starters are the restless and or focused pioneers.  They have to take new ground, live in the future, can see over the next hill and can’t wait to get there.

Observers:  Observers are constantly listening to their inner voice, to the plurality of voices.  They are less worried about understanding than they are about seeing.  They help others hear and see what those others might otherwise rush by.

Promoters:  Promoters are the true believers, the persuaders, the cheerleaders.  They can’t help but Tell what they know.  They use their enthusiasm to shout from the rooftops the thing that they are convinced would make everyone else as fulfilled, excited and amazed as they are – if only they knew.

Explainers:  Explainers want to understand and to help others understand.  And the more they understand the more they want others to understand what they understand.  They are energized by learning and, in maturity are able to turn the complex into the simple.

Nurturers:  Nurturers want everyone to Feel loved, healthy, and understood.  They desire protection and security.  Nurturers prefer the known, the tried and true, the safe.

As humans we are caught in a conundrum.   We love homogeneity and find comfort and joy in hanging around people like us.  But being fully human, according to the bible (esp Ephesians 4), requires that we enter into a community that intentionally embraces a “unity through diversity.”  So to be fully human I am compelled to intentionally seek community that is diverse and challenges my “category.”  That requires that I am intentional about being around people that represent each category and that I genuinely seek to understand their view of the world. 

So how am I embracing the Starter lifestyle, the Nurturer lifestyle?  Where do I need to challenge myself to pursue Explainers?  Am I hearing the voices of the Observers?  It is the strange exception of a person that flows freely through these five worlds yet remains focused on fully realizing their own gifts and callings.  I want to be that strange. 

A Piece of Encouragement for Millenials (FB)

Your heart cry for spiritual mothers and fathers has not fallen on deaf ears.  Please be patient.  You see, the generation that pointed you toward craft beer and quinoa if full of so much more.  Don’t worry, they aren’t asleep, they’re just busy…and bored.  But the boredom – it’s the boredom that they can’t stand and will cause them to rise up when it’s time to roll.   You see, something happened to them – something wonderful and miraculous and somewhat unprecedented.   They experienced a move of the Holy Spirit that touched and changed everything.  But sometimes it’s hard to see a movement when you’re in it- you just call it life.  But it was a move.  There was real life – there was power-  there was a sense of purpose.  And unlike generations before them that were offered the invitation and squandered it for treasure – the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers who are now in their 30’s and 40’s never bowed to Baal.  Their error was more subtle, more salvageable – though their cost of freedom will be civil war.  The error was in believing their fathers and mothers who told them to use the gifts, the presence, the move to build programs and pulpits and conferences and celebrities and camps and content and gatherings and networks.  But they actually tasted something real – and a few of them will soon begin to taste again – and they’ll have the courage to lead.  And yes, it will cause civil war but don’t engage  - it’s between them and their fathers.  Follow the leaders – and here’s how you’ll know them.  They won’t call you to their thing – they’ll release you into yours.  They will invite you into family and will introduce you to power and, in the end, you will say “the mothers and fathers wouldn’t allow us to settle for any less that the life of Jesus – and it has made all the difference.” 

Finishing Well (fb)

I received the following email from the organization that sponsors my favorite organized cycling event.  They have hosted the most successful event in OKC for 17 years and they have decided to call it quits.  And it isn't like they're quitting after years of deteriorating participation and sponsorship and participant experience.  No, they're quitting at the top of their game - the height of popularity.  Why?  Because someone had the guts to say - "this is no longer the thing we are supposed to spend energy on given our vision."  That is so courageous.  I can imagine that there are people whose livelihoods depend on this event.  There are probably people who will lose much of their identity when this event ceases.  "The cycling community loves it, the community loves it, the sponsors love it...everyone will be so sad, so upset..."  I've never been more proud to be associated with these people - good for them.  Most organizations don't have the courage to end things that no longer serve the vision.