Hey, Ya Know What?

Why Church Should Be More like Woodstone Deli

I promised this post and here it is.

Woodstone Deli is one of my favorite spots in Kingsport. They serve fantastic food and support live music. That would be enough for me but it has so much more going for it. I’ll get to that in a minute. Some people think it’s too small, too smoky, and dingy. The bathrooms are small and the men’s room doesn’t have a stall door. They just hung a curtain. But for me, it’s a just cool place where real people hang out.

When I walk into Woodstone I am always greeted with smiling faces. The staff and patrons are glad to see whoever walks through the door and are ready to strike up a conversation. I rarely get more than a few steps before my drink of choice is already sitting on the counter waiting for me. I can’t tell you how many times it was already paid for by someone before I even had it in my hand.

The people there are real. No one is putting on airs and no one is there because they want to hang out alone. The regulars are there because they actually like the people they hang out with there. Sure, anyone who is a regular at a bar probably has something going on on the outside that makes them lonely, but they are there because they want to be and actually have formed some bonds with the other regulars.

When you hang out at the place, the people actually try to learn things about each other and its not out of the ordinary to hear someone say ‘how is your Mother” when they know she’s been sick. Or maybe they’ll ask how things are at the job when they know things have been hectic. It’s more than a hello/goodbye relationship there.

Oh, and how do new people get treated? When I was “new” there I was treated just like everyone else. AND, the next time I walked in they remembered me!

Now, how many times have you been to a church where it seemed like the people didn’t like each other, knew nothing about one another, and seemed liked they were itching to get out of the place? And these were the regulars! I won’t say every church I have been too was like this, but most were. Everything was handled on a polite but superficial level.  How many times were you “new” at a church and were at best ignored and at worst felt the “stares of judgment”?

Has Woodstone achieved social perfection? No. It’s not utopia. As long as human beings are involved they can’t always hit the mark on all the positive things I listed above. They have their bad apples like any other place. Similarly, not every church has the problems I point out, but they can all learn lessons from a place like Woodstone Deli. We are all looking for the Cheers experience whether we realize it or not. It’s sad when church is last place most of us consider to find it.

Conservatives and History

A recent discussion over at my Facebook page about the Obama speech for school children tomorrow got me to thinking. I am picking on conservatives because of a remark made by a conservative when responding to this line in Obama’s speech: “You'll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free.” The comment was that he should have stopped this line with the word homelessness.

I love history. It was always a favorite subject of mine in high school and college. It’s fascinating to see the events of the past come to life. Where we are today was shaped by the events of the past and the past is a fantastic teacher. Hardly anyone would deny that.

Conservatives are very quick to point to history when arguing their ideals. They like to conjure up the founding fathers and how they created one of the greatest nations the world has know. They remind us of victories against evil and injustice in the world. They talk of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and all of the events that lead to their birth. And that is all well and good. I think these are great things to remember and look back on. But we cannot stop there.

Our history also has a dark portion. It is full of stories that we are ashamed of and that shaped many of the ills we still live with today. That is why Obama’s line can not end with homelessness. We do have to use history to fight discrimination. Education is very important in the fight against crime. And knowing where we came from will help us to make this country more fair and free.

We can not pick and choose what history we will use to make this a better country. I don’t think we go overboard to either side, but take it as a whole. Yes, our founding fathers set the stage for us. They got some things wrong, but a framework was created to undo those mistakes. However, we can not take a great mistake and injustice such as slavery and say “that is in the past and we need to move on”. It is not that simple.

It is because of slavery and all that went along with it that we still live in a country that discriminates against people of color. It is because women were not allowed to vote for so long and were relegated to much less than men that we still see gaps in wages paid to men and women doing the same work. If we sweep these things under the rug, try to forget they happened and “just move on”, we will never defeat these great evils that so threaten the concept of freedom.

As for his comment including “crime”, there is a direct correlation to crime and lack of education. When we are uneducated and do not understand how our country and our laws work, we are more apt to criminal activity. From gangbangers to white collar crooks, a lack of understanding of the morals built into our way of life (this is where social studies comes in) can be to blame. I have no problem with him addressing this.

These things are not partisan issues. These are American issues. If we are the people we say we are, we can beat back these injustices. Do we need the government to do it for us? No, we do not. But just because a President you do not like mentions these things, and calls for action, makes them no less true. George Bush called for the same things, as did Presidents on both sides before him. We do a great disservice to our fellow Americans and the office of the Presidency by disagreeing with the good things he says because you don’t like him for other reasons.

But My Blog Will Always Be Here

This post will be a sort of “state of the union” address here at Hey, Ya Know What…

Facebook and Twitter have dominated my online communications the past year. But I am realizing something. Those two services could go away or become something entirely different or less useful at any time. There are so many sales and mergers of social networking sites going on that one can hardly keep up. But the one thing I have control over and pretty much always will is www.rdwagner.com.

Knowing that, I need to give it a bit more love. Prior to this past year, I spent lots of time posting here and developing a decent following the previous 5 years. At the apex I was getting over 100 unique visitors a day. I settled in to about 50 a day after peaking and now I am in the 20 range. That is surprising since I haven’ t been posting much lately.

I am not sure what has happened or where my muse went, but I really need to post more. I have plenty  of things bouncing around in my noggin, but every time I sit to write, I can’t get anything out!

Here’s to hoping I can do better. I really need to get these things out…

Alter’d State’s 100th Show!!!

It’s My Birthday, So I Thought I Should Write Something

37

Casey Stengel’s  jersey number.

37

A prime number and the first irregular prime

37

The number of plays Shakespeare is given credit for writing (if you count Henry IV as 3 parts)

37

How I am now.

It’s a bit of a weird age to be. It means my mid-thirties are gone and 40 is around the corner. I’m not too sure how I feel about it, but know I am feeling something. I remember 27 affecting me greatly for some reason, and while it’s not to that level, I am feeling this one. While still relatively young, I am getting older and am starting to notice. :) Of course, in the grand scheme of things me turning 37 matters very little. We all have bigger more pressing things to deal with.

Anyway, I am very thankful and feel blessed to have watched another year go by. A year that was not all about me. It was another year with my wonderful wife, my beautiful children, and family and friends. It was a year that was financially rough for many, us included, but we were blessed with a home, food, clothes, and all the things we needed. I made new friends and reconnected with old ones. I saw milestones in the lives of my kids and so many good times…

Yes, it was a good year. Thanks so much to all of you who were a part of it and a part of my life.

Derek Webb and His New Controversy

So, Derek Webb, who I really enjoy, has a new album coming out, Stockholm Syndrome. It will actually have a “Clean” and “Explicit” version. For those who don’t know his music or why that matters, this guy sings about Jesus and the Church.

So, the huge controversy is his song “What Matters More”. As with most of his songs, it is very well written and very challenging. I am going to post a link to the song and the lyrics here. Tell me what you think. I will post my thoughts later…

You say you always treat people like you like to be
I guess you love being hated for your sexuality
You love when people put words in your mouth
'Bout what you believe, make you sound like a freak

'Cause if you really believe what you say you believe
You wouldn't be so damn reckless with the words you speak
Wouldn't silently conceal when the liars speak
Denyin' all the dyin' of the remedy

Tell me, brother, what matters more to you?
Tell me, sister, what matters more to you?

If I can tell what's in your heart by what comes out of your mouth
Then it sure looks to me like being straight is all it's about
It looks like being hated for all the wrong things
Like chasin' the wind while the pendulum swings

'Cause we can talk and debate until we're blue in the face
About the language and tradition that he's comin' to save
Meanwhile we sit just like we don't give a shit
About 50,000 people who are dyin' today

Tell me, brother, what matters more to you?
Tell me, sister, what matters

Good for You Falwell Jr.!

I killed him on the banning of the Democratic Club ban. So now that he has applied the standard across the board I will give him props. Good on ya Jerry!

College Republicans Banned at Two Religious Universities - Political News - FOXNews.com .

Liberty's chancellor, Jerry Falwell Jr., told FOXNews.com in an interview that he did not de-list the school's Republican club in response to pressure he received from booting the Democrats from campus. Rather, he said, he was applying standards equally. He said he decided that both clubs would become "unofficial" -- meaning they receive no student funding but can meet on campus under approved circumstances.

How Big (or small) is Your Gospel

Many years ago I knew a pastor who had a very simple formula for ministry. He told me it was tried and true and for a time, I believed him and believed completely in the method. If you asked him what the key to sharing the Gospel was and what it was he wanted to accomplish, his answer was this:

“Get ‘em in and get ‘em saved.”

As far as getting them saved, he was a “Romans Road” guy, and so, spent a lot of time in the book of Romans and in Paul’s letters. He had everything boiled down to this philosophy and had complete tunnel vision. He wanted to get people saved and into heaven. It was (and still is) his life’s work. I hold much respect for the man and know that God has used him to bring many to salvation.

But I always knew something was amiss. Something wasn’t quite right with it all. What I didn’t know then is not that he was wrong, but that his presentation of the Gospel was incomplete. It wasn’t until sometime around 1994 that I began to see what was missing (although I was far from getting past the trap of the “ticket to heaven” gospel.)

I was asked to teach a class to some teens in an inner city church. I had no idea what I was doing or what to even teach. So I just opened my Bible with the intent of rereading the New Testament until something jumped out. It didn’t take long. :)

I reached the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) and while I had read it before, I couldn’t remember hearing many sermons or a lessons on it. The ones I did remember I discuss below.

Here was Jesus on his “Galilee Tour” with huge crowds following wherever he went. He goes up onto a hill and sits down with his disciples and begins to teach.  And the things he teaches them are revolutionary for the times (actually, they are revolutionary today).

He starts with the beatitudes, you know the “blessed are the _____” statements. As I reread these, I had a bit of an epiphany. What I though I knew about these sayings was that because Jesus said them, we were to take on these postures. Like, if those who mourn are blessed, then we should mourn for our lost friends and family. Also, because of the last line in these Beatitudes, they became rules and regulations for, yep, once again, getting into heaven. But these things just weren’t quite right.

No, as I reread these and looked back over all the heartache and hard times I had suffered from childhood up to that very point, I realized he was talking to those already in some of these postures if not all. He was speaking to me. Then I thought of the tough times the young people I was about to begin teaching were having. We were all in the same boat and this was some good news for sure.

More than anything, this encounter with scripture made me realize that while salvation was of the greatest importance, the Gospel was bigger and more all encompassing than that. As I read the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, I could see that Jesus not only wanted us back into relationship with him and his Father for all eternity, he was giving us good news for right now! He was laying out a blueprint for redemption and atonement that could give us a glimpse of his Kingdom here.

Like I said before, it took at least the next 10 years for this to sink in. At one point I became very angry with those who had taught me before. I couldn’t understand why they would skip this when it was what I and many of those close to me desperately needed to hear. And even today, I am still figuring out how all of this works together.

There is so much more I could say but will save it for future posts. But I will close this post with this question: “How big is your Gospel”?

Technorati Tags: Sermon on the Mount,Gospel,Jesus

Why Conservatives Scare Me as Much as Liberals Do

I lean conservative. Lean. I am not a crazy right winger. I've said it a million times. However, many of those "conservatives" who lean WAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY past where I am scare the hell out of me sometimes. The liberals that go just as far the other way scare me too. The further you go in one direction, whether left or right, the greater the risk of turning into a mean and hateful person. Now, on to the article I link to in this post...

Background on the dude who is the subject of the article: Don Miller is one of my favorite writers. Blue Like Jazz and Searching for God Knows What made huge impacts on me. His style is perfect for my sarcastic and humorous side and his ideas and thoughtfulness add much to my own ideas of ministry and being missional.

I do not know who Mark Tooley is, but he writes for the Weekly Standard and slams Miller hard. See, Miller, who attends a conservative evangelical church, campaigned and voted for Barack Obama. Tooley does not like this, not one bit. He also throws up the "emergents" and "emerging church" people that Miller knows to prove his devilish cred. The thing is Miller has never claimed to be a part of the movement. While these emergent people are liberal and I can't agree with them on many things, they are not the epitome of evil.

The article is so full of untruth I could scream. He doesn't even get the city that Miller lives in and attends church in correct (he lives in Portland, not Seattle). He takes pieces and parts of what Miller has said and written and builds the biggest straw man I have seen recently. The fact he doesn't toe the conservative Christian line on abortion (he is pro-life actually) and gay marriage, he becomes the evil liberal evangelical poster boy. This is where I get in trouble myself with my conservative evangelical friends. My answers and the weight I give these issues is not up to snuff.

I am not going to get too far into a defense of Miller. That is not what this post is about. I have linked to his response and he does a fine job. No, this is about scary mean people. This kind of attack is why far right and far left people scare me so much. In order to push their agendas, they have to lie and distort the truth. They use quotes out of context. They seek to destroy people. And before you know it, those on their side are whipped up into a frenzy based on NOTHING! Both sides do it. Don't even try to tell me they do not.

Why can people who stand on principles not JUST stand on those principals? Why do they have to instead go on the attack and attempt to destroy the lives and reputations of those they disagree with? Why can't they be more like Donald Miller who says the following in the blog post answering this article:

The one thing my very conservative friends and my liberal friends have in common is that they are extremely kind. I think kind people are kind and mean people are mean and it hardly matters whether they are conservative or not. It has more to do with irritable bowels, I think, or a persons controlling personality vs. their ability to trust Gods grace and speak His truth without associating a persons response to that truth with their own threatened identity. Regardless, I keep the kind friends and slyly slip away from the mean ones. Life’s too short.

I wish people could be more like that. Moreso, I wish I could be more like that.

Post-Modern Prophet

Miller's Response

Falling for Phony Jobs

Interesting article from the Wall Street Journal (not Foxnews). Go ahead and pipe in and say that the GOP and the right offer no real solutions, blah, blah, blah. They aren't allowed to. They are not in power anymore. They are not even allowed to meet with the majority Democrats to talk about many of the issues that our country is struggling with.

Anyway, this article gets to the heart of one of the biggest concerns I had and voiced: the "saving and creating" of jobs by our government via a huge stimulus package. First, it is impossible to measure how many jobs the government has "saved and created" and second, it's obviously not working, even by their own predictions. Emphasis below is mine.

Mr. Obama's comments yesterday are a perfect illustration of just such a claim. In the months since Congress approved the stimulus, our economy has lost nearly 1.6 million jobs and unemployment has hit 9.4%. Invoke the magic words, however, and -- presto! -- you have the president claiming he has "saved or created" 150,000 jobs. It all makes for a much nicer spin, and helps you forget this is the same team that only a few months ago promised us that passing the stimulus would prevent unemployment from rising over 8%.

So when do those who think the stimulus was a great idea start getting "antsy"? Or will they ever. Will pride keep them from admitting that maybe this stimulus was not a great idea? Who knows. All I know is, summer is already here and this money has done no good whatsoever...

McGurn: The Media Fall for Phony 'Jobs' Claims - WSJ.com.

Musical Marathon Today

In a little while I leave the house and be gone till after midnight. We don’t call ourselves the hardest working band in the Tri for nothing!

Here is the itinerary:

11:00 AM Arrive at Black Wolf  Harley Davidson in Bristol VA

11:00 AM – 1:00 PM Set up and sound check

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM On the stage

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Break down and pack up

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM Drive to Lakeview Marina and maybe grab some food

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM Setup and Sound Check (and maybe some rest)

7:00 PM – 11:00 PM On the stage

11:00 PM – 12:00ish – Break Down, Pack up and head home

Long day, but the extra money sure does help and I know we’ll have some fun, meet some new people, and hang out with plenty of friends and family.

It’s Not About Biased or Un-Biased

I have been accused of saying that in political matters I am un-biased. Actually, I never said that. In fact, it would be silly for ANYONE to say that. Of course I have biases. We all do! There are certain convictions that most of us stand by. Those who don’t, well, God help the. We all have a particular world view and our stances are shaped by them. No, I have never claimed to being un-biased and if I did, I must have been loopy that day.

What I have claimed is that I will, to the very best of my ability, be open and listen to another view. And I do that. I can listen to another view, take it in, and process it against what I currently think or believe. At that point I make a judgment. Some times I will agree and adopt/reconcile it into my own views. Other times I will not be able to agree with it and will say so. Not a thing wrong with rejecting an idea.

Here is the problem. There are too many people who think a person is close minded if they reject an argument from the other side. The only way a person can be open minded is if they hear your side and accept it. That is pure nonsense. Again, it comes back to convictions, and if we slide on those for the sake of “open mindedness”, we are weak minded and spineless. And beyond that, some people called you biased and close minded for even stating an opinion contrary to their own.

I love when someone makes a good argument about their position. Even if I don’t agree afterwards, I can appreciate and respect the way they communicate their convictions. What irks me is when I feel I have made an argument and the responder takes whacks at my convictions by changing the terms and content of the debate. We should listen to what a person is saying and respond to that. When I comment on a blog or a Facebook post, I aim at what is actually being said and do not try to pull other factors in.

Look at my post yesterday as an example of this. If I am posting about Obama and how I think he is not making good on his promise of promoting a post-racial, unified society, don’t respond with Bush comments and the GOP is evil. I am not Bush. I am not the GOP. I am not even a republican! I am someone who is a stakeholder in good race relations and if our President does something that I think is harmful to them I will speak out. I don’t care if his name is Bush or Obama. And I have spoken out against both of them.

So, am I biased? Yes. Do I go right down the line with one party? No. Can I listen to the other side? Absolutely. It is not a crime to disagree and have convictions. It’s not even a bad thing. What is bad is when being open minded means agreeing with the other guy all the time. If that is what a person expects, they are the most closed minded of all.

Surprised by Love - Liberty U Infiltrated

A friend sent me a link to this book review. I really want to read the book now. The article is really worth a read and I think the book will give non-Christians and skeptical(of far right Christian organizations) Christians like me, who have problems with Falwells school, a look at some of things about the place that are good.

Basically, a Brown University student enrolled at Liberty for a semester to go "undercover" to right a book about Liberty from the perspective of a secularist.

Here is the opening of the article.

Surprised by Love - Books & Culture.

The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University isn't the book its author, Kevin Roose, thought it would be. It's certainly not the book he pitched to his publisher as a left hook in the ongoing fisticuffs between secularists and believers. And it's not the book I anticipated when I first heard rumors among students at Liberty University, where I teach, that a young man from Brown University had come here and spent a semester undercover in order to write an expose on command central for one side in America's culture wars.

It's not the book it was supposed to be because, as it turns out, Liberty University wasn't what it was supposed to be.

This isn't to say that some of the worst stereotypes of evangelicalism, fundamentalism, the Bible Belt, and Christian higher education aren't reinforced by Roose's experience. They are. Nevertheless, Roose largely gets beyond the stereotypes and humanizes even those whose views he finds "reprehensible." And in the process, Roose gets a good dose of humanizing himself.

Obama, Race, Discrimination and the Sotomayor Selection

I knew of the New Haven Conneticut case (Ricci v. DeStefano) in which appellate judge Sonia Sotomayor found against firefighters who did well on promotion tests. So well, they did better than all the applicants of another color, save one. They didn't all receive their promotions in spite of doing everything they were asked to do. Their only short fall? They were white.

This is the person that post-racial Obama has nominated for the Supreme court. Here is a short snippet from the commentary I have linked to.

...Sotomayor and two colleagues simply brushed aside the important constitutional and statutory questions raised by the city's decision to discard the results of a race-neutral test given to applicants for promotions within the department. Too many men of the "wrong" color had passed it -- that is, all of those who scored highest were white except for one Hispanic.

Those firefighters had worked hard to get the test results they did; the lead plaintiff, Frank Ricci, is dyslexic, but he had been on the force for 11 years and was determined to become a lieutenant, so he paid an acquaintance more than $1,000 to read textbooks onto audiotapes and make flash cards. Ricci gave up his second job in order to study long hours -- and aced the test.

Most of the people I know have not heard of this case. It didn't make it into the news cycle with the same gusto as other stories. Many may decide she was right in her decisiopn on the case, but most would not. Even many of those I know who are not white would not agree with this. One thing they would question is the assumption being made that the blacks and hispanics aren't smart enough to beat our their white counterparts on a test, so let's give them a charity promotion. That wouldn't sit well with me were I part of a minority.

If we are going to fight discrimination based on color by discriminating based on another color then it's not about discrimination anymore. And if Obama is going to nominate such lightening rods to the highest court in the land, he is no more post-racial than the idoits who would call my wife and kids the "N word".

In spite of electing a black man to be our president, we are still caught up in the same old same old. He is not going to help heal the deep wounds of our nation and it's sordid history of discrimination and racism. No, not so long as he makes decisions like this one.

We can no more live in a country where a white man gets passed over for a job, in spite of following the rules and working hard than we can a country where a black or hipanic man can't even sniff one because of his skin color. But that IS the country that Sotomayor wants to live in, and by extention, maybe our president does as well.

This commentary is worth a read.

Commentary: Identity politics in the age of Obama - CNN.com.

When Social Networking Gets it Right

There are horror stories out there about online social networks. Most of the stories we hear are negative. We hear of sexual predators on Myspace. Craigslist has it’s very own killer. Even Ernie posted earlier today about one of the huge problems with Facebook.

But every now and then, I see see this medium get it right. Sometimes, it gets it right in a huge way.

Social networks are popular for many reasons. Some use them to pimp themselves. They post all kinds of pics of themselves and it’s all about creating an online image.  Some people actually use them to market products. Still others use them as a virtual soapbox to get their thoughts and opinions out to someone, anyone, who will read them. I do this often. But most of us are using them to reconnect and keep in touch with others. In this, these services have served me well.

As most of you know, my 10 year old daughter spent 4 days and 3 nights in the hospital with a severe kidney infection. It was a trying time for her and our family. We are still worn our from the whole ordeal and she is still in recovery here at home. But there were some bright spots during this time. We were showered with love, care and concern. We received phone calls, visits, emails, and yes, notes of encouragement via Facebook and Twitter.

I was able to keep most of the people we know apprised of the situation. I posted updates as I could and asked for prayer. And guess what? BOOM! We were getting encouragements and notes from not just a few people, but dozens! Every time one of you would send in a kind note, I would look over at BeBe in the hospital bed and read it. Some of you she knows, but many of you she does not. It didn’t even matter. Every time we got one she’d smile. It made her feel important and special.

So good on ya Facebook and Twitter. You’ve created something that allows us to report and receive in a way we’ve never seen before. I am very grateful. Thank you.

And one more time, and probably not the last time,  I want thank all of you who called, visited, tweeted and posted notes during our trying time. It was awesome and helped more than you know.

Technorati Tags: Facebook,Twitter