A Sermon For This Preacher...CRIMINAL MINDS

Every now and then I'm amazed at the sermons I hear in the middle of every day life. I caught one last night watching Criminal Minds on CBS. I sat down to watch some TV in an attempt to mentally escape from what seemed like a mounting pile of too much to do. Instead of escape, I found something more valuable. I was engaged by what was very much the voice of God for me at the moment.

In the video clip below, one of the main characters, FBI agent Hotchner is upset because a criminal had tried to play a mind game with him by offering a "deal" to stop killing if the FBI would stop hunting for him (it worked with previous agent mentioned in the video). When Hotchner refused to give in, the criminal went on a horrendous killing spree and several people died. The clip is of Hotchner trying to deal with the outcome of the situation:


Agent Hotchner did something that I think many people do. I know I do it all the time. He does not differentiate himself from his work and wants to carry the responsibility for the actions of others while losing sight of the bigger picture that he a part of. I suspect we do this all too often...in our personal relationships, in our attempts to create change in the world. Like agent Hotchner, we do it in our professional work, also.

Maybe I'm speaking only for myself, but I think church professionals are particularly good at making this mistake. Pastors and other church leaders lose sight of the bigger picture we are a part of (that includes millions of us working together...with God at the center). We become susceptible to what Parker Palmer calls "functional atheism", which is "the unconscious, unexamined conviction that if anything decent is going to happen here, we are the ones who must make it happen – a conviction held even by people who talk a good game about God."

For me the sermon came in these words spoken to Agent Hotchner by a friend/co-worker: "That voice in your head...it's not your conscience, it's your ego."

Again...maybe I'm the only one here...but maybe it is our own ego that brings us the most trouble. I suspect I'm not the only person that falls into this trap...and I'm fairly confident I'm far from the only pastor that can too often be found carrying the unecessary strain and scars of the functional atheism created by my own ego.

Amazed by a 7-year old

We have several journals laying around our house. My wife, Monica, has been very intentional in encouraging our 7-year old daughter Amber to write in them. This not only affirms what she is doing in her first grade classroom, but also (we hope) expands her learning at home.

I found one of the journals left out this morning and read the following. I'm still overwhelmed by it:

He Was Cold But Put Warmth In Me

by Amber

I saw this man by the sidewalk,

nor did I know it was my God.

He was cold from the storm last night

but he put warmth in me.

The warmth of God.

The First Great Hymn of 2009 - U2's Magnificent

Below is a video and lyrics to the next U2 single...and first great hymn of 2009...enjoy!


"Magnificent"

Magnificent
Oh, magnificent

I was born
I was born to be with you
In this space and time
After that and ever after
I haven't had a clue

Only to break rhyme
This foolishness can leave a heart
Black and blue

Only love
Only love can leave such a mark
But only love
Only love can heal such a scar

I was born
I was born to sing for you
I didn’t have a choice
But to lift you up
And sing whatever song you wanted me to
I give you back my voice
From the womb my first cry
It was a joyful noise

Oh, oh
Only love
Only love can leave such a mark
But only love
Only love can heal such a scar

Justified
till we die
You and I
will magnify
Oh, the magnificent

Magnificent

Only love
Only love can leave such a mark
But only love
Only love unites our hearts

Justified
till we die
You and I
will magnify
Oh, the magnificent
Magnificent
Magnificent