The Greatness of Our God

So here it is: the end of summer.  Four amazing months of traveling, discovering, adventuring, working, and spending time with friends old and new.  I have been incredibly blessed through working at Huron Hills - work is challenging yet immensely satisfying, and spending time with the youth group on our mission trip to Detroit was probably the highlight of my summer.  However, as my last school year approaches, one thing is persistent in my mind: what will happen to me a year from now, when I will have graduated and perhaps moved on from this place?  The thought of leaving Ann Arbor and my church community weighs heavy on my heart.  I cannot place a value on the time spent with people here and the relationships formed both in Ann Arbor and abroad in places like Detroit and Tijuana, but they are at least as significant (if not more so) than my time spent at school.

There is a song that has resonated with me in the past week or so that I want to share.

Give me eyes to see more of who you are
May what I behold still my anxious heart
Take what I have known and break it all apart
You my God are greater still

No sky contains, no doubt restrains
All you are
The greatness of our God
I spend my life to know, and I'm far from close
To all you are
The greatness of our God


Give me grace to see beyond this moment here
To believe that there is nothing left to fear
That you alone are high above it all
You my God are greater still


And there is nothing that could ever separate us
There is nothing that could ever separate us from Your love
No life, no death, of this I am convinced
You my God are greater still


The Greatness of Our God

This is one of those rare songs from Hillsong that is both lyrically and musically mature, and I am excited to do this with our congregation.  I think that it expresses what I want to get at here - that I am unsure and anxious of my future, but my God is great, and absolutely nothing can separate me from His love.  So even though I tentatively walk into this last bit of the current phase of my life, I know that my future is secure.

A "New" Kind of Christianity

Firstly, I apologize for my lack of updates. I've been wrestling with a lot of things in my life, including things like proper exegetical technique and prayer - don't worry, I believe I am being guided well in these areas.

This morning, I met Tony Mlynarek (my college pastor and mentor) and Roseanne Sension (a Chemistry professor here at UofM) to discuss Brian McLaren's "A New Kind of Christianity."  Because of my previous class schedules and travel arrangements, I've never actually been able to attend one of these book discussions before, so I joined about halfway through the book.

I'd say that missing the first part of the book definitely affected my analysis of the chapters on Jesus, but reading a book like this, especially in the company of two intellectual heavyweights, has raised my value of critical reading tenfold.  It's not an issue of dismissing McLaren's book as "wrong," or buying in to his ideas, but it is a full understanding of the questions that he is answering and questioning the solutions he is presenting.  For example, in studying McLaren's three-fold Jewish solution to the (quite flawed) Greco-Roman six-line narrative that he presented earlier in the book, we decided that Jesus cannot be limited to simply prophet, priest, and King, as McLaren leads us to believe, but that Jesus must also be a servant and the Messiah, as prophesied in Isaiah.

Another wonderful trinket of information: before beginning our discussion, Roseanne showed us a chapter in Scot McKnight's "The Blue Parakeet" where McKnight discovered how, in a simple survey, many people's understanding of who Jesus is correlates very closely to who they think they themselves are.  In other words, you are likely to believe that Jesus has many of the same characteristics and personality traits as you do.  For example, Mark Driscoll believes Jesus has to be a tough guy, and Billy Graham thought that Jesus had to be very athletic. Kinda like the dinner-table prayer scene in Will Ferrell's "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," strangely.

Why "Hymnastics" is the Most Important Album This Year...

(...if not this decade.)

Worship leaders have been trying to contemporize hymns for a long time.  The most notable album that I've been exposed to was Passion's "Hymns Ancient and Modern" released back in 2004.  And for the most part, this album is a great example of the conventional approach to using hymns in today's church - trying to shoehorn current instrumentation onto centuries-old music, with a sprinkling of additional choruses.  More recently, I've noticed attempts to actually write new songs in the style of hymns from bands like Sojourn.

First, let me explain why hymns are so important.

                                      

In my mind, the last album that made a significant, lasting impact on worship music was Hillsong United's "To the Ends of the Earth" album from 2003.  This was the first album, at least to me, that showed that worship music could be culturally relevant.  (A lot of the songs on this album would have fit right in on a radio station's playlist.)  Some may be offended by the album's punk/rock stylistic leanings, but bear in mind, this was a bunch of youth/young adults writing songs for their peers, and I was in high school at the time, and just learning how to play the guitar.  But this album was also the turning point for Hillsong (and for worship music as a whole) - from this point on, Hillsong honed their style, developing the "wall of guitars" sound so easily identifiable with not just that church but countless other worship albums since then.

                                        

"To the Ends of the Earth" was, in some ways, overly successful.  In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult for worship leaders to sort through the sheer mass of hundreds and hundreds of worship songs, straining to listen through the walls of guitars to pick out lyrics that could minister to their congregations.  Don't get me wrong - there has been some tremendous songwriting, and a lot of wonderful worship music has been generated over the past decade that allowed congregations to connect emotionally in a very powerful way with the music that was coming off the stage.  But in some ways, we forgot a lot of the heritage that the church has - hymns so full of theological content that some could be presented as messages in and of themselves.  And as brave as artists like Passion and Sojourn are for their valiant attempts to make hymns relevant again, I feel like none have been so successful as Brad Hooks.  Time will tell how well songs from "Hymnastics" will be received by congregations - I feel like, in some ways, it is before its time.  And I know that there are people who love the old hymns, who love opening up the great hymnals to whatever page and singing along with the organist.  But I do know this: "Hymnastics" takes all the theological content of our hymn-writing history and makes it accessible to the new generations of believers, those who have been raised on Pop and Rock and listening to hits on the radio.  Hymns are now - dare I say it - cool.

I love my brothers.

I apologize for the lack of blogging as of late.  School post-Tijuana has been quite overwhelming, and many areas of my life have suffered as a result - all cumulating in a poor showing on Tuesday with the final review to what has been a thoroughly disappointing project.  I am thankful for the slight rest between the end of that project and the beginning of the next in Detroit on Friday - even if it means just spending an hour with my Christian brothers here on North Campus who are endlessly encouraging to me.

"I thank my God every time I remember you... God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus." - Philippians 1.3 + 8

Last summer, I had the opportunity to attend Tomball Bible Church in Texas with my friends from Sandy Creek.  One of the messages that stuck most clearly in my mind had to do with the beginning of Philippians - a part that, like the beginnings of most books in the Bible, I look over.  A mistake, obviously, given the content of this particular beginning: Paul's relationship with the Philippians, a strong community of Christ-followers as well as supporters of his ministry, was so strong that he yearned painfully to be with them.  In verse 8, the phrase "affection of Christ Jesus" refers to a deep, intense sort of love - a love that comes up from deep within Paul's soul, a love that hurts in the magnitude of its power.  Paul longs to be with the Philippians - but is "in chains for Christ." (v.13)

There is perhaps some depth of meaning here that I should understand, even as I write this.  1) "I thank my God every time I remember you" - since the events of last year, the community of Christian men on North Campus here at UM has become crucially important in my life.  I would not be who I am today without their strength, wisdom, and love.  2) Even as Paul is unable to be with those whom he loves, he understands "what has happened... has really served to advance the gospel." (v.12)  This is perhaps an attitude I need to take on more often with all the time I spend in the architecture studio, a frankly dangerous environment for the believer - not so much because of its hostility, but because of its passivity: issues of spirituality have utterly no relevance there.  However, I am not Paul - and I am thankful today, in this moment, for those brief moments I do still get to have with my brothers.

just got back!

Hey friends,

Just got back from an AMAZING trip.  I am tired, and a little disheartened that my beloved passport that has been with me all over the globe got put through the washing machine by accident.  Tomorrow morning I will send my 3 rolls of film in for developing and see how they turn out.

More updates soon!
love,
"Alejandro"

The Ultimate Servant

We are now less than 3 days away from Tijuana - but up till this morning it was the last thing on my mind. This week is the last major hurdle to jump before I can take a break from school and Ann Arbor, with deadlines and projects and photos due, so I have been quite frantically busy. However, in my devotional this morning, I read Matthew 20, where Jesus teaches the disciples that the lowest of servants are greatest in his eyes:

"...Whoever wants to be great among you must become your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

What a timely reminder! I would almost hate to get on the plane to San Diego and only then remember why I'm going: to serve others, to share God's love among the poor and oppressed. God, humble my heart now, even as the stresses of school overwhelm me. Make me a servant now, and keep me humble throughout this week and the next. God, we anticipate great things!

"Oh Christ, be the center of our lives, be the place we fix our eyes"

I just got back from our February edition of ULateNite.

My mind is reeling.

I am totally and continuously astounded at how God can take utter disorganization and turn it into something profound.  The setlist for tonight only came together 24 hours ago; we came in fairly unrehearsed, threw it all together, and prayed it out.  Tonight was different though - I was shaking with a nervous excitement - I knew something amazing was going to happen, and I think Tone and the rest of the team knew it as well.

On a day when the rest of the city is focused on romance, how better to spend it with the source of love - our God.  On this day, we place God at the top of the list.  We give him everything we have. We affirm His place and the work that He is doing in us and around us.  God is love - and we place Him at the center of our lives.

2 weeks!

We had our last pre-trip team meeting last night.  The schedule is in place, flights are booked, packing list is out... it's go time, baby.

Guard your steps (when you go to the house of God)

It's easy to get confused studying the Bible.  (For those of you who have yet to figure out what order Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philippians come in, you're kinda just scratching the surface.)  Ecclesiastes has become my little "home base" of sorts I return to when I become overwhelmed or find myself at a dead end.

I've been through Ecclesiastes numerous times, but today, one verse is jumping out at me.

"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.  Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong."

More specifically, this part:

"Go near to listen."

I wonder.  Once in a while I'll end up praying with some friends for certain things, but I never stop to see how God answers those prayers.  (I guess I always assume that God will work things out.)  Perhaps the first part of that verse is a key to a better habit of prayer: "Guard your steps when you go to the house of God."  When you pray, are thoughts of homework or the next item on your to-do list floating around in the back of your mind?  Are you anxious to fulfill your "conversation time" with God over with so that you can get on with your life?  Slow down - be with God.  Talk with him, not at him.

And I guess that's the crux of my reflections this week: I want to be able to draw near to the throne of God and be with the One who loves with an everlasting love.  I want to listen to the One who knows my past, present, and future - the One who speaks with a wisdom above all earthly wisdoms.  Most of all, I want to be able to do so in humility, in the knowledge that without my Savior, I would not even be able to approach the throne in the first place.

I want to learn how to listen to God.

I'll be honest: listening to God is very difficult for me.  Whenever someone talks about "listening to God" or "hearing from Him," I think about my life and what God's voice might sound like. 

In 1 Samuel 3, the Lord calls the young Samuel.  Initially, because Samuel knows about God but doesn't actually know God, he mistakes the Lord's voice for that of Eli.  After some confusion, Eli finally realizes that it is the Lord who is calling out for Samuel, and Eli tells Samuel to respond by saying "Speak, Lord, for your servant hears."

Here's what I'm learning from this passage.

First, listening to God requires you to be intimate with Him.  The few times when I have been absolutely sure that God has spoken to me have been the times when I was most in tune with His Spirit.  Samuel thought it was Eli calling out to him because he had yet to have a personal encounter with God.

Second, listening to God requires a response.  When Eli realizes that it is God calling for Samuel, he tells him to respond by saying "Speak, Lord."  I'm not sure that you can clearly hear God's voice if you're not actively thinking about responding to it.

Third, listening to God requires obedience.  The words Samuel uses in his response to God's call are telling: "your servant hears."  Listening and responding aren't quite enough when God calls - His voice doesn't produce fruit in our lives until we act on it.  We are servants - so let us be obedient.

I press on toward the goal.

Hey all!

Welcome to my blog.  I promise to make an effort to update it fairly regularly.  The Huron Hills College Ministry mission trip to Tijuana is coming up soon, and I am ramping up my physical training regimen to better cope with whatever work we will do in our short time there.  I am also excited about a book on Biblical masculinity I am going through with Tony - I am tired of living the way I have been and I feel like this book may significantly affect me (for the better) as old wounds heal.  

God is so gracious.  Take some time to ponder this.  The thought almost brings tears to my tired eyes.

I leave you all with a thought.  It's probably safe to say that we're familiar with the verse in Philippians 3 where Paul says "I press on toward the goal..." - I feel like in recent times I've become so familiar with the verse that I've forgotten to really study it.  Right before that quote, Paul says "but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead..."  For some reason, the "straining" part is really hitting me tonight.  The image forming in my mind is one of Paul pulling on his chains with all his might, straining against the weight that holds him back.  Probably more metaphor than reality, but I wonder now the possibility that at one point Paul did this very thing before settling down to write his letters.  The point to take home: even Paul found it difficult to keep moving forward.