Warrior Princess: Fighting for Life with Courage and Hope

Imagine losing your mother, father, sister, brother and husband to a deadly disease. Then imagine carrying the killer HIV virus in your own body as well. To be honest, that scenario is beyond my capacity to imagine – and yet it is the reality Princess Zulu of Zambia lives with each and every day.  And yet, in her book “Warrior Princess: Fighting for Life with Courage and Hope,” Princess Zulu tells a compelling and inspiring story that will not only capture your heart, but  hopefully will move you into action as well.

On January 2, 1998 Princess discovered that she was HIV positive. However, she refused to be defeated by that diagnosis, but instead committed herself to doing everything humanly possible to educate, inform and to fight for life. Her own nation of Zambia and the entire sub-Saharan region of Africa has been devastated by the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Consider some of the most recent statistics:

• Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region most heavily affected by HIV worldwide, accounting for over two thirds (67%) of all people living with HIV and for nearly three quarters (72%) of AIDS-related deaths in 2008.
• An estimated 1.9 million [1.6 million–2.2 million] people were newly infected with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa in 2008, bringing to 22.4 million [20.8 million–24.1 million] the number of people living with HIV.
• In 2008, more than 14 million children in sub-Saharan Africa had lost one or both parents to AIDS.
• The nine countries in southern Africa continue to bear a disproportionate share of the global AIDS burden—each of them has an adult HIV prevalence greater than 10%.

Early in Princess Zulu’s spiritual journey she received a series of prophetic words and Scriptures that would guide and empower her life and mission. She tells the story of a word she received in 1996 from the Prophet Zimba who shared a vision of Princess “standing at an airport carrying suitcases. There were flights going in different directions, all around the world. The flags of many nations were waving about, but some were standing out stronger than others: the flags of Canada, Australia and America. And the American flag had come to a standstill” (pages 78-79).  Little did Princess know that God would one day carry this simple Zambian woman to the places of power in her own nation and around the globe to speak as a advocate for those suffering from the impact of  HIV and AIDS – especially women and vulnerable children.

Princess is one gutsy woman. One of the techniques she used to raise awareness about HIV was to pose as a commercial sex worker and “work” the truckers who would travel through her region. When they would solicit her for sex, she would make them aware of her HIV status and then educate them about the dangers of their own behavior and how they were contributing to the spread of the virus. While at times controversial, Princess would not let the conventional wisdom set the pace for the education of Africans regarding this deadly disease.

Princess is a wonderful storyteller and one of my favorite stories in the book recalls the famous “President Bush Kiss.”  Princess was invited to the White House to speak the President around the occasion of his PEPFAR initiative. The picture I included in this blogpost is worth one thousand words, but I encourage you to pick up the book to read the story behind the kiss.

From the White House to the gym at Eisenhower School. In 2008 our community of faith was fortunate to have Princess Zulu with us for a worship gathering. She shared a powerful message of compassion and hope and I encourage you to listen to it.

Please read Princess Zulu’s story. You will be inspired and I pray you will be moved into action. If you would like to learn more about the work of World Vision and our partnership in Guraghe, Ethiopia, please leave a comment and I would be pleased to connect you to this important work.

Stay connected…

Filed under: global poverty, hope, world AIDS day

Hope for Haiti Now

On Friday evening artists and celebrities around the globe collaborated on a very special music event entitled Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief. The event was designed to raise both awareness about the crisis in Haiti and funds to provide real help and hope to the people of that devastated land.

While I only had the opportunity to watch the last 30 minutes of the event live on Friday evening, when the audio and video of the event became available on Saturday I quickly downloaded it via iTunes. This morning on my walk I listened to all twenty of the performances (it was a long walk) and while there were a few performances that musically didn’t quite make it for me, here is my bottom line: the Hope for Haiti Now project found artists doing what artists do best  – inspiring people. Inspiring people to live more deeply into the story and to find their part in being part of the solution.

And so I ask you: what’s your part in the solution to the crisis in Haiti? How can you be an answer to the prayers of the Haitian people for real help and hope in their time of real need?

Today I had my first cup of coffee in eight days. During that time I was drinking only water and pooling the money I saved on coffee and diet cokes (and milk and juice…). Tomorrow I will be making a gift to Deep Springs International, an organization with a vision of making clean water available to the people of Haiti through a novel approach to fighting poverty that integrates sustainable solutions to the problems of lack of safe water, lack of job-relevant education, spiritual poverty, and unemployment. I am learning more about this organization and the work they are doing in Haiti day by day and I would encourage you to check them out as well.

As well, in the days ahead our community of faith will be prayerfully asking God what our part might be in the longer term solution to the rebuilding of Haiti.

What organizations and ministries are you partnering with? I would love to learn more about how God is inspiring you and moving you to action. Together we can bring real help and hope to Haiti now!

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Filed under: global poverty, hope

Keep Us Faithful to Your Dream

A friend sent me this prayer by Ted Loder crafted in honor of Martin Luther King and created to inspire and empower us to keep faithful to the dream. I find the words especially meaningful in light of the crisis in Haiti and the destruction that has devastated that nation.

Today on this day we honor Dr King, let us remember his words, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” and pray and act to the end that the words of the prophet Amos might be fulfilled: “Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never ending stream” (Amos 5:24).

Please pray with me:

O God of all nations and peoples,
We are grateful for the dreams
Of freedom, justice, and peace
Forever spun by your Spirit
And focused by prophets in every age.

We are grateful that in our time
You call every man and woman
To lift up and live by that dream,
To embody it in our world by
Walking the walk,
Confessing our complicities
Braving the work,
Daring the confrontation,
Exposing the lies,
Singing our faith,
Asking the questions,
Raising the Cain,
Making the sacrifices,
Organizing the community,
Easing the hate,
Expanding the compassion,
Enduring in humility,
Risking the revolution of love,
And ratifying the ‘not for sale’ sign on our souls.

We especially praise you this day
For the life of Martin Luther King Jr.
And for countless others down the ages
Whose names are known and unknown,
And for those who yet lift up the dream and confirm it as yours,
Who quicken the conscience of this country
And the human family around this globe,
Whose courage and commitments,
Vision and enthusiasm and joy
Brace our spirits and fire our wills.

So we thank you and remember
And move boldly on in the faith that,
However dark the night,
However fearful the tyrannies of oppression,
However heavy the weight of arrogance,
We can yet be confident and buoyant in you and your promise
That one day justice will roll down like waters
And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream
And peace abide in our hearts
Through this land,
On this earth
Between brothers and sisters of every race,
Every nation, every faith, every orientation,
Every generation, every wounded, wonderful
One and all of your human family.

Keep us faithful to that promise,
Your dream,
And for Christ’s sake, and for ours.
Amen.

Filed under: Uncategorized

2010 Reading List

Here it is – my reading list for the new year. No promises that I will read every one of these from cover to cover, but these are the books God has dropped onto my radar for this next season.

Any thoughts on these texts? And what will you be reading in the year ahead?

• The Presentation Secrets of Steven Jobs, Carmin Gallo
• Made to Stick, Dan and Chip Heath
• Relational Intelligence, Steve Saccone
• Choosing to Preach, Kenton Anderson
• Outlivers, Malcolm Gladwell
• Stones into Schools, Greg Mortonson
• The Boundary Breaking God, Danielle Shroyer
• The Good and Beautiful God, James Smith
• The Teaching of the Twelve, Tony Jones
• Warrior Princess, Princess Kasune Zulu and Belinda A. Collins
• The Three Tasks of Leadership: Worldly Wisdom for Pastoral Leaders, Eric O. Jacobsen
• Counterfeit Gods, Tim Keller
• Refractions: A Journey of Faith, Art, and Culture, Makoto Fujimura

Stay connected…

Filed under: books, leadership

Up in the Air – A Review

“Up in the Air” is a smart film and in my book it is the movie of the year. Containing elements of both comedy and tragedy, it possesses a tart underside and its message about relationships, intimacy and our need to connect with people on a deep and meaningful level is especially important in our ever-increasing technological and superficial culture.

“Up in the Air” is George Clooney’s best hour on the big screen (although I wondered at times how autobiographical the film actually was in nature). His character, Ryan Bingham spends his life flying from city to city (on American Airlines) and living in hotels (Hiltons). His task: firing people from their jobs when corporations downsize and he is masterful at his craft. Knowing he’ll never see these people again frees him to be as blunt or caring as each situation requires. Bingham has no real friends – he is neither known by others truly know anyone. He champions this life with no connections; in his mind it frees him to truly live, because “life is about moving.” Bingham is so certain of his philosophy that he even does motivational seminars on how to simplify life. Later in the film, Bingham’s sister refers to this mode of living as a “cocoon of self banishment.”

Bingham’s corporate seminar motivational talks are based upon a simple backpack analogy. He invites participants to imagine loading up their backpacks with all the things they have in their lives—their possessions, their homes, their relationships – “feel the weight of that bag. This is what we do to ourselves on a daily basis. We weigh ourselves down until we can’t even move. The slower we move, the faster we die; make no mistake, moving is living,” Ryan exhorts the expectant faces looking to him for that nugget of wisdom that will change their lives: “make no mistake, your relationships are the heaviest components in your life.” True that! And Bingham instructs his listeners to divest themselves of anything and anyone that would weigh them down.

And yet Bingham’s life betrays his own philosophy. He fills his life with relationships hat reflect pseudo-intimacy. For instance, he is welcomed by name by airline employees—not because they know and care about him, but because of his frequent-flyer status card. His life goal is to reach ten million frequent flier miles (he’d be only the seventh to get there) and he imagines what life will be like when he reaches that lofty milestone. And in an ironic twist, when he reaches his goal, he discovers just how empty a dream it actually was.

The turning point in the film was a scene in which Bingham was called upon to leverage his skills as a motivational speaker. Placed in a very awkward personal situation, Bingham was asked to sell a cold-footed groom on the merits of marriage and the benefits of a meaningful relationship (notice what book the groom is reading during this scene – as Bingham says, “heavy stuff”). And yet somehow Bingham’s words seem to resonate with something deep inside himself, a place that has gone untouched for far too long.

I began this review by stating that “Up in the Air” is a smart film. It contains far fewer of the “Hollywoodisms” that ask us to suspend our imaginations and believe the unbelievable. It doesn’t neatly tie up all the storylines with happy endings. And as Bingham experiences both the joys and disappointments of real relationships and meaningful connections, he is finally freed to truly live.

As I watched the film, the wisdom of Ecclesiastes 4:8-12 came into my mind:

There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his to yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. “For whom am I toiling,” he asked, “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?” This too is meaningless— a miserable business! Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If they fall down, they can help each other up. But pity those who fall and have no one to help them up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Every one of us has a need deep to serve and be served, love and be loved, know and be known.  We have been designed by our Creator to be deeply connected to one another. And in our day of Facebook friends and Twitter followers, the lure of pseudo-intimacy and superficial relationships is strong. “Up in the Air” contains a challenge to examine the place of relationships in our life and do what we can to truly live.

Stay connected…

Filed under: relationships, reviews

Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity

A couple of weeks ago I received an early Christmas gift – a preview copy of Mark Batterson’s latest book, Primal. I’m a pretty big fan of Batterson’s work, not only as the lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington DC, but even more so as an author. Last year, I used his book, “Wild Goose Chase” with a group of guys for an early morning Wednesday study and it was a tremendous resource as we pursued the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Straight up, Primal is an excellent read. There are very few books that I read cover to cover and this was one of the rare ones that captured my attention from the first page to the last. Batterson is a gifted storyteller and whether he is describing his descent down the stairs of the Church of San Clemente in Rome, his son Josiah’s adventures in sleepwaking or the remarkable story of Jasper Toe’s vision and his subsequent conversation to Christ – Batterson has the capacity to engage your mind and your heart and invite you into the story that God is writing in your life and mine.

The soul of the book is a call to a new reformation – Batterson writes:

“Reformations are not born out of a new discoveries. Those are often called cults. Reformations are born out of  rediscovering something ancient something primal. They are born out of primal truths rediscovered, reimagined, and radically applied to our lives.”

The primal truth Batterson calls the people of God to rediscover and reimagine is the Great Commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.” Primal explores the four elements of the Great Commandment – compassion, wonder, curiosity, and power – and invites his readers to become a part of a movement that turned the world right-side up two thousand years ago.

One of the things I most appreciate about Batterson’s writing is his ability to bring fresh perspective to Scripture. Let me provide one example. In a section entitled, “Idea Stewardship,” Batterson illuminates Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Most of us view this text in negative terms. Take our sinful thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. And while the text certainly contains that truth, Batterson suggests,

“This verse is also about capturing creative thoughts and keeping them in our minds. It means stewarding every word, every thought, every impression, and every revelation inspired by the Spirit of God. I call them God ideas. And the way we create culture and change culture is by taking those God ideas captive and turning them into reality via blood, sweat and tears.” (117)

Make Primal one of your first reads in the New Year. Or even better – in the week between Christmas and New Year, pick up a copy and head into 2010 ready to join a new reformation of men and women, boys and girls living compassionately, creatively, and courageously for the cause of Christ in our world today.

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Filed under: hope, leadership, reviews

Living the Usual Unusually Well

Yesterday morning we kicked off our one year experiment with the lectionary readings. It was also the first Sunday of the Advent season and it was quite interesting to me to note that the Scriptures texts for the first Sunday in the new liturgical year pointed to the return of Jesus and the establishment of His kingdom here on earth. Talk about beginning with the end in mind.

I found Jesus’ words in Luke 21:28 especially potent:

“When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Often when people consider the words of Jesus and the end times, things can get amped up pretty quickly. Sometimes I feel that people actually believe they can sped up the return of Jesus and the establishment of His kingdom here on earth through their frenetic activity.

While I applaud passion and seek to live a more passionate life of faith myself, I find that at certain times and in certain contexts, people feel a compulsion to focus on the unusual and the extraordinary (kind of like the season leading up to Christmas when people can get amped up over all sorts of external and nonessential things). So my question this morning is, “in light of the reality that our redemption is drawing near, what kind of life does the Advent of Christ invite us to live?”

These words from Dianne Bergant speak strongly to that very question:

“The Advent way of life does not necessarily require unusual behavior on our part, but it calls us to live the usual unusually well. It affects the everyday events of life; it directs the way we interact with people; it informs the attitudes that color our judgments and motivations. It is as ordinary as the birth of a child; it is as extraordinary as the revelation of God.”

Jesus calls us to live the usual unusually well. This reminds me of Eugene Peterson’s translation Romans 12:

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.”

God is not looking for extraordinary and unusual acts of faithfulness, courage, daring or sacrifice. Worship is offering our everyday, ordinary lives back to God for the life of the world.

What would it look like for you to live the usual unusually well? And how might God take our simple acts of faith, hope, and love – infuse them with His Spirit and use them in the establishment of His kingdom here on earth?

I will give the last word this morning to Francis of Assisi:

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

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Filed under: advent, hope

Scripture and Community

Please excuse my absence the past couple of Mondays. The fall season has been incredibly busy. And while I haven’t blogged in a couple of weeks, I have been doing some significant reflection upon the relationship between Scripture and community. Two books have energized and informed my thinking and I wanted to recommend both of them to you. The two books are Jim Belcher’s Deep Church and the second is Tim Conder and Daniel Rhodes’, Free for All: Rediscovering the Bible in Community.

Drawing upon C.S. Lewis’ phrase, “deep church,” Belcher explores the ongoing dialogue (that’s my overly polite term for much of what is going on) between the traditional church and the emerging church movement and searches for the best insights of all sides to forge a third way between emerging and traditional. Belcher calls this third way, “deep church.” — a missional church committed to both tradition and culture, valuing innovation in worship, arts and community while remaining firmly rooted also the historic creeds and confessions.

The thesis of Conder and Rhodes’ book is that the Bible is intentionally and relentlessly a communal document. “Emanating from the triune divine community, the text becomes the living Word of God as it is received as such by specific human communities.” They suggest that interpreting the Scriptures is a collaborative effort between the community of authors and compilers of the sixty-six books of the Bible (canon), the historic community that has received and read these texts as sacred (catholicity) and specific practicing communities of faith in the world today (people like you and me).

I have to confess that both of these books have informed and fueled a prompt I received in April from the Holy Spirit while attending the Q event in Austin. The prompt was in regard to my own perspective and, might I say, consumption of the Scriptures, especially in connection to my preaching and teaching. Why do I choose the Scriptures that I chose to preach and teach upon? On my best days, I do believe I can honestly say, God lead me to the texts that I am speaking on and on my worst days, I think I can honestly say as well, that I select texts to pursue my own agenda for the church. Grappling with Belcher’s pursuit of “deep preaching” ( center-set preaching that focuses on Christ and the Gospel), along with Conder and Rhodes’s concept of a “hermeneutic of peoplehood,” have solidified a couple of decisions that I have made regarding my preaching and teaching for the next season of my ministry.

• Beginning on the first Sunday in Advent (November 29), our community will embark upon a one year experiment with the lectionary (a lectionary is a listing that contains a collection of Scripture readings appointed for worship on a given day or occasion. We will be following the Revised Common Lectionary)
• As well on Tuesday evenings, our community will be invited to engage in the ancient Hebrew practice of midrash (a vigorous dialogue over the meaning and interpretation of a Biblical text).

I look forward to sharing more about this process, but in the meantime I’d love to hear your thoughts on the relationship between Scripture and community. How does your community interact with God’s Word? What role does the community have (both the larger and local community) in the interpretation of Scripture? Who selects what Scriptures are preached and taught and why? How much input do you have? How much input do you think you should have?

Stay connected…

Filed under: leadership, worship gatherings

Weakness, Strength, and God’s Power

For the past couple of week’s I have been thinking about a provocative question that was raised by Pete Wilson:

“What is it that you are doing this week that you cannot do apart from the power of God?”

Last week I found myself in the midst of two situations (believe me I was in many more of these kinds of contexts but I was deeply aware of my limitations in these particular ones). On Thursday morning, in partnership with the Pregnancy Resource Center of the South Hills, I stood before a group of 8th graders at South Park Middle School to present the first of three classes on sexuality. The forty five minutes before these students were some of the most painful I have ever experienced as a teacher and communicator. I tried my best and pulled out as many tricks as I could think of to engage the students – all to no avail. It was deadly. And I felt like a failure. And to top it off, I was scheduled to return on Monday morning to do it all over again.

The second situation was quite different. A number of months ago my wife was treated injustly and hurtfully by a former employer. A couple events transpired last week that reopened the wound of that situation. Now I can put up with and endure a lot of abuse personally – but when you mess with my wife and inflict pain upon her, well that’s a whole different story. I was filled with a ton of anger toward these people and quite frankly wanted to inflict some pain back in their lives. It became clear to me that no matter how hard I tried, I was unable to let go of my hostility.

What are you doing this week that you cannot do apart from the power of God? Well, these two situations were “in your face” reminders of my human limitations and weaknesses.

God, in His graciousness brought me back to a beloved text of Scripture from Ephesians 3:

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,  may have power, together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:14-21)

Just as I had received some “in your face reminders” of my weaknesses and inabilities, I also received an “in your face” reminder of God’s powerful love. God wants me to be strengthened with power in my inner being; and God is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all I can ask or imagine. My guess is that includes letting go of unhealthy thoughts and a desire for revenge and even engaging some eighth grade students in the classroom.

This morning a friend passed along a powerful essay by Dallas Willard, entitled, “Living in the Vision of God.” Willard’s words helped me reframe my recent experiences in the light of God‘s nature and character. He writes:

“Vision of God secures humility. Seeing God for who he is enables us to see ourselves for who we are. This makes us bold, for we see clearly what great good and evil are at issue, and we see that it is not up to us to accomplish it, but up to God —who is more than able. We are delivered from pretending, being presumptuous about ourselves, and from pushing as if the outcome depended on us. We persist without frustration, and we practice calm and joyful non-compliance with evil of any kind. God looks to those who are humble and contrite of spirit, and who tremble when he speaks. (Isa. 66:2) He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (I Peter 5:5) Remember, “grace” means that he is acting in their lives. So the humble are dependent upon God, not on themselves. They humble themselves “under the mighty hand of God.” (I Peter 5:6) That is, by depending upon God to act. They abandon outcomes entirely to him. They “cast all their anxieties upon him, because he cares for them.”

So what are you doing this week that you cannot do apart from the power of God? How are you rooting yourself deeply in God’s love which manifest itself in powerful ways through the Holy Spirit? And how is God’s grace active in and through both your weaknesses and your strengths?

Stay connected…

Filed under: leadership

Bible Answer Man or Orthodox Heretic?

Over the past couple of months I have been slowly reading through Peter Rollins’ most recent book, The Orthodox Heretic. Rollins is a brilliant thinker/practitioner from the UK with a PhD in postmodern thought and while I have been familar with his work for some time now, I have to honestly admit his first two books (How Not to Speak of God and The Fidelity of Betrayal) have been a bit too weighty philosophically for me to engage fruitfully.

The power and beauty of  The Orthodox Heretic is found in the fact that is filled with stories. Now stories are something that I can wrap my mind around.

This morning I came to the final pages (digital pages I might add as I have been reading the book on my Kindle). The last parable was entitled, Heretic and recalls the story of a man who is tried for the crime of heresy, convicted and sentenced to death. The judge permits one final request from the condemned – “if it would please the court, on the day of my execution I would like to choose from among the gathered crowd the one who would light the fires upon which I am to die.” On the morning of his execution the young man speaks to the crowd, “I stand before you, helpless as a child, condemned to death for heresy. I am guilty as charged, for I have held a distorted, muddied, and inaccurate view of the divine. I have only one request that I be set alight by one among you who is innocent of this charge.”

This story reminds me of my own journey of faith. Years ago as a younger pastor and leader I often succumbed to the temptation of having to present an air and attitude of  complete certainty when it came to all matters of faith and doctrine. I viewed my role as a type of localized “Bible Answer Man” – always ready with a quick Bible answer for both the small and big questions of life. Being a well educated seminary graduate, I could put together some pretty good answers (and even make some some good ones as well when necessary to maintain my position as the Bible Answer Man).

An honest Monday morning confession and I say this in complete faith in Christ and in the wondrous salvation that I have graciously experienced: sometimes I feel like the older I get, the less I know.

The very last sentence in The Orthodox Heretic resonated deeply with me this morning: “we must question the difference between the heresy of orthodoxy in which we dogmatically claim to have the truth, and orthodox heresy, in which we humbly admit that we are in the dark but still endeavor to live in the way of Christ as best we can.”

While I am grateful that the Light of Christ has shined upon my life and that through the presence of the Holy Spirit I am not walking in complete and utter darkness, I recoginze that in my humanity I still flounder around an awful lot in the darkness. Even some of my best thoughts and reflections upon God are muddied, distorted and inaccurate.

Call me what you will – but I pray that until my earthly journey ends I will faithfully live as an orthodox heretic. And in deep humility, with an every growing and ongoing dependence upon the revelation of God, and by sharing the journey through my  embracing the gift of community with sisters and brothers, I (and we) will endeavor to live in the way of Christ as best we can.

Stay connected…

Filed under: hope, leadership