Monday Morning Quarterback

this was an absolutely stellar sunday!

• where else can you go and have a band rock the house with our version of rockabilly?  i mean really…
• great crowd in the first service.  lots of response.  good singing.
• i was a little concerned for the second service about two minutes before the start…but it filled out awesomely and was a great start in our fight against the summer slump!
• it was crazy that the one sunday i decide to talk about “horses”, an old youth group member shows up unexpectedly with her family.  she’s on an equestrian scholarship at a school on the east coast.  talk about cool…
• so really, which one of jame’s illustrations of the tongue did you identify with the most?  the bit…the rudder…the flame…the untamed animal…the pitcher of buzzy’s coffee…or the apple and the cucumber?
• i love this church family…and i really meant what i said about missing our time together while we are on vacation.

speaking of vacation, we had a spectacular lightning show most of the evening as we drove from abilene to odessa.  increadible.  it was 72 degrees when we arrived in odessa.  turned on the tv in our hotel room and saw that the temp in dallas was still at 91.  yesss.  our vacation has officially started.

here’s my invitation to you:  we would love to have you follow along with us as we make our trek back to the farra homeland.  there will be regular updates  hope you can make the journey!

words cannot express how grateful we are for the amazing gift you all gave us for our trip.  your kindness, generosity and friendship is beyond my words tonight.  as excited as we are about beginning our trip, i can honestly tell you that i am already excited about returning.  that’s what great friendship is all about.

one last note:  one of the main reasons this was such a stellar sunday was the unexpected surprise of finding my wedding ring…which i lost about four months ago.  one the little sunday school urchins that use my office during the first hour “found” it in the small couch.  mmm…

there is balance in universe once again.

sorry…

i’m pretty frustrated.

this business of leaving on a vacation is way too much work.  preparing to be gone for two weeks requires double time for the two weeks before you go!  i’m tired…

writing two sermons at the same time is crazy.

getting the house all clean for no one to stay in it is stupid.

celebrating a birthday in the middle of the week before we go is ridiculous.

lots of irons are in the fire.  things will just have to wait until i get back.

keep checking back over the next couple of weeks.  i’ll be giving vacation updates from the road.  can’t wait to share an “in n out burger” with you…

An easter thought…

here’s a question that has been nagging at me since easter:

“why do people who don’t see church as family… still come to church services on easter, christmas, and an occasional mother’s day?”

why?

do you think they are seeking?

do you think they are hoping god (if there really is a god) is going to somehow be impressed?

do you think there is a personal sacredness to the day?

do you think it is simply a cultural phenomena?

do you think it is just family pressure?

just wondering what you think…

Papi’s got a new flip video…

had an unexpected babysitting duty this evening.  sweet.

Monday Morning Quarterback

there was just something about showing up for our weekly “big show” that made me really happy yesterday…

• years ago, i used to show up on sundays ready to run a program.  now i show up excited to see friends.
• i used to show up on sundays tired, empty, or anxious.  i was afraid people would be disappointed in me.  i felt guilty for not doing enough.  i didn’t want to see people because i was sure i had let them down.  now i can’t wait to be with people that are my family.
• church is people. people gather together to worship…to study…to give…to serve…to sing…to pray…to be encouraged…to honor christ and affirm our common belief.  but make no mistake…church is about sharing life together with the people we are living out our faith with.
• i love showing up on sundays!
• the bon voyage pictures were great.
• the bon voyage cake was great.
• have i ever told you that i think we ought to have donuts every sunday?  i still believe that, but cake is a good second.
• i actually shamed people in the first service into moving into the center section.  and then more people showed up and sat in the seats they moved from.  it didn’t go unnoticed.
• if we sing a song that repeats the line, “we lift our holy hands up, we want to touch you”, and nobody lifts their hands, what should we do?  just asking…
• i can remember singing “i love you lord” back in the late 70’s.  we owe an unlimited amount of gratitude to a church in costa mesa, california called calvary chapel, for taking amazing risks musically and even more risks of obedience to reach the hippies and street people of that era that the traditional church was afraid of and rejecting.  here’s a book on the history of calvary chapel you ought to read.  you’ll be inspired!
• we could sing “the remedy” every week and i wouldn’t get tired of it.
• can’t wait for next week, to hear how the band does “screen door”.  they will do rich mullins proud!
• i felt particularly bold in my preaching yesterday.  i love preaching about the grace of god.  i love preaching about righteousness being credited to us through the sustitutionary atonement of christ.  i love preaching about our redemption from slavery to the law.  but i really love preaching about how dead faith is without deeds!
• i don’t think we preach about it enough.
• i think we are afraid of coming across like we are a works-based, cultic kind of group.  i think we’re afraid of teaching a works-based righteousness where we are guilty of trying to earn our own salvation.
• baloney!  i think it’s time we belly-up and start holding each other accountable to faith that works…faith that serves…faith that takes action…faith that rolls up it’s sleeves and gets dirty…and teaches people that any other kind of faith is dead.  period.
• props to nina for giving me such an awesome illustration of the clothing police at ciy.
• man, i love what happens at the end of our services!  i’m pretty sure if i didn’t kick people out, they wouldn’t leave.
• it was a great father’s day!  not sure there is a better place to celebrate the ultimate “man day” than rudy’s barbeque.  like they say there:  “i didn’t claw my way to the top of the food chain just to eat vegetables”. agreed.

here’s a video of rich mullins doing “screen door” with his band at one of his last concerts before he died.  it was kind of signature thing that the band would do.  rich is the one on the far right in the video.  the guys that are singing with him are actually the band that stayed together after he died (they became “this train”) and did the rockabilly version of the song we heard at the beginning of my sermon.

watch this.  it’s cool.  and then watch a few of the other videos of rich on youtube.  especially the ones from his concert in lufkin, texas.  his preaching was as amazing as his singing.

Some really important questions…

last night at our young adult bible study, we had a great discussion about grace and law and guilt and motivation and how to live out our commitment to christ in a way that is true to scripture…and not dominated by an unhealthy view of god, the church and ourselves.

paul wrote the letter to the galatians to challenge them to stay true to the gospel he had taught them (justification by faith) and to avoid turning to another gospel (a returning to the law…salvation earned by human effort).  here’s where my questions come in.

we all openly admitted that our church upbringing had taught us to “do” things to please god.  go to church…study the bible…be good to others…put money in the offering plate…bring a friend…give god your best…pray…memorize scripture…go to vacation bible school…sing the songs…have a daily quiet time…and the list goes on.

children are taught…in church, as well as in society…to take responsibility for ourselves.  we are praised for effort and we take pride in our independence, work ethic, and success.  we are led to believe that anything worth having will cost us.  nothing is free.  nothing of value comes cheap.   it is better to earn it than to have someone give it to you.  you’ll appreciate it more.  there will be deeper satisfaction and the feelings of accomplishment will continue to push us to greater and greater effort and commitment.

so here they are:

• how do you teach a child the concept of salvation by grace through faith from an early age?
  
• how do we express the greatness of redemption from slavery to the law…while at the same time, teaching personal responsibility?
  
• how do we teach children that god is not impressed by church attendance, sunday best, quarters in the offering plate, and being nice to friends?
  
• how do we teach children that there is nothing we can ever do to earn any part of our relationship to our heavenly father?
• how do we help our children build a concept of god and commitment to the kingdom that is free from legalistic works…and full of grace-filled, loving responses to god and people?
  
• how can we help kids grow up into people who love…simply because they are aware that god has loved them first?

how?

Axioms…from my perspective

normally, i dedicate thursdays to giving some of my personal life axioms…truth that, from my perspective, is self-evident. sometimes practical. sometimes philosophical. sometimes whimsical. but truth, no less.

“possess nothing that cannot be given away, loaned, or used and abused freely.”

what a difficult value to live out! “what’s mine is mine.  what’s yours is yours…and keep your hands off mine!”  this kind of mentality is what most in our culture grow up with. on top of that, we live in a culture that defines success and reputation more by what we own that by any other value.  combine those two things together and we have created an environment where we are owned by our stuff, rather than us owning it!

years ago (as a young couple), we made a decision to do our very best  never to let our stuff control us, but to see ourselves as simply stewards of what belonged to someone else.

we believed (and still do) that everything we have is gods and is, therefore, subject to kingdom use.  we work hard to buy things that have obvious kingdom uses.  the kind of house we own, cars we drive, recreational and entertainment stuff we buy, tools and equipment we possess…even valuable (or in our case, lack of valuable) keepsakes and decorations are all, yes, all on loan to us from god and we are just stewards.

for the record,  although we try to use our resources to fund things mostly on a “need” basis, we have never been particularly amish in our approach to life and “things”.  we actually have some pretty cool stuff.  but even our cool (and more expensive stuff) is still god’s.  and because of that, it is here to be used.

nothing that we own…nothing…is “off limits” for others.  sometimes it’s hard.  sometimes we don’t want to share.  sometimes we wisdom dictates situations where we have to say “no”.  but not because our stuff owns us, but because to loan it or use it or give it away would not be prudent at that time…or with those people.  but it’s always up for discussion.

we need to be wise and take care of what we “own” the very best we can, but never, ever controlled by it.

honestly, this may be one of the most important and practical axioms that the farra’s have tried to live by…and one that has constantly reminded us to surrender ourselves to the lordship of christ and live dedicated to the kingdom.

Justice

being the culturally aware and relavant guy that i am, i have been keeping up with this whole “donte-stallworth-dui-vehicular-manslaughter” case.  if you don’t know what it’s all about, you can check it out here.

i know it’s an incredibly complicated issue.  concepts such as intent, negligence, fault, liability, civil suit, culpability, plea agreement, financial settlements, proximate cause, first offense, due process…and the like…are all part of this drama.  to a greater or lesser degree…race, wealth, and public perception play a role, also.

but here’s my simple take on it this afternoon:

donte stallworth: spends the night drinking in swanky miami-dade clubs, just after he signs a $4.5 contract extension with the cincinnati bengals.  while driving at twice the legal limit, he hits and kills a man who was jaywalking (a familyguy, rushing to catch a bus home from work).

punishment?  30 days in jail…actually, only 24 will be spent.  two years “house arrest” and eight years probation.  a lifetime loss of his driver’s license (could be restated within five years).  a privately negotiated financial settlement with the victim’s family.

nfl people expect that he will be playing this year…with a possible one or two game suspension.

i know it’s complicated.  i know that he will face a lifetime of psychological and emotional scars.  i know that he has showed remorse and a willingness to cooperate with authorities.  i know that the victim’s family just want to move on and put the whole thing behind them.

i know.  i know.  but let me contrast.

mike vick: finances and participates in an illegal dog-fighting operation.  it was heinous, calloused, greedy, heartless, mean, cruel, thoughtless, brutal…you name it!  he lied.  he covered.  he thought he was above the law.  he lived below basic morality.

in his culture, though, it was deemed acceptable.

punishment?  he was sentenced to 23 months in jail and three years probation.  because of the whole episode, most experts agree that he will have lost well over $140 million in salary, real estate, endorsements and penalities.

his sentence has been officially served and he is now eligible to be reinstated to the nfl and could begin playing again this fall…assuming someone wants him.

now…at the risk of coming across as a heartless, animal-hater…which i am not (in spite of the brainless, annoying little rodent-dogs that i am an owner of)…i want to offer this observation:

i believe that mike vick received a “just” sentence for his crime.  there are some days i think it was too harsh.  there are other days i think it was fair and proper.  all in all, he lost two years of his life.  it cost him his financial empire.  it probably cost him his football legacy and the most productive years of his playing career.  maybe, just maybe, he has learned lessons that will make him a better person.  maybe it was truly a come to jesus episode in his life.  maybe.

my problem is not with mike vick.  my problem is that donte stallworth gets drunk, kills an guy, gets 24 days in jail, and is able to “plea bargain” his way out of any further jail time.  yeah, i know there are other penalties for his crimes, but he will basically go on with his life.

today, this is what it looks like to me:

kill dogs.  go to jail for two years.

kill a human being.  go to jail for two months.

doesn’t seem like justice to this guy…

Do you Favre?

just got the news this morning that the great brett favre is making it official…he’s coming back for another year in the nfl with the minnesota vikings.  at least it appears that way.

the dude will be 40 years old this fall, as he enters his 16 season as a pro quarterback.  the average career for an nfl player is three and a half years.  unbelievable.

now, i’m not the president of the favre fan club or anything, but the longer this drama of his return goes on, the more i’ve been forced to think about some things.

when did your dream die?  or did you ever have one at all?

i’m inspired when i listen to favre talk about the game…the passion he has for playing…the calling he has as a leader of men and the drive he has to take a team to the ultimate goal.  i get fired up when i see a 40 year old guy commit himself to the discipline of excellence in his own body and mind to perform at the highest level in his field.

what about you?  are you pushing for the very best?  are you more fired up about the goals in your life now than you were 10 years ago?

i started over in youth ministry in texas when i turned 40 back in 1995.  it was the beginning of some of the most amazing experiences of my life…the best stretch of youth ministry in my years.  i was more excited, more focused and more committed than i had ever been.  (granted, it wasn’t nearly as physically demanding as playing quarterback in the nfl!!)

i turn 55 next week.  i’m more excited about what god is doing at north point than ever before.  can’t wait to see how the next decade turns out!

do you have any “god-sized” dreams that you need to start chasing?  or are you just existing from day to day?

maybe it’s time for you to get out of early retirement, get back on the playing field, and let god put some passion back into your game…

Monday Morning Quarterback

this was a great day!

• it was awesome to show up for sunday morning after a great week of bon voyage.  i was excited to see some of the new faces we met during the week.
• there were definitely some tired bodies dragging in.  every effort of bon voyage had a huge payoff…for every kid that participated…for every family that was touched…for every worker who served.
• i was really pumped to preach from this text.  all week long, it seemed like the words of james were resonating with me.
• the final statement in james 2:13 cemented a truth that i have been coming to believe more and more as i have grown older:  mercy triumphs over judgment. what an amazing line!
• i know that there needs to be balance between grace and truth, but when it comes to our relationship with people…friends, neighbors, enemies, family…mercy (and grace and love and acceptance and understanding) always wins out over judgment.  always.
• breathe deep.  what an awesome song!  i think we did it justice.  it was the perfect song for this passage.
• as usual, the band rocked again.  faithful.  every week.
• babies.
• today would have been a good donut day.  too bad.
• lunch at cabana with new and old friends…always a good time.
• family swim night was a huuuuge success!  nobody could get a count, but we’re all sure there were over 150 there…maybe 200.
• it was so cool to meet new people, see kids of all ages, and watch our people extend grace and open arms.
• i could do family swim night every sunday night! (not really…)
• gonna get up early and see our youth group off to “know sweat” in missouri tomorrow morning.  pray for them.

so what’s the best thing you can do for your dad this next sunday?