Incubus… Godly… WHAT!? - April 18, 2007
I have been having an online interview with a guy named Marcel who recently wrote and asked me: “You ... openly admit to your love of secular music, and especially the alternative rock band Incubus. Explain the spiritual connection...”
Here is my response:
This is a huge issue that is facing our church and will more than likely continue to impact us until Jesus comes again and settles the score once and for all. I have been all over the scale when it comes to music. When I first became a follower of Jesus, I went through a stage where I destroyed all my “secular” music. Since that time, I have fasted from music for months on end (several times actually), in hopes to know without a doubt what God’s will is for me as it pertains to what kind of music I should be listening to. I have read books that argue all sides of the spectrum on what’s acceptable to Him.
My conclusion right now is that music is a medium that is more often than not an expression of a person’s spiritual journey. In other words, music is an expression of the “heart” and the “heart” expresses a person’s spirituality.
Do I think that a band like Incubus is for everyone? Absolutely not. Do I think that they are God fearing? It doesn’t appear that way. However, the Bible says that in you is the temple of the Holy Spirit (I Cor 6:19). In the context of the passage, it doesn’t limit the Spirit of God only to followers of Jesus. That being said, my conclusion is that God’s Spirit is working inside everyone to save them from themselves. With that being said, as I listen to music, I am listening for the spiritual warfare (that I like to call the great controversy) that’s going on inside someone. When that is packaged with a genre of music that I like then I’ve got a win-win.
[I will keep you posted when the interview is posted on his website.]
Spirit Enabled - April 17, 2007
This past week, while preparing for a message on Pentecost at 24-Seven, I came across something that I had never really seen before. In Acts 2:4 the Bible says that “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (TNIV) The phrase, “Spirit enabled” really stood out to me. After all, when we think about Pentecost (which was a celebration that occurred 50 days after Passover), we often associate with it the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. As I began to look at the context of Chapter 1 and 2 of Acts, I began to realize that not only is the reader being told the ingredients of being a Spirit enabled person, but also what a Spirit enabled person will look like.
So how do we become Spirit enabled? In Acts 1:4 the Bible says that, “On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Then, after Jesus heads off to heaven before their eyes, the Bible says that as they waited in Jerusalem: “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” (:14)
So, how did they become Spirit Enabled?
1. Obedient to Jesus’ command of them to go chill in Jerusalem.
2. Fervent in prayer together.
What does a Spirit enabled person or group of people look like?
Acts 2:42 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
While I feel like I am obedient to where Jesus is calling me to go, I recognize that I am weak on being fervent in prayer. It is my commitment to discipline myself to be more fervent in prayer, connecting to God in prayer, both personally and collectively with others in the faith.
Continue reading "Spirit Enabled - April 17, 2007"
Sick as a dog - April 16, 2007
There’s nothing better than wrapping up a great vacation with a terrible flu. That’s right, the day before we flew back to Seattle from Charleston, SC I came down with the flu. And to make matters worse, the sickness was compounded by the all day flight back from the East Coast. Needless to say, I spent a good part of last week in bed and missed a weeks worth of blogging. But not to worry! I’M BACK… (although as I am typing this I am sneezing uncontrollably in a Tully’s coffee shop in Kirkland!).
Every Monday morning, I have a 7AM Bible Study/Men’s Accountability Group that I meet with at this Tully’s in Kirkland. I am far from being a morning person and this morning was no exception. When the alarm went off at 6am my immediate thought was, “Oh… I don’t feel so well. Maybe I will just stay here in bed.” But then I started to wrestle within myself and I felt impressed to get up and go to the group. My “flesh” wanted to stay in bed, but the “Spirit” was calling me to get up and go.
You see, I knew that if I stayed at home, I would end up wasting the morning away. I would probably stay in bed and then dink around on the computer and not be really productive. I also knew that I would be susceptible to temptation if I stayed at home alone.
This morning, I made the decision to follow the Spirit and I am glad that I did. I had a great discussion with one of the guys in the group this morning that I sense was a God-thing. As a result my week got off to a great start. I hope that I can learn to follow the Spirit every day, all day!
Outer Banks, NC - April 4, 2007
Susan and I are enjoying our two week vacation on the East Coast. Today we came out to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was a great day today. After arriving in from the historic Williamsburg, VA (where we spent the day yesterday with some friends) we put on our swim suits and headed out to the beach. Then at sunset we found this little park where we snapped this photo.
Enjoy the day…
Old Skool in Boston - March 28, 2007
Susan and I were in Boston yesterday and I saw this spray painted on the side of a building. I love the flava, and you can’t get much more Ol’ Skool then the Pilgrims!
We are having a great time relaxing with family and friends. Today we visited Henry David Thoreau’s grave site. In the same cemetery are found the graves of Ralph Waldo Emersonand Louisa May Alcott. Great fun for the whole family!
Hope you are relaxing as well!
Vacation with Susan - March 26, 2007
My wife and I are on a two week vacation that really started today. We will be traveling down the East Coast of the US starting off in Boston visiting her folks. We are doing a couple of day trips to New Haven, CT and Providence, RI. Then we are off to the wonderful state of Pennsylvania to see some friends for a couple of days. From there we are off to Annapolis, MD to see my brother and his family, and my parents will be driving up from St. Augustine, FL. We will be spending a few days in the D.C. area and then making our way down the coast to Charelston, SC where we will fly back to Seattle on the 8th.
I will do my best to keep you posted, but it is vacation afterall and sometimes blogging is hardwork!
Keepin’ it street!
Opinionated + judgmental + lazy = Ave. Christian in North America - March 24, 2007
How true is it? I talk to Christians all the time. “I hate this. I hate that. And that’s why I’m not going to church.” Or, “Pastor Matthew, if only your church would do this, then I would like it.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? My question right back to ‘em is, “Well what are you doing about it?” Since when has God called us to go into all the churches to judge people in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? It seems to me that we’ve allowed the North American mentality of, “It’s all about me and my wants and my likes” to seep into the soul of many followers of Jesus today. What’s going on here?
The Gospel According to Incubus, Part 2 - March 23, 2007
Do you ever feel like your going to explode? I do. The irony is that the feeling that I am about to blow up comes from various angles. On one hand, I feel like I’m going to explode when the stress of living seems to get the best of me. On the flip side, when I am walking closely with Jesus, I am on fire for Him and so in a good since I feel like I am going to burst into flames.
Here is the first stanza of the song Pardon Me by the band Incubus:
A decade ago
I never thought I would be
At twenty three
On the verge of spontaneous combustion
Woe-is-me
But I guess that it comes
With the territory
An ominous landscape of never ending calamity
I need you to hear
I need you to see
That I have had all I can take
And exploding seems like
A definite possibility to me
Obviously in the context of this lyric, Brandon Boyd is talking about a time when he is frustrated with the world and all the negativity that comes with it. Unfortunately for me I would say that I feel this way quite a bit (especially in Seattle traffic). That is when I can turn to God and tell Him, “I need You to hear, I need You to see, that I have had all I can take.” It is there that I sense Jesus inviting me to enter into His rest and peace… even in the midst of a traffic jam!
Witness the End - March 21, 2007
This past Saturday @ 24-Seven I shared a message entitled Light. We were wrapping up a series out of the book of Revelation that we had called Witness the End.
One cannot help but to go through the gamut of emotions when reading through the book of Revelation. As I was preparing the message for this past week, I kept reading over the last chapter (chapter 22) over and over again. While doing so, a word in the fifth verse kept popping out to me: light (Revelation 22:5 “There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.")
But then it dawned on me that Jesus talked a lot about light while he was here on this earth. He said that He is the light of the world, and that his children shall be called children of light. Then I started to think about the rest of the Bible and how it tells us that the word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.
Here are three things that we can do to know that we are walking in the light:
1 – Follow Jesus – “Whoever FOLLOWS ME will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12
2 – Get in His Word – “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” – Psalm 119:105
3 – Seek Council – “Praise the LORD. I will extol the LORD with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.” – Psalm 111:1
Blessings to you!
Yonder Mountain String Band - March 14, 2007
I was born and raised in a small town called Stow (no not Stowe, VT) just outside of Boston, MA. When I was 13 my best friend, who’s mom is from Singapore, invited me and two other friends on a trip for a couple of months to Singapore. It was one of the best experiences of my life. It has been years since that trip and I had lost touch with two of the three guys who went on the trip. One of them I recently reconnected with. In so doing I found out that he is in a band called Yonder Mountain String Band.
Take a look at their new video for their song Classic Situation - CLICK HERE. My buddy’s name is Ben Kaufmann. He is the one playing the bass in the video.
Keep up the strong work Ben!
