Initial Thoughts on the Proposed Methodist Split
My phone was blowing up today with folks asking me if I had seen the news of a proposed split for the United Methodist Church, and what my thoughts were. Here is my initial reaction, along with some clarifying information as to what today’s news actually means.
Facts Are Our Friends
The facts are that the United Methodist Church is an extremely divided denomination, and not only as to the definition of marriage: there are wide divisions in the denomination over nearly every other theological category one could think of.
It is good to recognize this fact. We may wish it were different, but it isn’t, and we’ll never make progress unless we acknowledge the stubborn uncomfortable facts of the present. The fact that we are divided is sad, but sadder still would be our refusal to acknowledge that these divisions are deep and irreconcilable.
Life Requires Trade-offs
Because the UMC is so divided, no interest group or caucus or theological camp will ever be able to get 100% of what it wants. It is good to acknowledge this, even if it’s painful. So, a mediated plan for amicable separation is, at this point, a good thing.
Leaders Make Hard Decisions
I’m impressed that the proposed plan has signatories from many of the relevant camps and caucuses. There is no other way forward. No doubt there were parts of the proposed plan that were hard for any individual signatory to stomach. Good for the folks who hammered out this plan for knowing that ANY successful solution will have distasteful parts to their respective constituencies. I have a lot of respect for those sorts of leaders, leaders who make hard decisions.
It Is Better to Part Than to Remain in a Wrestling Match to the Death
When Abraham and his nephew Lot can no longer live together (see Genesis 13), they decide on an amicable separation. Lot chooses his direction, and Abraham goes in the other.
Although it would have been better if we could live together in unity and love, since we can’t, then it’s good for us to part peaceably.
IMPORTANT: The Proposed Plan is Just That: a *Proposal*
The plan of separation will need to be passed at the 2020 General Conference for it to actually mean anything. The General Conference could pass it or reject it or modify it. Until then, the plan is an idea only. Let me say again: literally anything or nothing could come out of General Conference 2020. That said, it is significant that the 16 signatories represent such a wide array of caucuses and camps, and presumably these signatories will be working hard between now and the May General Conference to get buy in from the elected delegates with regard to the plan of separation.
Local Churches And Pastors Have No way of Affecting the General Conference Outcome At This Point, Apart from Prayer
The only people who will have a say at General Conference 2020 are the 862 elected delegates, who were elected last year from around the world. (General Conference 2020 will be held in Minneapolis in May.) The United Methodist Church is organized into regional bodies called Annual Conferences; I am a member of the North Texas Annual Conference. [Bishop Michael McKee—our bishop, put out a helpful and informative statement on the proposed plan.] The North Texas Conference was allotted 8 delegates to General Conference 2020–4 clergy delegates, and 4 lay delegates. At the North Texas Annual Conference meeting last June, I was able to vote for 4 clergy delegates, and the lay members of the Annual Conference were able to vote for 4 lay delegates. After the voting, neither I nor any other pastor who is not an elected delegate has any say whatsoever on the outcome of the 2020 General Conference.
What Does This Mean For Munger?
Munger is officially a part of Highland Park United Methodist Church. There is no way to know at this point what these proposed plans mean for Munger—it all depends on what happens at General Conference, and what the North Texas Conference and then Highland Park UMC do in response. What I do know is this: for over 10 years now, the leadership of Highland Park has always worked hard to do whatever it takes to set up and then help Munger to flourish as a congregation in East Dallas, and I am confident that that won’t change going forward.
Fear of the future has no place in the people of God. Instead, we should all be grateful that our denominational leaders have put in the required hard work toward a necessary way forward, and grateful that God has permitted us to be in ministry at this place and time—there is lots of ministry in the name of Jesus to do.
The future is inherently unknowable, which is why Jesus tells us to only focus on today. As I write this, e.g., it seems that the United States will be at war with Iran; I have no idea what that means for the future, nor did I have any idea 48 hours ago what the geopolitical news would be today. My point is that there is no point in worrying over the future, which is out of our hands. What I do know is that God tells us to be faithful, to love our neighbors and our enemies, to trust him with the future, and to carry on.
Let’s do it. See you Sunday.
Here's to the Roaring Twenties
It’s going to be a great decade—the Roaring Twenties!
I’m not naive, and I know there will be hard times ahead. But I also know that life is what you make of it, and I believe these next ten years will be the best ten years of my life.
Why Not?!
Every year I pick a One Word theme for the year, but since it’s a new decade, I’ve decided to be extravagant and also pick a 2 word theme for these next 10 years.
My two-word theme for the Roaring Twenties is, “Why Not?”
Last year, just after Dabo Swinney led the Clemson Tigers to their 2nd National Championship in 3 years, he gave a postgame interview—all of which is worth watching—30 seconds of which have stayed with me since I first saw it. Over the past year I’ve gone back to that clip often.
Some background: Dabo, who grew up poor in Alabama, was a walk-on for the Alabama football team while he and his mom shared an apartment, because she had nowhere else to live. Dabo’s Clemson beat Alabama for both of its recent national titles. Here’s the clip:
I love that!
It’s going to be a great decade.
It’s going to be the Roaring Twenties.
It’s going to be the best 10 years of my life.
Why Not?!
P.S. What’s your One Word (or two or three) for the Roaring Twenties?
Leave me a comment below.
These Past 10 Years
Ten years ago today, December 31, 2009, I was in a snowstorm in Boston, Massachusetts. In the picture above, taken on that afternoon—New Year’s Eve 2009—you can see me and my wife, along with my parents and my youngest brother, posing outside of The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, which was offering free admission for the holiday.
I stumbled across that picture today as I was reflecting on this past decade, and I’ve been struck this evening with the memories of all that has happened since.
These past ten years have been something, let me tell you.
I officially started work as the pastor for Munger Place Church on January 1, 2010, so I’ve been the Munger pastor for exactly 10 years, or 3,652 days. Munger didn’t exist as a church when I punched in that first day of 2010 (we launched worship in October of that year), and as excited as I was for the opportunity to help bring life back into our old building and into our neighborhood and launch a new church, I can honestly say that what has happened at and through Munger over the past decade far exceeds anything I could have imagined 10 years ago.
One of my strongest desires was to be the pastor of a church that people wanted to attend; one of my greatest blessings these days is to know that in those of us who call ourselves Mungarians, that desire has been realized: we love coming together as a church on Sundays (and other special days).
The video taken below is from this past Christmas Eve 2019. We opened our doors for our services 30 minutes before the services were to begin; when we did so, there were crowds of people already lining up to enter church. Here’s the video of the doors opening at 4:30 PM for our 5:00 PM service. How great is that?!
You can’t see it in the Boston NYE picture at the top of this post, but my wife was 4 months pregnant with our son on New Year’s Eve 2010, so I’ve officially been a father for the past 10 years, as well as being a pastor, though both son and church were embryonic when 2010 began!
I’m at home with my little family this New Year’s Eve, and though I always knew I wanted to be a father—I wanted a whole gang of kids— I can honestly say that being together with my family is the source of my greatest joy and that marriage and fatherhood and family have far exceeded what I could have imagined 10 years ago.
One blessing I didn’t imagine was the blessing that comes from being the father to a daughter. I came from a family of boys and I first became a father to a boy, so princess dresses and pink stuffed animals were not things I had personal experience with before my daughter was born. Having a little girl—and a very girly little girl, at that—in the house is a source of constant delight and amusement for me. I love being the father to a daughter!
I don’t think I would have believed, if you had told me 10 years ago, how blessed my life has been and how many beautiful people and experiences would be a part of my life, 12/31/2009 to 12/31/2019. These past 10 years have really been something.
Of course, these past 10 years have not been without pain and difficulty, too.
Being involved in any kind of start-up venture is stressful, and being part of a new church start is no exception. I’ve aged a lot in the past 10 years, and no doubt some of my grey hairs (I have some on my temples these days!) are due to my work at Munger.
And being a pastor is not an easy job. My job is worlds easier than many of my pastoral colleagues in my city and around the world—I have nothing to complain of—but even at a cushy gig like Munger there are the difficulties that come from leading and loving people. This past year, e.g., has been by far the hardest I’ve had in ministry. As a pastor, I’ve pressed my forehead into the living room carpet in anxious and desperate prayer, had relationships severed, faced serious opposition, and tasted despair for the first time in my life.
I have learned lots about love and grace this past year and this past decade, and even now I can say I’m grateful, though the learning has come with a cost. (As does anything worth having.)
But, as is always the case in life, the most difficult and painful times have come in my personal life. About a year after the birth of our son, my wife was struck with constant and inexplicable vertigo. For several months in early 2011 my mother-in-law and sister-in-law came to live with us to help care for Elaine. Over the course of several years of medical explorations, we finally ended up at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. After that, my wife had a serious of inexplicable miscarriages. When she finally did become pregnant with the baby who would turn out to be our little princess, she had a series of catastrophic events happen afterwards.
I will never forget being up all night in the waiting room, kept company by some men from our small group, and wondering how I was going to wake up our son and tell him his mother died. Through the grace of God, that didn’t have to happen, but I don’t think I’ll ever think of the birth of my daughter without a sick feeling in my gut.
We won’t ever have any more natural children: that door is now shut forever. If I could wave a magic wand and change anything from the last decade, that’s what I would change. But I can’t, and so we won’t.
Which is not to say that I’m unwilling to accept that things might be exactly as God needs them to be. And also not to say that I am not joyfully grateful for the life and family God has given me.
As I’ve written before, I think the difficulties we’ve had together has made me more grateful of my wife and family than I would otherwise have been.
The 2 Words of Advice I Would Give The Me of 10 Years Ago
I don’t want to know the future—I think I would be too terrified of the difficult times and too likely to mess up the good times. The future needs to be sealed away until its proper time.
So, I would not want to go back to New Year’s Eve 2009 and tell myself in that Boston snowstorm all that was going to happen. But, there are 2 words of advice that I would like to have given to my 2009 self, and 2 words about which I’m reminding myself tonight.
Pray. It is only prayer than can prepare us to face the hard times. I wish I had prayed more and prayed more deliberately and habitually this past decade. God gives peace and poise through prayer; prayer is preparation.
Because life is hard, I would like to have told myself to pray.
Praise. I wish I had rejoiced and praised more this past decade. Every breath is a gift from God, and every day I get to see is a blessing. Praise is the only appropriate response to all that we’ve been given.
Because life is sweet, I would like to have told myself to praise.
I couldn’t have imagined in that Boston snowstorm all that God would give me these past 10 years, and I can never be grateful enough for all my blessings.
I don’t know what the next 10 years will hold, but I strongly suspect that on New Year’s Eve 2029 (if God allows me to see it), that I’ll be saying the same thing:
Thank you!
One Chart That Proves the INSANITY Of Constant Digital Connection
What is the first thing you do in the morning?
What about at stoplights? In the checkout line? Waiting for your flight?
Most of us are digitally connected every waking moment, which raises the question:
What is the content of the news we’re consuming?
It is INSANE to begin your day by looking at your phone or turning on cable news, and INSANE to fill your mind and heart with news throughout your day. The chart above was put together by the folks at Axios and it shows how our media’s constant push of the latest and loudest, and our constant consumption and craving for news, means everything is urgent and nothing is important. Each month there is something THAT EVERYONE MUST HEAR ABOUT AND TALK ABOUT AND WORRY ABOUT…until the next month or next week or next day or next hour, when something else IS THE THING THAT EVERYONE MUST HEAR ABOUT AND TALK ABOUT AND WORRY ABOUT..
The news event that saw the largest single spike in Google interest compared to any other event on the list was Hurricane Dorian, which ravaged the Bahamas in early September.
The runners up:
1. Game of Thrones final season
2. Government shutdown
3. Jeffrey Epstein and impeachment (tie)
More:
Greta Thunberg, who was unknown at the beginning of the year, received surges of interest in late September and mid-December, giving her more search interest in the last three months than the China trade war, the 2020 presidential election or Brexit.
Allow me to state the obvious: not everything that we’re told to worry about is actually worth worrying about. Not everything we’re told is important actually is.
As you can see illustrated in the chart, the media moves like a pack of wild dogs to the latest news event, and then over to the next event before the previous kill is even cold.
All consumption, no reflection.
Everything urgent, nothing important.
And constant anxiety, because non-anxious people don’t crave novelty
What is this doing to our souls? No wonder our young people are the most medicated and anxious generation in history.
But, there is another way.
I’m aware that the 24 hour news cycle must be filled with something and I’m aware that bad news sells. So, I don’t see any change coming any time soon to our media ecosystem.
But, I don’t need the media to change. I just need to change myself.
The First 15
The single most important thing I can do in 2020 to lead a life of peace and purpose is to spend the first 15 minutes of each day in silence, prayer, and scripture.
(I call it the First 15.)
I’m recommitting to make the First 15 a keystone habit of my life in 2020.
I’ll spend my First 15 with God, and then let the day come, come what may.
Instead of reacting to fear and anxiety and breathless urgency I’ll be receiving peace and gratitude and the breath of God.
And I’ll be ready for anything.
In 2020 at Munger we’ll begin the year reading slowly through the Book of Genesis. Wanna join me?
Pick up your Genesis reading booklet at Munger on Sunday, or else email me and I’ll mail you one. The readings are 5 minutes a day and only on weekdays.
Having a reading plan helps give structure to your First 15.
To help you get the most out of your reading, I’ll be writing a brief daily post that gets emailed to your inbox at 4 AM every weekday. Sign up here. (If you are already on my Gospels mailing list for 2019, no need to re-subscribe.)
The single most important we can do in 2020 to lead a life of peace and purpose is to spend the first 15 minutes of each day in silence, prayer, and scripture.
Let’s begin our days not be reacting but by receiving.
Who’s in?
(Comment below to make your commitment have more teeth.)
Merry Christmas and Christmas War
Preaching on Christmas Eve is difficult. For me, it’s the most difficult occasion I preach all year. The reason is that I feel as if I’ve already said everything interesting about the Incarnation and used every good illustration and analogy I can come up with in prior years. I’ve honestly been worried about this year’s Christmas sermon for months. (I really liked my Christmas Eve sermon from last year and I knew I couldn’t top it this year.)
At Munger we put on a Christmas Travelers Service the week before Christmas for folks who can’t be at our church on Christmas Eve, and I preach my Christmas sermon at that service as a kind of dress rehearsal. This year’s Travelers service was on Thursday, 12/19; I ended up being disappointed with my sermon, so I threw the whole thing out and started over!
My new Christmas sermon never came together the way I wanted it and I changed it a lot over the course of the day, from service to service, but I can honestly say it wasn’t like any Christmas sermon I’ve ever heard or anything I’d preached before, so that’s something.
Merry Christmas to you all. Love and courage in 2020.
[My Christmas Eve 2019 sermon is called “Christmas War,” and I’ve included the video below, recorded at 7 PM on 12/24/19.]
Christmas War
Christmas means war. Brothers and sisters, here’s how to fight.
Sermon Links
Scripture: Luke 2:13
References:
Painting: Washington Crossing the Delaware
Poem: New Heaven, New War, by Robert Southwell
Watch: Linus and his blanket [it happens at 1:01]
Churchill and FDR, Christmas Eve 1941
3 Questions for Your Thanksgiving Table
![[Munger Staff Thanksgiving Luby’s Lunch 2019. I am so blessed to work with these folks.]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d70f59aefca59000162e4e6/1574870732037-8X6EPOD179F47BT3KJXR/IMG_8675.jpeg)
[Munger Staff Thanksgiving Luby’s Lunch 2019. I am so blessed to work with these folks.]
It’s become a Munger staff tradition:
Every year before Thanksgiving we have lunch at Luby’s (thank you, Jesus, for Luby’s!). We sit at a big long table and go around and answer three questions. Everyone answers the first, then we all go around and answer the second, and then everyone answers the third.
I’m telling you: these questions would change the tenor of the conversation around your Thanksgiving table.
Three Thanksgiving Questions
Where have you seen God at work this past year? What’s one thing you’re grateful for?
What is an unexpected blessing you’ve received in the past year; in other words, what is something that happened to you that wasn’t what you wanted but has resulted in a surprising and unexpected blessing you couldn’t foresee at the time?
What do you want to be thankful for next year, sitting at this table; in other words, what are you praying for?
My favorite of the three questions is #2—it is really moving to hear people talk about a difficulty they endured that has produced something good in their lives. Just thinking about that question helps reframe your past year and give it a redemptive perspective.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” [Romans 8:28]
What about you? Leave a comment below and let me know how you’d answer question #2.
My Uncle, 50 Years After Vietnam
The Thanksgiving after my grandmother died, I remember we went back to my grandparents’ house and were visiting as a family around the dining room table. For some reason, I asked my uncle if he ever thought about Vietnam. His answer: every single day. That answer surprised me, because like most veterans, my uncle never really talked about his experiences over there.
It’s been 50 years since my uncle came home, and this past Monday (Veterans Day) his local newspaper did a short piece on him. My cousin sent it to me yesterday. I’ve attached screenshots of the the article below.
God bless you, Uncle Robert.
Texas Hill Country Wedding
I traveled down to my favorite part of Texas on Saturday: that part of the Hill Country that stretches from Burnet down through Utopia. I was officiating a wedding for some good friends of mine at their family’s ranch in Burnet.
The wedding was on a hilltop that was only accessible via a rocky path; the view made the remote location worth it.
With my great friend Cleve, proud father of the groom.
As I drove away from the ranch, the moon was rising behind me…
While the sun was setting in front of me.
A great day.
Red Orm and the Long Ships
The Long Ships, by Frans Gunnar Bengtsson
This may be the most enjoyable and compellingly readable book that I’ve ever read. It’s not the best book I’ve ever read, but it’s certainly close to the most fun. Michael Chabon wrote the introduction to the New York Review Books Classics edition, and I like how he begins his essay:
“In my career as a reader I have encountered only three people who knew The Long Ships, and all of them, like me, loved it immoderately. Four for four: from this tiny but irrefutable sample I dare to extrapolate that this novel, first published in Sweden during the Second World War, stands ready, given the chance, to bring lasting pleasure to every single human being on the face of the earth.”
It’s now five for five, because I love this book immoderately, too. I first read it about 10 years ago, and read it again this summer; the second reading might have been even more enjoyable than the first one. Particularly for men who struggle to read fiction, this is the first book I’d prescribe. Among other qualities, the novel is remarkably funny in a dry, understated way.
The Long Ships tells the story of a Viking named Red Orm and his adventures in the years AD 980-1010. He travels widely over Europe and lives at a time when Christianity and the pagan religions are in conflict in Scandinavia. Orm is a hypochondriac, brave as a lion, widely-traveled, and, most of all, remarkably lucky.
As is anyone who get to read his story.
(I dare you not to make it six for six.)
Highly recommended.
★★★★
The Long Ships, by Frans Gunnar Bengtsson
Note on My Rating System
I use a 5 star system in my ratings to signify the following:
★★★★★ life-changing and unforgettable
★★★★ excellent
★★★ worth reading
★★ read other things first
★ not recommended
MungerFest 2019: stats and pictures
![[We are so blessed to be right across the street from Garrett Park—it’s like having a huge front porch.]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d70f59aefca59000162e4e6/1572451454897-MODJ6YXNTWYUFF7U5EFZ/mungerfest2019-6.jpg)
[We are so blessed to be right across the street from Garrett Park—it’s like having a huge front porch.]
Like a narcissistic Hollywood celebrity, at Munger we throw ourselves our own birthday party the last Sunday in October every year, and we modestly name it after ourselves: MungerFest.
This past Sunday was our 9th birthday, and the whole day was PERFECT:
Sunny, clear, and cool. Thank you, Lord!
We had our biggest MungerFest turnout yet: 1,978 people! (Couldn’t our counters have found 22 more from somewhere?!)
We baptized 11 people and joined 69 new members.
After the service, our congregation stepped up & donated a total of $3,284 so that every single one of our homeless neighbors could eat for free from one of the food trucks!
At MungerFest we have one service in the park under the big tent at 10 AM and close the service with cardboard testimonies, which are always so moving. Then food trucks and trunk-or-treat afterwards. What’s not to love?
It’s been 9 years since members of Highland Park UMC donated $4.5 million to launch Munger and 9 years since the Rev. Paul Rasmussen invited me to be the Munger pastor. I will never stop being grateful. I can’t believe I get to be here!
[Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see some great pics.]
Munger Stats and Charts
I shared the following statistics at MungerFest, and when you see on paper what’s been happening, it is obvious to me that God is blessing Munger.
The question is, how can we be good stewards of all that God is giving us?
Our adult worship attendance is up 12% over last year. (We count noses in worship every week so we feel good about the accuracy of those numbers. The above stats are YTD through the 3rd quarter of each year.)
Our kids attendance (birth-5th grade) is up 20% over last year! (Again, these are YTD numbers through the 3rd quarter of each year. We had some IT issues with check-in in 2017, so we don’t have good numbers from that year.)
Our annual giving is up almost 14% over last year (13.7, to be exact). This is AMAZING, because it means that Munger is growing in generosity faster than we are growing in people. Thank you, Jesus! (Again, these are actual YTD 3rd quarter numbers, not projections.)
This is my favorite stat of all. 54% of our members (we don’t have data on our attenders who are not members) didn’t have a previous church affiliation before they become Mungarians. That means that 54% of our members either joined through baptism or through profession of faith. AMAZING. (These membership stats do not include the folks who joined at MungerFest 2019.)
Let me say it again: It is obvious to me that God is blessing Munger.
The question is, how can we be good stewards of all that God is giving us?
To All Mungarians
I feel like Munger is at an important inflection point. Are we going to push on for more, or are we going to accept the status quo? Remember what happened in the week before Pentecost:
“All the disciples with one passionate heart were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers”
And then, one week later: BOOM. The Holy Spirit fell at Pentecost, and the world was never the same again.
I believe God is calling us to be united with one heart and to be praying with passionate intensity for MORE in the years to come.
Will you join me? Here’s our shorthand prayer:
“Today, Lord!”
My MungerFest 2019 sermon
MungerFest in Pictures!
There are too many great pics for me to post all of them, but here are some fun ones. What a great day!
On the Death of Mine Enemy
![[Screenshot from YouTube]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d70f59aefca59000162e4e6/1572287567205-R4VRKE7I7FV4EV17SJD5/Screen+Shot+2019-10-28+at+10.01.13+AM.png)
[Screenshot from YouTube]
What should my reaction be when my enemy is killed?
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as the leader of ISIS, was my enemy: I am a Westerner and a Christian. If he could have done so, he would have killed me and my family. I am relieved that he is dead.
I am not a pacifist; I think there are times in this world when violence in defense of the good is necessary, because there are some people who are so intent on evil that literally nothing but violence will stop them. Let me also say that although I am not a pacifist, I completely understand why some Christians believe that the Jesus way is absolute non-violence even in the face of evil. I do not come to the same conclusion as these Christians, but I understand their point-of-view, and perhaps I am wrong.
So, what should my reaction be when someone like Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is killed? I think an initial sense of joy makes sense—this was a man who raped and tortured his way across the Middle East and inspired murder around the world, and this man will no longer be able to do these things. But, after an initial surge of joyful relief that a man like this will now face God’s justice, I think sadness should quickly follow. This was a bad man, but he was still a man, and we should be sad that he chose evil and sad that he did not repent before his violent end.
I think the death of an enemy should ultimately make us sad: sad that the world is the way it is, sad that people make the evil choices that they do, and sad that some people will not respond to anything but violence.
So, I am troubled by parts of what President Trump had to say to the nation announcing Mr. al-Baghdadi’s death: I think it was too graphic and triumphalist. It is a good thing that Mr. al-Baghdadi is dead, and it is definitely a victory for the United States. But, I think those same points could be made without remarks on his “crying, whimpering, screaming.” I do not think we should gloat publicly over the death of our enemies, because a sense of restraint is what should make us different from our enemies. Otherwise, where is the line between us and them? We know how ISIS would have behaved had they killed one of our leaders—like demons. We should behave as far from that as possible.
Once we become obsessed with victory over our enemies, we lose any sense of proportion or propriety. This is what hatred of an enemy will always do to us.
An example of what happens when you become obsessed with victory over your enemy is the Washington Post’s original headline announcing Mr. al-Baghdadi’s death. This has since been changed, but this is actually how the headline originally read:
![[Screenshot from Twitter.]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5d70f59aefca59000162e4e6/1572288839717-4D03U3BBAMD4QU56BQN0/Screen+Shot+2019-10-28+at+1.53.17+PM.png)
[Screenshot from Twitter.]
The Washington Post is so obsessed with defeating President Trump that the unnamed headline writer chose to call Mr. al-Baghdadi an “austere religious scholar,” presumably because the announcement of the raid and subsequent death would be a news cycle victory for the President. It is no secret that The Washington Post considers itself an enemy of President Trump.
This post is not about President Trump nor The Washington Post, however: it is about what can easily happen to each of us when defeat of our enemy becomes the most important thing in our lives.
Defeat of an enemy is a good thing, but it is not the ultimate thing. And when you exchange a good thing for the ultimate thing, it warps your soul.
I am taking these thoughts as a challenge to examine my own heart today. What about you?
Read Through the Gospel of John with Me
At Munger, we’ve been reading through the Gospels in 2019, and TODAY we begin the Fourth Gospel: the Gospel According to John. The readings are paced out on weekdays only, from Monday, October 28 through Tuesday, December 31. You should join me.
Sign Up Here
You can sign up here to receive a weekday email reminder and brief commentary from me, sent out M-F at 4:00 AM. (If you are currently on my Gospels 2019 mailing list, no need to do anything else.)
Update: be patient with today’s email—we’re having some technical difficulties.
More Info
At Munger, pick up a John Field Guide so you can just read along in the booklet.
(If you live out of town, email Rosemary, she’ll mail you a John booklet.)
If you would like to follow our schedule in your own Bible, you can download the reading schedule here.
On Wednesday, November 6, I’ll be teaching a 1 hour Bible study overview of the Gospel of John from 6:00-7:00 PM at Munger for 6th graders-old people. At the same time, there will be a study for elementary students. We’ll have free food trucks in the parking lot afterwards for anyone who wants to stay for dinner.
Let’s do this.
Forgiveness Is
On October 2, 2019, Brandt Jean delivered a victim impact statement at the trial of Amber Guyger. Ms. Guyger had just been convicted of the murder Mr. Jean’s older brother, Botham Jean. Apparently, Brandt Jean didn’t know cameras would record his statement; he thought the reporters had already left the courtroom. Here’s what this 18 year-old young man said to his brother’s killer:
If you truly are sorry, I know I can speak for myself, I forgive you. And I know if you go to God and ask him, he will forgive you.
And I don’t think anyone can say it — again I’m speaking for myself and not on behalf of my family — but I love you just like anyone else.
And I’m not going to say I hope you rot and die, just like my brother did, but I personally want the best for you. And I wasn’t going to ever say this in front of my family or anyone, but I don’t even want you to go to jail. I want the best for you, because I know that’s exactly what Botham would want you to do.
And the best would be: give your life to Christ.
I’m not going to say anything else. I think giving your life to Christ would be the best thing that Botham would want you to do.
Again, I love you as a person. And I don’t wish anything bad on you.[Turning and addressing the judge:]
I don’t know if this is possible, but can I give her a hug, please? Please?Brandt Jean, 2 October 2019
In a few short hours, that statement was being broadcast around the world.
The morning after Brandt Jean delivered his remarkable remarks on forgiveness, my son and I were listening to a sports talk radio station on the way to school. I was astounded to hear the hosts discuss forgiveness and mercy–not normal topics for a drive time sports talk show!– and even more astounded to see later that they weren’t the only ones provoked to so do by young Mr. Jean’s statement: Brandt Jean’s face and remarks were everywhere. That was a good thing: it’s not possible that we think too much about forgiveness. On the other hand, it was also clear to me that as a culture we don’t have a clear idea of what forgiveness is and what it isn’t. I hope the following helps clear up the picture.
Forgiveness Is a Scandal
Not everyone agreed with Mr. Jean’s decision to forgive Ms. Guyger, which shouldn’t be surprising: forgiveness is always scandalous. It does not fit within the world’s categories. An eye for an eye, that we understand, but forgiveness is troubling, and it always has been. On the cross, Jesus forgave the people who crucified him as he was being crucified. If that doesn’t trouble your sense of justice, you’re not thinking about it.
Forgiveness Is Never Deserved
The reason forgiveness is scandalous is because forgiveness is never deserved. By definition, you cannot be entitled to mercy–it is unmerited favor. No one owes someone else forgiveness. There are lots of times in life that we get into disagreements and misunderstandings, and a mark of maturity is your willingness to seek understanding and make peace with the other party. That is a good thing, but that is NOT forgiveness. Forgiveness involves actual wrongs and hurts, deliberately inflicted by the guilty on the innocent. When someone hurts you, what they deserve is for you to hurt them back–an eye for an eye. What they do NOT deserve is forgiveness.
Forgiveness Is Forgoing Your Right to Get Even
When you are wronged, you have an obligation to get even. Forgiveness is choosing to give up that obligation. I like how James MacDonald puts it in his book Come Home: A Call Back to Faith:
“Forgiveness Is the Decision to Release a Person from the Obligation that Resulted When He or She Injured You”
James MacDonald
I think it is the best definition of forgiveness I’ve ever read. When someone injures you, you have a decision to get even, or a decision to forgo your right to get even. Forgiveness is the latter.
Now let me stress that forgiveness and consequences are NOT incompatible with each other. Children need their parents to forgive them and they need their parents to give them consequences and boundaries so they can learn. In a civilized society the state prosecutes crimes so that the consequences for a crime are taken out of the hands of the victim. It is possible for a victim to forgive a criminal while the state sends that criminal to prison.
Whether and what consequences are appropriate in any particular case will depend on those circumstances; what does not depend on the circumstances is the option the injured party has to release the personal obligation to get even.
Forgiveness Is a Decision, Not An Emotion
If you choose to release your obligation to get even, it will be emotionally wrenching. However, your emotions are NOT a reliable guide to what’s true or what’s right, which is a good thing, because it will never feel good to forgive before you do it. You will not want to forgive; forgiveness is a decision of the will that we take in spite of our emotions.
Forgiveness is also very rarely a one-time decision. Instead, you will make the first decision to forgive, only to find the next morning you haven’t really released the obligation. And so you will make the decision again and again and again, and one day, by the grace of God, you will discover that the burden is really and truly gone.
Don’t be discouraged if you don’t feel like forgiving today or if it’s taken you a long time to forgive–that’s how it works for most of us most of the time.
Forgiveness Is Only About You
The good news is that the other party has absolutely nothing to do with your decision to forgive. It doesn’t matter if the person is remorseful and repentant or has confessed. This is because forgiveness is about you and your decision to release the obligation to get even. I find this idea freeing, because it means that the other person–even a very wicked person–doesn’t have any control over me. Forgiveness is my choice.
This means that it is possible to forgive someone who is far away from you or someone who will never be remorseful or even someone who is dead. Forgiveness is about you, not the other person.
This also means that you don’t have to tell the guilty party else when you are choosing to forgive him or her. Sometimes it’s not safe to tell someone face to face, and sometimes it is unwise. Reconciliation requires two parties, but forgiveness does not: it’s only about you.
Forgiveness is Risky
Even though forgiveness does not involve the other party, it is still risky. It’s risky because when we forgive, there is the possibility that the other party won’t ever know how much he or she hurt us and might even think he or she has gotten away with the wrong he or she did to us. Forgiveness will always feel risky, but rest assured: God is not mocked, and no one will escape justice forever.
Brandt Jean, Botham Jean’s younger brother, hugs former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger in court after saying he forgives her for killing his brother. Guyger received a 10-year prison sentence for murder.
Forgiveness Is the First Step Towards Reconciliation
Forgiveness is a means to an end, and that end is reconciliation. There cannot be reconciliation without forgiveness, though there can be forgiveness without reconciliation. Reconciliation involves both parties–the wrong and the wronged–whereas forgiveness only involves the wronged. God’s desire for us is not only forgiveness, but also reconciliation, and if reconciliation is ever going to occur, it will only occur because someone went first to forgive. Reconciliation is not promised and will often not happen in this life, but if it does, it will be as a result of forgiveness.
After Brandt Jean’s remarkable statement, the judge granted his remarkable request to hug Amber Guyger, and he and his brother’s killer hugged for a long time in the courtroom while an unidentified woman sobbed in the background. I don’t know what life holds for either person, but I am certain that that embrace would never have taken place had not that brave young man chosen first to forgive.
Forgiveness Is Necessary
We cannot live together without forgiveness. We wrong each other in great and small ways, and without forgiveness, we would live alienated, angry lives. A world in which we have the choice to forgive each other is the only world worth living in. More than that, however, forgiveness is commanded by Jesus in the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” If you are a Christian, you have no option: it is vital that you forgive.
Forgiveness Is Freedom
Forgiveness is vital because forgiveness is freedom for… you. Forgiveness is the only way to be freed from the burden of vengeance and the obligation of getting even. Forgiveness is freedom because it is the deliberate choice to give over to God the responsibility for ultimate justice. Forgiveness is the freedom that comes from the faith that God will judge the world with righteousness, that he sees all the wrongs done to us and will make them right, and that we no longer need to bear the burden of doing so. Forgiveness is the freedom that comes when you take the burden you’ve been carrying ever since that person wronged you and giving it over to God.
So, let me press the issue: Whom do you need to forgive?
It will be difficult. It won’t be immediate. But it will be worth it.
For those who are interested, I go into more detail on forgiveness and on each of the above points in this sermon:
Ad Astra
I rarely find myself in agreement with the message of a Hollywood movie, but I’m all in on this one.
I played hooky today and saw the new movie Ad Astra in an empty, midday theater, which was appropriate, because it is a lonely, expansive film, which asks the perennial human question: What are you looking for? We are all looking for something, and usually that something is something out of reach, far away, ad astra.
The movie is set in “the near future” when humanity has developed the technology for deep space travel. (Not all the physics holds up to even my pedestrian knowledge, but it looks entirely believable all the way through.) Major Roy McBride (played by Brad Pitt) is sent on a top secret mission to find his father, lost near Neptune decades before. Since being left by his father as a boy, Roy has always been looking for something, and his search takes him literally to the stars.
So many of us live lives of quiet dissatisfaction, always looking for the next thing, all the while encouraged in our restlessness by multinational corporations who have learned how to monetize our searching.
If you had this car
If you had this woman
If you had this body
If you had this house
Then you would be satisfied.
But, it’s not true, is it? And so we keep looking ad astra and never think there might be something to the advice of Jesus to “consider the lilies.”
It is a beautiful prayer: “God, thou hast put salt on our lips that we might thirst for thee.” Our searching is, of course, ultimately a search for God. But there is a second order of restlessness that also keeps us from delighting in the simple gifts of God: the people at hand, the water we drink, the daily bread God provides. If we can’t take delight and satisfaction in these things, then no matter where we go, there we’ll be.
Like you, I’ve read the stories about Brad Pitt’s family chaos over the past few years: how he left his first wife, the movie star Jennifer Aniston, for the movie star Angelina Jolie, how they had a total of 6 adopted and natural children together, how his marriage fell apart, how he was charged with and then cleared of child abuse. I wonder, has all of that chaos caused him to reflect on what really matters? He plays his role with a wisdom that suggests he’s learned a lot of this the hard way, and is warning us of the danger of thinking that contentment lies ad astra, elsewhere, and not where we already are.
What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?
What good is it to go to the stars if you haven’t learned to delight in the gifts of God already at hand?
Ad Astra (2019): recommended.
Munger Real Estate Miracle
If I hadn't seen this happen with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it....
The Problem
Munger is a landlocked urban congregation in a neighborhood that is becoming more and more popular with young professionals and families, and it's obvious to everyone that if we are going to reach and serve our neighborhood, we're going to need more land. So, several years ago, we started praying about possibilities. But, the land around us was owned by many different parties--none of whom wanted to sell or even talk about selling--and valued at millions of dollars--which we didn't have.
And so, of January 1, 2017, this is the extent of the real estate Munger owned in Old East Dallas:
The Process
The first domino that needed to fall was the purchase of two boarding houses that abutted our property. But, the owner didn't live in Dallas, and she was completely unresponsive. One of our members ended up driving out into the country and taping a letter to her fence. She subsequently called him and told him she would never sell to us.
And then, months later, she called him again and said that she felt that God was telling her she ought to sell to the church.
Her price was $2 million, which we didn't have. Why so expensive? Well, the boarding houses brought in an annual income of $200,000, so the owner was selling a valuable income stream, even though we only wanted the dirt, not the buildings.
I stood before our congregation in October 2016 and told them we needed to raise $2 million in cash by Christmas. I had no idea if it were possible, but I knew it was the faithful thing to do.
Well, people stepped up and the Lord provided the $2 million! (I still can't believe it.) And so, in January 2017, we purchased the boarding houses in cash.
Repeat
Owning those boarding houses was the first step, but we still had a long way to go. It turned out, however, that the way things happened with the boarding houses was the way they took place with the other real estate parcels:
- We contacted owners who told us they would never sell;
- Subsequently, they changed their minds;
- But we didn't have the funds to buy;
- God provided the funds somehow;
- We gained the property.
Parcel after parcel, that's how it happened.
Munger Real Estate Miracle
And so here's what we own today, just 2.5 years later:
[A quick note on the image above: in the bottom left, there is a building partially colored with a yellow checkerboard pattern. That building contains 8 townhomes, 2 of which we own outright. Of the remaining 6 townhomes, the owner has given us a right of first refusal for the next 30 years.]
Side-by-Side Comparison
-
January 2017 -
June 2019
The Stats
In summary, we:
- Doubled our acreage;
- Gained $7 million of real estate, which we either purchased in cash (!) or were given outright by generous Mungarians, meaning we have no debt whatsoever;
- Prepared a master plan to set us up for the next 50 years.
And all of this happened in just 2.5 years!
When I say this is a miracle, I mean it literally: you can't explain it in human terms only.
What's Next?
I don't know why the Lord has been blessing us so richly, but I do know that we have a responsibility to be good stewards of what we've received. We have a really exciting master plan, and God willing, the potential is huge.
Expect great things!
P.S.
There is a small group of people without whose hard work and extravagant generosity this wouldn't have happened. You know who you are, and so does God. Thank you.
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Once An Eagle
Seventy-five years ago today terrified young men jumped off bucking landing crafts into the roiling surf that broke on the ancient beaches of Normandy. Of the first to be shoved ashore, those that weren't immediately killed were drowned, and those that were neither killed nor drowned struggled ashore only to be killed in the wet sand, that soon became wet and with blood and not only water. A small number survived, and as the day went on their number increased. Seventy-five years later we look back on D-Day as a great victory. It was. But it was also war, and war is as it has always been: ugly, violent, wasteful, and in the midst of all that, an also an occasion for luminous heroism.
Today's anniversary has caused me to think of a great American book about war: Once An Eagle, by Anton Myrer.
Every war memoir I've ever read, and every combat veteran I've ever spoken to, always tells the same story about the men who make up an army:
- Some are staff officers who never come near the actual fighting and dying, and some of these have somehow attained senior rank despite never serving in actual combat;
- Some are staff officers who drop into combat roles to feather their records so as to attain future rank, and these are dangerous men, because they care only about promotion and will risk other men's lives for their own glory;
- Some are wicked men--both officers and enlisted--who enjoy violence and killing;
- Most are the ordinary enlisted men, terrified at the prospect of a violent death and also capable of extraordinary bravery and sacrifice on behalf of their friends;
- And some few are the good ones, the officers who do everything to serve the men under their commands, who often die, who are often passed over for promotion, and who will never be forgotten by the men they led.
This distribution shouldn't surprise us, because it's just the same as ordinary life. The difference is that in war, life and death is more immediate than it is for us in ordinary life.
Knowing the above and knowing that war is an inevitable part of human life, what is to be done?
Once An Eagle is unique among war books that I know of in that it's a novel about a sense of calling. The novel's hero is a Nebraskan named Sam Damon. Sam learns that war is mainly fought by ordinary, terrified men, who are often poorly led and made to die needless deaths, and so Sam feels a responsibility--a sense of calling--to offer himself to do what he can to serve the ordinary men who fight our wars.
The novel covers Sam's military career, beginning with World War I, then through the long wilderness years between the wars in lonely forts across the American West, the Philippines, and even mainland China. Then war comes again (as Sam always knew it would) with Pearl Harbor, and the fighting resumes.
Sam devotes himself to leading and serving the ordinary, terrified men under his command; there is almost something religious in the sacrifices he makes on their behalf. Once An Eagle is filled with scenes of brutality and waste and greed and stupidity, and also courage and sacrifice and the sort of quiet heroism that ordinary men perform when they must.
I said last year in a Father's Day post that I think every American man should read this book, and I stand by that statement today, as we remember the unimaginable terror and violence and heroism of D-Day, seventy-five years later.
Highly recommended.
★★★★★
Once An Eagle: A Novel, by Anton Myrer
Note on My Rating System
I use a 5 star system in my ratings to signify the following:
★★★★★ life-changing and unforgettable
★★★★ excellent
★★★ worth reading
★★ read other things first
★ not recommended
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"Because He Lives"
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
This is our 5th year (!) of hosting Easter services in Garrett Park, across the street from Munger. Easter is the best day of the year, and I feel so blessed to have been there this morning. I snuck onstage during our 9 AM service and took the following video while we were singing "Because He Lives." I know you can hear me singing, but I don't care: it's EASTER, and I'm going to sing at the top of my lungs.
I could watch this a thousand times and it would never NOT make me happy. (I particularly love the part 36 seconds in where the band drops out and you can hear the congregation singing.)
Thank you, Jesus.
Happy Easter, everyone!
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Birthday Wish for Blood Donors
Today is my wife Elaine's birthday, and she's out for blood:
Two years ago, my wife Elaine needed 30 units of blood to save her life after the birth of our daughter. So for her birthday, she's asking you to consider being a blood donor.
Blood Drive Details
We're hosting a Blood Drive at Munger Place Church on Good Friday, April 19, 11a-5p (childcare 11a-1p).
Even if you don't live in Dallas, please consider being a blood donor in your city.
Give the lady what she wants!
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Harvey Weinstein, Lori Loughlin, and the Grace of God
I got an email at 12:45 AM Christmas morning from someone who was very angry with my Christmas Eve sermon. (You can watch that sermon here.) In my sermon, I wondered aloud if we are becoming a culture without mercy--once people have sinned, can they ever find redemption?
I cited the extreme example of Harvey Weinstein and asked if even he can receive mercy. The person who sent me the angry email felt that I was excusing Mr. Weinstein's many sins that have caused harm to so many people. It shouldn't have to be said, but let me say it anyway: but I do not excuse, condone, or approve of any of the things Mr. Weinstein is said to have done. In fact, the very reason I used him as an example is precisely because his sins seem so particularly ugly.
Which brings me back to the question I was asking: Can Harvey Weinstein receive mercy? Can he receive redemption?
Our actions have consequences, and justice requires that people face those consequences. I don't think mercy and consequences are mutually exclusive; Mr. Weinstein should be prosecuted for his crimes and if he is found guilty, he should be sentenced accordingly. And, there should be boundaries in place that make it very difficult for him to hurt anyone ever again.
But what happens after that? If he repents, can he be redeemed?
I've been asking that same question recently with regard to Lori Loughlin and the other celebrities caught up in the college admissions cheating scandal.
What they did was wrong and they need to face the consequences.
But what happens after that?
It strikes me that it's when people are guilty and ashamed and despised--that that is exactly the time when they need to be welcomed at church. I have no idea if Lori Loughlin and her family have a church family, but I'd guess that they don't. Is there any church near them who will reach out? If they were to show up at a church, would they be gawked at? Would folks pull out their phones and post pics to social media?
It strikes me that it's when people are guilty and ashamed and despised--that that is exactly the time when they need to be welcomed at church. I have no idea if Lori Loughlin and her family have a church family, but I'd guess that they don't. Is there any church near them who will reach out? If they were to show up at a church, would they be gawked at? Would folks pull out their phones and post pics to social media?
Most of us are able to hide our sins or explain them away. We maintain plausible deniability and pretend.
But sometimes there is no hiding. Sometimes we are totally exposed. Sometimes the whole world knows.
It shouldn't need to be said, but let me say it anyway:
Jesus died for sinners. Not the respectable sinners only, but also the shameful, wicked, public ones. Jesus died for Harvey Weinstein. Jesus died for Lori Loughlin.
Is there anyone around them who will tell them?
Is there a church family who can teach them?
Is there a place they can go on Easter Sunday to hear the Good News?
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"Maintenant, Elle Est Comme les Autres"
I know almost nothing about Charles de Gaulle, and so I was intrigued by the recent essay about him by Peter Hitchens in First Things: "A Certain Idea of France." One paragraph in particular struck me:
"De Gaulle possessed that great chivalrous virtue of being ready to walk unbowed and defiant in front of the powerful, while being gentle and even submissive to the defenseless and weak. He once became so angry with Churchill that he smashed a chair in his presence to emphasize his rage. Likewise, he defied Franklin Roosevelt over and over again. But he would go home after these battles to sing tender love songs to his daughter Anne, who suffered from Down syndrome. The tiny glimpses we have of this part of his life, obtained from the accidental observations of others, tear at the heart. His concern for Anne was entirely private and not at all feigned. After any long absence from home his first act was to rush up to her room. She died, aged twenty, in his arms. At her funeral, he comforted his wife Yvonne with the words, 'Maintenant, elle est comme les autres' ('Now, she is like the others'), which must be one of the most moving things said in the whole twentieth century."
Peter Hitchens, "A Certain Idea of France"
Now, she is like the others.
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