Ellery

Two weeks ago, Jason and Emily Boys hosted a husband and wife musical duo named Ellery. The "house concert" was a unique way to experience two very talented musicians. With only 34 people in attendance, I felt lucky to be a part of the evening.

Ellery was excellent. I don't do much promotion on my blog, but I would be doing you a disservice if I didn't recommend Ellery this holiday season. I can't imagine a better stocking stuffer (besides a severed foot...thanks, Mitch Hedberg).

Here is a sample of Ellery's music:


If you ever get a chance to see Tasha and Justin in person, don't miss the opportunity. Not only are they talented musicians, but they are very funny. Great rapport with each other and their audience.

For now, go here to check them out. You can buy music directly from their site.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

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Church Experiment #47: Oaks Community Church

In 2000, I became a Christian at the age of 23. Two years later, I was working at one of the largest churches in the country. After two more years, I left that job to help start a brand new church. Four years later, I stopped attending church. So...no church, to attending church, to working in a church, to starting a church, to leaving the church - all in less than eight years. Now, I am visiting 52 churches in 52 weeks in order to redefine my faith. This is reflection 47 of 52.

First, no atheist meeting this week. I'm already registered for their next event in December, so look for that reflection in a few weeks.

If my relationship with the Acts 29 movement was represented on Facebook, it would be listed as, "It's Complicated."

I used to listen to Mark Driscoll's podcasts. Driscoll is smart, and he likes to tell people about it. Our core beliefs (somewhat) align, but his arrogance pushed me away. Matt Chandler was another Christian leader I admired. Again, an intelligent dude. Less arrogant than Driscoll, but Chandler likes to yell at his congregation. A lot. Someone never learned to use his inside voice.

I am a huge fan of Tim Keller. He's not part of the Acts 29 network, but most of the Acts 29 guys worship Keller. Their beliefs mirror one other, but Keller is a very humble man. Most people aren't the smartest person in the room, but they want you to think they are. That's Driscoll. Keller actually is the smartest person in the room, but he doesn't advertise it.

There aren't many Acts 29 churches in the Cincinnati area. I knew Middletown was home to The Oaks Community Church, led by Kevin Jamison. I had never met Kevin in person, but we hung around each other's blogs a couple of years ago. I had heard many good things about Kevin, and I was hoping he leaned more toward Keller than Driscoll.

On the surface, The Oaks Community Church felt like a nice mix of relevance and reverence. Worship began the service and was quite good. The congregation mildly participated, but the band sounded great. They had a subtle country vibe that worked. Before the service officially started, one person came up to me and introduced himself. Nice guy named Brian. The main room itself had a very cool feel to it and sat around two hundred people. I estimated about 125 were in attendance at their second service of the morning. All white (except for one black man who came in late and sat next to me). Almost all young (in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties). And everyone seemed to have that "cool vibe" to them. That, "I'm an artist who hangs out in coffee shops and is passionate about social justice" vibe. Which is fine. Sometimes I just feel like I don't fit in with that group. Overall, everything was very casual.

But there were some rituals woven into the service, including an official call to worship, a corporate prayer of confession, communion (with an excellent explanation of the process), an offering, a closing prayer, more worship songs, and a benediction. The entire service lasted approximately 95 minutes.

Two things struck me about my time at Oaks Community:

1) The message. Jamison was outstanding. The Acts 29 messages resonate with me more than anything I have encountered. It's not a bland Bible teaching. Driscoll, Chandler, Keller, and Jamison have a way of making the message applicable to life. But it's also not a watered down self-help seminar. They dive into the Bible and bring the scriptures to life. I feel challenged, entertained, and educated all at once. That is a difficult combination.

Some quotes that stood out:

"We make the Kingdom of God us-centered." Jamison went on to explain the promise of eternal life is so popular because it answers the ultimate question, "What's in it for me?"

"What sins are you nurturing in your life? Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you." Man, that is true. Every time I let my guard down, I fall back into old patterns and behaviors that poison my soul and sabotage my life.

"I need people in my life who care more about my relationship with God than my opinion of them." I can honestly say that I have this in my life. In fact, I just had an intense conversation with a friend of mine because he called me out on some junk in my life. He was exactly right about some of the stuff he said, but he was also mistaken about other stuff. The beauty is that it didn't matter. God was able to use the conversation to challenge me. Because my friend was willing to call me out, good things happened. He risked our relationship because he cared about me. If you surround yourself with people who tell you what you want to hear, you're doomed to stunt your growth.

"You have to be healed before you can serve. If you're serving in order for God to heal you, you've got it backwards." Interesting thought. Actually, I think both are always happening at the same time, but Jamison's point is well taken. We don't earn God's gifts by working really hard. They are gifts because they are given freely. We only need to accept them.

"If you're bored, or lazy, or passive, you don't understand the full implications of the Gospel." I fully admit I have a difficult time wrapping my mind around the Gospel of Jesus. More on that later.

2) A few minutes into the service, an older man sat next to me. He was probably the oldest person in the room. He was also the only black person in the room. He may have been homeless, and he was certainly mentally challenged.

My first thought was, "Why me? Out of everyone in attendance, why did the crazy dude have to sit next to me?"

And then it hit me. The problem with church is that they let anyone in, including challenging people who require tons of emotional energy. You see, what I really want is a cool social club where I can hang out with my friends, be awesome, and ignore the crazy loons. It's probably the quality I possess that most conflicts with the character of Jesus. I don't think it was an accident that the man sat next to me. God used the moment to slap me across the face with my hypocrisy. The man kept mumbling to himself and shouting comments at inappropriate time, and I kept thinking, "This guy is going to ruin the service." Can you imagine Jesus thinking that?

I walked out of The Oaks Community Church with two primary thoughts:

1) I have a plan for my life, and I'm working like hell to make that plan work. If God wants on board the Steve Express, great. If not, I believe I can make my life work without him. Deep down, I really do believe that. Of course, our plans overlap at times. I have meaningful moments and help others, but where God and I butt heads, my plan always wins. This is problematic.

Of course, God hasn't emailed me a detailed gameplan for my life, so I'm doing the best I can to pursue my passions while following God's will. At least, I think I am.

2) I still have a hard time grasping the Gospel. It makes sense in my head, but its application feels almost impossible. All fall short. We all need Jesus. Trying harder gets us nowhere. God isn't keeping score. The price has already been paid. Grace. Mercy. Forgiveness. Love.

If I could just wrap my heart around the Good News. If I could just look past all of the religious dysfunction in this world to see Jesus himself. It seems like it should be so easy, yet it's the hardest thing I have ever tried to do.

The folks at Oaks (cute) look more like Keller than Driscoll. That's a good thing. Arrogance is a bad thing. If Acts 29 churches can operate in humility, they can be a force in this world. I have a feeling The Oaks Community Church will be.

My prayer for today: "God, help me understand the Good News." If that ever happens, the possibilities are limitless.

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The Sickness

It has been a long, fun, grueling, exciting process. Seventeen months ago, I made the difficult decision to give up forty percent of my income to begin writing.
It has always been a dream of mine to write books. As a kid, I remember playing school (and I became a professor), writing stories (and I became a writer), and playing sports (and I...ummm...play kickball).

Needless to say, it feels amazing when dreams come true. Seventeen months after penning the first sentence, The Sickness has been submitted to my publisher. It's been a long ride - including multiple title changes, hundreds of hours writing, hundreds more editing, countless rewrites, long stretches of writer's block, rejections, learning the publishing business, disappointments, words of encouragement, and so on...

As you can see, an incredibly talented designer created my cover. If you're interested in learning more about the book, I'll direct you to the official Web site once it's up and running. The Sickness will be available for purchase in spring of 2010. I'll provide updates on my blog, Facebook, and Twitter, but I promise not to inundate everyone with dozens of annoying updates.

I had a choice seventeen months ago. Follow a dream or continue pursuing the status quo. That decision cost me (literally). But I can't imagine sitting here seventeen months later with regrets. Life is too short to delay our dreams.

What's holding you back?

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You make the call

There are three shows on television that I am drawn to. If I'm flipping through the channels and see one of these three shows, I have to watch.

Golden Girls
Murder, She Wrote
Scooby Doo

It's a strange threesome. But there is something about each show that makes me feel happy. Content. Safe. Other shows are better. I could list a hundred. Seinfeld, 24, House, Dexter, The Office, Lost, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and so on. But they don't resonate the way my trifecta does.

Someone make the connection for me. What is it about those shows? Why the obsession?

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Church Experiment #46: Gathering Place Church

In 2000, I became a Christian at the age of 23. Two years later, I was working at one of the largest churches in the country. After two more years, I left that job to help start a brand new church. Four years later, I stopped attending church. So...no church, to attending church, to working in a church, to starting a church, to leaving the church - all in less than eight years. Now, I am visiting 52 churches in 52 weeks in order to redefine my faith. This is reflection 46 of 52.

It's interesting. Forty-six weeks into my experiment, I think I've seen it all. I'm currently in the process of going back and editing my earlier entries to prepare a manuscript for publication. It's so cute how I approached those early churches with wide eyes and a bushy tail (my clippers broke last winter).

People danced in church! How scandalous!

I was such an adorable kid.

Those details don't mean as much to me anymore. As I near the finish line, I'm getting more desperate to experience God. This week, I crossed the river into Kentucky to visit The Gathering Place Church. Someone recommended it on my blog a few weeks ago. I thought I would be walking into a charismatic church that valued miraculous healings, signs, and wonders. That may be true, but I didn't see any evidence of it Sunday.

I thought I was in trouble when the first worship song had a line saying, "I am souled out for Jesus." Yeah, I used the correct spelling. There is nothing more lame than Christians using son instead of sun, souled instead of sold, and so on.

But that was the low point. Things got much better as the service continued.

There were about 150 people in attendance, and almost every seat in the room was filled. A high percentage of the congregation was white, and ages varied. A couple people stood out. First, the man next to me kept watching me take notes. But then, he pulled out a slip of paper and a pen and jotted down a few notes of his own. A fellow seeker? Or someone obsessed with his grocery list? Second, one of the girls in the worship choir looked exactly like Blossom's friend from that television show back in the nineties. I believe her name was Six. (As I did a Google search for a picture of Six, I discovered Jenna Von Oy posed semi-nude later in her career. There just went twenty minutes I'll never get back.)

Focus, Stevie.

After twenty minutes of worship, Pastor Joyce came on stage and began her message. I assumed the worst, but I was surprised by how much her sermon affected me.

She titled the message, "Life is what you make of it." The theme centered on attitude. As Pastor Joyce spoke, I realized my attitude is crappy. I'm a happy guy. I'm also a fairly grateful guy. I realize I have been blessed with an amazing life, and I thank God for that often. But I'm also critical and pessimistic. When I root for the Bengals or Bearcats, I'm always waiting for something bad to happen. (Of course, until recently, something bad usually does happen.) When I walk into a new environment, I look for flaws.

Pastor Joyce said, "No matter where you go, you take your attitude with you." A light bulb lit up over my head. I have been visiting these churches ready to attack. I saw the word "souled" up on that screen, and I wanted to bail out two minutes into the service. That attitude keeps me separated from God and others. I look for flaws in churches, leaders, girlfriends, friends, and myself. I focus on the bad. Not always, but too often.

Pastor Joyce also said, "When you're self-centered, nobody can do anything right." Bingo. Bullseye. Booyah. And other words that begin with the letter B.

That sentence sums up my whole life. And not to point fingers, but it sums up the lives of almost everyone I know. When you're self-centered, nobody can do anything right.

My default mode is "jerk." It just is. I don't think I'm a bad guy, but I have to work hard to be kind and gentle. It's easier to be mean or sarcastic. Making a joke that puts someone else down comes naturally. I'm really good at it. But I don't want to be that guy.

I don't want to be fake either. I don't want to lose my sense of humor or dispense fake joy. That's not my personality. But I can work harder to control my attitude. There is a nasty arrogance that comes from thinking my way is superior to everyone else. I'm not smarter or better than anyone. Well, okay, I'm smarter than Carrie Prejean.

Dang...there I go again. I'm going to stop being a jerk starting...now.

Pastor Joyce seemed like a very genuine lady. My guess is that she really cares about her flock at Gathering Place Church. They never did have a "ministry time," so I definitely struck out on my attempt to experience miraculous healings, but I believe I found my way to Gathering Place for another important reason. Attitude is everything.

After taking an offering, shaking a few hands, and listening to announcements, the service wrapped up in eighty minutes.

I'm trying something a little different next week. Someone pointed me to a group of atheists that meets weekly to discuss all things secular. I'm going to attempt to infiltrate a meeting. That may be a little tough because participation requires membership. They don't reveal the meeting's location unless you are a member. Time to get all James Bond on some atheists!

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