Words from the WellRandom Thoughts on Christ, the Church and Technology

Used under the CC license. Photo by stibbons.

I was shooting some video last night for a Mission Trip report at my church.  The lady that I was shooting had just returned from her first trip to Honduras. Now you have to understand that I have shot video before with this person and she is usually very nervous in front of the camera and is in a hurry to get finished. This makes her seem very rehearsed and plastic.

Last night was different. She began to tell a story, a story about an 11 year old Honduran girl that she met in the village. A story of how she made friends with this little girl by letting her rub cocoa butter on a scar on her arm (my talent had recently broken her wrist and had several surgeries). A story of how a relationship was born even though neither one of them spoke the others language. It was powerful.

She ended by saying that she had realized that perhaps her least effective form of communication was her words. That struck me. Maybe as Christians sometimes the best thing that we can do is to simply shut up and allow our actions to speak. After all, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

Here is the raw, unedited story that she told.

No Words from Ken Summerall on Vimeo.

Sex, Lies and Religion is a book that will cause you to think, or perhaps seethe with anger, or maybe it will open your eyes to a new, but not-so-new way of thinking. For sure each reader will respond to this book differently, according to the traditions and baggage that they bring with them, but one thing that I am sure of, it will make you uncomfortable, perhaps in a good way. In this rather compact book Randy tackles issues like nudity, art vs. pornography, masturbation, sexual fantasy and sexual equality. That’s enough for some of you to never want to touch this book, much less read it. But I would encourage you to pick it up and read it with an open mind. Here’s why:

This is not just a book about sex, and it’s not just another book attempting to deal with religion. It is a book that attempts to tackle what is one of the most important subjects in our lives, sex and it’s connection with God. This book suggests that sex is not some dirty act that we can’t keep ourselves from participating in, but instead that sex is part of God’s original creation that is intended to draw us closer to Him. It is a result of religion and it’s inane attempts to control believers that we have turned sex from something beautiful into something dirty. Randy says, “Many of us feel the effects of past religious control, and our immortal longings have been rendered shallow and dirty.” Our eternal longings for God and our inability to fill the hole in our lives has resulted in a society that attempts to fill those longings with pornography, affairs and strip clubs. These things attempt to destroy the beauty of sex that God originally created. Sex, Lies and Religion proposes that “Instead of following the rules of religion and culture, we instead pursue relationships in the Spirit.” We need to return to the Garden where sex was about oneness with our helpmate AND God.

This book is well worth a read.  You can get it HERE.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from cre:ate 2.0 Publishing to read and post a review on my site. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255

I have been thinking about this for a few days.  How do I see people?  My answer really dissapointed me.  I see people through my eyes, my prejudice, my experience, my social mores, my emotions, my understanding, etc.  What I really want to do is to see people through Jesus’ eyes. Seeing people through His eyes mean that I will see them for who they really are.  I will see their hurts, their needs, their desires, I will see past their sin and depravity and see them with love.  I will see them as they can be, not as they are.

This song really hits this home for me.  Take a listen and pray for His eyes in your life and mine.

I just finished reading through one of the passages in the Bible that has long been an excuse not to read the Bible from cover to cover.  As I finished reading Joshua 19 today I let out a little, “Hooray!”  My wife looked at me as if I had lost my mind (this is not an unfamiliar look from her), and asked what in the world I was thinking.  I read to her, “Now they had finished dividing the land.”  She didn’t get it at first, but then it hit her too and she joined in my, “Hooray!”  We have been talking about how dry these chapters in Joshua were and how we struggled to find the meaning in them, now we are glad that they are over.  I am still wondering what the purpose in those forever long, seemingly meaningless chapters is.  Then I move to the next chapter in the reading plan and it hits me like a ton of bricks.  Isaiah 25:1 says,

“Lord, you are my God. I honor you and praise you, because you have done amazing things. You have always done what you said you would do; you have done what you planned long ago.”

There it is.  The reason to wade through all of the from here to here and there to there verses.  Without those verses this proclamation is just not as powerful.  But add this proclamation to those chapters and wow, what a reminder of the awesome, gracious, loving, promise-keeping God we serve.

God made a promise to His people and it took a long time to fulfill, over 40 years to be sort of exact.  His people turned away from Him several times, but He was always there leading them back, sometimes gently, sometimes forcefully, but the bottom line is that God never gave up on His people and He never, ever denied them what He had promised.  He was patient and faithful with them.  He is patient and faithful with us.

I remember during my ordination, 14 years ago, that someone whispered to me that God “had great things planned for me.”  Those words have rung in my heart for the past fourteen years.  In my mind I have yet to accomplish those great things, part of me believes that my life in some ways mirrors the lives of the Israelites in the desert.  Times of feast (when I am close to God) and times of famine (when I am far from Him).  I still believe that He has great things planned for me.  I will make every effort to be faithful to Him, knowing that He will be faithful to me!

Part 2 of What God has been teaching me.

• Six verses of absolute beauty!  A testimony, if you will, a blueprint for life. Isaiah 12

1. God was angry with me, now He is not
2. God saves me, gives me strenght adn makes me sing
3. I receive my salvation with joy!
4. I must tell everyone what He has done.
5. I must sing His praise to the world.
6. Shout for joy! – He does great things!

• Sometimes I have to act before I know the whole plan.  I have to stick my foot in the river before I know the how, where and why.  Joshua 3
• God is never done with me.  even though I think that I have received all the blessing that I deserve (that’s funny, if I got what I deserved…oh boy) God is not done yet.  He always has more.  He wants the best for his children. Joshua 13

What is God teaching you?

As I was thinking back over the past few weeks I began to compile a list of what God has been trying to get past my hard head. Here are a few.

• God’s people were known as being rebels. Jesus was a rebel. Why am I so worried about seeming normal when compared to the culture and society around me. It’s OK to be a rebel! Ezra 4:12
• God gives me the freedom to fail! He knows that I will mess up, and yet He still wants to use me for His glory. This is huge, it provides the freedom from fear, the freedom to try new things, the freedom to fail and freedom from legalism. Deuteronomy 31:21
• God wants my motives to be pure, not just lip service, attempting to please Him so that I will be blessed. God wants me to follow Him without reservation or hesitation. He wants me to obey Him fully. The consequences of failure to obey are serious. Joshua 7

But wait there’s more! Check back for part 2.

What has God been teaching you?

When I was a full-time member of a church staff I always dreaded the benevolence requests. I didn’t hate them, I just dreaded the uncomfortable feeling that I got. It was caused by my struggles between the commands of scripture and the realities of needing to determine the neediness of the person making the request. We have all been told that most people asking for money from a church just want to buy drugs, or alcohol; or that they don’t really need the money, they are just playing the system. So to combat this churches have come up with elaborate systems to make sure that they don’t get abused. These systems range from the “no cash” policy, to extensive databases that catalog requests. Now I am not saying that those systems and policies are wrong, but I am saying that I am afraid that they breed a form of fear, apathy and spiritual arrogance that is dangerous for the Church and it’s witness. Let me share with you two stories that illustrate my point…

The first story happened just a few days ago and really broke my heart. This is what happens when our attitude towards those less fortunate goes the wrong way.

I was at church early on Sunday afternoon for a Children’s Choir rehearsal. A man who didn’t look like me (or anyone else at church) entered the building and sat down in the sanctuary. At some point someone asked him if he was looking for someone and he said that he was looking for some gas money. My wife heard this and asked if I could help him since she was busy with the kids. I took the man to the office so that I could find a staff member to help him. I knew that the church has policies and resources that I personally don’t have. Since it was early, there was no one on staff at the church. I decided to do something that is contrary to what most churches allow. I gave the man some CASH! That’s right, I handed him $5 and looked him straight in the eyes and said, “You ARE going to buy gas with this, right?” He said yes and left. Now you’ve gotten this far and are wondering why this broke my heart. Here’s why. As he was walking out the door and I was walking down the hall one of our members came in the same door that he exited. She saw me and hollered down the hall to me, “Kenny, do you know that man?” ( I don’t know, but I am pretty sure that he was still within earshot.) The sub-text of her question seemed to say to me (and him?) “what was HE doing here?”, “what did HE want?”. About this same time, another member came down another hall, and asked the lady questioning me if she would walk her granddaughter to the sanctuary because she didn’t want her walking in the church alone after what she had just walked in and seen in the church (she was referring to the man that I had tried to help).

Now before you start making comments about all the reasons that these ladies had to be worried, concerned, etc. Let me say that I totally understand their comments, but, they illustrate a disease that the church suffers from today. This is why this story breaks my heart.

1. The first ladies immediate thought was that the man was an enemy that could not be trusted. I so wish that the first words out of her mouth were something like, “Kenny, did that gentlemen need some help?”
2. The grandmother’s statement was made in front of her granddaughter, it sent two possible messages, one was racial, the other was that people who don’t go to church here may be out to hurt you. So wrong on both counts.
3. I didn’t tell anyone but my wife that I gave the man cash, because I knew that I would what others would say about my breaking the rules!

Here’s the second story.

A pastor friend of mine was in his office one day when a homeless man entered the church office needing some assistance. My friend has told me that he really wasn’t “in the mood” to deal with this man. He was dirty and stinky and my friend had things to do. He knew that he HAD to deal with it but his heart wasn’t really in it. He spoke to the man and then went to get some paperwork. He took his time. When he came back he couldn’t believe what he saw. On the floor beside the man was the pastors secretary, on her knees, with a bucket of water and a wash rag. She had removed the man’s shoes and socks and begun to wash his nasty feet. BAM! There she was, being Jesus to this man. My friend said that he has never been the same. I never will be either.

My point? My point is that we should welcome the uncomfortable feeling that I described in the beginning. That feeling that is a struggle between just tossing money at everyone and being effective stewards of what God has entrusted to us. I gave that man cash because at the time I felt the Holy Spirit leading me in that direction, I decided to be obedient. What I long for is for us to rely more on what the Holy Spirit is leading than what our policies and procedures demand. I want the “least of these” to stir our compassion, not our indignation. I want the Church to become known for love, not for rules. I think that this is what God wants too.

If by some strange chance one of the people in these stories reads this. I am not aiming to judge you or your actions, you simply provide illustration for what I perceive as being a problem with the Church and Christians. It’s not personal.

A few months back I had the awesome privilege of baptizing my youngest daughter. Words cannot express how amazing it is to be able to baptize both of your children. Our church records every baptism and each person that is baptized gets a DVD of their baptism. Here is the video of Sarah’s, I just wanted to share it with the world.

Sarah’s Baptism

It’s been a couple of days since my last post (sounds kinda like confession doesn’t it?).  It has been a wild ride for the last few days.  Just to catch you up here’s a little of what’s been going on.  My wife and I took 37 of our closest Middle School friends to New York for a few days over the weekend.  We have a lot going on a  church this week, my oldest child had her Band Concert yesterday, my wife’s Chorus Concert is Monday,  then there’s all the regular activities that our family is involved in, and on top of all of that we are moving.

That last little bit of info is where the title comes from. We have been experiencing God’s grace in a powerful and mighty way over the past few weeks. Without getting into the details the bottom line is that my wife and I have made some bad decisions both financially and in our marriage (no, nothing like that, just didn’t communicate with each other) and spiritually. As a result of this perfect storm, we lost our home. Upon returning from NYC this past Sunday night we found a notice on our door that we had to be out by this coming Monday. Needless to say, panic set in. Now we knew that this would probably be the case, but we were working on a deal to stay in our house a little longer. That wasn’t to be. You can probably imagine the emotions that we have experienced; anger, confusion, dispair, panic, embarrassment, etc.

Here’s the really neat part. We have prayed. We have spoken with our parent’s and our Pastor. And we have experienced grace in a way that I had never imagined. In other words, “It’s all good.”

Why in the world would I share this on my blog? Well, because of this statement that I received in an email this morning, “We are so sorry that you all are in this “crisis”, but we want you to know that we, too, have made bad decisions; have had to rely on others for help; and have survived, stronger, after all was said and done.”

I believe that God wants us to share our struggles so that He can be glorified. I think that it helps others to know that we are not perfect. As Christians we are really good a putting on masks to hide what is really going on in our lives. I don’t want to wear a mask. I don’t like them, I never have, it is really hard to see out of the little eye holes.

If you are struggling. If you are hurting. If you are confused. If you are questioning God. It is OK. There is hope. There is peace. There is forgiveness.

Our God is a god of love, He loves us and wants the best for us. While there are consequences for mistakes and bad choices it doesn’t change the fact that God still wants the best for us. He still loves us. I have learned to embrace this through this crisis.

I don’t post this for pity, but simply to be obedient to Christ and to share what He is doing in my life. If you desire, please pray for us, this is not over and we want to remain available and obedient to Christ, but sometimes it is tough. If I can pray for you, post a request in the comments.

God is AWESOME!

For the past few weeks my family and I have been going through some pretty heavy stuff. It has been on my mind night and day and has really pushed me into deeper Bible study and prayer, in addition to adding a significant amount of stress to my life. I have not slept very well and my days have been spent in prayer at my desk while I try to get some work done.

Well, this morning was different! I got up and got ready for work without any personal meltdowns. I felt this overwhelming calm about me, I was at peace. I knew that it was in God’s hands.

As I opened my Bible I decided to read from Ezra this morning because yesterday one of my tweeps mentioned how much Ezra had impacted him yesterday. As I read chapter 1 my peace only deepened. I was reminded that God is in control. He works in us and through us in varying ways (I am really resisting saying “God works in mysterious ways.”), but the truth is that God is a mystery and how he works in each of our lives may be different. I am learning to let God out of the box that I have placed Him in. I want to see him work in unexpected ways in my life and in the lives of those around me.

I also decided that I would live out of God’s Grace and not in my self-pity.

How is God working on your life? I want to know!