…and so is the “Merry Christmas” vs. “Happy Holidays” debate. I’ve spelled out my philosophy on the matter over the last couple of years so you won’t have to hear me rehash that.

However, today I was talking with a friend who feels the same way and I came to a conclusion: Thanksgiving is more like Jesus than Christmas is.

Here’s why:

PRESENTS: Christmas is a stressful time of gathering lists, fighting traffic or Amazon shipping, dealing with lines at shops and for what? In the case of children, buying a toy that they’ll be tired of before Christmas break is even over. For adults its buying technology that’ll be outdated by next Christmas or clothes that don’t fit or become outdated in the same time period. Thanksgiving. No presents. No stress. Let’s be honest, Christmas is known more for it’s commercialism than anything else. Thanksgiving has nothing to sell us.

After Jesus’ birth we don’t read about Jesus and presents. We do however read that his first miracle was to help keep a party going. ADVANTAGE: Thanksgiving.

PEOPLE: Christmas is a great time to spend with family. So is Thanksgiving. Christmas can be distracting with the presents. Thanksgiving can be distracting with the tryptophan induced comas. Both are redeemed by having genuine, heart felt discussions and food. Jesus loved spending time with people. In fact, that first miracle mentioned above was turning water into wine so that people could continue their celebration at a wedding. ADVANTAGE: Push

STRESS: Let’s be honest by Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we’re all exhausted. Weeks of running around like mad finally catch up to us and we’re ready to be done. That stress can be apparent on Christmas Day as families rush from place to place to make sure we visit everyone. Thanksgiving the only real stress is whether or not the rolls are burnt on the bottom because someone tried a new baking pan. ADVANTAGE: Thanksgiving.

OVERALL JESUS LEVEL: When most thinking of Christmas, it Jesus and presents or the other way around, presents and Jesus. We think of lights, music, trees, nutcrackers, stop motion programs, the Grinch and a bunch of other feel good things. When we think of Thanksgiving we think of food, friends, and family. In the Gospel stories we don’t read about Jesus buying gifts or needing to impress a group at a white elephant party. We do read story after story of Jesus and his disciples and non-disciples sitting together. Talking. And eating. ADVANTAGE: Thanksgiving.

I would argue that based on what we read about Jesus in the Gospels that Thanksgiving, with its emphasis on spending time with people over food is more like Christ than Christmas.

WINNER: Thanksgiving.

Celebrate Jesus this year by celebrating Thanksgiving. Oops. I’m sorry. Holiday. No not that one. The other one.

Christian music should be setting the trends in creativity since we serve the ultimate Creator and were made by the Creator in His image. Instead, we often follow musical trends…5 years after they’ve come and gone.

Lyrically there generally isn’t anything wrong with many of the songs being written today (except I think they’re phoning it in lyrically when they constantly rhyme “fly/cry/die/I, etc.) but culturally speaking I believe *transparency in songwriting has never been more valued and I feel that it is often missing in Christian music.

*except for pop music. That soulless garbage doesn’t count for anything. I’m looking at you Bieber, Black Eyed Peas, et. all.

I don’t want to suggest that there isn’t good Christian music out there, there is, but you have to hunt for it. Like any genre of music to find the really good stuff you have to go through the bad.

So with that I want to present to you the first New Music Tuesday. A weekly post where I hope to bring you some of the good/great/inspiring music that is out there that reflects God given artistic ability and will hopefully help you worship our Creator.

The first artist and song is from someone who has a new album coming out on 11/1/11 – John Mark McMillan. I was introduced to him several months back and this song “Death in His Grave” has instantly become one of my favorite songs. John Mark fits the description perfectly for  me of creativity, uniqueness, and heart felt, worship filled lyrics.

And that wasn’t even the lowest point.

In 2008 they dared to dream the impossible. 0-16. Our team was so bad that they couldn’t win once. This feat was never done before and will likely never be done again.

In a country where football is king and in a state where we have two great college football teams (I know that’s debatable) it’s no wonder that fans refused to pay the money to go to the games or cared enough to really follow them closely during the last decade. We could get it every Saturday.

But now that the team is on an upswinging (winning 9 straight regular season games going back to last year) we are witnessing one of the most hotly contested issues in sports and I think a story from last night’s MNF game sums it up well.

My wife and I went to the game with a group of church planting friends from across the country. Out seats were in the family section and we were seated by some Chicago Bears fans. They were loud but pretty cool. We had fun going back and forth all night and with only a couple minutes left in the game they decided it was time to go and left with some friendly high fives. They “fans” two rows in front of us weren’t as friendly. All night they hurled incredible well thought out and creative insults like “BEARS SUCK!” and “GO HOME BEARS!” to every Bears fan in the area. Finally, these Bears fans behind us had enough. They shouted back “Don’t talk to me, bro. You’ve been a Lions fan for all of one day.” To which the Lions fans replied “Go home bears!” and started chanting “BEARS SUCK! BEARS SUCK!”.

These Lions fans were being called out as the second worst kind of fan: bandwagon fans. (The worst kind of fan is the guy who likes whatever team is the best that year. To that guy I say “Knock it off. You have no moral character.”)

Then on the way home and to the airport after to drop a friend off talk radio was filled with calls of “real fans” bashing the bandwagon fans.

I don’t know what it is that we find so offensive about the bandwagon fan. For whatever reason, because they haven’t suffered like we have enduring a team when it was terrible we hate these fans and think less of them. We often take every opportunity to remind them how weak their fandom is and how we deserve to be a part of the winning team. But there’s a little story from the Bible that I think fits well here.

There’s a story in Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus tells a parable (a made up story that teaches some truth). He tells a story about an employer who needs some workers and at about 6 AM he heads down to the local unemployment office and hires some help. Later, about noon, he realizes he needs more workers so he heads back down to the unemployment line and hires a few more guys. And then he needs more and hires more just before quitting time. At the end of the day the employer gives everyone the same amount of money for their work. The people who worked all day and most certainly invested the most of themselves were ticked. They didn’t see why they should all get paid the same. That seems to be a legit argument until you hear the employer’s response:

¹³ “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵ Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

As fans we don’t really have the right to complain about who is a fan and who isn’t because the ultimate person who picks (the organization/team) has already determined that they will take anyone as a fan who is willing to spend cash, watch their games, or do anything else that drives up their team revenue.

IN NO WAY was this Scripture written for the purpose of solving the “how do we treat bandwagon fans” debate but I think that it gives us a good idea that it is ok to be a late adopter to a team. They can join the fun too. The more the merrier.

While it may eat you up inside to see people suddenly start wearing your favorite team’s jersey just remember that it doesn’t cheapen what your team has accomplished and it shouldn’t destroy the excitement you feel after suffering with them for so long.

Think of it this way – while everyone celebrates a win those who went through the valleys with the team often enjoy the victories more because they’ve experience the full range of emotion. But don’t be the guy who tells everyone how they’ve been there through the worst of times because nobody likes that guy.

The first 15 days have been unbelievably difficult. Skipping out on all these foods that I love has been hard. There are so many times when I just need a snack and I can’t handle carrots, fruit, or nuts anymore. I just want some string cheese. Or soft pretzels. Or a Snickers. Or a small ham sandwich. Or Pop Tarts. Or something gummy. Or  some chips and cheese dip. Or a big bowl of late night cereal. Or…I think I’ve made my point…

But here’s the funny thing: as brutal as it has been I’ve already started planning my next fast. Crazy, I know but there has been such a connection with God during this time that I’ve not had in some time. I’ve not seen his hand so clearly in my life since I started this church planting journey over two years ago. I’ve not felt this dialed into his will and plan since…ever! It’s an experience that I am desperate to have again and it hasn’t even ended yet.I can now understand better why Jesus relied so much on fasting and why the early church fasted every time a big decision needed to be made.

The intimacy is beautiful.

The clarity is awe inspiring.

Typically, I’ve had trouble in the past trying to figure out when I pray whether I am praying for the right things or if I am being entirely too selfish. Since this fast has started I have prayed with a confidence that I was praying for God things and not things for me.

I’d love to go into a full on teaching on this point, but I am exhausted. It’s been a long day and a fantastic one, but more work calls tonight. Until tomorrow…

The “I’ll pray for you” line – a lot of times this is just church speak for “That sucks. Hope it works out for ya.” This can happen a lot in person but is also really common now in the world of social media. But there is another, more subtle way that I think we rob each other in prayer.What about the times that we say “I’ll pray for you” and mean it? We go home and pray for them. Seems good, doesn’t it? But I think one of the great blessings in prayer is to hear someone pray for you. It’s cool to know someone is praying, but it is often incredibly beautiful and powerful when you actually get to listen in as someone talks to God on your behalf.

Most Christians believe in the power of prayer but feel dumb doing it in front of others. I’m going to be blunt here and say that this is an incredibly selfish stance. It is making prayer more about you and your comfort than the person’s need.

Here’s how I believe we combat this: whenever someone shares a need with you for prayer, pray right then and right there. Why wait? If you’re like me, you’ve got enough going on that you may forget to pray later. So do it right away. And get used to praying online or via text. We live in a world where texting, Facebook, and Twitter are primary forms of communicating. It may feel weird at first, but you’ll get used to it. I text pray with and for my friends a lot.

If we make praying for someone right away, with them instead of just for them then we get the practice and we give them an incredible gift of letting them be a part of our conversation with God on their behalf.

It happened the next day on the way to school. Then again after school.

Ok, maybe my temper was a little off. But that’s to be expected, right?The next morning while I tried to study the Scriptures all I could think of was how I was becoming so easily frustrated. The purpose of the fast is to draw closer to God and act more like Jesus and if I was less like Jesus to my kids then I was failing. I realized that food, not love, might very well have been a coping mechanism for dealing with the difficulty of raising three boys who ALL act exactly like I did as a child.

Now my goal has become simple and the fast has taught me yet another thing: to better understand my physical discomfort and lean into it’s spiritual effects. Instead of allowing it to get me down, I will use it to draw closer to God.

Father, help me to run to you in my struggles and act more like Jesus instead of running away and sinning instead. Amen.

Whoever said fasting gets easier is either a liar or I am weak and rely on food way too much. Through 11 days I don’t think the temptation is any less but I do believe I’m just better at saying “no” to food. All weekend I seemed to have been tempted by food. It didn’t help that on day 9 we discovered anything with yeast is a big “no-no” so there goes our whole grain bread. I’ll miss you FL-T sandwich (facon, lettuce, minus tomato).

Last night we had a launch team gathering for the Pursuit and I was blown away by my church. When I say “my” I don’t mean it as “I own this church” but “I am proud to be a part of this church.” One of the members on our team is a teacher in Detroit who was given incredibly difficult circumstances to teach in. She wasn’t given enough desks or chairs for her second graders. During the first few days several kids had to stand at their desks. She was basically given an empty room. No supplies. No teaching tools. Just a room and a roster. And then there’s the kids…Several of the kids don’t have back packs but that’s the least of the worries. The school does have free breakfast and lunch for the kids but many of them hoard the food to take home to their younger siblings. One child had a stomach, when asked if she wanted to call home she said no because she felt better taken care of at school. Another child received a hug from her teacher and told our friend “that’s the first hug I’ve gotten in 2 years.”

Our church was moved and many were either in tears or near them as she told the story but instead of saying “how sad” to a person they said “how do we fix this? How can we be Jesus to these kids?” We’ve got an idea as to what that looks like and are really praying and exploring how we can help at least this class of kids.

Other weekend highlights:

- 7 football games this weekend. 3 Riverview Pirate games on Saturday and 2 flag games on Sunday. Good weekend for that!

- We had a going away party for my best friend and his wife. God has called them to move to Georgia and they leave this weekend. It hurt, really bad. This was a God given friendship that I cherish very much. Sure it may not seem manly to admit such a close friendship, but God clearly brought this couple into our lives for a reason and we’ll always be thankful for that.

- My oldest son turns 10 on the 17th. We sat down last night to watch some 9/11 documentary because he’s ready to know more about it. His teacher at school has done an excellent job educating him on this already, but it was sobering to sit together and watch. It was really painful to watch the fascinating documentary and it made it feel fresh. Looking back 10 years we can really see how that event has changed the world forever.

Carrie and I watched the memorial yesterday morning and it was powerful too. We were impressed that God was such a present subject in the service but as someone observantly pointed out last night, God’s name was there but Jesus was absent, at least as far as the politicians were concerned. Still, hearing President Obama read the 46th Psalm was moving.

So there. *Zombies are biblical.

Let’s do this…

(more after the break including my current top 5 zombie related things)

*They’re not. It’s a joke.

I’ve been reading the Gospel of John during the fast and I spent some time the other day in John 6 which features a really difficult teaching by Jesus starting at verse 22. Jesus talks a bit about people “eating his flesh and drinking his blood.” See, yet another zombie connection! Alright, fine. Jesus Juke total: 2

But is he really talking about cannibalism?

When Jesus taught he often used physical things and realities to explain spiritual truths, things, and realities. In this case when we back up just a little (to the beginning of John 6) we saw that Jesus did a miracle involving food. The people that Jesus was speaking too were also very familiar with the story of Moses and the children of Israel who were starving for food and God provided. Then they did it again. So the people were really familiar with the idea of hunger and bread.

Jesus in this story in John 6 is talking of a different hunger. A spiritual hunger.

Most of us have some kind of internal hunger or longing but we can’t figure out what it is so we try to fill the void. Sometimes it is good things that we fill it with: family, friends, hobbies, sports, and other things that aren’t really destructive by nature. Other times we try to satisfy that hunger with something that is very destructive: drugs, pornography, casual sex and other things like that.

Whether good or bad for us most of those things may leave us feeling full for awhile but eventually we need more. Time with friends and family again. Another high. More pornography. No matter how much we fill or stuff ourselves with these things we’ll eventually lose that feeling it gives us and starve for it again.

That’s why Jesus refers to himself as “the bread of life” and invites people to “eat his flesh” and “drink his blood.” The meaning is not to be zombies who enjoy flesh and brain tacos, but that when people believe in him (especially his death for the sins of all people) then the very deepest hunger of the soul (the desire to know God) can and will be filled.

With that, I invite you to enjoy my top 5 zombie related things.

WARNING: Some of these videos contain graphic images. Viewer discretion is advised.

#5. Ahhh!!! Zombies – This movie is bad, but it is bad on purpose. That makes it good. It’s more of a zombie comedy then anything else, but it should be required viewing for any modern zombie fan. Currently available for streaming on Netflix (movie NR).

#4. Left 4 Dead 2 – The first game from Valve was a fantastic zombie shoot-em-up, but the second included great new multiplayer modes, dual wielding pistols, and melee weapons. The game is rated “M”.

#3. Resident Evil 2 – It was the 90′s. Zombies still shambled and never ran. The acting in zombie movies was ALWAYS terrible. Out of that time came the ultimate video game zombie experience. Man, I loved this game…

#2. The Walking Dead – after Lost ended there hasn’t been a single show that I’m interested in on TV. Enter the Walking Dead on AMC. It’s a zombie show about the characters in a zombie world. The narrative drives the show. How good is the narrative? Good enough that even my zombie-neutral wife enjoys it with me. WIN. Season 1 was only 6 episodes and Season 2 starts this October – plenty of time to get caught up.

(This and #1 are more like 1a. and 1b.)

#1. Shaun of the Dead - In my opinion this is the most complete zombie movie ever made. It’s funny (Simon Pegg is a genius actor), has heart, and has plenty of the undead. Shaun of the Dead is rated “R”

The whole purpose of fasting was to break the routine of gorging myself and running through life as fast as my fast food anchored body could go. But here’s what I noticed today:

I broke one bad routine only to replace it with another.

And it only took 8 days.

Routines by nature can be good or bad. Routines help us maximize productivity but things go terribly wrong when we forget why we started the routine.

Example: think of how many people start out with good intentions like providing for their family. They work hard and long hours and get a promotion. Then they get to work harder and longer hours. They get another promotion and increase the work cycle. Eventually work starts coming home with them. At that point the line between family and work gets blurred. The family that they were working so hard to support disappears behind the routine. The relationship with the spouse suffers and the kids become a nuisance, not a blessing.

What I say next may surprise you. As a pastor I was in a routine of trying to help everyone else’s spiritual life at the expense of my own. Even though my passion and vocation both revolve around a relationship with Jesus (a unique harmony that may eventually get its own post) it is easy to neglect my own relationship with God. Since the passion and vocation challenge is new to me I wanted to break the routine of giving God my emotional left overs. I wanted him to have my first time and best time.

Initially, the fast did a great job of breaking that mentality and giving my relationship with Christ a real boost.

But what I’ve done is take the fast, gotten used to it, and work it into the old routine. The hunger pangs aren’t as bad, missing the food is less frequent (though more intense), and that makes it more manageable.

What we can manage can quickly become a routine.

When I first started my routine was wrecked and I had to rely on God. The constant hunger and desire forced me to beg God for his presence and grace to help me through it. Now that I can manage that on my own my mind is moving on.

Thankfully, I’m not alone in this. The children of Israel in the Old Testament seemed to have a really serious habit of this good routine/bad routine thing. God established ways for them to worship and they’d follow for awhile with their hearts. Soon, they’d keep doing the routine but their hearts weren’t in it. Then they’d get themselves in trouble, God would rescue, they’d remember “Hey, remember that thing we used to do with God? I miss that.”, they’d go back to the old practices which soon would become routines again.

In the story of the Israelites lies the secret as to why and when a routine works. The heart.

The routine is never the goal.

The heart is.

Working to provide for the family isn’t the point. The family is.

Doing the rituals given aren’t the point. The ritual giver is.
And the fast definitely isn’t the point but the giving of my heart to extended devotion to the God of this fast is.

Father, forgive me for making the fast into a bad routine. Help me to focus again on our relationship. Take my heart. Amen.

*Side note: tried some Morning Star meatless bacon with lettuce on whole grain bread and it was GOOD! So good…I had two.

Also, we had Organic popcorn and I got chills it was so good.

1. I took the 2 younger boys to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch to celebrate the first day of school. They tore up their lunch while I picked at a salad. Really. Who goes to BW2′s and orders an Asian Chicken salad sans chicken?

2. I realize that while the cravings are far less frequent they are infinitely more intense. I hope that this eventually starts to pass too.

3. I wish I hadn’t waited until planting this church to get to know my aunt better. I had a really good time hanging with her and my uncle for a bit tonight.

I apologize for the brevity, but I really have to get rocking on some other things.

Until tomorrow…