shipwrecked

i've moved to tumblr

2010-07-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

sorry if you're been waiting for updates here. I have moved to tumblr, and you can find me there at

b-larson.tumblr.com

if you would still prefer to see posts on here, drop me an email and i'll do my best to double-post them here as well.

God's peace be yours,
Brandon

wake the dead

2009-10-23T12:51:00.001-07:00

I realize I haven't posted on here since may. I think about it from time to time, but I'd rather not waste your time by writing things of the mundane. Lately I've been facing a lot of new challenges in life, for one I've started my studies with Concordia Seminary St. Louis through a new distance-ed program. Its been thrilling so far, and I am honestly enjoying the coursework and discussion, probably a first in my academic life. The nature of this program is to serve the first 2 years as a Vicar, or Pastor Intern, and 2 following years as an ordained pastor while still continuing course work. These two items, the classes and the vicarage, take up huge amounts of time throughout my week. But life is good.
Braveheart has also been concentrating a lot of effort on the Las Vegas area in recent months, and although its an uphill battle to minister to some of the local kids up there, its been fairly rewarding to see the inroads the Gospel is making through these events.

All in all, my life is busier than ever, but it many ways has been very good. Many friends are dealing with some tough situations these days, and I'm trying my best to be there for them. I don't quite have the social life that I would like to have, but that's to be expected I guess.
As a word to some of my friends that may be reading this, if you need something, please don't hesitate to call me. I may be busy, but never too busy for you.

I hope this message finds you in good spirits and health. I realize there may not be another post any time soon, and I guess I'm ok with that. You can find my message for this sunday at St. John on our website, www.stjohnbhc.org under the resources section.

God's blessings,
Brandon

sensory overload

2009-05-08T16:42:00.001-07:00

It is no secret that in our world today, we are subjected to countless influences from every which direction, influences that utilize all 5 of our senses, influences that we have become addicted to. I have heard many people describe this as a “sensory overload”. Have you ever sat down to write a paper, or do some other kind of homework or study something, and wondered why it is you find it hard to focus? At one point in time I was struggling on some college homework a few years back and realized that I just had too many things going on. In the background was itunes, playing some music that I thought might help me concentrate or stimulate my work, my roommate was watching tv, and close enough and loud enough that I found myself even being able to follow along with the story line, even though I wasn’t completely trying to “pay attention” to it. I had multiple active I.M windows open and was text messaging off and on in between. And on top of that I had an ice cold coke cracked open with some Doritos on the side. I soon realized why it was that I couldn’t focus.

Many people in American culture today are not only suffering from this “sensory overload”, but we become addicted to it. We have ipods, smartphones, laptops, and tv’s to provide us with what we deem to be the necessary stimulation to “stay connected”. Yet so many of us these days suffer from the most intense feelings of disconnection in the history of the human experience. The traditional family unit has all but vanished from the forefront of culture, more emphasis than ever has been placed on individualism, and people have more outlets for expression than ever before. Yet for some reason, we still feel empty, we feel lonely, and our strivings for connection and success leave us feeling anything but successful or connected.

There is a well-known psalm from the Hebrew bible that leaves a very lasting impression. The author of Psalm 46 writes, “Be still, and know that I am God.” You’ve probably heard this verse before. Its pretty common in Christian music, t-shirts, bumper stickers, and all things marketable. But sometimes we have to dig in a little deeper to get the point.

The phrase “be still” is derived from the word “RAPHAH” which in many cases throughout the Hebrew scripture means to be weak, slack, or even dropping something. It is a word that implies a sense of defeat in regards to personal efforts and striving. In fact, this verse could be translated, “stop your futile striving, let go of your efforts, give up on trying to make something of yourself, and know that I AM GOD, not you”

In a culture that is fueled by information-on-demand, and the striving to make one’s voice heard, a lot could be gained by this idea of “raphah and know that I am God”. Have you considered the weight and value of silence? Have you been seeking for years to hear what it is that God wants to tell you concerning your life? Sometimes in order to hear that still, small voice through which God is speaking to us, we have to put everything else on mute for a while. Stop talking. Stop clogging your ears with headphones. Stop acting like the unread text message in your inbox is a matter of life and death. Because the message that God has for you IS a matter of life and death. It is a matter of dying to yourself, and a matter of God blessing you with the life that He has to offer, a life of purpose and value, a life without end. After all, the Bible tells us that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the Word of God”. Are you hearing His message for you? But more importantly, are you listening?

May you be filled with the message of everlasting life that is being spoken to you by the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. May that message be amplified by you for all to hear. And may that message drown out the barrage of other voices that keep you from Him. Amen.

a new commandment

2009-04-10T15:49:00.000-07:00

hello everyone,

its been over a month since i posted on here. not because of a lack of things to say, but because of a lack of time to type them.

Hope this blog finds you in good health and spirits, if not, i hope it finds you in the hope that we have in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Today is the day where people in the western tradition of Christianity remember, mourn, and celebrate the death of Jesus Christ, 3 days before his triumphant resurrection. If you haven't read through the narratives written about this week in church history, they appear in all 4 of the gospels. i suggest taking another look at John's perspective this year.

In doing some reading in preparation for our Good Friday services, I've come across some encouraging words of wisdom in John's gospel, not only from the account of Friday's events, but the previous night, known as Maundy Thursday.

What Maundy? This term is rooted in the fact that on the same night he was betrayed, Jesus gave and demonstrated a new commandment to his followers. He says, "a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you."

usually, skimming over this in english, i think to myself, "oh yeah, its important that we love each other". Every christian that reads this probably does. but to get into the heart of the text, i studied this passage in the original greek in which it was written.

Jesus says, "αγαπατε αλλελουσ"

"agapate allelous"

Love one another.

but what kind of love does "agape" mean? you probably learned in any history or literature class when talking about greek mythology and literature, that the greek language contains 3 different words for love. Eros, for romantic love, like the love between husband and wife, Philos, like the love between brothers and close friends, and Agape.

Agape is a whole different idea all together. Agape in greek mythology usually translates into something like the love of mankind, but in the Christian faith, agape takes on a whole other meaning.

In the new testament, Agape is a self-sacrificial, completely unconditional love that would only be possible by God. After all, is anyone else's love really unconditional? or can love from an ordinary, sinful human being ever be completely sacrificial?

in this passage, John describes not just an idea or some kind of relational qualifier, but instead a radical life change in which Jesus' followers are called to pour out their entire existence into a concept that is so important to God, that he would come to earth to demonstrate it. In this same evening where Jesus gives this commandment, he shows it by washing his disciples' feet, a task usually reserved for the lowliest of slaves and servants. after all, people walking around towns with no plumbing system or public works department cleaning up after all the animals, would have feet covered in sewage, animal waste, and any other kind of disgusting things on the ground. It is this kind of service which truly demonstrates the idea of Agape, where the king of kings, lord of lords, God Almighty of the Universe, would stoop down and serve the lowliest task, even to the ones who would later betray, deny, and flee from his side at his darkest hour.

And then in an event that the disciples would not yet understand, Jesus offers up his entire life to them in the bread and wine of the passover feast. As he said he had come not to nullify the law, but to fulfill it, Jesus shows the disciples that He is the fulfillment of the Passover lamb, whose blood would spare those marked with it from God's wrath and justice. He pours out himself as the blood of the covenant made with Moses, Abraham, and the people of Israel throughout history. He offers up even his very body unto death, to give his sinless life as the only acceptable sacrifice to atone for the sin of the entire world.

Agape for Jesus is not a noun, it is a verb, in which the love of the Father is the fuel for which we too can offer up our lives. We love, because He loved first. We give, because He gave first.

He later says on that same evening, "Greater love knows no more than this, that a man would give up his life for his friends."

That greater love, is Agape.

That life, was His.

Those friends, are us.

Amen.

"may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds steadfast in our Saviour Jesus Christ."

reflections from my 9-month-old Goddaughter

2009-03-05T22:50:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow my Goddaughter Anabella Grace will be 9 months old. I couldn't be more blessed to have this kid in my life. She has taught me some amazing things, some of which I will briefly enumerate following (not in too much detail, because I think this one could turn into a book, at least as she continues to grow up).

1)Bella has taught me the nature of faith.
When God talks about that "from the mouth of babes" truth springs forth, he was not kidding. Bella doesn't technically "talk" at this point but her very existence exudes the nature of living by faith. From the time she awakes to the time she goes to sleep for the night, she is completely confident that her parents will take care of her in every way shape and form. Completely trusting in the will and abilities of her loving Father (and loving Mother).

Why is it then, that we forget to view the relationship we have with our loving Father in Heaven the same way? Jesus says, "how many of you parents will give your children a snake when they ask for bread? if you being evil provide for your children, how much more will your loving father in heaven provide for you?" seriously. Bella's parents (who are very dear friends of mine) are not perfect and don't claim to be, but they still do what is best for her, and she does not doubt this fact at all. God Almighty IS perfect, yet we doubt his ability or willingness to provide for us?

2) Bella has taught me the nature of grace.
Jesus says, "Let the little children come to me", little children meaning babes still nursing, were drawn to Jesus. "If anyone does not accept the kingdom of heaven as a little child, they shall by no means enter it." Now for those of you who might be confused into thinking that I believe Jesus practiced some form of age discrimination, that is not the case here. And I've read those verses countless times before, and thought that I understood them, but until you finally realize how strong that statement is, and see it fulfilled in a little child, it doesn't quite stick the same way.
Apart from being cute, a baby, especially in Jesus' day, had absolutely no value, was completely helpless, and hopeless, and contributed nothing to society. 1st century Jews saw babies as about as valuable as they did women, maybe even less so: property (at best). The kingdom of heaven, they all believed, would belong to the Men of Israel, Born of the correct tribes, Lived the purest life, kept the law perfectly. Went through all the motions just right. A baby could do nothing to earn the favor of the Great "I AM". Yet Jesus appears on the scene and once again abolishes another state of man-made religion. Accept the kingdom of heaven like a little baby? Why? It did not make any sense.
So how has my 9 month old Goddaughter taught me about grace? Simply by showing up in this world and being loved by the ones that brought her into it, for being who she is, and for accepting love which she did not earn. As the adage goes, "grace is getting what we don't deserve, and mercy is not getting what we do deserve". Bella has both grace and mercy from her earthly parents and her father in Heaven. I had the tremendous privilege to conduct her baptism and serve as a sponsor back in november. Now, I know that most reformed Christians see baptism only as an ordinance, something that we "choose" to do when we have come to faith, but I see it quite the opposite way in scripture. Many reformed theologians will maintain that baptism does not convey salvation to the recipient, but I have to disagree based on viewing it with a different lens. If we are to receive the kingdom of God as a little child would, why would we choose to make the decision to follow Christ to begin with? Does a little child choose to be loved by her father? Is God's grace something that we would allow our children to grow up without? If you make your kids go to school, make your kids eat properly ( to a point), make your kids clean their room, why would you allow them to choose to live their lives without the love of Jesus covering them (if they should so happen to choose)? Is not grace transmitted by a means? Before I dig myself into a longer and longer defense of infant baptism, I just want you to see that what I'm getting at here is that we do not choose to follow Jesus, nor do we choose to be washed in the water of baptism, we believe because He first chose us. Anabella's parents loved her unconditionally from even before the very moment she was born. Your father in heaven has loved you since before the foundation of the world. In fact, he even sent his Son to die in your place, long before you had any interest in being a part of His kingdom.

3) Bella is being fathered toward maturity
Another great lesson that I have learned from the life of this child is that, while parents love their children and want them to enjoy their life, a life free of suffering or sorrow, ultimately they are being guided toward maturity through their parenting. A parent that isn't trying to lead their child toward maturity, is more of a glorified friend. Do we look at our God that way? Is God just another buddy of ours? Or maybe a genie with a magic lamp that we can rub to get our wishes? Is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob safe enough to reduce to a cosmic pizza guy, bringing us what we've asked for in 30 minutes or less? Do you remember growing up as a kid (or maybe even more recently than that) and thinking that something you were made to do or not do by your parents was "unfair" or that they just "didn't understand"? Looking back you can probably tell that they were just trying to guide you in your path to become a complete human being, to break free of the immature attitudes that would keep you from becoming who you were meant to be. Sometimes people think that God isn't answering them because they didn't get what they asked for. Sometimes this even causes people to walk away from their faith (whatever kind of faith that was to begin with). Is prayer just an ATM for the First National Bank of God? Sadly, for many Americans, the answer turns out to be "No". God is not interested in making sure that you are living your "best life now" or "becoming a better you". "you" sucks. If you was even remotely salvagable by your own good behavior, then Christ died for nothing. Instead, through his Death and Resurrection, Christ has begun shaping you into a "brand new creation", not just an improved version of the old crappy one. How does He do this? It started on the Cross 2000 years ago on a friday in Jerusalem. It will be completed on whatever glorious day He comes back. In between now and then, God our Father is fathering you toward maturity. It doesn't always feel that comfortable, because if it was only comfort you were seeking, you would never grow. There is an old saying that goes something like "without great sacrifice there can be no great victory." (President Woodrow Wilson) Well, The greatest sacrifice ever made came at no cost to you whatsoever, and the greatest victory is yours to share. but in regards to being fathered towards maturity, what we in Lutheran circles refer to as sanctification or "active righteousness", the sacrifce needed for growth, is everything. Just like at the end of "the hokey pokey" it must lead to this: you put your whole self in. God's choices for us are not always easy, but they are certainly always what's best. Take for example the book of Job, once of the first written texts of the old testament, believed to be THE first written (chronologically speaking, before the Torah). Job, (not as in working, but as in J-oh-buh) had everything, the favor of the Lord, extreme wealth, nice family, and respect. Job's religious system so far had really paid off for him, he did the right stuff, and God hooked him up. But then satan declares to God that Job only loves God because he gave him stuff. Satan proceeds to take it all away, but Job remains faithful. He literally loses everything, his wealth, his family, his health. But Job remains faithful to God, even through arguing and yelling and crying out to God, his faith remained. The Job at the beginnning of the story is a different man than the Job at the end. The Job at the beginning had great faith in the religious system that had so richly blessed him, the Job at the end had grown to have faith in God, not just in the system. And God restored him. Job learned to let go of trying to please God with his actions and just soak up and enjoy the fact that God loves him, simply because he is God's child. Bella in all her infinite 9-month old wisdom enjoys God in the same way; completely by grace. Thats even her middle name. her first name is a combination of two words meaning "new" and "beauty". very fitting for this child who was born into such a tumultous broken world. Bella accepts God's grace because she has no means of earning his favor anyway. And God loves Bella because she is His child. In fact, He loves her to death, even death on a cross. We, my friends are in the same boat, but we sometimes have a tougher time surrendering to the fact that God's got it; in every need that we have. a need for growth and maturity, a need for house and home, and most of all, a need for a Savior.

Amen.

-BL

Pancakes and Bloodbaths

2009-02-24T20:36:00.000-08:00

blessings on you and yours during this lenten season.

now, if you're from a church of liturgical traditions, you won't be asking yourself the question, "what is a lenten season?"

the season of lent, a season leading up to the Passion Week & Resurrection of Christ on the Church calendar. A season of prayer and repentance. A season that begins tomorrow with the observance of Ash Wednesday.

all very "catholic" sounding terms. and if by catholic, you mean 'universal', then yes, quite catholic.

Today, I-hop gave away free pancakes. And churches all over the world had pancake suppers in celebration before the beginning of Lent tomorrow. St John Ev. Lutheran Church of the Valley, was one of these churches. Traditionally speaking, today is usually referred to as Fat Tuesday (mardi gras) in the French tradition or Shrove Tuesday in the English tradition, or as the Lutherans call it, Fastnacht. All of them are a final celebration before Lent begins, and a chance to use up all of the goodies that many people abstain from during Lent. It takes a whole lot of eggs to make pancakes, and what a great way to use up all the existing eggs and bacon and sausage before lent. Historically, eggs were given up during lent so that they would all end up hatching around the same time as Easter sunday, how cute. A great symbol of new life and new birth, whitch is what we obtain in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Maybe easter eggs are supposed to hatch, not get hard-boiled?

I know many people among evangelical churches aren't very keen on the whole idea of the church calendar, and especially lent. I think that the roman catholic church has given a pretty bad taste of what the whole season is all about. Being forced to "give something up" for lent is admittedly a stupid idea. But taking the season as a chance to prepare for the remembrance of Christ's resurrection, and to reflect and repent, then the season becomes a tremendous blessing. God doesn't need you to give up on something for 40 days or fast for the sake of fasting. Check out Matthew 6 on this subject. If you're fasting, as Jesus says keep it to yourself. If you use lent as a chance to fast one day a week, or one meal a day and then give the money you've saved to help feed the needy, don't tell anyone, just do it.

religious ritualism is something that really don't carry a lot of clout in this day and age. Don't bother going through the motions, it really gets you nowhere. One thing that does get you some where, is the pass to heaven that Jesus paid for with his own blood. The washing that you've received only as gift from him. This Holy bloodbath that washes us clean. Take the next 46 days to reflect on that. (lent is 40 days, but sundays in lent are not sundays of lent, because every sunday is a mini-easter, a celebration of the Risen Lord) If there is something in your daily life that if it were removed could bring you closer to his love, then cut it out. It sounds overly simple in these terms, but there is really nothing sweeter than Christ's love for us.

So, I hope you enjoyed your pancakes, and I'm sure you'll enjoy your bloodbath too.

-BL

treasures old and new

2009-02-16T23:25:00.000-08:00

Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Its been a fairly decent amount of time since I've updated this blog, and not without good reason. so not to serve as an excuse but rather a cut to the chase on filling your inquisitive minds in on where I've been, here it goes:

1) Two braveheart shows last weekend, one thursday night in kingman and one friday night in Tempe. And as if I weren't already busy enough, the thorn in my flesh that has me ever mindful of my own mortality and weakness recurred for the first time since july. that brings us to number

2) minor but quite frustrating epileptic episode thursday night after the show. Apparently stress levels can affect dosages of prescription medications and considering that the last couple of months has been extremely hectic for me, its not a wonder that my dilantin levels dropped below theraputic level, which can actually trigger seizures in itself without other causes. So my tongue is bruised and bitten and my muscles are a bit like jello but I'm doing ok. I am not going to point at God and blame him for "teaching me a lesson" or anything like that in which we pass the buck but I will say that its a great reminder that I have to take better care of myself and keep my stress level down. I'm not invincible.

3) Wednesday night I read Donald Miller's "Blue Like Jazz" in one sitting. I enjoyed as much as I have the rest of his books so far, Searching for God Knows What and Through Painted Deserts. Isaac found a bargain bin copy of To Own A Dragon for me at Hastings tonight so I'm gonna check that out soon. Don's got some great insights into Christian spirituality, something that is sometimes greatly lacking in Lutheran circles, probably due to German and Scandinavian culture as much as any kind of theological hang-ups.

I guess really this brings me to some major soul searching I've been going through for the past couple of years. I don't want to be considered on the "fringe" of Christian thought, but I'm no longer content to live my day-to-day life in the complacent religious climate of many fundamentalist and mainline denominations. Its not that I doubt any parts of scripture as being correct or valid, but I sometimes feel that we become all too comfortable reducing our ideas of God to the length width and breadth of our understanding. I feel that God is so much bigger and so much newer than any of our ideas.I feel that sometimes the yoke of traditionalism is a temptation we too willingly yield to; we yearn for comfort, for familiarity, for consitency, and for a relationship with the means of our worship rather than the object of our worship. Its been said that "tradition is the democracy of the dead". But what does that make traditionalism, or "tradition for the sake of tradition"? That would place traditionalism as the tyranny of the dead. As Christians, we have an extremely rich religious and spiritual heritage to draw from, beginning with the Torah and leading all the way to the present age. And to give voice to that heritage is the very nature of tradition. Our faith is one that unifies across time and space, a confession of the firm foundation on which our hopes are built. This really is a beautiful thing. As expressed in the musical Fiddler on the Roof, "Without our traditions, we would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof."
I understand and enjoy the firm connection I feel to Christians throughout the ages in the divine liturgy, the Work of the People, λιτυργια. I also believe that the destruction of the liturgy by many of the Reformed groups was a bold case of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. The fear of "all things Catholic" led many subsequent reformers to completely abandon a timeless heritage of dialogue with the Almighty that is just now being rediscovered by so many evangelicals. The loss of the concept of "divine service" by so many reformed groups, in my opinon has led to the rise especially in western Christianity of what I call "consumer churches". Rather than an environment for people to dialogue and experience the love and respond to the love of the Almighty God, we have reduced participation in churches for many people as the very same call letters of America's favorite radio station: WIIFM (what's in it for me?)

The Liturgy: A timeless confession of a timeless God. Grace is prounounced, hearts kneel in repentance; Forgiveness is granted. Christ offers up his very body and blood for the healing and restoration of our souls. The Divine Service is a very beautiful collision. But what does it mean for our God to be timeless? We have aged and moved towards death in our sins, but he is both the Ancient of Days, and the one who makes All Things New. He is the very embodiment of newness because from Him all new life springs forth. 2 Cor. 5:17 "If anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation". From time to time, God blasts me with wisdom from unexpected places. One day I was reading the back of a cup at Chipotle Mexican Grill and their tidbits of insight and there was a quote from someone, (I can't exactly remember who but I think it was a botanist) who said "If your life's work can be accomplished in your lifetime, you are thinking too small." It got me really wondering about how we "do church" and even how we view God. A God that can fit into our understanding is not really much of a God at all, but more of a storybook character or fable. The Almighty God of the Universe, Alpha and Omega, cannot and will not ever be explained fully by human voice. Sure, He grants us what we need to know about Him through His word, through the revealed will of God, but there is so much left unknown, incomprehensible that if we really even came close to grasping, we would probably explode. Moses saw the very backside of God and came back glowing a blinding white. I can't even imagine what it would have been like with Adam walking side by side with God in the garden of eden, the sheer power and illumination that had to be there at that time, it would be mind-blowing, life-changing.

Now you might be starting down this path with me in your mind, thinking about God in such immense terms that you will soon run headlong into the frustration I was previously venting. If our view of God is inadequately small, then what about of view and practice of how we live our lives as the church? What about our worship service? If we really expected the Gospel of Christ to be as life-changing as we say it is, wouldn't we act differently? Would a relationship with that Jesus, the big one, allow us to continue in our complacent slumpy and dumpy church choirs and drudgerious hymnody? Its just something I've really been pondering lately, about our art and about our preaching being an outpouring of what our love life with Jesus is really like. We have a very deep well of traditions and heritage to draw from when it comes to expressing the message of Christ in a worship setting. In fact its thousands of years worth. But to stick to the old stuff not because it will draw people closer to their Savior but because there is a comfort in ritual, because people are creatures of habit, because new ideas are threatening, that starts to fall into the idolotry of the past. Our Lord doesn't call us to be comfortable in our worship settings; He calls us to proclaim his message of salvation. He doesn't call us to build church buildings; He calls us to build up (edify) the Church. When we examine the Acts Church, we see that they "grew in the favor of all the people, and the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved". So what is it that we become so fearful of when it comes to "growing in the favor of all the people"? Are we afraid to relinquish our control over the church, are we afraid that these "oustsiders" will take over and the message will be lost? We need to have more faith in the One Whose message it is we are preaching.

You've heard my frustrations, and I don't know if I've come across the answer yet. Maybe there is no answer. I'm a firm believer in the fact that much of life exists in a tension between two forces, especially in the Lutheran understanding. I guess this is no difference, what some people are quick to label "worship wars" shouldn't in fact be a war at all as much of a struggle on both sides to be good stewards of all the resources and heritage God has so graciously poured out on His Church. I've been saying this all along, that the answer to our worship problems is not completely abandon our past nor is it to forsake the art of the present day, but to seek the Living God in our daily lives in a way that communicates the Gospel on every front that we can present it; to live as the Romans 12 Living Sacrifice we were meant to be.

What this means to you: If you're a non-denom or other reformed group, look into some ideas that have been forsaken by alot of modern evangelicals like the Church Calendar, Lectionary, Liturgy & liturgical patterns or structure, responsive readings, etc. A lot of these "old" ideas are very relevant in this day and age, especially ideas of seasons of expectance and preparation (advent) or seasons of penitance (lent). Look into aspects of worship that are more experiential, like The Lord's Supper on a more regular basis.

If you're a Lutheran: don't toss the page 5 service in the toilet and replace your 11:00 a.m worship service with a wannabe Chris Tomlin concert only with a Lutheran sermon as an intermission. Find ways to communicate existing liturgical pieces or find songs that can form a liturgical structure and format in which to maintain a Lutheran service that is interesting without compromising any of the "meat" of a Lutheran service. Lutherans are radically Christocentric compared to most denominations, so using alot of the popular "praise" songs is going to leave most of your congregation lacking some of the "blood" of Lutheran worship. We are a 2nd Article church and our worship services and leaders shouldn't be ashamed to show it. IN FACT a lot of what the current climate regarding christianity is showing, is that people are much more open to hearing about Jesus and growing closer to Jesus than they are open to getting involved in a "religion". Any time your worship drifts toward the 1st Article of the creed, (i.e. "Father God" prayers, songs only about God the Father etc.) The Worship service generally has departed from the message of Grace and has drifted towards a very Law-oriented setting. Remember our Law and Gospel test, Law=You Do, Gospel=God Did. "Praising God" may bring alot of satisfaction to some people, but it still lies in the realm of our actions, which of course is Law and not Gospel. This shouldn't be construed to the fact that I am saying that people shouldn't have the opportunity to respond to the message of salvation in the worship service, but what I am saying is that our actions should not be the focus of the worship gathering. Remember, Lutheranism is very Blood, very Grace, very Jesus when it comes to the focus. If you're a Lutheran, for Christ's sake, be a Lutheran (no swearing intended). Being Lutheran by no means means that we worship Luther, but instead we are a church of people who not only believed in a reformation nearly 500 years ago, but that we are to be a Living Reformation in which our lives and churches are constantly in a state of being reshaped by the Gospel. If the Reformation ended in the 17th Century, then we are wasting our time. Instead, as the Good Lord is "making all things new", then we too are undergoing that process.

Thanks for bearing with me in this first of many expositions on the subject, check back for more later on. Always remember, despite our personal opinions or preferences, The Word of the Lord is what endures forever. It is He that changes lives, not our bands or sermons or slideshows. All of these things are but tools in the hands of the Master Craftsman.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Brandon

get something to say

2009-02-07T10:34:00.000-08:00

not that I would consider the past days a dry spell, but my lack of updates reflects a deeper sense of trying to monitor and value the quality of my words. Plus, I've been extremely busy. I am also getting a cold I think and I feel semi-miserable. This too shall pass.

a passing note

2009-01-26T22:54:00.000-08:00

Luther's final written words before his passing, We Are All Beggars; This is true.

"Wir sein pettler", says the Reformer on a note that was found in his pocket.

you're nobody till somebody loves you

2009-01-25T20:20:00.000-08:00

i've been listening to Dean Martin quite a bit lately and I gotta say, this song gets to me on so many levels. It makes me feel miserable and also fulfilled at the same time.

on the one hand, I have nobody in the romantic sense of the word. As logical and straightforward as I try to be, I guess its still just part of the human condition to need somebody in that sense. I have some of the most amazing friends in the world and family as well, but its still just that one thing that seems to be missing in my life.

But then again, I examine this song as it relates to our relationship with God.

some of the lyrics :

You may be king, you may possess the world and it's gold,
But gold won't bring you happiness when you're growing old.

Without love, does our life have meaning? does anything we do matter if there's no one to appreciate it, or us?

the great news: God is, and God does

I have seen so many amazing things in the past few years, weeks even. People coming to faith left and right, which is amazing to me. It just goes to show that its more than words, its more than our ability to persuade, its bigger than our defense of the faith. The Kingdom of God is so much bigger than our church programs or our worship teams. If it were all about us, then there's no reason for anyone to come to faith in Christ. But the great news is that its not all about us. Its all about Him. Its Him who does all the changing. Its Him who changes minds, and hearts. It feels so amazing just to be used by God for His purposes. To take a step back and see what God has done among us, to just look and examine His hand in everything is mind-blowing.

Keep on prayin'! Keep on loving people! Just keep on keepin' on for the Kingdom! Through God's love for us we can overcome all the ridiculous stereotypes and cliches that christians have brought on throughout the years. We need to stop talking about evangelism. we need to stop "doing" evangelism. We need to start being evangelism.

always remember: somebody loves you. And that somebody is the Living God.

peace and blessings,

brandon

by the way

2009-01-21T22:03:00.000-08:00

wanted to post this up for everyone to see since i made it and i enjoy looking at it.

when push comes to shove

2009-01-21T21:40:00.001-08:00

so today and over the last few days I have come to some conclusions and come up with some goals regarding Anchor @ St John.

growth: we're for it.

I guess what I mean is that I would very much like the people that attend Anchor to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ. With that being said, as a consequence of that relationship, it should also become a group that grows in relationship with each other and to the community at large. The numbers game is one that is easy for church leaders to get caught up in or even worse consumed with. attendance in my opinion is only one of many indicators in the life of a congregation. but it is indeed a very important indicator. Anchor has at times been abundantly blessed and nearly overflowing with visitors, and visitors bring visitors and etc. then at times "drama" ravages the assembly and we're left with little more than half of the group just a few weeks earlier. I'm sure its fairly common among people of the "emergent" persuasion but its still quite discouraging. We desire our worshippers to be so firmly rooted their relationship with Christ to be the foremost motivator in church attendance. but this isn't always the case.

nevertheless, I believe through the ministry of reconciliation that Christ has set us up to take part in, we can heal some of these spiritual and relational "boo-boos" that have sent attendance on a rollercoaster ride over the course of the last few months. in such case I have also set up a few goals for new growth as well.

1) Establish a full-blown, interesting, and exciting, musical worship experience. i'm talking the Glorious Unseen meets My Epic with a dash of Mewithoutyou or anywhere in between. and its not the musical style that is embodied in my vision, but rather the effect brought on by said bands. if you've got better ideas to help postmoderns connect with Jesus then please help me out with some ideas here!

2)I've got my mind set on some rough growth estimate goals that I believe are reasonable for the coming year and even a bit further. the attendance goal that would be a great indicator of growth among the group would be to have 50 in worship by the end of 2009. Also as a larger goal I believe Anchor as a congregation will be able to plant 2 more anchor congregations within the next 5 years. idea locations: vegas, kingman, havasu? I'm going to need to raise up church leaders in the mean time, but the Lord provides!

i know i've been ranting for quite some time now, i just thought it would be good to get some of thoughts down before i lose them. if you can possibly pray for me that would be great or also if you have an ideas or encouragement drop me a line at brandon@stjohnbhc.org

blessings,

Brandon

Gen. Rutherford P. Hootenanny

2009-01-18T20:49:00.001-08:00

this week proved to be one of the most exhausting and fulfilling weeks of my life.

here's a breakdown of how it went:

monday-friday: 12+ hour workdays moving the hallmark store

friday evening: got some of Ike's new guitar parts on tape for the new record

friday night: road trip to southern cal, drank way too much monster energy crap. stayed with clarke and val in placentia and had a late night denny's sesh before bed.

saturday morning: The Coffee Bean sumatra+ bagel followed church planter's conference. sorta boring but a good opportunity to get started

saturday: chipotle across from cal state fullerton (d-bags o'plenty in there but still great food)

NAMM convention with Clarke and Val, passed Kanye West on the escalator.

saturday evening: show at the nitty gritty in rancho. The Rekoning was amazing, and it was awesome to see so many good friends. unfortunately we had to leave early to make it back home.

sunday morning: church, really awesome times. new drummer David Hart who is pretty awesome and picked everything up right away. it was awesome.

sunday: lunch with my parents and another Thrivent Financial rep and his wife.

did some stuff at the hallmark store throughout the afternoon and made a banner for braveheart's new online store braveheart.bigcartel.com

sold 2 shirts and a crew neck in the last hour, also passed 100,000 plays on our myspace player this evening!

sunday evening: played piano using garageband for a while and now watching Monk with the fam.

God is good! All the time!

All the time, God is good!

blessings,

brandon

heb. 6:19

the welcome wagon

2009-01-14T21:31:00.000-08:00

get into it.

fans of Sufjan Stevens:

Rev. Vito and his Wife,

amazing music.

best full length i've heard in a long long time.

we're in a tight spot!

2009-01-13T07:25:00.000-08:00

today marks 6 full months since my last stay at the WARMC Hotel and Casino with my dear friend Isaac by my side.

6 Months seizure-free

God is good! MSG bad!

greeting card tycoon

2009-01-12T17:14:00.000-08:00

today we started the first major work on installing the fixtures in our brand new Hallmark store. myself, my parents, and family friends were joined also by some people sent from Hallmark to start the process. we unloaded and entire semi truck this morning and opened and moved hundreds of heavy boxes. i'm completely and utterly worn out. good news is that we get to do it all again tomorrow and the next day and probably the day after that. if you tried to call or text, chances are you didn't and won't get a response.

busy times!

-brandon

look both ways...

2009-01-11T21:53:00.000-08:00

today was pretty interesting. here's a rough idea of what went on:
7:30 am-left for church
8:15 am-1st service
9:30 am-ultimate american consumerism: mc d's breakfast and sbux coffee. w00f.
10:45am- 2nd service, led worship, preached, communion=great time.
12:30 p.m- lunch at home, roast beef sandwiches, nom nom nom
2:00 p.m- sunridge village worship service. played a couple hymns on guitar and distributed communion. An elderly gentleman names Darryl visited for the first time today, wants to be baptized and become a Christian. This was really exciting, basically because I guess I'd never thought of this service as much of an "outreach" as much as it was just tending to the needs of some of our elderly folks. I guess it just goes to show that our expectations fall so short of what it is that God truly delivers. If we only fully and truthfully believed how much the gospel changes lives I think we'd be more prone to act like it. This old guy was so grateful. After hearing the sermon a couple times before that day, I wasn't entirely impressed, especially when it comes to thinking of it as something that would change someone's life. Today on the church calendar is the Baptism of Jesus sunday, and the sermon covered basically that. I feel so grateful that God is who He is even when we are lackluster or complacent. At the same time I feel kind of ashamed that I take something so powerful and so incredible and so life-changing for granted. Guess that is something to work on.

3:30 p.m - stopped off at the maverick for a pair of 12oz redbull, one of which i consumed and the other I stashed in the fridge when I got home.
3:45 p.m stopped off to visit Pastor Pierce at his house, to have a little chat and fill him in on the day's events since he's home recovering from his ankle surgery and is unable to leave the house for a while. Good visit, very encouraging. I'm going to be switching my emphasis for my Specific Ministry for the upcoming SMP Program I'll be enrolling in this fall from what I thought would be a Worship Arts type thing. Now it looks like it will be as a Church planter due to a nice program we are trying to enroll in with Synod. God willing, it could possibly pay my salary even if we were to become one of the Ablaze! Covenant Congregations slated to plant 4 new churches by 2017. Since we already have 2 church plants in progress it sounds like a great idea to get some help.

5:00 p.m came home and did some laundry and worked on finishing up my seminary application. also warmed up half of a leftover burrito from Chipotle. it appears that to the McDonald's corporation, I am another puppet on a string. At least chipotle is decent quality stuff.

7:00 p.m Fell asleep on the couch for a couple hours. it was great.

now- watching That 70's Show and winding down. Tomorrow and the following few days are going to be just like camping: intense. We are moving the family business to a new location and its going to take alot. imagine wrapping up thousands of knick-knacks and moving them a few miles down the road and unpacking them and putting them out again. and that's only the beginning.

This coming saturday I'm heading out to Brea, CA for the Ablaze Covenant Congregation orientation meeting. If things go as planned this will be great for St. John, which is great for me to make the transition from volunteer to full time staff. God is good, all the time.

well, Saints, I hope that this post finds you with some feeling of contentment and rest on this beautiful Sunday night/pending Monday morning. Hang in there, these are some of the toughest times that I can remember going through for alot of people. Don't give up.

blessings,
brandon
Hebrews 6:19

seasick, yet still docked

2009-01-10T22:33:00.000-08:00

if you're seeing this page, then I welcome you to my humble soap box.

if you're not seeing this, then I guess that won't be necessary.

Be warned, if rants, raves, insights, ideas, and epiphanies aren't your bag, you might consider moving along.

but if you care to take a look I encourage you to subscribe so you won't be missing out.

if you care to talk, feel free to shoot me an email brandon@stjohnbhc.org

blessings,

brandon