Best of 2014

Any year when a new baby arrives is a great year.  Welcoming our daughter, Hadley, into the world this past October was the best moment of 2014.  She was born in the morning, so by the time everything had quieted down after lunch, Jill, the baby and I all took naps while we watched my beloved Texas Longhorns football team get whipped by the Baylor Bears.  Even though the Horns lost, watching football with my baby girl asleep on my chest was an incredible moment.  

Other highlights from 2014:

Visiting Jinja, Uganda.  Our team was an amazing group of people, and we truly encountered family when we lived with and served beside the people connected to the Amani Baby Cottage.  Everybody was united by the vision of Christ-like love and care we offered to orphans together.  I'm so thankful that my job includes trips like this.

Helping Our Interns Listen to God’s Call.  During their exit interviews, all of our summer interns shared their deep gratitude for our church, our community, and the ministry we’re called to do in Jesus’ name.  At least three of our summer interns from this past year are all considering (or actively pursuing) a call to vocational ministry, which gives me great joy.

The First Bike Ride of the Season.  A friend of mine and I rode through Palisade in the spring, surrounded by slowly-greening fields and the first fruit buds in the trees.  After my accident two summers ago, I felt even more gratitude for the ability to ride and enjoy this amazing valley God has entrusted to us.

Sabbatical Grant: Getting the news that we had received the Lily Endowment Grant for Tom’s sabbatical was so incredible.  A whole year of hard work and revision after revision paid off.  Praise God!

Besides great events and experiences, there were more than a few great books from 2014.

John Ortberg’s Soul Keeping.  (Spiritual/Devotional) Rarely has a book come along at such a timely intersection in my life – a high-intensity season in ministry combined with a renewed sense of personal need for Jesus.  If you haven’t read Soul Keeping yet, you’re missing out what I consider to be the most essential book of 2014.

Smith Henderson's Fourth of July Creek. (Fiction) Henderson's debut novel tells the story of a ragged, alcoholic social worker patrolling the back country of Montana during the 1980s.  It can be an intense book, especially when the main character's family begins to fall apart.  But the backstory of redemption combined with a heavy reminder of Jesus' heart for the poor and neglected make a powerful mix. 

Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow (Non-fiction) A fascinating psychological study of how our brains work quickly to solve minor problems, and how bigger problems take much more of our attention and focus.

True Detective (TV Show) Everyone who was on the plane with me to Uganda this summer heard me raving about this show; I binge-watched all of Season 1 during our long, long flights.  Matthew Mcconaughey and Woody Harrelson bring their absolute best to their portrayals of two Louisiana cops investigating a brutal murder.  It can be graphic and bleak, and yet, I've never seen a TV show quite like it.

I hope 2014 finishes well for you and those you love.

Shalom,

Travis

The Cutting Room Floor: The Soul of Christmas

[From time to time, I'll share outtakes from sermons and other writings on this blog.  Below is a dropped section from my sermon this past Sunday - Dec. 7.  The italicized quotes are from the study guide to Soul Keeping.  If you'd like to watch the entire sermon, go to firstpresgj.org and click on the button marked "Sunday's Sermon."  The title for this sermon is "Thinking Like Jesus at Christmas," and it's the second sermon in our series on the soul.]

We cannot distinguish between our feelings and our will.  Even though, according to Ortberg, our minds include our thoughts and feelings, when a mind is disconnected from God, we launch after our feelings impulsively and without regard for consequences.  Our feelings grab us by the throat and direct our actions, which is not how we were meant to live.  And I think you can appreciate this problem whether you follow Jesus or not.  But look at the bullet point right across the chart in the right-hand column, “Characteristics of the Integrated Mind:” We know and accept the fact that our feelings do not have to be satisfied.  

On the one hand, this feels like an obvious statement, right?  But actually living into it presents tremendous challenges.  When I was looking at Black Friday ads, I could actually feel some adrenaline moving into my body as I pondered the great deals and how much money I could save – buying things I didn’t want or need, ironically.  Thinking like Jesus – which I’m not at all saying I have down pat – means I’m able to say “no” to the direction my feelings want to lead me.  I don’t reject feelings as a whole, but I’m not led by them.  Someone wise once said, “Our feelings are a good servant, but they’re a terrible master.”  We can say “no” when we feel like doing something we know to be unhealthy, destructive, or that leads to further isolation in our sins. 

A mentor of mine was telling me this week that in more than 20 years of pastoral ministry, he sees more conflict, pain, and confusion between Nov. 15 and Dec. 31 than any time of year.  Maybe it’s because so many of us lack an integrated mind and simply act instead of stepping back and taking every thought captive for Christ.  Not easy, but I think it’s a goal worth pursuing.

Another suggestion: drop the word “busy.”  Simply overusing the word “busy” during this season might be creating a barrier between us and the peaceful minds God wants us to have.  Try this during these weeks before Christmas – take the word “busy” out with your trash, and choose to use another word or a different approach throughout the rest of the season.  It’s life-giving, and it focuses our minds on something other than ourselves.  Set aside some time this week – when you’re not “busy” – and read through the handout, asking God for help to move toward an integrated mind.

Bruce Springsteen: "The Ones that Got Away"

Christmas came a little early in my life this year.  A friend of mine has been cleaning out his house, and he gave me a treasure of modern art: a box full of Bruce Springsteen CDs.  I’ve been a Springsteen fan for a while, but I certainly haven’t purchased all of his albums, mostly because he’s got a prolific catalogue after being a recording artist for more than 40 years.  I was very excited about this unexpected gift, and so I’ve been listening through the albums during the last couple of days, marveling at Springsteen’s body of work.

I like listening to an entire album – even if I know which single is catchy or fun – just to try to get a sense of the depth of what the artist is trying to communicate.  Sometimes, the exercise of listening through an entire album doesn’t reveal much beyond the catchy single, but in the case of Bruce Springsteen, you can be assured that his albums are never about just one song.

One album in particular has really resonated with me as I’ve listened to it a few times through.  Back in 1999, Springsteen had separated himself from his E Street Band-mates and taken a journey on a solo career.  Some of the albums he made were good, but mostly, I think his fans were hoping for a reunion with the entire E Street Band once Bruce’s solo passion had run it’s course.  Springsteen released an album in 1999 – maybe listening to his fans’ requests, maybe not – simply called 18 Tracks.  Here’s an exerpt from the liner notes, written by Bruce himself.

My albums [are] a series of choices – what to include, what to leave out?  One of the results of working like this was that a lot of music, including some of my favorite things, remained unreleased.  This collection…is the alternate route to some of the destinations I travelled to on my records, an invitation into the studio on the many nights we spent making music in search of the records we presented to you.  I’m glad to finally be able to share this music; 

here are some of the ones that got away.

Usually, when an artist releases a record of “the ones that got away” or “previously unreleased material,” only the most full-throttle fans truly appreciate the offering.  These albums are often esoteric, rambling, and at the end of listening to them, I’ve usually felt like there was a good reason those tracks had littered the cutting room floor.

Not so with 18 Tracks.  Beginning with recordings all the way back from 1972, the songs on this remarkable album chart a course through Springsteen’s evolution as a musician, and his depth as a songwriter.  Even songs which are unabashedly fun like “Lions Den” (1982) and “Part Man, Part Monkey” (1990) carry weighty messages of love and redemption, and in the case of “Lions Den,” reflect the story of the Bible.  I was struck by the idea that Springsteen’s “ones that got away,” combined together in this album, are even greater than some of the best work being made by modern artists today. 

Springsteen’s 18 Tracks never feels disjointed or poorly put-together, even though the musical styles and instrumentation vary widely across the decades.  I think this is possible because Springsteen’s own artistic vision is front-and-center in every song, the messages of his music coming through in stereo, spanning the decades.

Shalom,

Travis