https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BFUxiNWHEA&feature=youtu.be   Every Life Counts When we say we are inviting all people into a living relationship with Jesus Christ, does all mean all? It does. No exceptions. Every life counts because every life will last forever. But so many people don’t realize that they count and that they are eternal. Who will tell them if not us? Who will love them if not the church? Who will invite them if not the invited? Every Life Counts. Including yours. February 15: Marking The Question February 22: I Object! March 1:        Ambassadorship March 8:       Lives That Count March 15:     Lose To Gain      

The 21st Century American church -- and in particular, the United Methodist tribe of which I am a part -- has become all-too-adept at hand-wringing. We hear an anecdote, read a survey, or watch a television show in which the message of ancient, creedal Christianity is deemed to be either too narrow or too out of touch for emerging generations.  And our response?  We wring our hands.  "What are we going to do? Not everyone in the world likes us!  We've got to change our approach!  Or better yet, change the message!" This is on my mind because the latest cause celeb of hand wringers is the Hozier song "Take Me To Church." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJJdl4FguBc   And I have to admit, the song is a vocal tour de force:  hypnotic, erotic, and with a touch of the swagger that turns a rock song into an anthem. Lyrically, Take Me To Church's centerpiece is this snarling verse, full of double entendre in the way in which the singer parallels worshipping at the altar of his lover to attending a church service: "Take me to church I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife Offer me that deathless death Good God, let me give you my life." So is it a girl with a shrine of lies who sharpens her knife?  Or is it the church?  The answer seems to be "yes." Hozier himself says this:  "Growing up in Ireland, the church is always there – the hypocrisy, the political cowardice," Hozier told Billboard magazine. "The video has the same theme – an organization that undermines humanity."  Written in the wake of a breakup with his first girlfriend, this is both a love song and a contemplation of sin, drawing influence from the late atheist writer Christopher Hitchens. Hozier described it to The Guardian as, "a bit of a losing your religion song." And the church's temptation upon receiving such a stinging critique from an obviously gifted artist is, again, to wring our hands.  "Hozier doesn't like us!  Let's prove to him we really are nice!"  I confess that I've had that reaction on more than a few occasions in recent years as the gap between evangelical subculture and American pop culture has widened. But then I step back.  And I remember what Jesus told his first followers in John 15:18:   If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.  (That's sort of the ultimate in "worse things have happened to better preachers," isn't it?) And then I remember that the cross is a scandal and the gospel is an offense. And I recognize that what the bible calls sexual beauty -- celibacy in singleness and faithfulness in marriage -- the world calls repressive folly. And then I recall what Flannery O'Connor said:  "And you shall know the truth and the truth will make you odd." Bring on the oddness, then.  Not as an excuse to obnoxious or arrogant or mean, but as the quiet confidence that comes from knowing that our citizenship is not of this world. With it, the realization that our message of an inclusive invitation to follow an exclusive Savior doesn't need our apology; it demands our proclamation. And that's a cause for raising our hands in praise, not wringing them in shame.  

Every Sunday, Good Shepherd includes space for "Prayer requests and answered prayers" on the back of its Connection Card. This Sunday we received one of the best ever: What an amazing praise I have to report.  I attended the Healing Service on Monday and was prayed for and I am so happy to report I have had the best week.  My pain has been manageable this past week, which has not happened to me in over two months.  I felt an overwhelming emotion that evening.  Thank you for all the prayers. You know what I like best about that one?  The young woman writing the prayer did not get prayed for at my healing station; she received pray from two other members of our healing team. Because as we say each time we gather, "We don't have celebrity pray-ers at Good Shepherd.  The Holy Spirit is the only celebrity we need." And that's yet another reason why ministry is worth it.  

Most of you have never heard of them. They enjoyed a brief run of minor popularity in the mid-80s, had Bono sing on one of their songs in the early 90s, and then gave another tune to Al Gore to use in his presidential race of 2000.  And then, with barely a whimper, they were gone. "They" are "The Call." The sound is a bit dated, you better like the bass guitar if you're going to listen, and the vocals can cross the line into melodrama. But it's a melodrama that played a pivotal role in reclaiming my spiritual life when I was a young adult, and from there propelling me to seminary.  The Call's music is subtly, subversively, spiritual.  And their mix of music and lyric, melody and message was just the tonic my wandering soul needed in my mid-20s.  You may have them confused with The Cure, The Cult, or even The Clash, but this band  convinced me that I did, in fact, still believe.  So here are my Top Five Call Songs of them all. 1.  I Still Believe.  Yes I do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWhDbkTmJHA 2.  What's Happened To You.  If you listen closely you can hear Bono on backing vocals.  I bet you don't think they're so obscure now! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6HD3pdtmSU   3.  The River  I confess: the reason I like this song is that a group full of Jesus followers use the word "ass" and get away with it.  Urgent, chaotic, Flannery O'Connor-esque treatment of baptism as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVoFfC_l9ZI 4.  Even Now.  Oh, the line about outrunning those who would "steal from me my love for God" gets me every time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6CASI7f68E 5.  Everywhere I Go.  A truth that's both convicting and comforting:  he surrounds you wherever you go. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi-CfLsgLyk 6.  (For The Sake Of Al Gore)  Let The Day Begin.  Not one of their best songs, but it did receive more radio airplay than any other. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t5Zmet3x2k    

The best part of yesterday's message was this video story from Rebecca Dinkins. I'm glad to be able to go to church with people like her.