God or pizza?

When I became a follower of Jesus, I was told that I would be able to "hear from God." As I grew (both in age and in my faith journey), I discovered that I would frequently credit God for a lot of things. I remember one night in college after binging on pizza (this particular story only involved pizza and soda...although I am sure other mind numbing vices could have produced funnier revelations, both are ill advised btw) with my buddies, I seemed to have some clarity around what God wanted me to do. Apparently, I have thought that God told me:

• Which college to go to
• What girl to date
• What girl to not date, but hang out with (in retrospect, this one was especially ridiculous)
  
• Which color pants to wear
• How much debt I should go into
• What scripture verses I should read
  

And the list goes on. It wasn't until I went to college (ya know, the one "God told me to go to") that I discovered how immature I really was. Once my belief system was challenged, I really started to grow. I studied scripture, asked questions of more mature followers of Jesus, and prayed quite a bit; I learned a few things about how God talks to us:

• He has said a lot in the Bible. Many times, all I need to do is dig and pray and I find some "God moments" (moments when scripture takes on more clarity, moments when I know for sure that God is using His word to speak to me right now, moments when I realize what I'm asking for is not really what I'm asking for...)
• He doesn't break open the clouds and give the Monty Python moment very often...in fact, this didn't happen a lot in the Bible at all. And, I have never met (nor do I wish to meet) anyone this has happened to outside of the Bible stories
• He very seldom gives outright direction for my decisions. I remember occasions where I thought God was telling me to do something (see above list); I understand that it was 99% self driven...maybe even the effects of a late night pizza binge. Now, I am not trivializing God's process and direction, I am trivializing myself and my understanding...there is a difference. What I have found is that God provides us all we need to move forward with our lives...and, contrary to many people's assumptions, God really doesn't care what job I have, where I go to eat tomorrow, what I wear today...what He is concerned with is who I am, how I am growing, are my needs being met, and what I am doing to show Him love (Kingdom work). Before you begin typing your response or rebuttal to this statement, really wrestle with the depth of those words.
  
• He continues to speak through all of nature. Paul talks about how God speaks through creation. That means, I can see glimpses of His Kingdom (direction, hope, love, etc.) by the things I see (nature, entertainment, books, people, all creations). That doesn't mean that these things are sacred, only that the divine can't help but to occasionally leak through His own creation...no matter how flawed we all may be.
  
• He does speak to me. It is always something subtle that I recognize after the fact, though. The writer of I Kings describes it as a whisper, something still and quiet. I find that my conscience leans in to God's direction when I submit myself. That usually means I quiet my own voice to hear another.
  

I don't know where you are or who you listen to...I don't know if you have ever heard from God or whether you question the validity of that notion. I do know that many people have said they have heard from God (myself included), and I know they have been wrong many times (myself included). So, when you determine how you learn and listen to God, what do you do when someone does something they say God TOLD them to do? Because, this has happened (9/11, crusades, abortion clinic bombing...the list goes on and on).

After having interacted with my share of idiots (myself included), I have some insight and advice. If I come across anyone who says that God has told them to (insert action here), I respond with skepticism. This probably isn't the most healthy of responses, but it's honest. I usually just take a step back and avoid that person because those are bigger words than I care to interact with. However, if I must address and interact with them, I will do the following:

• Hold their words up to God's truths (Bible). If it contradicts scripture, RUN.
• If the person is dogmatic, close minded, or pride filled with their words, RUN (this causes me to discredit many "rock star" televangelists or evangelical "perch sitters").
• Hold their words up to the fruit of their lives. If what they say contradicts how they live, RUN.
• Pray for God to grant me peace and understanding about what I have heard, and to "close the door" on the situation/ direction if it is not from Him. (This is the big one)
  

One thing I know for certain: even when I was immature with my faith, God somehow helped my direction. Paul said it so beautifully, that God will continue to journey with me.

I may mess some things up, other people may mess some things up, we all occasionally may look like idiots, but God is bigger than all of that. He cares, He speaks, and He directs. He may not have directed me to a late night pizza binge that sparked self centered decisions early in my faith, but boy has He seemed to use even that to turn me and point me forward. We never stop growing...

One year ago

One year ago from today, I was helping set up a medical clinic in one of the poorest places on the globe. I was with 21 of my friends, and we were in the middle of our Kenya missions trip. It's amazing what can happen in a year. I miss Africa.

I'm looking forward to the future, though. We have some exciting vision bubbling up at my church, and I am humbled to help lead some of the next steps. This year, we hope to send a container of medical supplies to Kenya. We've developed some great relationships, and we're pretty sure we have pinpointed the people that will be excited to help own this project. And, who knows, maybe I'll be able to take Shauna and Lucy with me when we go back...I'm hoping for 2012.

Until then, I always have Skype and pictures and videos:

Dear Mr. President

It’s easy for us to sit on our perch and condemn you. Our government is supposedly shutting down today, and many of us will be losing out because of this. There’s so many things going wrong in our world from outrageous costs to international conflict. We would like to blame you (or some congressman/woman) for everything going wrong (even though we know Glenn Beck had something to do with it).

Seriously, though, we honestly haven’t seen any good come out of our government lately. Our American dream is in jeopardy. The entitlement we have been conditioned to expect tells us that we should be furious. When did “Yes We Can” change to “No We Can’t?” When did “Change We Can Believe In” become something none of us want to accept? This is not how it is supposed to work, is it? Aren’t you supposed to be the almighty hope restorer?

Maybe that title is too great for any one of us. Maybe we were never supposed to put all of our hope in you. Maybe you are human, just like each one of us. Maybe you are awake most nights dreading the next photo op. Maybe you feel the weight of an entire nation’s hope and it is truly too much to bear. Maybe you weren’t really the hope at all, but the hope of something hopeful. Maybe the government is more peripheral than we realize. Maybe hope, trust, dreams, and futures are not to be handed over to some filtered image that asks for a vote, whether it be you or any official. Maybe you’re rolling with the imperfection of it all.

I see all of the Facebook posts and Tweets that prompt me to repost ignorant claims. I can never bring myself to repost or comment on any of that, because no one really cares...even though to laugh makes me feel better. What I really care about is hope, trust, dreams, and the future. I honestly don’t feel you should have ever owned any of that for us. I think the condemnation really rests...on each of us. Our nation has put a God-like expectation on you and our government. In doing so, we sat ourselves on a high perch, consuming entitlement. Not only are you (and our government) not God-like; we are not entitled, and our foundation is shaky.

It’s easy to condemn you, because we don’t want condemnation. It’s easy to trust you, because we can’t trust ourselves. It’s almost as if we have sold out a part of our soul to you...a part each one of us should hold onto very dearly. We placed our hope, trust, dreams, and futures in the wrong hands, and now we’re cynical and ready to throw rocks at your face.

So, for the sake of my hopes, my trust, my dreams, and my future, I am jumping ship. In fact, I believe I began this jump many years ago. I am one of many who cannot put these things in your hands any longer. You, your predecessors, and those that follow you can’t have these things any more. This government can’t have them, either. You know what else none of you can have? You can’t have my soul: that includes my moral compass, my loves, and my desires. These are all too precious to hand over to anyone that is not God-like.

Do you know what you can have? You can have what belongs to you, and yes, that includes money. You can have my forgiveness when you mess up and when my friends die in war. You can have my enthusiasm as we change the world and make it better, like with our swift responses to global crises. You can have my respect as I have no idea the stress you are under. You can have my support, because you were never holding me up. You can have my prayers...because I trust in something greater than you, and greater than me. You can have my sincere apology, for my condemnation and for every single person that tries to make you God.

Hope will come. Trust will be restored. Dreams will be realized, and the future will be bright. However, it won’t be because of you, really. I am sure many of us will still throw rocks and cast blame, but maybe, more individuals will jump ship as well. You are not responsible for my hope, trust, dreams, or my future, because you are not my God. It is only when I lose myself, that I find true life. My prayer is that the largeness of that life will outshine all of these current shadows of death.

I was asked to review an album...

Last month, Rodney Bowen (marketing director at Propeller) emailed me and asked if I would be willing to review Rebecca St. James' new album, "I Will Praise You" coming out on April 5. I said yes. The album comes out tomorrow.

First of all, I am a bit surprised I was asked to review this album. After all, 30 year old dudes aren't exactly the demographic for this kind of music. I do love Jesus, and so does St. James, so I guess we have that in common. Other than that, there's not much connection for me regarding her music. I know she had some albums in the Christian music world in the

90's that were popular, but other than that, I had to Google her to find out more info. I'm not really a fan of her sound or song writing at all. I'm sure there is a strong market for it, but it isn't me (30yr old dude w/ a family and who loves Jesus). It's with this lens that I review her album (hopefully, Rodney wont hate me for this...he seems like a nice dude).

According to the CD insert, St. James mission is to serve the church and point people to Jesus. I am sure she is succeeding. The album itself starts off with an upbeat title track, and it is produced very well. In fact, I'll say the production on this album, and the music itself, is very good. St. James is really backed up by some great artists on this album. The strings, background vox, mixing...all of it is pretty stellar.

Regarding the album, as a whole product, I wasn't blown away. It's produced well, but it isn't very vocally dynamic. I think the producer tried to cover this with some great music production. St. James has a good voice, but I felt she didn't show much emotional or dynamic margin with it.

When I interact with music, I like to go on a journey with the music (I know this may sound weird to some of you, but just go with me). I like to feel the tension of the music and the lyrics. Not only do I love the building tension of a song, I love the dynamic explosion and emotion of the climax in the song. I didn't feel St. James did this (vocally) with any song. The title track has a few cool production moments, but it, and most of the album, is very clinical (vocally). This probably just a style thing, and many other people may love her style.

Content also matters. There are some great lyrical moments (You Still Amaze Me and Almighty God have some strong, deep lyrics, I would recommend either of these for a good listen), but a lot of the songs were predictable. I felt that I could easily finish many phrases without having previously heard them, and that makes me think cliche. I did love the obvious themes of redemption and hope (In a Moment, in particular is a great content song), and genuine love for God.

I was happy to see her cover a Matt and Beth Redman song, You Never Let Go. This is an underplayed great song. I think she did a good job with it, but again, it lacked dynamics. It carried the same emotion and dynamic throughout the song. That was disappointing. The arrangement was pretty good, but could have taken a few more risks.

My biggest impression was, "my mom would like this cd." So, I am going to send it to her. I think she'll like St. James style and content a lot. I've been given an additional CD to give away. If you would like to have her new album, I'll be happy to have it mailed to you. All you have to do is be the first person to post a comment to this blog (either on facebook or at natedrye.com).

Finally, here's some legal stuff I was asked to post with the review:
“Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”