We almost subtitled our current Crash series “Implementing the Resurrection”, instead of “Living the Resurrection”.  An odd choice of words, I know. But is that not the great struggle of the Resurrection? The great struggle of all great ideas? Implementation is hard.  Ask any great visionary, any great communicator.  You can talk about something, get applause, a standing ovation, and plenty of nods.  You can draw out plans, write books, teach seminars.  But when you have to move from theory to practice, from abstract to concrete, from imagination to reality – not everyone makes that transition well.

Implementing the Resurrection would mean that the Resurrection is now in play.  It is affecting our lives and through our lives, the world.   This whole series is really challenging me. And it has been incredibly hard to communicate because so much of my thoughts here are still in process.

But when I read this book by N.T. Wright, I really was “surprised by hope”.  There was so much hope rising up within me as I turned the pages, underlined sections, and made comments in the margin.  And I began to think, so what does resurrection implemented look like?  I began to see it in the lives of my friends.

-My friends Danny Ortega, Tony Elliot, Dave Cheatam, Justin Clark, and Sabra Gertsch who are in Zambia right now, training and empowering Northrise University students to capture and share the stories of hope and transformation in their country.

-My friend Ken and his work with tens of men and women through Alongside Ministry.  The power of resurrection is overwhelming in his life alone, but his work on the behalf of others paints resurrection for me every Sunday night.

-My friend Michael is being transformed right before my eyes.  Resurrection is making all thing new in him.  It’s a messy process and it has stops and starts and it is moving in ways I did not expect.  But the only explanation for the changes I see is resurrection.

-My wife’s work with girls in junior high and early high school.  Her work with women and children who have been battered and beat by boyfriends, husbands, fathers and uncles who claim to love them and care about them.  When she says, “you are worth more than this.  you do not deserve this.”

-My friend who had spiraled deep into grief and despair, who could only see his own pain and loss amidst so many of our conversations.  Out of that death, I see something new and green arising from that grave that is possibly greater than he had ever imagined or planned.  I see God resurrecting his life’s work.

I am still figuring out what implementing the resurrection means, but I do know that it has to be more than something we talk about one day a year.  And it means more than “sin less and go witness”.  The “so-what” moment for the most significant event in the history of the universe is not “minimize the bad stuff you do and go ask people if they know what will happen to their souls when they die.”

So, where do you see the Resurrection?

I had one of those weeks, you know, the kind where you hope you only have one in a lifetime. The type that has you dealing with life and death, love and hate, past and future, others and yourself. The kind of week that leaves you shaking your head at the actions of some and smiling at the actions of others. The type where you’re glad that you made it through the storm but you can see the hurricane on the horizon. I guess you probably get it by now, it was bad. I feel like my character has probably never been tested so much. I was left really wondering how the heck I had navigated through the whole thing. “How in the hell did I just climb Everest without even training” I thought. Followed by “You know the worst part of getting to the top of Everest is that you still have to come back down and well, that is no joke. A lot of people die on the way down.”  Then, clear as day, as I decompress listening to my wife sing me a song and play her anniversary gift (I bought her a digital piano…thx Rocky!!), I hear God say “Danny you didn’t climb to the top, I carried you and I’ll get you back down. I’ve got your six”. First, it’s really cool God uses military jargon like, “I have your six!” Secondly, if you know me at all I am not the kind of guy that finds comfort in God carrying me up mountains. For the love of God, I am a Marine, and Marines carry themselves. Those who can’t are weak! Then I remember clearly I am weak. So this passage came to mind

Isaiah 46:4-5

…..I have made you. And I will carry you. I will take care of you. And I will save you. I am the Lord. Who will you compare me to? Who is equal to me? What am I like? Who can you compare me to?

God -Who will you compare me to?

Me - “Me probably”

God – Who is equal to me?

Me – “Well definitely not me……No one I guess”

God -”What am I like?”

Me -”Besides strong for carrying me (I’ve put on a few lbs since the Corps)…I guess you’re like the doc carrying out the injured, only you are always doing this, not just in one heroic act….you are courage, love, and strength.”

God -”Who can you compare me to?”

Me -”Hopefully no one the next time, but knowing me, I probably will…..just happy to know you’ll carry me again. Thanks”

Hasta Pronto,

Danny

One of my favorite authors and Christian thinkers is Dallas Willard.  I spent six months in his book, Divine Conspiracy, in 2006.  an EPIC book on Jesus, discipleship, and spiritual formation.  Well worth your time.  I referred to one of his ideas in my Crash talk on April 19th.  This is the context of this concept.

“A leading American pastor laments, ‘Why is today’s church so weak?  Why are we able to claim many conversions and enroll many church members but have less and less impact on our culture?  Why are Christians indistinguishable from the world?’

“Should we not at least consider the possibility that this poor result is not in spite of what we teach and how we teach, but precisely because of it?  Might than not lead to our discerning why the power of Jesus and his gospel has been cut off from ordinary human existence, leaving it adrift from the flow of his eternal kind of life?

“The current situation in which faith professed has little impact on the whole of life, is not unique to our times, nor is it a recent development.  But is currently at an acute stage.  History has brought us to the point where the Christian message is thought to be essentially concerned only with how to deal with sin: with wrongdoing or wrong-being and its effects.  Life, our actual existence, is not included in what is now presented as the heart of the Christian message, or it is included only marginally . That is where we find ourselves today.

“Once we understand the disconnection between the current message and ordinary life, the failure noted at least make a certain sense.  They should be expected.  When we examine the broad spectrum of Christian proclamation and practice, we see that the only thing made essential on the right wing of theology is forgiveness of the individual’s sins.  On the left it is the removal of social or structural evils.  The current gospel then becomes a “gospel of sin management.”  Transformation of life and character is no part of the redemptive message . Moment-to-moment human reality in its depths is not the arena of faith and eternal living.”

-Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy San Fransisco; Harper San Fransisco, 1997.  pg. 40-41.

So, your thoughts are…?  Comment away.

-Scott

There I was, five-year-old Matt strutting down the neighborhood street in my awesome Superman pajamas–my cape was blowing in the wind and I was poised to rescue all in need of help. Well, I didn’t leap any tall buildings that day, but I did stop my neighbor friend from picking on his little sister. So…that’s something.

I grew up (sort of) and though I’ve worn many Superman t-shirts, I never quite learned how to fly. I never really learned to do anything super per se. As the picture above represents, I’ve always been more of a White Trash Superman. By “white trash” I simply mean I’m a poor excuse for Superman–that is to say, I’m not much of a super man at all. Maybe some of you can relate. Maybe you had dreams of being something great, but found reality being much different from the dreams of childhood.

Not to say we all don’t have tremendous potential, but when it comes to saving the day, most of us have trouble saving ourselves let alone someone else. Often times, it seems like we are our own super villains rather than superheroes. It reminds me of the passage in the Letter to the Romans where the Apostle Paul says something like, “I have within me the desire to do good, and yet I find myself doing evil…who can save me from myself?!” (Romans 7:19,24 - Matt Sherman Translation).

Duh-duh-duh-dah! Here comes our true Superman–Jesus, the Messiah! He is able to save us in the truest sense, as he replaces our old life with a new life–His life–and shows us how be super like Him. Of course, that’s the best part for many of us who follow after Jesus–the fact that we gain His power to love and do great works and, possibly, even miracles! However, we must never lose sight of just Who our Superman is, because it’s not any of us.

With Jesus, I am empowered to live a super life, but without Jesus, I am just a White Trash Superman.

Matt wrote directed and starred in an adaptation of the appendix of N.T. Wright’s book “Surprised by Hope”.  I just pushed record on the camera.  We used this right before my talk on Easter Sunday at Crash.

-Savage

I am stoked for the new series we are starting at Crash on Easter. The series will run from April 12-May 17. And I am teaching the first three Sunday nights in the series. Check out the video below for more details on the series and a greeting from Matt Sherman who helped create a short film that will run just before the talk on Easter Sunday. See you Sunday!

-Scott

Check out the video above and leave your comments below.  Will post more on this topic next week.

-Scott

I tend to be pretty hyperactive when it comes to reading and consuming information.  (yes friends – a deep revelation and moment of self-realization, I know).   I am in the middle of who knows how many books right now for school and fun.  I browse 10-15 blogs a day.  I am normally working on two or three creative projects that include teaching and writing curriculum.  My wife wonders if I am addicted to information – that is, in addition to my obsession with coffee.  So, lets just say that I tend to not let things stew as long as they should.

Except for one idea right now.  I read a book and its fundamental premise continues to stew within me.  It is actually the underlying theme of the series we will begin at Crash on Easter.  And I am actually kind of excited that I cannot just put it aside.  I lie in bed thinking about it at night.  I daydream while writing another paper for school, and my mind goes to this.  I think about when I get tired of the same songs on the radio and don’t have my iPod with me.

I am coming to learn that I really should sit with ideas, challenging thoughts, unanswered questions for longer than I do.  I tend to be pretty impatient and bounce around like a pinball from project to project, concept to concept.  I am beginning to understand this part of who I am, and it means that to some degree, I am going to have to adapt how I engage life in this area.

I think we all have these moments in our lives – when begin to understand ourselves, the way in which God created us uniquely.  When we begin to go, “This is who I am, so I should begin to engage this and not work against myself here.” And it is often out of those kind of moments, that we begin to understand what vision and direction for our lives looks like.  The Holy Spirit begins to speak very clearly as we embrace our identity as image bearers of God, redeemed by Jesus.

If you get a chance, throw a comment down below about where you are beginning to understand yourself and what implications are emerging out of that.  I am gonna keep chewing on my stuff all weekend, getting ready for a big writing session on Monday.  Excited for what Easter and the days after mean for you and me.

-Scott