God’s Love, Chuck Swindoll says “heck” & happy, happy, happy anniversary

I wrote this “Letter from a Holy God of Love” and read it Sunday to illustrate God’s incredible love for a sinning world. I adapted Hosea 11:1-11 from the Message Bible and made it into a personal letter. I followed it in the sermon Sunday with a story about cleaning the toilet in the boys’ bathroom while Taylor (my youngest son) was in the bath. I was scrubbing excrement and a whole lot of FUNK off the toliet while Taylor was laughing and having a good ol’ time in the bath. This moment-in-life reminded me how God works to scrub our lives free of the filth of sin while we are playing around of the bath tub of life.

Speaking of excrement, did you hear that Chuck Swindoll’s Insight for Living (IFL) has been dropped from a nation wide radio network. Todd Rhoades reported the story yesterday on the Monday Morning Insight blog.

Apparently, Swindoll was dropped for crude and vulgar language. What?!? Not Pastor Chuck...no way! It seems that Pastor Chuck has used words like “heck,” “balls,” and “crap” in IFL broadcasts over the years and the radio network had enough of it. I couldn’t help but laugh at the uproar this has caused. Ha-ha! Give me a break…

On a different note, Jenni and I celebrated 12 years of marriage last Sunday and we have our date night tonight. Spider-Man 3, Outback and Starbucks are all in the plans. Actually, I need to post this blog and get out of here!

Here is the letter….

A Letter from a Holy God of Love

When YOU were only a child, I loved YOU. I called out, 'My son!' (My daughter!) --called YOU out of your slavery to sin.

But when others called, YOU ran off and left me. YOU worshiped the popular sex gods, YOU played at religion with toy gods.

Still, I stuck with YOU. I led YOU. I rescued YOU from human bondage, but YOU never acknowledged my help, never admitted that I was the one pulling YOUR wagon, that I lifted YOU, like a baby, to my cheek, that I bent down to feed YOU.

Now YOU want to go back to YOUR OLD LIFE or go over to YOUR OLD FRIENDS—anything but return to me!

That's why YOUR LIFE is unsafe
—every plan to improve things falls to pieces.

My people are hell-bent on leaving me. They pray to gods of money, sex and self for help. Those gods don’t lift a finger to help them.

But how can I give up on YOU? How can I turn YOU loose? How can I leave YOU to be ruined and devastated. I can't bear to even think such thoughts. My insides churn in protest.

And so I'm not going to act on my anger. I'm not going to destroy YOU. And why? Because I am God and not a human. I'm the Holy One and I'm here—in YOUR very midst.

My people will end up following me. I will roar like a lion—Oh, how I'll roar! My frightened children will come running from the west.

Like frightened birds they'll come from THEIR OLD LIFE, from THEIR OLD FRIENDS like scared doves. I'll move them back into their home WITH ME.

Adapted from The Message Bible (Hosea 11:1-11)

Vreeland loves Leeland

I have been listing to Leeland’s Sound of Melodies

Yeah, I know…Leeland released this album last year, but I have just gotten a hold of it.

Leedland is a welcomed, fresh voice in Christian music. The lead singer, Leeland Mooring is also the main song writer and is only 18. He was 17 when he recorded Sound of Melodies. I do not listen to much Christian music anymore, so I cannot honestly compare Leeland to other “Christian” artists, but from what I have heard from the Christian market…Leeland is quite different.

Their music is unique. I would classify it in the Maroon 5/Coldplay genre….whatever that is called. What I like about Leeland is that they are truly Christian artists. They are unashamedly followers of Christ but they don’t sacrifice their artistry for the bland, same-old-same sound you hear from most “Christian” artists. Their lyrics are moving and passionate, spiritual and biblical without being preachy.

I particularly like "Tears of the Saints." I am going to use two clips from this song in video for my "Just Walk Accross the Room" teaching series that I am doing in June. Here are the lyrics:

Tears of the Saints
Words & Music by Leeland Dayton Mooring and Jack Anthony Mooring
© 2006 Meaux Mercy (BMI) / Meaux Jeaux (SESAC)

There are many prodigal sons
On our city streets they run
Searching for shelter
And there are homes broken down
People’s hopes have fallen to the ground
From failures

This is an emergency

There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
We’re crying for them come back home
We’re crying for them come back home
And all your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father we will lead them home
Father we will lead them home

There are schools full of hatred
Even churches have forsaken
Love and mercy
May we see this generation
In its state of desperation
For Your glory

This is an emergency

There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
We’re crying for them come back home
We’re crying for them come back home
And all your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father we will lead them home
Father we will lead them home

Sinner, reach out your hands
Children, in Christ you stand
And sinner, reach out your hands
Children, in Christ you stand

There are tears from the saints
For the lost and unsaved
We’re crying for them come back home
We’re crying for them come back home
And all your children will stretch out their hands
And pick up the crippled man
Father we will lead them home
Father we will lead them home

Josh Taylor wrote a great review of Leeland on Jesus Freak Hideout.com. Here is the review:

I’ll be completely honest. Next to nothing that comes out of mainstream CCM
excites me anymore. It’s not a personal vendetta against the industry. It just
seems to me that art and talent have taken a backseat to what sells these days.
None of this is to say that there are not exceptions, because there are. But the
bulk of what makes up mainstream CCM just seems to lack passion, drive, and,
dare I say, talent.

And then comes a band like Leeland. Out of Baytown, Texas, these five
young men (Vocalist Leeland Mooring was still seventeen during the recording of
this album) have signed to Essential Records and are ready to release their
mainstream debut Sound of Melodies. With a little Coldplay, a bit of Muse, and
even some throwback to the Beatles, Leeland has the accessibility to get radio
airplay, but enough “indie appeal” to keep kids singing along that normally
wouldn’t turn on a radio. The instrumental arrangements (Pianos, and string
arrangements included) are thought out and intricate, and Leeland Mooring’s at
times soaring, and at other times peaceful vocals are a lot more mature than
most of his mainstream counterparts.

You can hear the passion in his voice as he relays the lyrics he
himself has penned. Mooring is a talented songwriter, and the proof is written
all over Sound of Melodies. The lyrics are catchy and beautiful, but most of
all, they are delicately penned love songs to God… so much so, that some might
be quick to label this a “worship album.” They’d be exactly right.

Songs like “Reaching” and “Sound of Melodies” relate the Church’s
praises to God, "Can You hear the sound of melodies/ Rising up to You, God/ The
sound of Your love/ Is what You’re hearing/ The sound of Your sons/ You want
Your children/ Your daughters in love/ You want Your Children." “Tears of the
Saints” is a desperate cry for the Church to be missionaries to our own culture,
"Even churches have forsaken/ Love and mercy/ May we see this generation/ In its
state of desperation/ For Your glory/ This is an emergency."

Whether Leeland is picking up speed on “Reaching,” or offering a mostly
acoustic ballad on “Beautiful Lord,” Sound of Melodies is a real winner. Perhaps
even better: It’s exciting. Such promise in such a young band is hard to come
by, but Leeland is the poster child. Not only is this arguably the best thing to
come out of Essential Records since Jars of Clay debuted in 1995, but it’s also
one of the most important releases in recent CCM history.
Review date: 8/13/06, written by Josh Taylor

You can download a few of their songs from their myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/leelandmusic

12 Sayings NOT in the Bible

I saw this post on Monday Morning Insight. (It originally came from the Blue Letter Bible.) Both of these are great websites. I visit them both at least once a week.

12 Sayings NOT in the Bible
1. Moderation in all things.
2. Once saved, always saved.
3. Better to cast your seed....
4. Spare the rod, spoil the child.
5. To thine ownself be true.
6. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
7. God helps those who help themselves.
8. Money is the root of all evil.
9. Cleanliness is next to godliness.
10. This too shall pass.
11. God works in mysterious ways.
12. The eye is the window to the soul.

Here is the list with my commentary:

12 Sayings NOT in the Bible

1. Moderation in all things. (I like this one, especially as related to the issue of Christians and drinking wine...you know...like Jesus did.)

2. Once saved, always saved. (This phrase is not in the Bible....not well worded...but a biblical doctrine that I subscribe to.)

3. Better to cast your seed.... (I don't get this one.)

4. Spare the rod, spoil the child. (My wife and I would say "spare the SPOON, spoil the child." My wife is famous for her 18 inch wooden spoon....quite effective...)

5. To thine ownself be true. (C'mon... that is Shakespeare not Solomon!)

6. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. (The exact verse in Matthew reads: "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." Matthew 7:12.....but that is pretty close)

7. God helps those who help themselves. (This one is certainly not biblical...this statement is straight up secular humanism....get your worldviews straight.)

8. Money is the root of all evil. (You have to add "the love of" before "money" to find this one is Scripture. Money is morally neuteral. It is what you do with it. I could use some more.)

9. Cleanliness is next to godliness. (I would add this one to the Bible if God would allow me, especially since I have two boys who treat my house like a giant trash can.)

10. This too shall pass. (Good wisdom...but not in the Bible)

11. God works in mysterious ways. (The concept is in the Bible, but this line is not. God is certainly a mystery, but this line is often quoted with the exclusion of God's revelation.)

12. The eye is the window to the soul. (Jesus did say that the eye is a lamp to the soul....so this one is close.)

Graduation

We just returned home from graduation at Asbury, where I joined 220 other MA, MDiv, DMin, DMiss and PhD grads who form the 2007 graduating class of Asbury Theology Seminary. The ceremony was uneventful outside of the wit and humor of Dr. Kalas, the current president of the seminary. He is an wise, aged man, who has that “old preacher” feel. I love old preachers like Kalas who have such a richness in the manner in which they speak.

The picture is me next to the statue of John Wesley that stands in the seminary courtyard. Silly, I know. Unoriginal, I know. Still funny….I know! The ceremonial placing of the cap on the head of Wesley was my tribute to the man and the Wesleyan heritage that has influenced in such a positive way. Bruce Ware and Mark Driscoll are keeping me from falling headlong into the Arminian camp, but I will always appreciate the positive contributions that I have received from the Asbury community and the Arminian theological tradition in general.

While I am handing out thanks, let me list a bunch…there are to many people to thank, but let me list a few people that have helped me along the way as I have finished the doctor of ministry degree.

Jenni – my friend, partner, lover, supporter and companion…I love you with all my heart

Mom & Dad – thanks for the encouragement and financial support through all three degree programs

Jeff & Jenny – you are in my heart even though you didn’t attend my graduation

PP Vreeland – thanks for the letter of encouragement and support during the three years of my course work

MM Parker – thanks for making the long haul up to KY

Wesley – I love you and look forward to watching your spiritual journey into manhood

Taylor – BAAAAHHHH…I love you more than you will ever understand

Steve – thanks for your theological influence and guidance through the dissertation

Cornerstone Church Family – thanks for the freedom for me to study and explore various dissertation themes in small groups, talks over lunch and in sermons…I love you all

Darrell – thanks for loving me like a son and treating me like a colleague...I am the pastor I am today because of your patient counsel

Brian – thanks for always making time to talk in person, on the phone and by email…no one has influenced me more

Alan & Rodney – coffee, theology & friendship…certainly one of the highlights of my week

P.G. & Aby – thanks for the constant prayers and prophetic guidance

Dawn – thanks for making me look better than I am

For everyone else, whom I have forgotten to mention by name…forgive me…and thank you!

I agree with Erwin McManus “My successes are the gifts that I have received from others. My failures are my gifts to other people.”

The dissertation is complete and graduation is over, but the writing is just beginning.

Dr. DV

Jerry Falwell and Larry Flynt

Jerry Falwell went on to be with the Lord yesterday. Dead at age 73.

Falwell had a lot of critics and enemies both within the church and outside the church. I certainly questioned things I heard him say and do over the years, but there is no denying that he was an influential figure in American cultural life in the last fifty years. And if he put his faith in Christ, that makes him my brother, whether I agree with him or not....and whether I like him or not. It might be better to call him my "crazy uncle," but nevertheless we are together in this crazy family called the Church.

I did come across an interesting statement from Larry Flynt, the porn king behind Hustler magazine. If you will remember, Falwell and Flynt were engaged in a legal battle in the 1980s over an obscene and offensive parody of Falwell in Hustler. Flynt eventually won after the Supreme Court ruled that parodies of well-known figures were covered in the free speech clause of the First Amendment. In the 1990s, Falwell and Flynt debated the issue on college campuses and during a 1997 Larry King Live episode.

You would think that Flynt would use Falwell’s death to gloat, but I was surprised to read Flynt’s kind words about his former “arch enemy.” Here is the statement from Access Hollywood:

Upon hearing of his death, Flynt released the following statement to Access Hollywood:

"The Reverend Jerry Falwell and I were arch enemies for fifteen years. We became involved in a lawsuit concerning First Amendment rights and Hustler magazine. Without question, this was my most important battle – the l988 Hustler Magazine, Inc., v. Jerry Falwell case, where after millions of dollars and much deliberation, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in my favor.

My mother always told me that no matter how much you dislike a person, when you meet them face to face you will find characteristics about them that you like. Jerry Falwell was a perfect example of that. I hated everything he stood for, but after meeting him in person, years after the trial, Jerry Falwell and I became good friends. He would visit me in California and we would debate together on college campuses. I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling.

The most important result of our relationship was the landmark decision from the Supreme Court that made parody protected speech, and the fact that much of what we see on television and hear on the radio today is a direct result of my having won that now famous case which Falwell played such an important role in."

There is something to be said about a man who is respected by his enemy.

Why I Love My iPod

I recently read that iPods can affect the function of pacemakers according to a study done among people with an average age of 77 who use a pace maker. Read the story here.

Question: How many 77 year-olds actually own an iPod?

Reading this article follows a conversation I had Friday night at a Cancer Survivor’s Dinner with the guy sitting next to me who is an iPod/gadget freak as am I. (And no I don’t have cancer, I was there to give the invocation and closing prayer.) Also on Friday, I helped our neighbor get songs uploaded to her new iPod.

The iPod-pacemaker discovery and these recent conversations led me to think about how much I use my iPod and how much I appreciate it. Love may be too strong a word, but I am quite fond of it. Here is a random list of reasons why I like my iPod a whole lot:

1) Simplicity
2) Integration
3) Podcasts
4) Size
5) Weight
6) Memory size
7) White headphones
8) Accessories
9) iTunes

Here is a brief description of my reasons…Apple should be paying me for this…

1) Simplicity – Unlike many of the complicated features and menus of certain Windows-based hand held products, the iPod has a simple, easy to navigate menu. The rotator-selector dealio sometimes does not work if the iPod gets hot. So don’t leave it in your car!

2) Integration – I love the fact that I can put all of my music (of any digital format) and ebooks and podcasts of my favorite Christian teaching programs all in one place. I have always listen to music and books and tapes and sermon tapes or CD and now I can put them all in one place.

3) Podcasts - Absolutely love this feature. I can download whatever I want to listen to by subscribing through iTunes and then it refreshes with new podcasts whenever I plug my iPod into my computer. And podcasts are free! I used to pay for some sermon tapes and now I can get them free. I once paid $7 for a 30 minutes Focus on the Family tape! Currently I get podcasts from Ravi Zacharias, Mark Driscoll, the Resurgence, Brian Zahnd, and Warpaint Ilustrated (a news podcast about the Kansas City Chiefs.) It is all free and updates everyday! Sweet!

4) Size – It is teeny, tiny...maybe the size of 7-8 credit cards stacked up. (No, I don’t have that many credit cards!) It is small enough to fit in my pocket, which makes traveling with it a breeze. I highly recommend it when traveling overseas.

5) Weight – It weighs less than my cell phone. Also a benefit for international travel.

6) Memory size – I have a 2GB nano, which holds about 500 songs. That is certainly enough. I have three current podcasts from each of the five podcasts listed above; two audio books (Dallas Willard’s Divine Conspiracy and Ravi Zacharias’ From East to West; five Dylan albums, a host of praise and worship albums; and other artists. I do have a copy of Phil Keggy’s Beyond Nature, which is a nice guitar instrumental piece.

7) White headphones – Ok so I kept my white headphones...even though I have a black nano. I want to look cool like those silhouetted people in the iPod commercials. Actually, I borrowed a pair of noise canceling headphones when I went to India. I am buying my own pair soon. An excellent addition to air travel.

8) Accessories – When I bought my iPod at Radio Shack about a year ago, the guy wanted to sale me a butt load of accessories. This is what I REALLY use: (1) a clear plastic case – four bucks at WalMart...it protects my $150 iPod; (2) iTrip FM transmitter – I use this to listen to the iPod in our minivan; (3) cassette adapter – I use an adapter I got with my old CD player to listen to my iPod in my truck through the cassette deck...this is the cheapest way to listen to your iPod in your car.

9)iTunes - $0.99 downloads per song. Not bad...and better than illegally coping the CD from your friend. And let me say thanks to Apple for making iTunes compatible with Windows.

Nothing too spiritual in this blog...just my thoughts for the night...now go somewhere online and buy an iPod!

The Dissertation

The Relationship Between Spiritual Transformation and
Leadership Growth in a Pentecostal/Charismatic Context
The final touches have finally been put on my doctor of ministry dissertation…and I can now say that I am done. In my final read I found more typos and errors and I am sure that there are more…oh well….I guess it will just serve as a reminder that there is only One who is perfect.

I am working on two different articles one for the academic community and one for leaders. These articles will grow out of the 173-page dissertation. I am sure that most people will never read the dissertation cover to cover, but let me highlight a few sections that may be of interest to you.

NOTE: The page numbers listed with each section are the numbers that are centered on the bottom of your adobe toolbar and not the page numbers on the upper right hand of the document.

Click here to go to the dissertation.

Table of Contents (pgs. 6-9)
You can read through these pages to find a certain part of the dissertation.

A Theology of Leadership Development (pgs. 30-34)
I discuss Paul’s relationship with Timothy and the encouragement that Paul gives Timothy about the role of the Spirit in shaping his heart. “The gift of God” (2 Tim. 1:6-7) that Timothy is encouraged to stir up is not the gifts of the Spirit, but the Holy Spirit himself.

A Trinitarian Understanding of Spiritual Transformation (pgs. 35-37)
Read this if you don’t read anything else. I believe this section is the greatest contribution of my dissertation. I discuss this Trinitarian vision in a couple other sections below. I also hope that this idea becomes the genesis of a book.

Spiritual Transformation (pgs. 48-60)
This section dives a bit deeper into the theological foundations for spiritual transformation. I spend a good deal of time working through Dallas Willard’s ideas. He is the foremost evangelical authority in the area of spiritual formation. I touch on the Trinitarian vision again with a bit more depth.

A Pentecostal/charismatic Theology of Spirit Baptism (pg 60-69)
I am encouraging Pentecostal/charismatic Christians to broaden their definition of the baptism in the Holy Spirit to include the sanctification dimensions of the Spirit. This encouragement follows the thinking of Larry Hart (who taught me Systematic Theology at ORU) and Raniero Cantelemessa, a charismatic Catholic priest, who is the best writer/thinker/theologian in the area of pneumatology (i.e. The Holy Spirit).

Findings (pgs. 91-135)
This section includes the culmination of all of the interview data. If you were one of the interview participants, you will find all the responses from all of the participants here. A few things of interest are: (1) The 25 different disciplines practiced by the interview participants (pg. 115) ; and (2) three stories of transformation and leadership growth from Darrell Chatraw, Jimmy Bryson and Darren Davis (pgs. 129-133). Thank you guys for your transparency and authenticity!

The Six Leadership Principles (pgs. 137-151)
I will not list them here, but my research led me to form six leadership principles.

Theological Implications (pgs. 151-154)
This section is my last discussion of the Trinitarian vision of spiritual transformation. It includes a great quote from Simon Chan, who accelerated my thinking in the area of trinitarian theology and Pentecostal spirituality.

Practical Application (pgs. 155 – 159)
If you are just looking for "how tos" then read this section. I offer five practical things you can do to integrate spiritual transformation into your growth as a leader. I will warn you, one of them is theological – so you cannot escape theology all together!

There are too many people to thank in this entire process, but let me give one big SHOUT OUT (and thanks) to the interview participants listed on pg. 151. You guys are all men of God and I am overwhelming appreciative for the time we spent together. Thank you for your unique contribution to this study!

MAY THE HOLY SPIRIT CONTINUE TO TRANSFORM YOU INTO THE IMAGE OF THE SON FOR THE JOY OF GOD THE FATHER.

To God Be the Glory.

Dr. Derek Vreeland

The Promise and the Plan

God gives a promise and a plan.

He is able to do this for the entire world and all of the inhabitants therein, because he is both the creator and sustainer of all. He makes promises and plans.

He is able to make promises because he is sustaining all human activity.
He is able to make a plan because he is the creator. He is the chief architect of all that is—of everything and everyone who was, is, and will be in existence.

God is a promiser and planner.

He is the only perfect promiser and planner, but he is not limited to time and space. By nature he is ETERNAL, existing in a dimension that is not bound by the constraints of history and nature. He is able to SEE the past, present and future and he is able to KNOW the past, present and future, because he EXISTS simultaneously in the past, present and future.

The very words “past,” “present,” and “future” are completely foreign to the life of the triune God. They are words that we use from our limited, finite, human perspective. We experience these modes of time but God transcends them.

It is as if God lives in a helicopter overlooking a parade. We are stuck in the parade between the horses and the out-of-tune Junior high marching band. All we can see are the equestrian’s backsides in front of us and the band behind us. God can see all of it. He can see the very front of the parade and the tail end of the parade simultaneously.

He lives in a dimension that we cannot comprehend.
He lives in a dimension that makes him the most perfect promiser and planner. Nowhere is he plan better seen than in Romans 8:28-29:

[THE PROMISE] And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (ESV)

[THE PLAN] For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (ESV)

In thinking about the promise that “all things work together for the good,” I came across these lines from Charles Spurgeon’s sermon “The True Christian’s Blessedness.”

He who said, "all things work together," will soon prove to you that there is a harmony in the most discordant parts of your life. You shall find, when your biography is written, that the black page did but harmonize with the bright one—that the dark and cloudy day was but a glorious foil to set forth the brighter noon-tide of your joy. "All things work together." There is never a clash in the world: men think so, but it never is so....

...We must understand the word "together," also in another sense. "All things work together for good:" that is to say, none of them work separately. I remember an old divine using a very pithy and homely metaphor, which I shall borrow to-day. Said he, "All things work together for good; but perhaps, any one of those 'all things' might destroy us if taken alone....

Remember, it is not the one thing alone that is for your good; it is the one thing put with another thing, and that with a third, and that with a fourth, and all these mixed together, that work for your good.... Too much joy would intoxicate us, too much misery would drive us to despair: but the joy and the misery, the battle and the victory, the storm and the calm, all these compounded make that sacred elixir whereby God maketh all his people perfect through suffering, and leadeth them to ultimate happiness.

Charles Spurgeon
"The True Christian’s Blessedness" (Sermon #159)
Preached October 18, 1857

These are some of the thoughts swirling around in my head as I get ready for Sunday’s sermon. My sermon, tentatively titled “The Promise and the Plan,” is sermon #334 and will be preached May 6, 2007...if you were interested.