2007 Beliefs

A few years back I decided to try to put into my own words what I thought about God, the Bible, Jesus, etc. I felt it was important to separate what is revealed by God from what we deduce, experience, and document as history. I suspect I'll need to revisit this every few years, because even now I would word things differently, emphasize things that are not even included here, and de-emphasize other items or eliminate them entirely. But, for what it's worth, here's what it was...

God exists; creation implies a powerful Creator, and the intricate design in creation reveals much about him. God speaks; throughout history he has communicated with the hearts of individuals, and guided them to write these communications, history, ethical teachings, collected wisdom, poetry, songs, etc. in their own language and style.

These writings were collected into what we now call “The Bible”. People who love God generally agree which writings were truly from God, and carefully copied/translated them for thousands of years. Those who agree the Bible is from God trust its accuracy, submit to its authority, practice its teachings, and believe its revelations.

One revelation is that we’re all fundamentally a hopeless mess. This goes back to the first man, continues with our children, and distances us from God. He still loves us, but we’re unable to rightly love him and others. We simply fall short. We are naturally selfish, and any apparent generosity is tainted with ulterior motives.

People across history agree that thoughts and actions generally have consequences; this is widely known as “karma” – you get what’s coming to you. The revelations also agree: those who don’t love God rightly don’t enjoy his presence and blessings, and tend to suffer appropriate consequences for their thoughts and actions.

Another revelation is that God showed us his perfect love by becoming a man named Jesus of Nazareth. He loved through his words and actions, and paid the consequences for, not himself, but everyone else by being publicly executed on a cross. He demonstrated a “grace” that worked outside the law of karma.

God even revealed thousands of years ago that one would accomplish all that Jesus did. The writers referred to this person as the one “anointed” (chosen) by God. The Hebrew word for this is “moshiach” (Messiah); the Greek word is “christos” (Christ). That’s why he is commonly known as “Jesus the Christ”, or simply “Jesus Christ”.

History records that Jesus came back to life after three days in the grave, taught his friends over a period of forty days, and then ascended up to heaven. His friends banded together as an extended family called “the church”, and spread the good news that a new way of living in freedom and love was available to all.

For those who believe that this good news is true and commit their lives to it, they are set free to enter into a loving relationship with Jesus/God, with all their consequences paid in full by him. They become new people inside. As they live out this faith God changes them, patiently teaching them to truly love. He no longer holds their failings against them, since they are a “work in progress”. He calls them “children” and “friends”.

Over time, God’s friends realize more and more how involved God is with them. The Bible reveals that God’s Holy Spirit is actively working in his people so they become increasingly more like Jesus in word and action. People often refer to God/Jesus/Holy Spirit as the Three-in-one, or the Trinity. Trying to fully understand this is like trying to comprehend the universe, predestination, or anything thing else infinite; our finite brains aren’t made for it.

The Bible reveals that God provides special gifts and talents to all of his friends so that they can help each other in unique, inter-connected ways. So, one benefit of a local “church” community is that each person can practice their abilities for the benefit of everyone else. They work together and grow together as grateful friends of God.

God’s work continues in this world and in the lives of his friends. He revealed that his love is so endless he will provide his friends with new, eternal bodies at death. Death isn’t something for them to fear; instead, it’s a portal to a life even more exciting that the one they experience with him here and now. In the meantime, his friends have much living, loving, and growing to do as they partner with him to make this good news known to the world.

Quick Fix

"...life is complex, and the idea that you can break it down or fix it in a few steps is rather silly. The truth is there are a million steps, and we don't even know what the steps are, and worse, at any given moment we may not be willing or even able to take them; and still worse, they are different for you and me and they are always changing. I have come to believe the sooner we find this truth beautiful, the sooner we will fall in love with the God who keeps shaking things up, keeps changing the path, keeps rocking the boat to test our faith in Him, teaching us to not rely on easy answers, bullet points, magic mantras, or genies in lamps, but rather in His guidance, His existence, His mercy, and His love."

- Donald Miller, "Searching for God Knows What"

This quote reminds me of a song I wrote close to 20 years ago and that we're putting on our new CD (to be released in March 2009):

Quick Fix
c.11/18/1990 by Bob Young

When I skinned my knee Momma made me feel better
but the wound still needed time to heal
When Betty broke my heart you know I wanted to die
somehow I survived that long ordeal
Heartache to heartache I grew strong
learning to take whatever comes along

and now I don't want a quick fix,
I don't need a quick fix.

I went to Sunday School, I heard the Golden Rule
from folks who fought over chairs and padded pews
When my friend got fired he made their prayer list
but they kept their cash - he didn't share their views
I grew disillusioned but I held on
`cause there's no confusion between right and wrong
(I think that's wrong)

but I don't want a quick fix,
I don't need a quick fix.
No, no - I don't want a quick fix -
Mister, you can keep your quick fix!

Some talk of pie in the sky in the sweet bye and bye
Well, I believe in a place called Heaven
No tears, no fears, no sin, no dyin'
but in the meantime I've got to keep on livin'
through laughter and sorrow, sun and rain
sharing the Savior's great love and pain

I don't want a quick fix,
No, no - I don't need a quick fix.
Hey, hey - I don't want a quick fix -
Mister, you can keep your quick fix!

It turns out that I also put it into a beat poem (all you first edition owners of "The Big", please raise your hand...):

Nix
c.3/17/1989 by Bob Young

The ecstatic fanatic
is an addict
for the hot quick fix,
but what sticks through shocks
is nix (or not a lot, at least).
They feast on yeast,
they lick the bowl,
and in the end
they lose the life
and the control
they pained and strained
and racked their brains
and sweated and fretted
and dreamed and schemed
and tried and died
to hold on to.
Nix on the quick fix.

I wonder if I've actually learned this lesson yet? Or maybe it's one of those lessons that keeps coming back around again and again to pry yet one more grasping finger off the hold of my life. In any case, God is relentless and will settle for nothing less than my complete trust in His way, His goodness, and His timing. Nix on the quick fix.

Born Again Again

He was born in the summer of his 27th year

Comin’ home to a place he’d never been before.

He left yesterday behind him,

You might say he was born again,

You might say he found a key for every door.

John Denver

“Rocky Mountain High”

For me it was the autumn of my 46th year. It was a culmination of decades of learning and unlearning, a new beginning of sorts. A portal was opened to a new dimension of living, like walking into an ordinary wardrobe, clawing past the fur coats, and finding myself in Narnia. Shivering in the Narnian winter, clueless, alone, afraid, yet very much alive and very much full of wonder.

I was only part way through Rob Bell’s book “Velvet Elvis” when this shift started and this doorway opened before me. So much of what I had been taught for decades, entire schools and systems of biblical understanding, were being shown for the inadequate, inaccurate, man-made things they were. And it all resonated deep within my heart – what I was reading was making so much more sense than the empty explanations I had heard all my life. It clicked with reality.

It started with simple things like “binding” and “loosing”. Rob discussed how scripture by its very nature had to be interpreted (something the rabbis knew for quite a long time). Some rabbis had very strict interpretations for passages in the Torah, while other rabbis were more lenient in how to apply it. In the end, however, the goal was to actually DO what the scriptures commanded, and the question was how.

When a rabbi forbid an activity, he was said to “bind” it; when he allowed the activity, he “loosed” it. The collection of the rabbi’s interpretations of what is “bound” and what is “loosed” in scripture was called the rabbi’s “yoke”. For anyone familiar with the book of Matthew in the New Testament, bells should start going off in your head, because the rabbi Jesus used these very terms with his apprentices. He talked about how his “yoke” was easy, and later told his apprentices that they had the power to “bind” and “loose” (which they exercised in the book of Acts).

In some mysterious way, the apostles’ interpretation of scripture (which at that time consisted of Genesis to Malachi) had authority on earth AND in heaven. They partnered with God to determine what is allowed and what is not allowed. And if you look at their determinations in Acts, there were only a few things they bothered to “bind” or “loose” (though these days there are many who love to bind).

Anyway, that simple explanation from a Jewish historical context was mind-blowing to me. It made me wonder what else I had been taught wrongly simply because my teachers did not know (for one reason or another) the actual context of the passage, what the terms really meant to the speakers and hearers. Rob included a number of concepts that he had learned from Ray Vander Laan, Dallas Willard, and other teachers – many that I had been exposed to for years – and brought out new perspectives and angles I had never heard before. I felt ashamed and excited, dumb and enlightened at the same time.

But the most devastating blow to my old way of thinking came as he gently addressed a common, glaring error in interpretation that is one of the key stops along the old “Romans Road”. I originally memorized the verse in the King James Version, and it went like this:

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,

and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead,

thou shalt be saved.”

Romans 10:9

The English Standard Version of the scriptures translates that passage as follows:

"… if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord 

and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, 

you will be saved.”

Which, of course, meant that if I ask Jesus into my heart (perhaps confessing that I’m a sinner), and believe deep down inside that He as second person of the Trinity died for my sins and rose again, I have done a transaction that guarantees me an afterlife in heaven and an escape from the lake of fire. Right?

But does it really mean that? Is that what the text really says?

When Paul wrote to the followers of Jesus in Rome, he was writing to a group of individuals who lived in the capital city of the civilized world. The military headquarters was there. The emperor was there… and he was considered to be a god. One of the requirements of Rome’s citizens was to honor him in ways that we’ve seen in the 20th century; where in Nazi Germany the people were required to shout with outstretched arm “Heil Hitler”, in Paul’s day Roman citizens were required to say “Caesar is Lord!” (whether you bought the whole emperor-god thing or not). If you wanted to survive, you said it.

Paul encouraged the followers of Jesus to participate in a dangerous and subversive activity – to go against the grain (at the risk of punishment or death) and say that Jesus, not Caesar, is the ruler. In other letters Paul reminds his readers that we are citizens of the kingdom of Heaven, not of the Roman Empire (though Paul gladly used his Roman citizenship to his advantage when appropriate). And the further you study the anti-Roman implications in Paul’s writings, the more you understand the subversive nature of his teachings and how he encouraged such a counter-cultural stand for God’s kingdom.

And what does the word “saved” mean in the context of Romans 10:9 if it doesn’t mean saved from hell and guaranteed access into an afterlife of bliss? Pretty much what it means in many other places in scripture when we use the synonyms “delivered”, “rescued”, and “protected”. Scan the Old Testament and you will see that over and over God delighted to rescue his people from danger. It’s the big story that his people get to gratefully recount to others – the various ways God came through for them in their time of need. Paul appears to be telling his readers don’t worry about taking a counter-cultural stand for Jesus as the king who rules over Caesar because Jesus will rescue them one way or another (either in this life so they can share their story, or they will be resurrected one day just like Him).

Wow. So what else have I gotten wrong? What else did my teachers not know, did not interpret (binding or loosing) correctly and accurately? And if it’s not about securing a good spot in the afterlife, what IS it about? For that, I had to go back to the teachings of Jesus himself…

Studying Jesus’ teachings led me back to the writings of Dallas Willard and his landmark book “The Divine Conspiracy”. Though I’ve read it twice before, I had completely missed the implications; perhaps I wasn’t ready yet. But as he discussed the failure of “gospel of sin management” to really foster Christ-likeness and as he expanded on the brilliance of Jesus’ teachings that we call “the sermon on the mount”, my eyes were opened and my heart humbled and my spirit was shaken by the possibilities.

And that led me to others who have been influenced by his writings, including Scot McKnight, Rick McKinley, and Brian McLaren. It also led me back to John Eldredge who was an influence on me several years ago as his writings prepared me to live authentically and stop being a “poser”, in spite of the resistance. And that led me back to the songwriters I’ve come to love for their honesty and integrity…

Don’t forget to bring kindness

Don’t forget to say "thanks!"

Don’t forget to spend your love

Honey, you will not break the bank

Don’t forget to bring some empathy

For the saints and the sinners

Don’t forget to bring encouragement

Yeah, we’re all just beginners.

Bill Mallonee

“Bank”

That’s me – just another beginner, just another humbled, desperate soul trying to follow the way of Jesus. I hesitate to even call myself a Christian anymore because the term is so over-used that it can mean just about anything, which in the end indicates that it means nothing. And if it is supposed to mean “Christ-like” or “little Christ”, well, that ain’t me. But I’m trying…

Honesty is a hard attribute to find 

When we all want to seem like

we've got it all figured out

Well let me be the first to say that I 

don't have a clue

I don't have all the answers 

ain't gonna' pretend like I do

Just trying to find my way

trying to find my way the best that I know how

Jason Wade / Lifehouse

“Trying”

It’s a world filled with doubts and questions. But I guess I’m not afraid of that anymore, because the God who created all of this and who has rescued (saved!) me time and time again – well, he’s not afraid of the questions either. And questions are exactly what inquisitive children are supposed to bring to their father. And it’s not that I don’t look forward to an afterlife with him – I do – but more importantly I look forward to his presence in my here and now every single day as I see his wishes become my reality. And I think puts me in a better position to be humble, perhaps like a child, as I seek to follow him in faith.

- Bob Young (3/12/2008)

Power

On Sunday morning I was reminded that we actually have one or two people who read this little blog. This morning I actually had something to contribute. Here goes...

I live a block from Power Road. Several times a week my little league team plays a block from Power Road, just half a mile away from where I sit now. The team is a great combination of kids - plenty of natural talent, well-equipped. And yet we're winning just over half of our games. The main reason: lack of power. Our best pitchers and strongest hitters seem to be lacking power, and it's affecting the whole team. It's like the whole team is "a block away from Power". So while we have great resources at our disposal, we can't do much without the necessary power. I believe it can be there - I've seen glimpses of it - I just don't know if it will show up in time for when it really counts or not.

Right now a generator is humming away outside my house, like it has for the last 20-odd hours. You see, we lost our power in yesterday's storm and we've had to generate our own just to keep the food from rotting. It also keeps the kids entertained with DVDs, keeps a fan or two running, and powers up my computers (but without internet access). We have all these resources at our fingertips, but most of them we can't use without some REAL power beyond what we can generate ourselves. And with gasoline at $4.05 per gallon these days, generating our own power is a very costly endeavor indeed.

Yesterday I was reading a chapter in Scot McKinights "Embracing Grace" and he said that when we think of loving God with all our strength, we usually picture a fitness guru or body builder, where the strength is something we build up. He said that our strength is really more about all of the resources at our disposal - our "strengths" if you will - and that everything we have and our should be dedicated to demonstrating our love for God.

I'm getting the feeling that God is trying to tell me something.

Without REAL power, none of the resources, skills, talents, abilities, or tools at my disposal are worth much. I say I want to love God with my whole heart, soul, mind, and strength and love my neighbor as well as I love myself, but without God providing the power I'll be as lethargic as I have been for the last week - unable to stay up late in spite of caffeine, unable to get "up at at em" in the morning like I've been able. I'm physically and mentally dragging, lacking power.

Yesterday Tom and I led worship with just a couple of acoustic guitars. We had our guitars plugged into an amplifier and I used a microphone, but with the small group of people, we really didn't need to do that. We were supposed to have a drummer and bass player and do a big band event for this little church community, but things fell through that were beyond our power to control. And in the end, the people seemed geniunely moved to worship. We hadn't even prayed beforehand or even prepared much because the songs were selected at the last minute due to the drummer's late notice.

I wonder what would have happened had I prayed.

I wonder how different things would have been if I had begged God for His power.

I wonder how much better things would be if I stopped relying on my own resources, strengths, and ability to generate power, and switched over to solely relying on God's.

I wonder when I'll stop wondering and start doing something about it...

Something...

Perhaps you have asked yourself, "Why did the Bob Young Band choose the motto 'Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blues'?" If so, this blog entry is for you…


SOMETHING OLD…

Let's start with the first of the four items, "something old". By that, we are implying that we are willing to do songs that were written a long time ago (though, of course, we attempt to do them in a style that fits our core sound and musical sensibilities). We find value in a number of songs from across church history (though sometimes they need lyrical or musical "freshening").

From time to time we leverage familiar tunes to present additional, new lyrics that fit a sermon topic – we've done that for a number of songs including The Church's One Foundation, I Sing The Mighty Power Of God, and And Can It Be.

I do find it kind of funny when I discuss music with people who are strongly committed to the "old hymns", only to discover that most of their favorites are actually less than 100 years old. Then again, it's probably more typical here in America where we have no real sense of history that goes back for millennia.

It's also strange to me the people deride contemporary music because of it's "worldly sound". Music is a medium of expression that can be used to express every high and low, every light and dark topic that God reveals to us in scripture or that we experience in life. It's vocabulary changes over time, and popular hymn writers have leveraged that, from Martin Luther's German drinking songs to Charles Wesley's use of popular music of the day to the John Philip Sousa-esque march-style hymns of the early 1900s to the World War II era John W. Peterson "oom-pa-pa" music. All music is worldly. And all can be used for God. That's why we love to emulate the hymn writers of yesteryear and take popular songs of the day and "sanctify" the lyric for God's use.

Another thing that cracks me up is the accusation that contemporary worship music is primarily filled with "Jesus is my boyfriend" kind of lyrics. I challenge you to read through an old hymnal looking for the same kinds of songs – you'll see that this mindset has ALWAYS been present in hymnody. It's the feminine, relational side of the equation where we, the church, are the bride of Christ. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, though an imbalance of only this kind of theme in regular worship is probably not very healthy, since there are also many other important topics we need to be singing about.


SOMETHING NEW…

By "new", we mean original songs that someone in our group has written. In the Psalms we are encouraged on many occasions to "Sing a NEW song unto the Lord", and we strongly believe that we should follow that advice. Each generation has it's own issues, needs, struggles, etc. that need to be addressed. Each writer has a unique set of experiences and learnings that they need to personally express and can share with others so that they teach one another with "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs" as the New Testament encourages us to do.

Writers writes because they MUST – it's how they are "wired" and gifted by God, and to do anything less is a disservice to God and to His people. It doesn't make them better than anyone – it's just the particular thing God for which entrusted them to be faithful.


SOMETHING BORROWED…

When we say "borrowed" we mean contemporary songs, often referred to as "cover songs". While we write a LOT of our own music, there is so much other good music out there that expresses our hearts and the hearts of congregations we lead, or that reflects the theme for the week's sermon topic, that we simply HAVE to do these songs as well.

We are deeply grateful for so many of the artists out who have served God in their respective areas and wrote honestly from the heart about the things of God. Special thanks to Third Day, Lincoln Brewster, Israel Houghton, Rich Mullins, Keith Green, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, John Michael Talbot, and the folks from Enter The Worship Circle.


SOMETHING BLUES

The blues - why would we include that? Isn't that just a bunch of whiny, drunk, depressed old people who are into that? Oh how wrong you are…

The blues is a cross-cultural, cross-generational song form that has inspired and is closely related to southern gospel, black gospel, "mountain gospel", R&B, rock, rap, jazz, and much of today's popular music. In some senses, it is the black equivalent of white-dominated country music. Check out Don Was' documentary Rhythm, Country, & Blues and you'll see the close ties between the two.

When we play the blues, both young and old can intuitively understand the song form and can "get into it". Folks who have more "country" leanings find it familiar enough to embrace it. People raised on southern gospel quartet music catch strains of something in the blues that connect with them. The blues are the closest thing we've found to a universal song form.

Those steeped in the blues understand that while misery and despair are often expressed with this form, there is also an element of purging, resolution, and hope found in them that fills the heart with joy in spite of and/or through the problems sung about. The blues can express a joy as high as depression could be low.

When you seriously consider the Psalms, you'll see that a huge percentage of these are filled with ancient blues concepts and could be sung as such today. What is the book of Lamentations if not the blues? What is Romans 6 and 7 if not the blues – "Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?" And yet the response is also able to be expressed by the blues – "I thank God through Jesus Christ… therefore there is NO CONDEMNATION to those that are in Christ Jesus!"

So until I get to heaven, get a new robe and shoes… I'll be a new man with the old man blues.

Just a taste...

What a beautiful sight: Comerica Park on a cool October night, the Detroit skyline glistening in the background as a crowd stretched beyond capacity screams, cheers, applauds with abandon.

Yet it reminds me that it's just a TASTE, a very small sampling of what awaits those who in their hearts love to praise the name of Jesus.

I love baseball. I l-o-v-e Tiger baseball. I LOVE Tiger Post-Season Baseball! But I love Jesus more, and I can't wait for the day when we toss our fears, preferences, scruples, denominational pride, and inhibitions aside and worship Him as ONE. What a day THAT will be!

Out of the Blue

In an earlier blog I mentioned that I'd fill you in on how God "launched" us. Better late than never, eh?

THE BACK STORY

God brought Tom Kozanecki and I together at Faith Bible Church in Farmington Hills, Michigan back around 1998. We played together on several rotating worship teams (The Old Guys Band, The Koz Krew, Mighty Mike & the Midgets, The Remnants, etc).

As Tom and I grew closer, God gave us a vision to raise the bar on how we approached worship leading, and we thought it would be a great idea to consolidate several of these disparate worship teams into a single band that could lead worship, provide original skits and drama, perform original music, and even take it outside the four walls of the church. We were GEEKED.

Unfortunately, our desire didn't necessarily match the direction the pastor and elders were taking the congregation, and we regretfully tried to force a cultural changes on the church whenever we had a chance to perform. We were wrong. And it ultimately led to me needing to leave that church for its sake and for mine.

THE TRANSITION

A year before we left that church, we started to see the importance of working with the congregation where they were rather than where we'd like them to be (each church is different, after all). Our focus shifted from pushing our agenda to serving the church as worship leaders. It was a major step, but God wasn't done.

Now, I happened to be the only person left in the group who attended that church regularly; everyone else went elsewhere but joined me there monthly. All of the other guys said they believed in what were now doing and wanted to keep it up wherever God led. And, of course, I had no idea where He was leading.

I had kind of an "exit review" with the elders on a Monday, and then proceeded to bump into an elder on Wednesday and the pastor on Thursday. I admit I still had some deep feelings, but I did my best to let my words be full of grace and love. Well, that Thursday when I got home, a dear old friend who had moved on to another church in Plymouth, Michigan called and asked if we'd be willing to lead worship. I spoke with their pastor that night and we scheduled a date. Coincidental timing, eh? I think not…

Then four days later my wife Joyce was chatting with another homeschool mom at a swimming class for the kids, and this lady mentioned how her husband pastors a church and is having a hard time finding someone who can blend old songs with new. Joyce mentioned that I do that very kind of thing, and within a day or two we had a date at that church as well. Coincindence? Nuh uh…

THE DISCOVERY

As we served at these churches, similar and dissimilar in many ways, we developed a relationship with the pastors that led us to frame our song selection not only around the church culture, but also around the topic for the day. This may sound simple, but it was revolutionary for us because it took away the temptation to do songs we liked (or that the congregation liked) and instead put the focus where it should have been all along – on the message being proclaimed that day.

Since that time, we have worked hard to insure that every worship service is a complete package that reinforces what God has led the pastor to present. It has given us unimaginable freedom to choose good songs from any point in church history and weave them together to serve God, the pastor, and the congregation, while still staying true to ourselves artistically so we can play from our hearts.

And God didn't stop there; he opened up new doors and gave us new opportunities. One of the most mutually-fulfilling has been leading worship periodically at the Detroit Rescue Mission for their Sunday night service. Not only are we on the "front lines" where Satan seems to be more active, we have complete musical freedom in that culture to do anything from the classic "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" to the popular "Friend of God" and anything in-between. They appreciate when we cut loose, and when we bring it down. It's a joy. And to see people there make decisions for Christ… it's priceless.

THE FUTURE

And now it seems a new door is opening up as we near the release of our latest CD that we've labored so hard on for the last year or so. My longtime friend Paul Edwards has asked us to join him on his daily radio show, The Paul Edwards Program. Tom and I are scheduled to join him on Friday October 27, 2006 for his 5:00pm show. We'll do a few acoustic numbers, play some of the new songs from our CD, and chat about God, worship, music, and maybe even our common love for the Detroit Tigers.

I have no idea what God is doing with this, and maybe it's just an opportunity to sit down and share with a good friend. But we'd appreciate your prayers for wisdom and either courage or restraint as appropriate should God be leading us to or away from something. He has provided all of our needs, fitted us for ministry, and given us ample opportunities to serve. We just want to be sure that we keep serving Him as He wants us to, and that never ever neglect our families for the sake of "ministry", because God gave us our families as our first ministry.