Don Miller’s Closing Benediction at the DNC

Just thought some of you may enjoy this. Be blessed.

I’m honored to deliver the closing prayer at the DNC. Evangelical voices have been scarce within this party, perhaps since the Carter administration. But as strides are being made on key issues of sanctity of life and social justice, as well as peaceful solutions to world conflicts, more and more evangelicals are taking a closer look at options the Democratic Party are beginning to deliver. There is a long way to go, but sending a message to Washington that no single party has the Christian community in their pocket, thus causing each party to carefully consider the issues most important to us, is, in my opinion, a positive evolution. I am glad that, for the most part, the dialogue has been constructive and positive. Will you join me in keeping the conversation thoughtful and not reactionary?

That said, I am honored to speak to, and especially pray with and for, the DNC. Here is the full text of the prayer:

Please join me for the next few moments in our Benediction.

“Father God,
This week, as the world looks on, help the leaders in this room create a civil dialogue about our future.
We need you, God, as individuals and also as a nation.
We need you to protect us from our enemies, but also from ourselves, because we are easily tempted toward apathy.
Give us a passion to advance opportunities for the least of these, for widows and orphans, for single moms and children whose fathers have left.
Give us the eyes to see them, and the ears to hear them, and hands willing to serve them.
Help us serve people, not just causes. And stand up to specific injustices rather than vague notions.
Give those in this room who have power, along with those who will meet next week, the courage to work together to finally provide health care to those who don’t have any, and a living wage so families can thrive rather than struggle.
Hep us figure out how to pay teachers what they deserve and give children an equal opportunity to get a college education.
Help us figure out the balance between economic opportunity and corporate gluttony.
We have tried to solve these problems ourselves but they are still there. We need your help.
Father, will you restore our moral standing in the world.
A lot of people don’t like us but that’s because they don’t know the heart of the average American.
Will you give us favor and forgiveness, along with our allies around the world.
Help us be an example of humility and strength once again.
Lastly, father, unify us.
Even in our diversity help us see how much we have in common.
And unify us not just in our ideas and in our sentiments—but in our actions, as we look around and figure out something we can do to help create an America even greater than the one we have come to cherish.
God we know that you are good.
Thank you for blessing us in so many ways as Americans.
I make these requests in the name of your son, Jesus, who gave his own life against the forces of injustice.
Let Him be our example.

Amen.”

Can also be viewed at donaldmillerwords.com

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The Theology of Bruce Lee

Statue of Bruce Lee at HK's harbor-front Avenue of Stars (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Thinking about the man, the legend, Bruce Lee, commemorating the 35th anniversary of his death (July 20, 1973, at age 32). Who doesn’t love this man? One bad@$$ ABC brutha. Yes that’s right, ABC! Arguably the singlemost influential ABC ever. Now only if he was a pastor. Imagine that?!

Also remembering David Gibbons on his excellent use of Bruce Lee-isms at Q and AALC speaking on third culture and adaptability.

Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Water can flow or it can crash.
Be water, my friend
– The Theology of Bruce Lee.

Also Read:
Seattle Art Museum [SAM] event one of many tributes to Bruce Lee

A Day of Remembrance: Virginia Tech One Year Later

April 16, 2008 is A Day of Remembrance
On this day, the Virginia Tech community reflects on the vibrant lives of the 32 students and faculty who were tragically taken from us a year ago. Through light, art, and music we pay tribute to each and every person we lost. [From the VT Remembrance Site]

Last April, the world’s attention focused on a campus community ripped to its very core with the grief and pain of a tragedy unparalleled in the history of American higher education. And what they observed was more powerful than they ever expected… they saw a campus filled with energetic students and talented faculty that displayed grace, poise and fortitude beyond all imagination — a community fueled by something we know as Hokie spirit. That spirit reaches deep and spreads beyond the campus throughout our 200,000 alumni, and indeed across the entire globe.Take time to remember the legacies, remember the dreams and remember the talent that our community has lost.

I hope you are inspired to work harder to honor the 32. Share you talents with the world for the 32. Achieve your dreams for the 32. Be more compassionate, friendly and thoughtful for the 32. Be better, for the 32.

In 2008, we remember the 32; we are thankful for the survivors; and we are proud we share together that incredible Hokie spirit.

Tom Tillar
Vice President for Alumni Relations

Schedule of Events

Linkback
Aint The Way It’s Supposed To Be – Engaging The Virginia Tech Tragedy [i]
Aint The Way It’s Supposed To Be – Engaging The Virginia Tech Tragedy [ii]

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Won’t you be my neighbor and wear a sweater tomorrow on Mar 20?
Thursday marks the day that would have been Mr. Rogers 80th birthday and people everywhere will be cozying up in sweaters to honor the man. It’ll be known as “Sweater Day.” It’s been 5 years since he has passed. Family Communications, founded by Mr. Rogers as the production company behind “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” is sponsoring “Won’t You Be My Neighbor Week” in Pittsburgh also celebrating the city’s 250th anniversary.

I love Mr. Rogers. Yes I do. People may think just because the Neighborhood was a kids show that it’s simplistic. He made sense of life for children in ways they could understand and grow through. He dealt with complex themes like death, divorce, body image that we fail to do from the pulpit. He understood his audience and better yet he didn’t put on a show. He didn’t act or perform for children. He communicated with children. He’s the best of the best.

Wisdom from Mr. Rogers

Profound. Perfect for Lent.

Mr Rogers on Fatherhood:
“Just be yourself. The best thing you can do for anybody is to offer one more honest adult in their lives.”

Amen.

The Keller Effect [ii] The Book Tour, Philly Dates

If you’re in the Philly area…

Tuesday, March 11, 10:10-11:20 a.m. – Westminster Theological Seminary
Catch Keller and the Westminster Theological Seminary Apologetics Department in a conversation on apologetic method.
Van Til Hall – Rust Auditorium. No reservations needed, but seating is limited.
2960 Church Road, Glenside, PA 19038

Tuesday, March 11, 7:30-9:00 p.m. – Penn Museum, University of Pennsylvania
Keller will speak about his book The Reason for God and will then answer questions from the audience.
The public is invited, and no reservations or tickets are needed.
Penn Museum, Harrison Auditorium (2nd Floor), 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA
If you’re not in Philly check out these other opportunities on The Reason for God Website

New York City Dates

• March 2 – Open Forum at Hunter College in New York City
• March 3 – 6:00PM at NYU, Kimmel Student Center, 60 Washington Square South

The Keller Effect and The Largest Asian-American Church

I’ve finally gotten around to reading this profile of Tim Keller in a recent Newsweek in the wake of his new book, The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, which I hope to pick up soon. It’s a decent article that gives insight into the Redeemer experience. Ed Stetzer’s interview with Keller is a great accompaniment to it.

Like many I have benefited so much from his teaching and leadership. I can appreciate Rick Warren and Hybels. They’ve all raised the leadership bar in the church and the way we “do” church. But Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church engages Asian-Americans like no other.

Those of us who minister to Asian-Americans should take a look into what Redeemer is all about. The number of Asian Americans that attend Redeemer services are phenomenal. Worship services are held primarily in an auditorium at Hunter College. As the article points out, there’s nothing sexy here. The congregation is led by chamber musicians and hymns. The service is simply done. It’s a sharp contrast to the high production efforts found in other megachurches that lean more on the experiential.

Standing at the microphone is a man more than six feet tall with a shiny bald head and wire-rim spectacles, looking more like a college professor than a megachurch pastor. This is the Rev. Tim Keller, a Manhattan institution, one of those open urban secrets, like your favorite dim sum place, with a following so ardent and so fast-growing that he has never thought to advertise. He rarely speaks to the press.

The experiential difference in Redeemer is Tim Keller. If anyone has pulpit credibility he has it in spades. His messages are essentially reformed, intellectually engaging and hold a high regard for Scripture. Redeemer is the place for people who are hungry for answers and knowledge. There’s no filler or fluff. They go to hear Tim Keller speak and they get what they want. Perhaps what they may find more appealing about Keller is a more holistic commitment to the Gospel and a God-sized vision for the city. He is engaging the heart of many of the changing shifts that we need to wake up to in the church, increasing urbanization, glocalization, and social justice. Shalom.

The Keller Formula

He is helping other pastors use his “formula,” if you can call it that—orthodox Christianity and challenging preaching, with an emphasis on social justice and community service—in cities like Amsterdam, São Paolo, Berlin and Paris. Keller believes that young urban people too often face an unsatisfactory choice: the dispassionate formality of the established churches or the fire and brimstone of the conservative evangelicals.

The Largest Asian-American Church
That formula resonates with many Asian-Americans Christians and it’s part of a great escape. Many of them who attend Redeemer have migrated from the immigrant churches they’ve grown up with. I’ve heard it said and I forgot where that Redeemer is the largest Asian-American church by the sheer number of Asian-Americans that attend and not because it has set out to be one. I don’t have any hard figures but with five services in a city with one of the highest Asian populations in the country and an inclination for excellent teaching it’s very possible.

Similar to what the article suggests, they migrate because of negative experiences or perhaps that there was something missing from that experience of church. That missing component could be a more holistic view of the Gospel that’s not simply just about personal salvation. They may find the structures of immigrant churches cumbersome and their felt needs not being met. For some, attending Redeemer provides a certain anonymity while getting your dose of God and good teaching. You go, you leave, you’ve done church.

Links
Redeemer Presbyterian Church
Newsweek: The Smart Shepherd
Ed Stetzer On Tim Keller and The Reason for God [1] [2]
The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (Hardcover)
Reason for God Website

Tom Hsieh Interview

Thanks to Danny at NewPointe Community Church who provided us a link to the interview they conducted during their service with Tom Hsieh. Enjoy!

Read:
Missional Living. Earn 200k. Live on 38k.
Missional Living. Earn 200k. Live on 38k. Part 2

U2 on Movies

When asked about what they look for in other movies, Bono and Edge respond,

“Joy is the hardest thing, always, for any artist, for any writer, for any photographer,” Bono says. “It’s the hardest thing to capture because it’s impossible to contrive, whereas despair — you can have a good go at despair.”“You don’t have to try too hard to summon it up,” The Edge adds.

“It’s a little bit too easy,” Bono agrees. “Or melancholy, which we can sometimes suffer with.”

As an artist I do find that it’s very difficult to communicate or convey real joy. How do you do it without coming across…naive or can it even be naive? True to life joy is not common or perhaps we just don’t know how to recognize it. So many of us do not experience that kind of real joy in our own lives or see it in the lives of others. You would think you’d find it in the church behind their eyes and in all that they do. It’s a rare thing. Something just ain’t right about that.

“Be joyful always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

Missional Living. Earn 200k. Live on 38k. Part 2

My post about Tom Hsieh has gotten a lot of attention. I’m glad that Danny, the music director at NewPointe Community Church caught wind of my post. His team decided to do something creative with the story. Read the post on his blog.

This Sunday, NewPointe Community Church will be doing a live conference with Tom Hsieh for part of their worship service. Listen live from their website, www.newpointe.org.
It will feature towards the end of the message (around 9:45 or 11:45am).

Related
• Missional Living. Earn 200k. Live on 38k.

J.J. Abrams on Mystery

Cloverfield opens today. The trailers have been brilliant.
Everyone wants to know what destroys NYC.

At TED (the conference featuring leading thinkers and doers in technology, entertainment, and design) director J.J. Abrams shared something very interesting about mystery. He showed a wrapped box with a large question mark on it that he had purchased years ago but never opened. He probably never will either.

He says the mystery of what’s inside the box is more interesting than anything that might be in the box.

“It represents infinite possibility; it represents hope; it represents potential… mystery is the catalyst for imagination… maybe there are times where mystery is more important than knowledge.“

I love how he describes mystery as being full of possibilities. It reminds me of how each of us is a mystery like that box. Our future is a mystery. Everyone has their own idea about what “could be”. That’s an exciting thought. It celebrates our diversity and how our lives can unfold a particular story. It takes shape and form as we are engaged in this world on this side of heaven. Also we won’t know how our lives affect one another. When we meet, share, play, learn or stare, glare and crash through life, it all gives shape to the mystery of our lives. There’s a greater story to be told.

I think about a new life in the womb, I’m speechless as to the infinite possibilities.

You can download the talk in 420p here >>