Tim Keel's Blog

A New Waterdeep Record

Today is a music day...

I have been listening to Ryan Adam's classic, Heartbreaker - a record I never tire of...

And then I got news that my good friends, Don and Lori Chaffer, have released a new Waterdeep record. That is cause for celebration.

You can read the release information for the record here. Describing it, Don has this to say:

I'm not sure what caused it. Maybe it's that, after making a lot of records for other people, I (Don) decided it was time to make more music of my own, and to involve my favorite artist (Lori) in the process. Maybe it's that Lori & I had enough conversations on the couch in the living room to decide that whatever Waterdeep is, was, and might become, it's something we'd like to be involved with again. There are times when you feel a thing in your gut, and decide you need to do something creative, to make something, and that, like a burning hot potato, the thing to do is not to hold it in your hands but to throw it to someone. You, dear readers are the recipients of our hot potato.

So, check it out...it is good stuff.

Also, they will be touring with Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken, and Alli Rogers for eight shows through the month of November. If you want to purchase the record, and/or see dates and details for the tour (including a November 6 show in Kansas City), hit the link above.

A Prayer of Confession

From my friend J.R. Briggs' blog, Broken Stained Glass...

Forgive us O Lord: A Prayer for American Politics

Forgive us O Lord, for being divisive rather than working to build unity.

Forgive us O Lord, for striving to be right more than striving to be kind.

Forgive us O Lord, when we desire to be understood more than to understand.

Forgive us O Lord, for placing our hope in a person, a system, a government - rather than in you alone.

Forgive us O Lord, for complaining about politics rather than thanking you for our freedom.

Forgive us O Lord, when we use our mouths - and our email forwards - to tear down "the other."

Forgive us O Lord, for spending more time and energy thinking about the Empire than the kingdom.

Forgive us O Lord for speaking poorly and wishing ill will on another candidate.

Forgive us O Lord, when we are known more for following a party than for following the Risen Christ.

Forgive us O Lord, for claiming that God is only on "our side."

Forgive us O Lord, for claiming and proclaiming that one political party completely and accurately represents the politics of Jesus.

Forgive us O Lord, when we forget that the heart of the king is in your hands.

Forgive us O Lord, for being more excited to speak to others about our candidate than about our Savior.

Forgive us O Lord, when we think this prayer is for someone else we know and not for ourselves.

Give us grace to treat others with dignity and respect, even in the midst of our differences.

Give us wisdom - not just with what we say and do, but how we say them and do them - so that we may not represent our political party, but that we may represent the one who has given us True Life.

Amen.

Election 2008: Some Perspective

Lord, have mercy...I am wading into a political "discussion." It is going to be a long post.

I had an extraordinary experience Saturday night. I want to share with you about that experience and then make some reflections around the larger issues of politics and Christians who engage in this process.

On Saturday, Senator Barack Obama held a rally at the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri. Throughout this election season (was there ever a time when we were not in this election season?), I have watched and read nearly everything I can get my hands on regarding what is happening. My children (15, 12, and 7) have been fully engaged as well. Their interest has surprised me. In fact, they have watched every single minute of each of the four presidential/vice-presidential debates with me. When I mentioned that Senator Obama was going to be in town on Saturday they immediately asked if we could go. I wanted to go to, too, and so at 3:55 p.m., Mimi dropped Annie, Blaise, and I off at 31st and Main. What was my motivation? Curiosity. Excitement. And history. It may be that in two weeks the United States elects Senator Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States. If that happens, he will be the first black man so elected (like I am telling anyone anything here). If that happens, I thought it would be amazing for my kids to be able to say that they were there two weeks before such a historic moment.

Then something surprising happened. We had passed through security and were trying to figure out where we could stand and have a chance of seeing anything (Blaise is 4' tall). I asked a black woman standing in front of me where she was going to go and as we were trying to figure it out, a very well-dressed young woman approached us and invited us to follow her. She handed us each a ticket and before we knew what was happening we were wisked through the crowd, through more security, and ultimately up onto the stage. We were being given seats on the risers directly behind where Senator Obama would be speaking from. We were shocked. And awed. As a technophile I immediately began to snap pics and post them to my Facebook page, including status updates regarding what was happening. The whole experience was incredible. My kids were stunned (and cold - the wind was really biting up on the riser). The people we were with couldn't have been nicer or more stunned than we were. When it was over, we sat there trying to figure out what had just happened. It was electric. It took awhile to get out (75,000 other people had the same idea). We tried to take the bus home (the 57 stops a block from our house and runs right next to the Liberty Memorial) but it was packed beyond belief. Instead we walked up Main, past 31st Street, to the Wendy's restaurant (also packed). We called Mimi, ate dinner, and waited for her to come and pick us up. I am so glad we went to this event. It is definitely something that me nor my kids will ever forget.

Now...I am not a political animal. I am a pastor. I do not endorse candidates. I vote for them. Sometimes I am excited. Most times I am not. I am not a Republican. I am not a Democrat. I am a Christian. I am horrified at any equation of the two things (a political party + Christian). I arrive at my decisions regarding who to vote for slowly and carefully. Jesus and his kingdom has my ultimate allegiance. I am always suspicious beyond that. I am also suspicious of people claiming to fully represent Jesus and his kingdom, myself included. Sitting on the riser behind Obama and being led in cheers spelling out Obama's name was not something I was comfortable with. A Jacob's Well member who could see me from the crowd texted me, "I don't see you chanting." He was right. Had someone asked me if I wanted to attend the event and sit on the risers and cheer for Obama I probably would have declined - the same for McCain. I don't feel comfortable in my position as a pastor using my influence in that way. That is as it should be. However, the circumstances and spontaneity of Saturday's events presented me a situation that required immediately responsiveness. I responded and you know what happened. I am glad I was there. Nevertheless I want to clarify where I am coming from this election.

Over the years I have voted for both Republican and Democratic candidates for different offices based on my perception of the needs, the context, the stakes, the candidates, their character, and their policies. There has never been a candidate that I was able to vote for with 100% conviction. I have always had to marginalize something important to me in order to support something else likewise important. Many people will say that there is one issue that does or should trump every other consideration regarding who gets a Christian's vote. I respectfully disagree. I wish it were that simple.

All that said, there has never been a presidential election where I did not vote Republican: Bush (`88), Bush (`02), Dole (`96), Bush (`00), Bush (`04). Today, I grieve over voting for Bush's re-election in 2004. This year I will not be voting Republican. I will vote for Senator Barack Obama for president. That does not mean that I support Obama 100%. Heck, I rarely support my wife 100%. I do not want to go into all that is behind my decision. It may be in the next election I vote for a Republican presidential candidate again. Anyone reading this should not see this an endorsement. It is one vote. It will be cast with fear and trembling, just as every vote I've ever cast for a Republican has been. Even though I was not excited to be on a riser acting like a cheerleader, I am nonetheless excited to vote for Obama. My reasons are many, and I think if anyone watched or read about Colin Powell's appearance on "Meet the Press" yesterday, you can begin to get a sense of some of the things that are also important to me.

Let me be clear on this point, though: I do not think you should vote for Barack Obama because I am voting for Barack Obama. I do not think you should vote for John McCain because someone else has told you that they are voting for John McCain. I am not even sure you should vote at all. If you do vote, I think you should vote your conscience and have moderate expectations for what results. There is a limit to what any president is able to do.

A couple of months ago, Jacob's Well was one of a couple churches that was profiled about evangelicals and how they vote. This election is unique because for the first time, evangelicals, particularly young ones, are not a solid voting block for Republicans. I posted about the experience of having the media among us here. Given that and all the reporting that the media has done on this phenomenon, I am surprised that many people within evangelical Christian circles question whether or not a Christian could vote for Senator Obama as a result of their faith. Let me share an example of what I am talking about.

I was emailed this question by a woman checking out the church's website this morning:

I was checking out the church's web site, looking for a church home. Based on some of the pictures I see, and the blogs I read, it appears that the church supports Obama??? Although I am not a McCain fan, I don't see how any Christian could in good conscious [sic] support Obama. Please let me know.

Even though I am surprised by it, it is a great question and I would like to share with you how I responded to her. For the purposes of this email, I will call her "Beth."

Hi Beth,

Thanks for taking the time to connect.

Many blessings to you as you search for and connect to a church home. This is no mean task.

Our church does not endorse Senator Obama for president. Neither does our church endorse Senator McCain for president. That is not within the scope of our calling as servants and disciples of Jesus Christ. We are not a community of Republicans or Democrats. We are a community of Christians. I am not speaking on behalf of anyone other than myself right now, but I do not believe that either candidate represents the interests of Jesus Christ. Jesus invited his followers to participate in another kingdom, the kingdom of God. It operates in ways different than the kingdoms of this world.

That said, most Christians I know feel compelled to vote. At that point I believe that Christians with strong values and engaged consciences can and do disagree on who they will support. I know devout Christians who believe that their faith is leading them to vote for John McCain. In the same way I know devout Christians who, out of their convictions, are voting for Barack Obama. And I know a third group of people who believe that participating in any way in a corrupt and irredeemable system gives credibility to that system - and so, because of their faith, these people are not voting. Now you might disagree with who someone votes for but I would caution towards humility and charity before assuming that a Christian doing something you disagree with could or could not do it in good conscience. The Apostle Paul said quite a little bit about such humility and charity in the body of Christ regarding disputable views and behaviors (see Romans 14 as one example).

Jacob's Well is a diverse community of people. As far as this election goes I would guess that our church is about half-and-half in terms of who will receive votes. That split is probably reflective of not just the church body, but also the elders and the staff as well. Within these relationships we have lively exchanges about our opinions. Our commitment to Christ and love for one another keeps us unified in our diversity. As far as our website goes, it simply aggregates what individual people within and without our community are doing. I looked at the blog page and of the many blogs aggregated there, I counted three posts regarding politics. The Flickr photo aggregator works in the same way. Given that Senator Obama was in town on Saturday and 75,000 people attended, it was likely that when some members of our community attended the rally and posted the pictures on their Flickr accounts, they would turn up on the photo page of our website. In the same way, if someone attends the John McCain rally in Belton today, takes pictures, and uploads them, then they will likewise appear. We do not screen photos unless they are inappropriate re: sexually explicit material and/or nudity.

Beth, it is my firm belief that neither John McCain nor Barack Obama is our hope. Our hope rests in Jesus Christ. I believe that whoever is elected will please some and disappoint many given enough time. Neither McCain nor Obama will save the world. For that we look to God and Christ.

I hope that helps to clarify who we are and how we posture ourselves re: this election. I hope you will take the opportunity to come and be among us.

Many blessings,

Tim Keel

I shared this with another pastor at Jacob's Well and he made the following comment which I think is helpful.

I think what many Christians are starting to realize/discover/struggle with that is implicit (perhaps explicit) in Beth's question is that there is not one expression of Christianity. Theologically, that is not the case and certainly politically it cannot be the case. As evangelicals, we've been given a recent narrative that defines the parameters for us narrowly. From that standpoint, the shock value (of discovering that Christians with deep and thoughtful convictions vote differently than ourselves) is necessary and important. [Parenthetical content added by me for clarification]

Theologian, blogger, and friend Scot McKnight posted a thoughtful commentary on the same topic, but focused on where Christians place their hope. It is a great post and I hope you'll take the time to read, "Where is Our Hope?," as well as the many comments that follow. His post was originally posted on Out of Ur, a blog connected to Christianity Today. Here's the opening paragraph:

Somewhere between 6pm and 8pm, Central Time, on November 4th, 2008, the eschatology of American evangelicals will become clear. If John McCain wins and the evangelical becomes delirious or confident that the Golden Days are about to arrive, that evangelical has an eschatology of politics. Or, alternatively, if Barack Obama wins and the evangelical becomes delirious or confident that the Golden Days are about to arrive, that evangelical too has an eschatology of politics. Or, we could turn each around, if a more Democrat oriented evangelical becomes depressed and hopeless because McCain wins, or if a Republican oriented evangelical becomes depressed or hopeless because Obama wins, those evangelicals are caught in an empire-shaped eschatology of politics. Where is our hope? To be sure, I hope our country solves its international conflicts and I hope we resolve poverty and dissolve our educational problems and racism. But where does my hope turn when I think of war or poverty or education or racism? Does it focus on November 4? Does it gain its energy from thinking that if we get the right candidate elected our problems will be dissolved? If so, I submit that our eschatology has become empire-shaped, Constantinian, and political. And it doesn’t matter to me if it is a right-wing evangelical wringing her fingers in hope that a Republican wins, or a left-wing evangelical wringing her fingers in hope that a Democrat wins. Each has a misguided eschatology.

I am excited. Being in the Apostle Paul's letter to the Philippians this fall has been great for me and for our faith community. Why? Because one of the themes of the book is citizenship and where ours, as followers of Jesus Christ, resides. Paul writes in Philippians 3:20, "For our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." We will be studying this passage on November 2. I can't wait. But until then I say "Amen," to what Paul has written and pray that those of us who choose to engage in this election and all that surrounds will do so in a way that will be in accord with what Paul wrote earlier in the same book:

Do everything (this includes voting and discussing voting) without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, "children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation." Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. - Philippians 2:14-16a (TNIV) [parenthetical comments mine]

Amahoro Video

During the past two years I have had the opportunity to travel to Africa twice. Those travels have been connected to Amahoro, an organization (and community) committed to connecting and resourcing emerging leaders in the African context. Amahoro was founded a couple of years ago by husband and wife Claude Nikondeha and Kelley Johnson.

Our first trip took us to Uganda in 2007 with a team of six people from Jacob's Well. There we attended the first Amahoro gathering. Following that time, Claude and Kelley asked me to join Amahoro's board of directors, which has been a great honor and privilege. Last May we once again traveled to Africa, this time to Rwanda, to attend the second Amahoro gathering. Another team of six represented the Jacob's Well community. If you look at the May archive of my blog you can follow some of the experiences we had there.

One of my goals for this last trip was to document the extraordinary things that are happening with Amahoro and introduce the wonderful people that are working to make these things a reality. Towards that end the Jacob's Well group brought along Beth Mercer to film both the Amahoro gathering as well as the time our team spent in Kenya connected with our Advent Conspiracy well project in Pokot. Upon returning Beth gave the Amahoro footage to JWer Andy Michael, who has has taken Beth's wonderful work and edited it into a beautiful narrative of what Amahoro is up to.

Andy finished the video last week and I am excited to share it with you. It runs 7:54 so make sure you have the time to watch it. I think it will be worth your while. If you are interested in attending the Amahoro 2009 event check out the link here.

Also...what a great week around JW. Two amazing and creative projects involving our community wrap up and become available to share with others (see previous post). I am so grateful to be connected to such talented and generous people. AMAHORO!

Amahoro Africa from Andy Michael on Vimeo.

Released! "Even the Darkness"

It hardly seems possible. It seemed like it took forever. But now that it's here...

Mike Crawford is the worship pastor at Jacob's Well. He came on staff here as an extreme act of faith seven years ago. Part of the deal was that we would raise money and build a recording studio. We did that. It took five years. It was finished less than a year ago with 90% of the design and labor led by Mike and built by a handful of men from our congregation on Monday nights. Here's an old blog post just a little ways into the process: Under Construction.

All throughout that time Mike was making the transition from rock guy to worship pastor. He started by singing most of the worship music that I, erstwhile worship leader to that point, had picked out. Over time though, he began to write music, music that was being shaped by his life in our community and the way in which our community indwelled the Scriptures week in, week out.

Once the studio was completed, Mike began the process of recording a CD of the music created at Jacob's Well over his time leading us. However, by the time the studio was finished and he was finally free to record, he had more music than would fit on one CD. It was at that point that Mike made the first of several great decisions: he decided to record it all and make it a double CD - 14 songs.

Listening to it draws me back to each of the passages of Scripture that animated the writing of it. It also reminds me of the life that has happened over the same time, a kind of soundtrack for our church. I heard one particular song today that transported me to a funeral that was heartbreaking and hopeful, then to a different one, and finally a third. I was overwhelmed in that moment with gratitude and the opportunity that we have to share life and bring into beauty and meaning...

The whole thing is an amazing product of our community. In the same way that the illustration on Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor, and Chaos was created by a member of our community, (sweet Jeremy Collins) the art of this record was produced by people that have been or are a part of the Jacob's Well family. Based on concepts from Mike, Sam Lewis did an extraordinary illustration. Nate Lewis designed it. Jannele Mastin art directed it. Jim Langford did all the hand-lettering. What about the music? 25 different musicians from our worship team played on the record. When I listen to it I find myself scrambling to see who is playing or singing some tasty musical morsel.

So, I hope you'll take the opportunity to buy this record and consume it whole. You can buy it online, but if you do that you miss out on the amazing visual art that has been generated. [Update: I was wrong. If you purchase the CD online, they ship a physical CD. Eventually electronic version will be available on iTunes] Here's the link:

Mike Crawford and his Secret Siblings present Songs from Jacob's Well Volumes I & II: "Even the Darkness Will Not Be Dark to You"

It costs $15. You can stop by the building at pick one up during normal office hours, or like we did with my book, we'll be selling it at our worship gatherings for awhile. For those coming to the Reclaiming Paul conference, it will be available there, too.

Cheers, Mike. Well done.

"Muscular" Christianity

The passage for yesterday's message, "The Imitation of Christ," was the Christ hymn of Philippians 2:5-11.

In the sermon I spend a good amount of time describing the narratives of power that likely shaped the imaginations of many in the first century world of the Scriptures, namely Greece's Alexander the Great and Rome's Caesar Augustus. Paul is appealing to the church at Philippi to behave towards one another in a way that is different than the surrounding culture would have understood.Tempted to follow the pattern of selfish ambition and vain conceit modeled everywhere around them, Paul instead desires that they follow the way of Jesus.

There is an implicit contrast between those men in Paul's world who were divinized according to their success and power and the trajectory that Jesus lived: being divine he emptied himself of his power and embraced his humanity. It was his humility, obedience, suffering, and death that commend Jesus as God, according to Paul. Such a reality was profoundly counter-cultural to those in Paul's day. This is why Paul writes that the cross is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks. It is why Jesus is constantly having to renegotiate the expectations of his closest followers (Mark 10:35-45). It is no less so today. We prefer a messiah who lives (and will return) in the spirit of Alexander and Augustus, if not the Terminator! I am afraid we have the eschatology of the Left Behind series of popular books to thank for this particular understanding of the "End Times," though there are many more who likewise hold such views. I imagine that sometime in the next year we will take the time to study the book of Revelation. I really look forward to doing so.

Anyway, there is no need for me to re-preach the sermon. If you want to listen to it, you can find it on the JW web-site here (actually, it is not yet posted, but will be shortly I believe). My point in bringing yesterday's message up is to share an image I stumbled on last week on some blog or web-site (I can't remember). I wish I had remembered and used it yesterday. Alas. But that is the beauty of blogs: follow-up. So I give you this image of how I think many of us imagine Jesus - not the Jesus revealed in our Scriptures, but Jesus as interpreted through the lens of power (and perhaps revenge?). Scary. At least it is to me...