Narnia is the beautiful C.S. Lewis created allegorical representation of the adventurous life of authentic interaction with God.

Oh, how we long for it.

It is the deepest longing of every deep soul, even though it is often (usually?) misidentified. We long for it because we are created for it. The longing itself is the rumor of its reality. Don’t cheat yourself by settling for the tawdry cheap substitutes offered by the flea markets of Babylon (this world). Dare to follow your deepest longings and decide that, no matter what it takes, you will find the real thing. Jesus is the way. And He gives the guarantee.

Seek and you will find.
Ask and it will be given.
Knock and it will be opened.

The door to your real-life Narnia.

This is from C.S. Lewis’ golden sermon, The Weight of Glory (slightly edited; e.g. Lewis doesn’t use the word Narnia, but, “our own far off country” — the meaning is the same):

“In speaking of this desire for our own Narnia I feel a certain shyness. I am almost committing an indecency. I am trying to rip open the inconsolable secret in each one of you — the secret which hurts so much that you take your revenge on it by calling it names like Fantasy and Nostalgia and Romanticism; the secret also which pierces with such sweetness that when, in very intimate conversation, the mention of it becomes imminent, we grow awkward and affect to laugh at ourselves; the secret we cannot hide and cannot tell, though we desire to do both. We cannot tell it because it is a desire for something that has never actually appeared in our experience. We cannot hide it because our experience is constantly suggesting it, and we betray ourselves like lovers at the mention of a name. Our commonest expedient is to call it beauty and nostalgia and behave as if that had settled the matter. But all this is a cheat. The books, the art or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things — the beauty, the nostalgia — are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”

I’ve caught the scent.
I’ve heard the echo.
I believe in the rumor of another world.

Come with me.

Come with us.

BZ

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The Weight of Glory is also the title for my prophetic message for 2007 which I will unveil at our New Years Eve event (10:00 – Midnight).

Sent by thoughtful emailer Shane:

(From Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis)

But between them and the foot of the sky there was something so white on the green grass that even with their eagles’ eyes they could hardly look at it. They came on and saw that it was a Lamb.

“Come and have breakfast,” said the Lamb in its sweet milky voice…

“Please Lamb,” said Lucy, “is this the way to Aslan’s country?”

“Not for you,” said the Lamb. “For you the door into Aslan’s country is from your own world.”

“What!” said Edmund. “Is there a way into Aslan’s country from our world too?”

“There is a way into my country from all the worlds,” said the Lamb; but as he spoke his snowy white flushed into tawny gold and his size changed and he was Aslan himself, towering above them and scattering light from his mane.

“Oh, Aslan,” said Lucy. “Will you tell us how to get into your country from our world?”

“I shall be telling you all the time,” said Aslan. “But I will not tell you how long or short the way will be; only that it lies across a river. But do not fear that, for I am the great Bridge Builder. And now come; I will open the door in the sky and send you to your own land.”

__________________________________________

Yes! There are doorways to the real Narnia that is the Kingdom of Jesus!

Come with me.

Come with us.

___________________________________________

I’m working on three important, timely, prophetic messages for this weekend.

Friday Night: Heaven and Earth
Dealing with the sacred space that is the interface between My Space and God’s Space.

Sunday Morning: A Tapestry of Grace Revisited
Self explanatory…if you are familiar with my message on our lives as a Tapestry of Grace.

Sunday Night (10:00 – Midnight): The Weight of Glory
My prophetic message for the New Year’s Eve interactive event that will lead us into the spiritually charged year of 2007.

The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

BZ

I got a time machine for Christmas.

It looks like this.

I’m traveling out the digital age and back to the age of vinyl.

*crackle, crackle*

It sounds so warm and so not digital.

It really does take me back in time. About 30 years back.

I’m listening to my old “Jesus Music” albums from the 70’s. Most of them did not survive into the digital revolution and somewhere in the 80’s I discarded my turntable; consequently I’m listening to music I haven’t heard in twenty years or so.

Right now I’m listening to the self-titled first album from Bethlehem. Excellent! It passes the test of time. Earlier I was listening to Bob Ayala’s Wood Between the Worlds album and Daniel Amos’ first album. Jesus Music Country Rock style! None of these albums have been available on CD.

Just last night Peri and I were talking about how sad it is that many of Phil Keaggy’s early albums are out of print. I have a lot of his stuff on CD, but there are some albums I only have on vinyl. Back in 1976 Phil Keaggy set an obscure C.S. Lewis poem (published posthumously) to music. Phil did it during his concert at Word of Life last month. The poem/song is called As The Ruin Falls. I’ve been wanting to hear it again…and through my time machine I have!

As The Ruin Falls
by C.S. Lewis

All this is flashy rhetoric about loving you.
I never had a selfless thought since I was born.
I am mercenary and self-seeking through and through:
I want God, you, all friends, merely to serve my turn.

Peace, re-assurance, pleasure, are the goals I seek,
I cannot crawl one inch outside my proper skin:
I talk of love –a scholar’s parrot may talk Greek–
But, self-imprisoned, always end where I begin.

Only that now you have taught me (but how late) my lack.
I see the chasm. And everything you are was making
My heart into a bridge by which I might get back
From exile, and grow man. And now the bridge is breaking.

For this I bless you as the ruin falls. The pains
You give me are more precious than all other gains.

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Merry Christmas!

BZ

Click here and read a wonderful story written by my favorite blogger.

I’m getting ready to preach The Healing of Harms.

I believe God will bless it.

Amen

BZ

I’ve received a lot of positive feedback from the message I preached last Friday night: What About Doubt? (I Still Believe)

“When they saw Him, they worshiped Him, but some doubted.”
-Matthew 28:17

We talk about doubting Thomas who had to see before he would believe — but here is another kind of doubter: The doubter who sees and still doubts.

They saw the resurrected Christ…and still doubted.

Q. How can this be?
A. Everything can be doubted.

Yes, everything can be doubted, including your own existence. Just ask Rene Descartes (I think therefore I am).

The disciples see Jesus risen from the dead, worship Him and…doubt.

Who are these doubters? They are Jesus’ disciples. Was Matthew (who records the doubting) one of them? I suspect so. Who knows the doubts of a man’s heart but the man himself?

Who are these doubters? They are disciples and believers.

Who are these doubters? They are you and me.

But be of good cheer: The doubters went forth and changed the world!
Doubt doesn’t disqualify your faith.

So, what about doubt?

Well, I know this for sure: The most common way of combating doubt…doesn’t work at all.

Most people try to overcome doubt by coming up with a reason to believe. This is a futile exercise. Doubt live off reason. Trying to overcome doubt with reason is like trying to kill a monster by feeding it the food it likes best. You might as well try to conquer Cookie Monster by feeding him cookies as to try to overcome doubt by giving it reasons.

Q. Why do you believe in God?

(I’ll wait a moment while you try to answer this primary question.)

A. Because it’s true.

This is the only correct answer.

God is I AM THAT I AM.

God can no more prove His existence by something else than He can swear by something else. (See Hebrews 6:13)

The lesser is proved by the greater and what is in question is proved by the standard. But what is greater than God? With what thing will you prove God? With what standard will you evaluate God? God is not an object within the universe to which you can apply the proof of reason.

Many arguments for God’s existence run the risk of being like pointing a flashlight toward the sky to prove the sun exists. (Adapted from Simply Christian by N.T. Wright)

From Blaise Pascal’s Pensees:

Pensees # 423: The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.

Pensees # 424: It is the heart which perceives God and not the reason. That is what faith is: God perceived by the heart, not by reason.

But when the heart is desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), it may not want to perceive God. Thus, there is a moral aspect to faith and unbelief.

But remember this: The only doubt that counts as doubt is the doubt that effects what you do. We are not told that the just think or feel by faith, but that they live by faith.

They worshiped and some doubted. But so what?
They went out and changed the world anyway.

Don’t play the game of feeding doubt reasons for you faith.
You don’t have to justify your faith to doubt.
If you have to doubt something…doubt your doubts.
Don’t’ give doubt a free pass. Make doubt doubt its assertions.
Make doubt feed on itself.

Don’t fall into the neurotic trap of thinking that thinking doubt invalidates your faith. It doesn’t. Thinking a doubt no more invalidates your faith than stepping on a crack breaks your mother’s back.

Faith is a decisive leap. A kind of decision.

Tell contentious doubt what you tell your children when they contend with your decision: I’ve made my decision and that’s final.

Once you have made the leap of faith, you don’t need to give doubt any more of answer than this: I still believe.

Every great man and woman of faith has great battles with doubt. That doesn’t change the fact that they are great in faith — in fact it confirms it. They fight the good fight of faith.

Remember, you don’t have to justify your faith to anyone but God.
And sometimes the best way to deal with doubt is simply to say…
I still believe.
I still believe.
I still believe.

__________________________________________

People have asked me about the poem/song/rap/rant/whatever-it-was that I gave at the end of the message.

It is a song by one of my all time favorite (and virtually unknown and massively under appreciated) music artists, The Call.

I Still Believe (Great Design)
Reconciled

(A great song about the good fight of faith.)

I been in a cave
For forty days
Only a spark
To light my way
I wanna give out
I wanna give in
This is our crime
This is our sin

But I still believe
I still believe
Through the pain
And the grief
Through the lies
Through the storms
Through the cries
And through the wars
Oh, I still believe

I’m flat on my back
Out at sea
Hopin’ these waves
Don’t cover me
I’m turned and tossed
Upon the waves
When the darkness comes
I feel the grave

But I still believe
I still believe
Through the cold
And through heat
Through the rain
And through the tears
Through the crowds
And through the jeers
Oh, I still believe

Bridge
I’ll march this road
I’ll climb this hill
Upon on my knees if I have to
I’ll take my place
Upon this stage
I’ll wait ’til the end of time for You like everybody else

I’m out on my own
Walkin’ these streets
Look at the faces
That I meet
I feel like I
Like I want to go home
What do I feel
What do I know

But I still believe
I still believe
Through the shame
And through the grief
Through the heartache
Through the tears
Through the waiting
Through the years
For people like us
In places like this
We need all the hope
That we can get
Oh, I still believe

_________________________________________

The Call suffered from what I can “Buechner Disease.” Like the brilliant Frederick Buechner they were too secular for the general Christian audience and too Christian for the general secular audience. Oh, well.

Musically they are similar to U2, but with better musicianship and deeper lyrics (U2 are fans of The Call).

I have all of their albums. Sadly, many of them are no longer available. Some of them are available from Amazon.com

Reconciled

Into the Woods

The Best of The Call

Live Under The Red Moon (I’m listening to this one right now)

Some of their music is also available from iTunes.

__________________________________________

The Call is the only band that can regularly move me to tears. Their lyrics are profound; very human and deeply Christian.

Here are a few more songs. Read the lyrics carefully.
(Of course without the music it’s not the same.)

You Run
Let The Day Begin

(Think of Jesus speaking this to the lost and desperate soul.)

You may find a better way
You may find the reason for it all
Say you’ve walked on holy ground
Say you’ve heard the sweetest sound of all
But you find out that you never really cared
And you find out that you have no love to share at all

So you challenge everyone you meet
Crying out to fill a void in you
What are running from My love
What’s this thing your guilty of
Follow Me and never feel accused
But you never do believe a word I say
And never did believe there’d be a day of reckoning

Chorus
So you run and you run and run and you never stop
And you work and you work and you work until you drop
You’re in over your head and the pressure just don’t quit
But you can’t escape the reach of love

Faces haunt you in your dreams
Struggles of a broken heart appear
Waking from a fitful sleep
Dutifully appointments keep
Try to hold the image of respect
So someone tells you when and where to go
But all that time you never really showed your feelings

Chorus

You may find a better way
You may find the reason for it all
You may hold a better hand
All your pride and understanding
Never really feeling love at all
But what you thought were different worlds apart
Pulls you in and wraps around your heart forever

Chorus

When
Let The Day Begin

(A beautiful, beautiful song. Maranatha!)

The truth can change a man
In the wisdom of his days
It whispers soft but constantly
You cannot live this way
For deceitful words are costly
And actions even worse
The abuse that has been suffered here
From childhood laid its course

Chorus
How will I know you?
What will you look like?
When will the dream end?
When will the sun arise?
Where does the line form?
Where does the wheel turn?
How will I know you?
When will we ever learn?

We witness not a fallen world
But falling everyday
And nature joins our great dissent
With quakes and hurricanes
But I’ll meet you on the stormy sea
And I’ll hold the winds at bay
And we’ll pull the oars inside the boat
And gently drift away

Chorus

Bridge
The past lies in slumber
The future, no claims
The present is ours
It’s cleaned by the rain
My pockets have emptied
But my heart overflows
Consumed in the fire of love’s fearless power
I long for Your face in that great final hour

Now once I spoke in riddles
But now I speak it plain
The tears of God are pouring down
In remembrance of that day
So let the children fly
And question all they see
They’ll grow up wise and penetrate the life that lives unseen

What Happened To You?
Red Moon

(The beauty of salvation in a transformed life.)

What’s happened to you?
You used to be so shy
Used to hang your head down
You wouldn’t look in my eye
Did you see some great vision?
Did you finally break through?
Did you shake the foundations?
What’s happened to you?

What’s happened to you?
You used to look so tired
Now there’s a spring in your step
And your words are on fire
Did you hear some great secret?
Did the words ring in truth?
Did you rise from the ashes?
What’s happened to you?

Chorus
Where the four winds meet
The world is so still
The waves are not pounding
And the hungry are filled
Our shadows have crossed here
Where the Son touched the ground
We’ve gathered, we’re singing
What a beautiful sound

What’s happened to you?
You used to be so unkind
You used to curse at this poor world
So what changed your mind?
What started such compassion
Is a mystery to me
I don’t know what’s happened
Oh, but I like what I see

Chorus

You Where There
Red Moon

(A very powerful song about three men in need of salvation: A homeless alcoholic. A man dying of AIDS. A rich man with an empty soul. As much as you’ve done it to these least of these…)

I saw a man’s home
A box made of cardboard
Frozen to the bone
Can’t take much more
He says, Lord, I need help here
Send me a strong hand
To lift me from the street
Help me to stand
I been forgotten
Been forsaken
Poisoned by a bottle
I cannot shake it
I’ve been passed over
Been rejected
And I’m afraid I’ll never feel the warmth of summer come again
Man, I am helpless
I’m freezing
You were there
You were there

I saw a sick man
On a sickbed
Scorned by the world
Like he had two heads
He says, I’m a man here
Dying a cruel death
I’m cut off from the world
Man, this is so sad
He was sufferin’
He was ailin’
Tortured by his faith
His body was failin’
He says, I’m an outcast
Left defenseless
And I’m afraid that I’ll be dead before the summer comes again
I’ve been rejected
Man, I am dying
You were there
You were there

I saw a rich man
Alone in a dark house
A prison made of gold
He could not break out
Says, my life is aimless
It just seems pointless
Boredom truly kills
Man, I am hopeless
I got diamonds
I got houses
I’ve got Silver Clouds
And silver spoons to match ’em
I’ve come up empty
Man, I am desperate
And I never want to feel the warmth of summer come again
I’ll be forgotten
My life is over
You were there
You were there

___________________________________________

Here’s a YouTube of The Call doing Everywhere I Go.
(Forgive the ’80’s look…but hey, it was 1986.)

__________________________________________

The Friday Night Message: The Healing of Harms

BZ

So what if I just put my fingers on the keyboard and let the thoughts flow? A bit risky.

Leap!

Yes, I received your letter yesterday
(About the time the door knob broke)
When you asked how I was doing
Was that some kind of joke?

The life of God in the soul of man is about being.

Be–ing.

Not about knowing and thinking.
Not about categorizing, politicizing and criticizing (in Jesus’ name).
Not about getting and getting and getting more.
Not about consuming and reposing and resuming and decomposing (R.I.P.).

But about being!

When we are the kind of alive that is the life of God in the soul of man,
We are all about being.
We are enthusiastic about existence.
Passionate about living.
Carpe deim like nobody’s business!

When we’re fully alive we have a conscious sense that we are.
That we are alive.
That we are living in this moment.
Aware of God.
And aware that God is aware of us.

So when we pray it’s like this:

You: O God.
God: That’s funny, I was just thinking about you.

And if God is thinking about me…now…in this moment (like He thinks about the sparrow and the lily), then to worry about tomorrow is temporary insanity.

Worry: Hell in your head. (Don’t let your head go to hell.)

The only thing that is real is now. Right now. This moment.

Yesterday’s just a memory,
Tomorrow’s never what it’s supposed to be.

But we have now.
And we have faith.
And now faith is.
And to live in the now with faith in God is the place of perfect rest.
And it’s the place that I love best.

This is THE WAY that Jesus taught.
(O ye and me of little faith.)
I suppose you’ve know it all the time, but I’m learning it these days.

Living on purpose.
Living with passion.
Living in hot pursuit.
Of God.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

This is how we pant when we’re in pursuit of God.

God says, “Catch Me, if you can.”
We never can quite catch Him; not now anyway.
But the pursuit takes us to a new place.
Beyond the moldy wardrobe of this tired world,
Into the mysterious Narnia that is the Kingdom of God.

I want to go there.
Now.
I can.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

Yes!

Come with me.

Come with us.

__________________________________________

End of stream of consciousness.

Now I’m thinking normal; on purpose, as it were.

This Friday Night’s Message: What About Doubt?

It will help you.

See you then.

BZ

2007 is only 25 days away. I can’t think of 2007 with getting a prophetic rush. Today I spent the day with our leadership team revisiting and refocusing on our vision.

Becoming an authentic expression of the
Kingdom of Jesus in the 21st Century

We spent most of our time discussing The Five Words. Revisiting these words always energizes me. This is the nature of a prophetic vision — it energizes you. The Five Words came to me in a few moments as a sort of epiphany on August 26, 2004. Since that time they have been guideposts for our spiritual journey.

With no further adieu
I present to you
The Five Words

CROSS
Matthew 16:24
The Mystery of the Cross is the central mystery of Christianity. The Cross is the epicenter of redemption and the self-denial of the Christian in order to follow Jesus. It is by the Cross that we lose our false self and are enabled to become our true self.

MYSTERY
Ephesians 3:9
The Christian life is a Mystery — the eternal expedition of divine discovery. The exploration of God in the Mystery of Christ is the enduring quest that fills our lives with a sense of adventure and delivers us from the boredom of a mundane existence.

ECLECTIC
Matthew 13:52
We are a 21st Century church but we are also respectful of the 2,000 year history of the church. We value the treasures that are the rich traditions of the church and our eclectic approach allows to be enriched by the entire body of Christ.

COMMUNITY
Acts 2:42
Kingdom can only be experienced in the context of Community. We are called to the Community of the King and to express the culture of His Kingdom. The Community of the King is the place where we experience the reality doing life together.

REVOLUTION
Acts 17:6
Deep in the heart of man there is a longing, the longing for a Revolution. The Champion has come and the battle has begun. What He did launched a Revolution. He did it on the Cross and it changed the world. Now we must join His Revolution!

__________________________________________

Today’s Desktop: The 6th Byzantine Cross from Beth Shean

This is a fifteen centuries old cross painted on plaster. It was found a few years ago among the ruins of Beth Shean in Israel. It has not be restored or repainted. I took this picture when we were in Israel last month.

Fifteen centuries ago my brothers carried the message of The Cross to the House of the Serpent and planted that cross, crushed the serpent and founded the church of Beth Shean. That thrills me. Just to look at that cross inspires me. That’s why it’s on my desktop.

__________________________________________

Friday’s Message: The Passions of the Christ
(Four things Jesus was passionate about.)

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FREE SONG!

(For the first 100 downloads.)

Jonah’s Song by Gerasim & Parks

Gerasim & Parks is the solo work of my good friend Gera Alexeev, the front man for the Russian band Drusjki.

This is one of my favorite worship songs. I know it’s in Russian, but it will minister to your spirit nonetheless.

Blessings,

BZ

PS

Here’s a Drusjki YouTube

The song is called “The Cross.”
Drusjki is basically a metal band.
Great brothers in Christ.

And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed…

Merry Christmas!

I mean it. On November 27 I want to wish you a Merry Christmas. Christmas is too big and too important for its celebration to be contained to one day or one week — it takes at least a whole month to do it right. So deck the halls and celebrate Christmas like a Christian should!

One of the ways we celebrate Christmas best is to tell the Christmas Story over and over with conviction, passion and wonder. This is also one of the most effective ways in which we advance the Kingdom of God: To tell The Story over and over with conviction, passion and wonder.

The Story.

The Story that makes sense of everything.

The physicists and cosmologists are searching for the Unified Theory. The “meta-explanation” that eluded Einstein and explains everything in the physical universe, from the Big Bang to black holes, from light to gravity, from astral to quantum physics.

Likewise, historians, philosophers, political theorists, revolutionaries and ordinary people are looking for the metanarrative of the human race. The metanarrative is the overarching story that explains history and existence; the Big Picture that puts everything into a comprehensive perspective.

Communism, Islam and Democracy are all competing metanarratives.

Communism is the metanarrative that claims history is the story of the workers’ struggle.

Islam is the metanarrative that claims history is the story of Allah’s intention to rule the world through Muslims.

Democracy is the metanarrative that claims history is the story of the triumph of political freedom.

Postmodernism is the anti-metanarrative that throws in the towel and claims that there is no metanarrative and that to try to make sense of human history and existence is futile.

Postmodernism is the philosophical equivalent of the Information Paradox proposed by Stephen Hawking in 1975. One of the implications of Hawking’s Information Paradox was that ultimately the universe could not make sense. But thirty years later Hawking conceded he was wrong.

(More here.)

Hawking was wrong and the postmodernists are wrong too.

History does have a metanarrative and existence does make sense.

The metanarrative is The Greatest Story Every Told.

It’s the story of the family of Abraham; the story of the nation of Moses; the story of the body of Christ.

Central to The Story is the Incarnation event of the God-Man.

Hark! The herald angels sing
Glory to the newborn King!

The Story is the epic of the King and His Kingdom.

Are you a believer? Do you believe The Story?

Then you belong to the community of the stewards and storytellers of the Sacred Story which is the true Metanarrative — the beautiful story that makes sense of existence and gives meaning to life.

In every way you can tell the Christmas Story with creativity and sincerity. Put up the tree, deck the halls, sing the carols and send out the cards. Meditate on The Story deeply and speak of it passionately.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King!

When you celebrate an authentic Christian Christmas you are helping to establish the true metanarrative of the Gospel in a culture that is trying to forget God.

G.K. Chesterton said it this way:

“Any agnostic or atheist whose childhood has known a real Christmas has ever afterwards, whether he likes it or not, an association in his mind between two ideas that most of mankind must regard as remote from each other; the idea of a baby and the idea of unknown strength that sustains the stars. His instincts and imagination can still connect them, when his reason can no longer see the need of the connection; for him there will always be some savor of religion about the mere picture of a mother and a baby; some hint of mercy and softening about the mere mention of the dreadful name of God.”

-From The God in the Cave, Part II, Chapter 1 of The Everlasting Man

Merry Metanarrative Christmas!

BZ

PS

I’m really looking forward to The Nativity Story.
I think it’s going to be awesome!

Sundays in December I’m preaching a series on…

The Nativity Prophecies

December 3: Gabriel’s Annunciation

December 10: Mary’s Magnificat

December 17: Simeon’s Consolation

December 24: The Magi’s Omen

LOVE

This detail photo from of a large mosaic in the Church of the Holy Seplechre in Jerusalem was taken by Peri and makes a great desktop.

The message of the mosaic is true
Don’t ever doubt God’s love for you.

BZ