Beyond A Bumper Sticker Faith

I've been working on a new sermon series this week called Beyond a Bumper Sticker Faith. The series will take place this Fall or sometime in the winter. What I want to do is take a look at some of the sayings that Christians put on the back of their cars or wear on their T-shirts and discuss whether or not that is an accurate portrayal of Christianity. In most cases, our pithy bumper stickers and t-shirts give an inaccurate view of our faith. They are more like half-truths while some are near heresies.

I don't know if this will be a 4, 5, or 6 week series. I'm still working on the details. But here are some examples that I would like to tackle for the series.

1. God is My Co-Pilot: I really can't stand this bumper sticker. Let's face it, God asks for our total surrender. Galatians 2:20 calls us to be crucified so Christ can live through us. God was our whole lives. We are not Co-pilots with God. God should be in the pilot's/captain chair all by Godself.
2. Christians Are Perfect- Just Forgiven: Certainly there is some sense of truth in this bumper sticker. We are forgiven. Yet many times we fall into what Bonhoffer called "cheap grace" where we are forgiven but nothing really changes. The world sees us claiming to be Christian, yet living worldly because there has been no significant change in our life. God desire is for us to pursue holiness as God is holy. This does not mean we are perfect. It means that we are striving each day to be more Christlike in our words, actions, and deeds.

Those are some examples of where the series is going.

I need your help: What are some of your favorite (or least favorite, depending on how you look at it.) Christian slogans, bumper stickers, or T-shirts? Talk it out in the comment section.

Book Review: Simple Spirituality

One of the most recent books that I've read is Simple Spirituality by Christopher Heuertz. Heurtz is the International Director of Word Made Flesh, which is a community who ministers to the poorest of the poor around the world. I really looked forward reading this book as Andrea went with WMF to India and I have had friends serving in India, Brazil, Peru, Romania, and Sierra Leonne through WMF. The book did not disappoint as I have read it twice in recent weeks.

The books is organized by WMF's five Lifestyle Celebrations; Humility, Community, Simplicity, Submission, and Brokeness. As Heuertz writes in the introduction, "As I pray for the grace to live into a spirituality that embodies these simple commitments, I invite you to join me." These Lifestyle Celebrations are central to WMF and their commitments and mission to serve the poorest of the poor. It would do good to do a quick synopsis of each from the book

Humility
"Humility affirms our need for God." Heuertz goes on to write, "Humility is not a means to an end. Rather humility is the door through which we must enter to be welcomed into God's presence." How often do we allow pride to get into our way of seeing God and seeing our desperate need for God. The only remedy for our pride is humility that bows before God.

Community
Community is that which provides orientation and clarification for our identity. Our identity is not found in what we do or what we own- our identity is found in community with God and with others. The book challenged me to be willing to step into other people's community rather than expecting them to come into mine...to try to view the world through a different lens.

Simplicity
Here in the Western world, much of our value and worth is ascribed by our paycheck, possessions and neighborhood. When we live simply, we live without extravagence and with an eye and heart to our neighbors. Heuertz writes, "We want to make the issue about what we give, but in truth the issue is about what we keep." Are we engaged in a lifestyle that frees us to give? Or are we trapped in a cycle where we strive to accumulate more and more possessions?

Submission
"Submission is giving up oneself to the power of another." When we submit to God, we give up our desires and wishes and allow God's desires and plans to shape us. Submission is realizes that our lives are not our own- our lives belong to God and that we must seek each day to submit our lives to God.

Brokeness
"Brokenness is different- a voluntary surrender to God's will over our own will...brokenness is open even to the grace in pain." Brokenness is proactive rather than reactive.

Certainly the review above could be more in depth. But you'll just have to read the book in order to get more. This was just to whet your appetite.

Heuertz does a great job of weaving personal experience to convey the points that he is making. Some of the stories are light hearted while many of them are a gut wrenching reminder of how the majority world lives.

One critique, and I don't know if it is a major one. Heuertz speaks a lot of seeing Jesus in the poor. That is certainly true, but it is not the only place where we can see Jesus. Each of us is made in the image of God, and thus we can see God work in and through us in the way we live our lives. Heuertz's emphasis on this certainly ties in with WMF's mission to reach the poorest of the poor. It's not major...there is another side to where we see God in our world today. The poor may be our most visible reminder, though.

I'm interested in your thoughts...have you read the book? What's your take?

Heading to Camp: Junior High I

Andrea, Abbie and myself are heading to Delanco Camp today. This is our third year participating in Junior High I at Delanco. It is always an amazing week. I will be leading worship this year along with 2 students from our worship team. Since there is no wireless at Delanco, you can follow me on Twitter for updates.

http://twitter.com/steve_lamotte

I'll be leaving updates throughout the week from my phone. Also, you can check out Delanco's blog and twitter page...

www.delanco.org/blog
http://twitter.com/delancocamp

I'll be posting more from camp next week. Have a great week.

Back From Vacation

Our family made our yearly summer trip to Pennsylvania to visit with my family. We stayed with my parents and spent lots of time with my sister and her two kids (Ava and Aiden). It was great to see everyone....and great to see the kids play together. Ava and Abbie are six months apart in age. (I'll post a picture of them tomorrow where they look like twin sisters) We celebrated Abbie's 2nd birthday with my family- which was a lot of fun.

The weather during the week was less than favorable. It was in the 60's with rain for most of the week. The best day that we had was on Tuesday night, which allowed us to go see the Pirates take on the Cubs. This was Abbie's 2nd Pirates game (the other in Philly last summer) and she loves going to the stadium. She cheered, clapped, and danced through the entire night. She was most captivated with the Pirate mascot that was working our section of the stadium. She wanted to know where the Pirate was at all times. By the way, the Pirates are 2-0 in games that Abbie attends! Here are some pictures from the game.

Here is a pic taken by a nice Cubs fan who sat beside us. On our way to the seat, I told Abbie to be nice to the poor Cubs fan b/c they had not won a World Series in 100 years.

Go Pirates! Abbie looks excited to see Andrew McCutchen play.

Here is Abbie, myself, and the Pirate. Abbie was completely enthralled with him. When we walked the stadium, she always looked for him.

I was excited to see Andrew McCutchen play.


'Cutch and Delwyn Young run off the field after their 3-0 win.

The view in the stadium is awesome. The Roberto Clemente Bridge looks like it leads right into PNC Park.

Jack Wilson after he makes the 2nd out of the 9th inning.

After our time in Pennsylvania, we drove to New Jersey (Where it was in the 80's) for my father-in-laws 60 birthday. I got to golf 36 holes where I hit the pin on a par 3, and had my most pars in a round ever (even a birdie). After golfing twice, I am going to have to find an excuse to go out again soon! I know I'll golf three times in Colorado in a few weeks!