Who is REALLY Narrow Minded?

It is unfortunate and tragic that the unbelieving world tends to look at Christ-followers as “narrow minded.” Ironically, in my conversations with atheists and agnostics, as well as with others who follow other religions, I’ve found that non-Christians can be very close-minded. However, believers are not beyond the temptation to close our minds to other perspectives either. One of the elements of the song, “Dream Within Your Dreams” on Michael Flayhart’s debut album to be released on Tuesday, October 2 (see michaelflayhart.com), is that he challenges narrow mindedness…and I love the creative way he does so. He is dialoguing with Edgar Allen Poe, who “had a lot of bad days,” and asks the question: if our life is not what it seems, could it be our perspective that needs to be challenged? The song contains these lines: “If life’s not what is seems, you might/Be looking at it from an angle/That’s got no degrees.” An angle with no degrees. Hmmm. Quite a picture, huh. In other words, “Broaden your horizon…open your mind to other possibilities.” One of our most stubborn faults as fallen humanity is that we tend to despair “when our hope is lost” and fail to believe that we “can catch it crossing” our path again. We can begin to look at life from an angle that’s go no degrees. How is your life not what you think it should be today? How might it be the case that your angle of perspective is closed…that there are no degrees of consideration in your perspective?

Come on, Church, Get Real!

I’m Blogging on the eighth track of Michael’s soon to be released cd, Sound Manifesto, a song called “Dream Within Your Dreams,” a song that is a response to Edgar Allen Poe’s poem, “A Dream Within a Dream.” As Michael moves from empathy at the start of the song, to meaningful response, he writes: “We’ve all walked a path ahead/Of where we knew its passage led/When our hope is lost./It’s hard to find/But you can catch it crossing.” One key element of redemptive living and redemptive lyrics is being authentic. This is indeed a broken, fallen world. We are, as CS Lewis once wrote, “glorious ruins.” It will do no good to pretend that pain and heartache and suffering and loss are worldly experiences that Christ-followers somehow magically escape. We ALL walk paths where are our hope seems lost. We ALL face seasons where hope is hard to find. But living with redemptive hope means living in the hope of hope rediscovered. If we truly are gripped by the Gospel, we are able to face hardship without falling into ultimate despair. Michael captures this hope of hope in the line: “It’s hard to find, but you can catch it crossing.” As we continue to walk the path God has for us, as we continue to live by faith, hope will once again cross our path. This is not only important for us to “preach” to ourselves; we must preach it to others…not in a “preachy” way, but in a way that truly offers them hope and strength…even as Michael presents hope to Poe. Unfortunately, many believers do more harm than good by being quick to dish out spiritually-sounding platitudes to fix people, without taking seriously the pain of hope lost and the frustration of hope difficult to find. Christ-followers also do harm to the Kingdom when we try to give the impression that we never struggle with walking paths where hope seems lost. Redemptive lives are authentically honest about the brokenness of life. We acknowledge the struggle to hope in seasons of loss and pain. If the Church would be more authentic, more real, more honest…perhaps the world would find more hope as well.

Singing about Jesus without Singing about Jesus

Can you write a song that is redemptive without mentioning Jesus? Well, actually you can. Our youngest son releases his debut album, Sound Manifesto, on October 2 (available for download on iTunes or available on CD through Amazon…I know, a shameless plug). I personally love every song on the album (shocker there, right?!). But there are a couple songs that are particularly redemptive...without even mentioning Jesus. One of those songs flowed out of a literature assignment from The Westminster School at Oak Mountain, where Michael was classically educated before heading to Belmont. Edgar Allen Poe published a poem in 1849 called “A Dream Within a Dream.” The theme of the poem focuses on the insignificance and brevity of an individual’s life and experiences, especially when considered in light of the continuum of time. In particular, Poe seems to be somewhat despairing that neither his life, nor any of his experiences or “dreams” have any ultimate meaning whatsoever. In the eighth track on his upcoming album, Michael redemptively tackles the question raised by Poe: “O God! Can I not save/One [dream/experience] from the pitiless wave?/Is all that we see or seem/But a dream within a dream?” Before he tackles the question, however, the song begins with Michael addressing Mr. Poe: “Hello Mr. Poe/I’d like to know/Where were you goin/When you wrote that poem?/The one that says life’s just a dream/Well, your despair is bursting at the seams./You seemed to have a lot of bad days./So now I have some things that I would like to say." The song is redemptive right from the start. How? Because Michael makes clear he is taking Mr. Poe seriously, man-to-man, image-bearer to image-bearer, whether Poe acknowledges a Creator or not. Michael affords Mr. Poe the dignity of knowing he has been heard by another. His lyrics say to Poe: “I care about what you wrote. I want to understand you. I hear your despair.” There are few postures we can take before our fellow man that treat them with more respect and honor…and love. Then, in a line that shows incredible empathy and understanding, Michael writes: “You seemed to have a lot of bad days.” Sometimes the greatest act of love toward another is to identify with their pain and suffering. I am often guilty of trying to “fix” people instead of simply acknowledging their “hard days” and empathizing with them. See, you really can write a song that is redemptive without mentioning Jesus…reflecting Him and representing Him will do just fine.

Together, we can make a difference. Seek Justice.

The week of February 27-March 1 is Justice Week at Auburn University. A time to learn. A time to see. A time to act. A time to make a difference.

On the Auburn IJM Facebook page this week, you can read this...

This Minute, 27 million innocent people are being beaten, abused, raped and enslaved. They are waiting.

Waiting For Freedom.
Waiting For Rescue.
Waiting For You.

Join us for a week dedicated to learning all we can, to stop slavery across the globe.

**Schedule-
Monday Feb. 27- @ 6 p.m. Sex + Money documentary showing and discussion (Student Center Ballroom)

Tuesday Feb. 28- @ 8 p.m. Prayer Night (Student Center Room 2326)

Wednesday Feb. 29- @ 8 p.m. Dessert Night (Girls only, please!) Come hear about your part in the fight; Libby from IJM will speak.
(Student Center Ballroom)

Thursday March 1- @ 8 p.m. Praise and worship led by the First Baptist Opelika band, followed by Libby (who works for IJM and campus crusade) speaking to Auburn students about empowering us to take action and practical ways to do so. (Langdon Hall)

Follow us on twitter @ijmau and #AU4FREEDOM

Together, we can make a difference. Seek Justice.

standing for Freedom with @IJMAU for Justice Week #AU4Freedom



On IJM's main web site, we learn a little about the organization:

IJM seeks to make public justice systems work for victims of abuse and oppression who urgently need the protection of the law.

IJM investigators, lawyers and social workers intervene in individual cases of abuse in partnership with state and local authorities.

By pushing individual cases of abuse through the justice system from the investigative stage to the prosecutorial stage, IJM determines the specific source of corruption, lack of resources, or lack of good will in the system denying victims the protection of their legal systems. In collaboration with local authorities, IJM addresses these specific points of brokenness to meet the urgent needs of victims of injustice.

IJM seeks 4 outcomes on behalf of those we serve:

1. Victim Relief

IJM's first priority in its casework is immediate relief for the victim of the abuse being committed.

2. Perpetrator Accountability

IJM seeks to hold perpetrators accountable for their abuse in their local justice systems. Accountability changes the fear equation: When would-be perpetrators are rightly afraid of the consequences of their abuse, the vulnerable do not need to fear them.

3. Survivor Aftercare

IJM aftercare staff and trusted local aftercare partners work to ensure that victims of oppression are equipped to rebuild their lives and respond to the complex emotional and physical needs that are often the result of abuse.

4. Structural Transformation

IJM seeks to prevent abuse from being committed against others at risk by strengthening the community factors and local judicial systems that will deter potential oppressors.


Together, we can make a difference. Seek Justice.

standing for Freedom with @IJMAU for Justice Week #AU4Freedom

Thanksgiving: A Season of Mobilization, part 4

[be sure and read the previous posts HERE]

What can be done? At the very least we can lift up our voices to others and we can lift up our voices to God. We MUST begin to pray for solutions.

We may not know what to do, but our eyes can be upon the LORD. We are called to pray for governors and those in authority, that
they do right. We are called to pray for rain like Elijah prayed. We are called to act to help people in famine like Joseph did. We are called to bless our enemies and pray for them. We are called to pray for the Church, that she rise up and become a blessing to the nations.

In 2 Chronicles 20, King Jehoshaphat of Judah is in a tight spot. The enemies of Judah are aligning against her. The king is afraid, so he calls the people to seek the LORD in prayer. In 2 Chronicles 20:6-12 we read one of the most beautiful and effective prayers in Scripture. Jehoshaphat ends his prayer with these words: “For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”

It’s time to celebrate Thanksgiving in a new way: “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.”

What will YOU appear before the LORD with this Thanksgiving?

This season, let’s mobilize.

Thanksgiving: A Season of Mobilization, part 3

[be sure and read the previous posts HERE]


In Isaiah 59:14-16, we are told of a day when justice was turned back, when righteousness stood far away, when truth stumbled in the public squares, when uprightness couldn’t enter a town, and God was amazed that there was no one to intercede...so His Own Arm worked deliverance! Is today that day! God is sovereign... we are responsible. We need God’s Own Arm to work deliverance...but WE must do all in our power to usher in justice and righteousness and truth and uprightness!

Jesus, obviously, had the oppressed, distressed and downcast on His heart as well.

In Matthew 25:31-40 we read: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit
on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? And when did we see You a stranger and welcome You, or naked and clothe You? And when did we see You sick or in prison and visit You?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.’


A season of Harvest Preparation gives us the opportunity to practice these words. We MUST find a way!
In John 17:21 Jesus prayed that we might be one. We are called to love one another. We are called to pray for one another. We are called to suffer with one another...

1n 1 Corinthians 12:26 the apostle Paul writes: “If one member suffers, all suffer together.”

There is a rare condition called anhidrosis, or CIPA, a genetic disorder that makes people unable to feel pain. It is a very dangerous condition. Pain serves an important function to preserve health...and life. If we don’t feel pain, we could die of internal injuries and not even know we are hurt.

I wonder, does the contemporary church have spiritual anhidrosis? Are we able to feel the pain of the Body? If I hit my thumb with a hammer, my whole body knows it...and it springs into action to DO something about it. My other hand reaches for anti-bacterial ointment, or a band-aid...or my legs take me to a car where I drive to the Emergency Room.

Part of the Body is suffering in the Horn of Africa.

Do we feel the pain?

Are we doing something about it?

If we don’t feel the pain, something is wrong. Very wrong.

Is it out of sight, out of mind? Are we so self-absorbed, we are unaware unless it impacts us?

Am I My Brother's Keeper?

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke, Irish philosopher and politician

As I continue to process the recent events at my Alma Mater, I have been struck by the many comments related to the belief that more should have been done. If THAT isn't the master understatement! The Penn State Graduate Assistant who witnessed the sexual abuse of a child should have stepped in. And Penn State coach Joe Paterno should have done more as well...even according to his own words, in hindsight. Everyone is stepping up saying that if it was them, they would have said/done more. Good.

However, it sure is easy to SAY we would have acted differently...after all, we weren't in the situation. Again, as I've said in another blog: it's easy to SAY I wouldn't have denied I knew Christ (like Peter did) as He was being abused; it's easy to SAY I would have spoken up if I was in Adam's shoes in the Garden and told the serpent to "beat it" and encouraged my wife to not eat the fruit. And...it's easy to SAY I would have entered the shower and rescued that child from his alleged abuser. Talk is cheap. How do we forge a character that does the right thing at the right time? We need to be prepared in advance!

I was sent an editorial that ran several years ago, written by a dear sister in Christ in our church family. We would all do well to read it with the Penn State scandal in mind.

"My heart aches for the young generation who watches the suicide of a teen without considering responsibility to rescue. Upon reading the Nov 22, 2008 article by Rasha Madkour, AP “Teen Commits Suicide before Web Audience,” I immediately gathered my teenage sons and spoke to them, urging courage into their lives to step forward when something seems wrong. I committed to be there to help them seek the help that is needed. I assured them that if they see something happening, they ARE involved. Aren’t we all? I took a good hard look at the Levite, the priest and the Samaritan in “The Good Samaritan” of the Bible. I revisited the behavior of on-lookers in New Bedford, MA at Big Dan’s Tavern that birthed the “Duty-To-Rescue” laws. Do I wait for someone else to act? Did Oskar Schindler or Mother Teresa wait for “someone else?” Was it easy for Dr. Martin Luther King to be the “someone else?”

As humans, there is an innate ownership of one another that we carry in our hearts. We all felt it after 9/11. Involvement is messy and inconvenient, sometimes sacrificial. Have we done the same thing these viewers did to the Miami college student who committed suicide… signed off from fellow humans, assuring ourselves that someone else - authority, government, agencies –will rescue...? Possibly the young man, Abraham Biggs, would be alive today receiving the help he so desperately needed if more web-viewers had stepped forward and chosen to become their brother’s keeper."

Well said!

We need to meet with each other, eyeball to eyeball, and commit to each other and to abuse victims and say now, before the situation arises: "No matter what the cost; no matter who is involved; no matter the awkwardness or tension that may arise; I WILL speak up! I WILL act!"