Friday, September 18, 2009

THE NOT SO PERFECT FAMILY


Just admit it. There's no such thing as the "perfect family." Not even close. Every family comes with its fair share of brokenness, pain and dysfunction. Even the so-called "heroes" we read about in the Bible. The great news is that God isn't looking for perfection.

In fact, what if the pain, brokenness and weakness in your family are really the point at which God can meet you with extravagant grace that leads from despair, to hope, to lasting change? What if what Jesus accomplished on the cross is really sufficient to meet your family's deepest needs and heal your family's most profound hurts?

Lewis Smedes once wrote: "We are ready for grace when we are bone tired of our struggle to be worthy and acceptable. After we have tried too long to earn the approval of everyone important to us, we are ready for grace. When we are tired of trying to be the person somebody sometime convinced us we had to be, we are ready for grace. When we have given up all hope of ever being an acceptable human being, we may hear in our hearts the ultimate reassurance: we are accepted, accepted by grace."

Are you bone tired of trying to live up to somebody's expectations for you or your family? Are ready to experience grace?

Join us this Sunday at a2 Church to discover extravagant grace that meets "not so perfect" people and families right where they are!

Whether you're single, single again, a single parent, married without kids, married with children, grandparents, you name it... This series is for YOU.

Invite a "not so perfect" friend to join you this Sunday at a "not so perfect" church that loves "not so perfect" people and families.

Sundays, 9:45 am
a2 Church

600 Montgomery Highway, Suit 208
(Just above and behind Pet Supermarket in Vestavia City Center)
205.447.5948

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The Power of Two Words: "I'm Sorry."

I ran across this article on one of the RSS feeds I subscribe to earlier today...

Wow! There is incredible power in two little words: "I'm sorry."

What happens when a church admits, "We blew it. We were wrong. We made a mistake?"

Healing. Healing in the lives of those hurt and healing for the church.

Check out this story that appeared in The Sacramento Bee yesterday.

Pretty powerful stuff.


In the spirit of peace, church apologizes to those it has hurt
By Jennifer Garza
jgarza@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Sep. 14, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 1A
Last Modified: Monday, Sep. 14, 2009 - 10:27 am

The Rev. Rick Cole stepped onto the podium Sunday and into the Sacramento church's troubled past.

In front of a packed and stunned congregation, the senior pastor of Capital Christian Center apologized to anyone who had been hurt by the church, acknowledging pain that church leaders may have caused individuals and the community.

The pastor then mentioned two people "whose stories attracted national media attention and caused a lot of pain."

Both were in the audience of 2,400 people.

One was Christina Silvas. In 2001, church officials asked Silvas to withdraw her daughter from the church-run school because Silvas was working as a stripper. On Sunday, Silvas sat with her daughters during the worship service.

Ben Sharpe, who had been banned from his eighth-grade graduation in 1995 after getting a buzz cut, sat with his mother and family friends during the service. School officials had prohibited Sharpe, an African American and a star student, from participating in the ceremony because his haircut violated school policy.

The church's action set off a media firestorm, with many accusing church leaders of racism.

Fourteen years later, Cole made an emotional plea to Sharpe.
"On behalf of leaders who did not intend to betray Ben Sharpe and his family, but by our actions much pain was caused, I want to publicly ask forgiveness," said Cole, struggling to control his emotions. "I also want to apologize to our community for the seeds sown of racial division."

Cole left the podium, walked over to Sharpe and embraced him and his mother, Faye. The congregation rose in a standing ovation, many people reaching for tissues.

Cole's apology is the latest and most high-profile one to date by a Sacramento-area pastor.

In recent months, other church leaders have apologized and made efforts to reach out to people who may feel hurt or betrayed by religion and have left the church.

At Impact Community Church in Elk Grove, congregants made gift baskets and dropped them off at gay civil-rights organizations and strip clubs with attached notes apologizing for the words and actions of some religious leaders. On Good Friday, Flood, Restoration Life and Vineyard Christian Fellowship posted apologies at downtown kiosks. Under a picture of Pat Robertson someone had written, "He doesn't speak for me."

Cole said he decided to apologize while preparing for this week's sermon.

"This has been weighing on my heart," the pastor said in an interview before the sermon. "This should have been done long ago, I don't want to let any more time go by."

After the sermon, Silvas, teary-eyed, called Cole's heartfelt apology amazing. "For so long all I felt was shame - people whispered about me, calling me the stripper mom," said Silvas, 31.

She said she had been urged by friends and attorneys to sue Capital Christian but had declined.

Now working for the state, Silvas quietly returned to the church about a year ago. Last year, she said, Cole and other church leaders offered a full scholarship to Silvas' two daughters.

"Coming back to church and my girls going to school here is more valuable than what any settlement would have bought," she said.

Sunday was the first time Sharpe has stepped into the sanctuary at Capital Christian Center in 14 years.

Church leaders at the time had said Sharpe's haircut violated school policy, which had been written to discourage students from adopting a skinhead look.

Cole does not want to criticize school leaders at the time. His father, Glen Cole, was pastor of the church-run school.

"The letter of the law was applied instead of the spirit of it," said Cole during his sermon. "The letter of the law kills, while the spirit gives life."

The Sharpe family later reached a legal settlement with the church.

Sharpe said he had put the incident behind him long ago. He agreed to attend Sunday's service because he said church officials seemed sincere.

"The power of those two words, 'I'm sorry' - it's incredible." Sharpe said. He said watching and listening to Cole "was something I'll never forget." "Fourteen years ago, I would never have imagined this would have happened," said Faye Sharpe. "He didn't have to do this....It's wonderful that he did."

Sharpe, who will be 28 on Wednesday, went on to have a stellar academic career. In 1999, he graduated from Jesuit High School as valedictorian.

He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering from Stanford. He is working on his doctorate at UC Davis and is a researcher at a nonprofit group, the International Council on Clean Transportation, in San Francisco.
Four years ago, Sharpe, who was working in Texas as an engineer, was walking on the street when he was struck by a car. He has undergone 16 surgeries and has since recovered.

Sunday, more wounds were healed.

"Finally," Sharpe said, his voice catching. "After all these years, closure."

Thursday, September 10, 2009

MORE OF THE MUSIC THAT MOST INFLUENCED MY LIFE - PART 5






Russ Taff
Walls of Glass, Medals, Russ Taff, The Way Home

The Imperials
Sail On, Heed The Call, One More Song For You, Priority

Back to the soundtrack of my life... When I think of the music that most influenced my life, another voice keeps coming up again and again... I first heard the voice when he was part of the "gospel" quartet, The Imperials. I believe the album was Sail On. I think the title cut was "the hit" from that album, but not for me... Not for my brother... No, the "hit" on the album for us was this new soulful voice that broke through on the first cut, "Water Grave." Man, when I heard that voice I thought, "That's how I want to sing when I grow up." Too bad... I've never been able to sing like Russ Taff... Truth is, I've never been able to sing...

But that was the voice...

Russ sang with The Imperials for about five years... Talk about some good music? Check out the albums from this era, One More Song For You or Priority. I mean, if you were doing church when Priority came out you can't but remember Russ's piercing vocal breaking through Michael Omaritan's production on "The Trumpet of Jesus."

"I listen to the trumpet of Jesus, while the world hears a different sound...
I march to the drumbeat of God Almighty, while the others just stumble around..."


Oh, man... Some time ago I found a re-issue of this album on CD, Russ's voice on that song still smokes!

Somewhere around 1981, run left The Imperials... Me and my brother held our breath... Hoping... Waiting for this dude to sing some more... He didn't disappoint...

Russ went on to record a string of great solo albums... I'll mention a few that really marked my life....

Walls of Glass
This was Russ Taff's first solo album. It was released in 1983. This is still one of the most soulful Christian albums ever recorded. One of Russ's biggest hits came off this album... Anybody ever remember singing, "We Will Stand"? We must have sang that song 500,000 times back then, and every time we sang it we all tried to sing it like Russ... But there's only one Russ...

A couple of years later, Russ would come out with Medals. My brother was the first to pick this one up. I later bought it on cassette and totally wore the sucker out... In fact, a couple of years ago I replaced the long lost cassette with an mp3 download of the album... After almost 25 years, it's still a great album...

Highlights from the album include Medals, Not Gonna Bow, Rock Solid, Vision, I've Come Too Far... This is still a killer album!

Two years later, Russ would release his self-titled album, Russ Taff. Once again, I originally picked this one up on cassette and totally wore the thing out...

I remember walking out of Lanham's Bible Bookshop, opening the cassette and jamming it into the player in my car and hearing Russ light it up with the lines, "All that can shake...is gonna shake...." Bam! I looked at my wife... No words... Big smiles... Heads into bang position... Turn it up, baby! This is music...

Highlights from the album? Are you kidding me? The whole stinkin' thing... I mean it! There's not one bad cut on the album, but there are some that still blow me away...

Russ covered The Call's, "I Still Believe" on this album... Two years ago when I walked through the darkest period of my life, I listened to this song over and over and over again... Amazing how a song can still move you after 20 years... This album is one of Russ's best ever...

Next up for Russ? The incredible, The Way Home. This was the first Russ Taff album I bought as a CD. I've still got the one I purchased 20 years ago. It's still amazing. Some believe this to be Russ's best album ever... I'm not sure, but I will tell you, you've got to have lead in your soul not to be moved by tracks like Winds of Change, It Was Love, He Came Through, Ain't No Grave, Take My Hand... Shoot, the whole album is awesome...

It's important to point out, Russ is still kickin'! In fact, two or three years ago Russ and his long time guitar player, James Hollihan did a weekend for my brother in Louisville, Kentucky. Kelly was blown away! The dude was still doing what he's always done. Making incredible music...

When I was a kid still trying to sing (this was back before I discovered I actually can't sing...), I wanted to sing like Russ Taff... Something in the guy's voice moved me... It was like the dude had seen something, tasted something, experienced something and the tone and soul of his voice made you WANT to listen while he told you about it....

I'm not the only one... Come on, now! Let's be honest... Most of the guys doing Christian music TODAY still want to be like Russ. For me and my brother, (who actually can sing, by the way, and leads worship in ATL), Russ is still "the man."

Maybe one day we'll get to host Russ at a2 Church? Wouldn't that be so stinkin' cool? If we do, I want "the man" to rock it! I mean it... I know over the last few years he's spent some time with Bill Gaither's Homecoming bunch, but I've got a hunch that the dude can still bring it!!! And I would love to hear Russ belt out the line, "All that can shake...is gonna shake..." at a2... If that happens and James Hollihan and the band kick in with a live version of Shake... Well, just wake me up before you turn out the lights.. I'm certain, I'll be gone...

Check out Russ's music on iTunes, Amazon or Lala.com. You'll be glad you did...

And that's more of the music that most influenced my life.

To be continued...

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

PAID IN FULL

A friend of mine is in his mid 50's... He and his wife have spent their lives raising a couple of great kids, (now some grand kids), investing in the spiritual formation of students across several state lines, providing exceptional leadership to pastors and their wives, preaching the gospel, and generally just setting a great example of what a "Christ-like" life looks like in blue jeans and shoe leather...

Recently, his wife was diagnosed with cancer. It's serious. Really serious. Right now, she is undergoing a series of chemotherapy treatments. She just finished her sixth round, with several more to go... In the middle of the chemo, they're trusting God for a miracle... Their faith and trust in the middle of this crisis blows me away...

Another friend of mine is in his early 70's... Killer guy! (The kind of guy I want to be when I grow up.) He has helped to build more than 140 churches around the world. In fact, the number is probably up close to 200 by now. He has helped renovate or repair the buildings of dozens of struggling churches domestically. He took early retirement from his job in his mid 50's and started a non-profit...

Recently, he experienced some pain in his abdominal area, followed by additional symptoms... After going to the doctor, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Once again, it's serious. Really serious. He and his wife are believing God for a miracle. I talked with him for about an hour a few days ago... If you could put a grade level on faith, this guy is in Graduate School. I'm still in kindergarten...

I could go on... Sometimes it all feels like a song stuck on "repeat" on my mp3 player... People like you... People like me.... The stories... The pain... The questions... The longing... The faith... The trust... The deep-seated belief that God still does miracles...

This Sunday we'll talk about it... What does the Bible say about healing?

Without a doubt, it was one of the most prolific themes in the ministry of Jesus. Throughout his ministry, Jesus recognized that we have a substantial need to be healed: emotionally, relationally, physically, spiritually, you name it...

This weekend we'll look at what the Bible has to say about healing... We'll also have a special opportunity for prayer.

Invite a friend to join you this Sunday at a2 Church... Maybe you, a friend or family member is struggling physically, emotionally, relationally or spiritually... We really believe that the cross covered it all. Your redemption really is PAID IN FULL.

Paid In Full: Redemption, Grace, Healing and You
This Sunday, September 13, 9:45 am
a2 Church

Discover more this Sunday @ a2 Church.

www.a2church.org