IMG_6502, originally uploaded by Elijah Stephen.

Do you see it? Origin material is ready to be used. No! Not the boards in the foreground—the blurs in the back: Those are the shapes of people, the committed ones of Origin Church, visiting what will be Origin Coffe & Tea. But the background is somewhat like the foreground.

Check out the boards. My buddy Tim milled each one. He’s just cool like that. Time consuming. Tedious. Messy. They are all of particular consistent design, yet not one the same; each meets a certain and same criteria, yet not one is exactly like the other. I see a fascinating analogy to the Church.

As useful as this wood will be to the Origin Coffee project—a project that will aid the rescue of kids in the sex trafficking epidemic—not one board will be of any value for Origin Coffee, disconnected from the whole, along side of the other. One isolated board is worthless unless used in connection with each other.

In similar way, Jesus is shaping his Church. Time consuming. Tedious. Messy. Each person is of value to the Kingdom of God. But just like building material, each person in the church must be conformed to a single standard for the Church to take shape: Christ! By grace, the Church takes shape.

But there is also diversity. As Tim milled the boards, there was not a one included that did not get shaped into the form of Tim’s choosing, and yet each board is unique, with its own grain, tone, and imperfections.

The key is this: the Church is milled into community. Speaking of the Church the Apostle Peter said, “…you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1Pet. 2:5). There is community in this verse! Take special note of the plural—not self, but selves!—Not stone, but stones!—Yet one single spiritual house! It’s not about any one individual, but that they are together being built into God’s expression of himself to the world: the Church community.

Should I get to the point? The point is that God does not use people in his Church in isolation, but in community—in mutual interaction, and service of each other. You’re not in the structure of Christ’s Church if you don’t find yourself wedged in the dirty jagged midst of people. Just like the lumber in the picture is made up of individual pieces that are forced together by gravity and intelligent placement, Christians in the Church are called into the Church for and by Jesus to be pressed and press against other people—which, lets be honest, is not always comfortable. But it is what you are called to!

One last thing, the Church Community is God’s plan, not ours. John Stott, as he often does, says it best:

We are not only committed to Christ, we are also committed to the body of Christ. At least I hope so….For the church lies at the very centre of the eternal purpose of God. It is not a divine afterthought. It is not an accident of history. On the contrary, the church is God’s new community. For his purpose, conceived in a past eternity, being worked out in history, and to be perfected in a future eternity, is not just to save isolated individuals and so perpetuate our loneliness, but rather to build his church, that is, to call out of the world a people for his own glory….So then, the reason we are committed to the church is that God is so committed.

This primary gist of Ephesians 3. Church community is not a modern construction, it’s not a historic construction, it is the eternal plan of God.

I hope that your view of the Church might increase in magnitude because it is in fact a transcendent living creation of God, not something that you attend to be entertained. The Apostle Paul, writing in Ephesians, expands the scope of God’s community to eternal proportions:

…you are no longer strangers…[but]…members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (2:19-22). So that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him (3:10-12).

Due to delays, the building materials sit and wait. While the materials wait on planning and municipal logistics, etc., the Church does not—it grows into the community of Christ, a household, something solid and powerful. I am reminded and encouraged of the power of such a house when Jesus says, “…I will build my Church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it” (Mat. 16:18). My friends be encouraged. Don’t get apathetic to God’s divine presence in the world, as tainted as it is through sin and pride of people. She is nonetheless Christ’s bride and perfect plan. Be in community. Enjoy the time consuming, tedious, messiness that is involved in loving people. That’s God’s plan for you. Love it!

There’s my son.  It’s Good Friday, and so this morning I have been thinking about GoodFriday sort of things—the cross, Jesus, God giving up his Son, the fulfillment and end of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament that Hebrews speaks of—those things.  As I continued on that line of thinking, I began to realize the craziness of the cross, and the significance hit home in a way that it never has in my whole life:

Look at my son.  Do you know what I would never do?  Give him up.  For anything.  Ever.  EVER!

EVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVER EVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVER EVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVER EVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVER EVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVER EVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVER EVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVER !

Our minds can’t imagine this kind of sacrifice.  As an ok father, I have enough love for my son that the loss would cause me unimaginable pain, and I could never love you enough to loose him for you.  And yet God, a perfect father, did this.  Could you imagine how much that must have hurt. The Brian McLarens of the world who just dismiss the majesty of this act as “cosmic child abuse” miss that.  They miss, and don’t understand, the perfection of God, the Trinity, His love and Justice, the infinite ugliness of sin, and that Jesus, as God, was willingly taking on his own wrath.  God felt both pains: the loss of a son and the bearing of all human sin. My Lord and my God, we can not even begin to fathom the depth and richness of your love seen in the cross.

This is the centerpiece of our faith, the centerpiece of the Bible, and the centerpiece of time and eternity—that God became nothing, so that he could give us everything, by giving us himself.  The cross is offensive, foolish weakness, but to those who are being saved by it, it is life and power (1Cor. 1:18).  Happy Good Friday.

I have been pondering a question I heard about heaven all week.  How does this hit you?

“If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?”

Of course we say no.  But for some reason the conviction of the question doesn’t go away with simplicity of a “no” answer.  At least it doesn’t for me.

There are so many things that I might be far too content with—if I had a heaven without Christ.  It’s an ever-present reminder of the constant lure of lesser things.

How does that question hit you?

Here are a few of images from Dan and Erin Cordova’s wedding—the first wedding pics that I have shot with my new Camera; no more borrowing from friends, yes!  But, Celestial’s images will be up soon, and they will tell the real story.

One of the things that I love about the art of photography is that it gives the artist such an ability to celebrate life in very concrete ways.  The most likely result of a photograph is that something tangible and real is captured, something beautiful, something painful, something sad, something surprising—something real.

Weddings have become one of my favorite things to photograph because it something concrete that celebrates the beauty of love, even though society has an extremely different view of it.  Societies idea is that somehow marriage is a restriction on true love; certainly this is how it is portrayed in our entertainment.  In This Momentary Marriage, Piper says, “How much more will the magnificence of marriage in the mind of God seem unintelligible in a modern Western culture, where the main idol is self; and its main doctrine is autonomy; and its central act of worship is being entertained; and its three main shrines are the television, the Internet, and the cinema; and its most sacred genuflection is the uninhibited act of sexual intercourse.”  But, the truth of marriage is such a beautiful thing that reflects the very nature of God.

When I get to photograph a wedding, I am reminded about the truth of the gospel.  On a couples wedding day, they are usually the happiest they have ever been—at least, by the time they get to the altar together, they are; relief from the stress in the moments prior adds to their joy.  Because of the gospel, we work hard to make ourselves ready for Christ—rather, the Spirit works hard in us—yet we are moved forward by love from, and love for, Jesus, because of the cross—he gave everything for us; we responds by making ourselves ready for him.   It is because of this that our stresses, the stresses that the bride and groom feel before they are united, are made light as we keep the marriage moment in mind.

And as we prepare for the day that we will be fully united to Christ, we prepare for a day that is infinitely better than a wedding day.  Again, Piper says about the transition from marital bliss to the eternal marriage of the lamb, “Nothing is lost.  The music of every pleasure is transposed to an infinitely higher key.”  Every moment in this life looks toward that moment when all will be made right, as we are united with Christ.

Here’s one last quote from Piper—get the book: “The greatness and glory of marriage is beyond our ability to think or feel without divine revelation and without the illumining and awakening work of the Holy Spirit.  The world cannot know what marriage is without learning it from God.  The natural man does not have the capacities to see or receive or feel the wonder of what God has designed for marriage to be.”

So there it is.  That’s why I love shooting weddings. That day is a small picture of gospel hope. Do you see marriage like that?  Perhaps you have a negative view of marriage and have personal experience to prove it—fair enough.  Do share.

I love being where God has told me to be.  But, I’m not going to lie; I’m dying to go out and get a “real job.”  However, it’s undeniable that God has me where I am, and he’s blessing it—sometimes I wish that I could ignore that.

But here’s the twist—God’s provision is amazing.  (I’m trying to break my exclamation habit, otherwise I would have put one there.)  Every time we get close to the edge, living with this budget of an accountant’s nightmare, God’s provision shows up exactly when he intended it to.  Today we received an anonymous cash gift from someone at Origin, as well as a check from a church that I played at that was three times bigger than I told them I needed, and a substantial gift from another church to pay for some school bills that I wasn’t going to be able to pay.  My mind is blown.  My gas tank is full.  (I really want an exclamation).

God knows our exact needs.  I have so little faith, but he is so good to his children.  The lilies of the fields don’t fret; why do we?

I am totally lying if I say it is comfortable, but I am telling the absolute truth that there is nowhere else that we want to be than right here.  ”For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness” (Psalms 84:10).

I love this!  Since I finished school, I have started writing songs again and redoing some of my old ones so that my church can sing them—It’s amazing what not taking seven classes at once can do for you.  I’m looking forward to sharing my progress ASAP.

In addition, a lot of the time that I have freed up has given me a chance to study the Word and read a bunch; I’m totally loving that.  God has been teaching me so much.

I am a worship leader, which I have mentioned.  I have been craving understanding of what that title means—for many that title doesn’t even come close to being applicable, and I have had a deep fear of that being the case for me as well—may it never be so.

The more and more I search, the more clear and inescapable the discovery: the roll of a worship leader is simply to point people to Jesus and turn them loose.  I strive to do that every time I am put before a gathering of worshipers.  Simplistic?  No!  There is infinite depth and beauty to unfold from such a manner of leading.

There is no New Testament title of “worship leader;” Paul did not go into cities and appoint pastors, teachers, and guys-that-play-guitar-and-sing-songs.  We who do this need to be very careful to evaluate our rolls in the church.

What the New Testament does call for, in terms of roll, is people who will lead well.  This means leading a Godly life, loving the Word, “adorning the doctrine of God,” as Titus 2:10 puts it, “adorning,” meaning to make it the main thing people see, “doctrine of God,” meaning Jesus—DOCTRINE, not doctrines; it’s singular for that reason.  As a result, the art that follows will be good art.  Lets be about that worship leaders.

I’m starting my sixth paragraph.  Why have I said all of this?  It’s because I am surrounded by a community.  Even after all this time of not blogging, somehow there are still people checking in and reading my rants, and what I’m up to.  Your reasons are your own.  I do, sometimes, wonder about you, however, my fine, wonderful, perhaps somewhat crazy, friends

I want to state my trajectory and be very clear about what I’m about.  This is accountability.  It lets me share what I have worked through in my heart and head as the Lord has been teaching me.  I also want to lay a foundation over the next few months about what it means to be a worshiper.  It’s amazing how such an old idea can get so far from Biblical.

What I am doing is not cool.  It is not hip right now to have an opinion.  It is not hip to use words like doctrine.  However, I am certain that this language needs to come from the perspective of a worship leader because I am convinced that so many who “worship lead” do a better job at using the music itself to stimulate a response, a tragedy, rather than the person of Jesus, who brings people to their knees on his own terms.

I don’t know what the Lord will do in my life over the next year, but I look forward to opportunities to share my journey with anyone who cares if it gives God the glory.  I will be writing songs, taking pictures, making videos, writing blogs, and anything else I can do to communicate how incredible the God who loves to redeem us is.  Our redeemed state is to worship him.  That is so much bigger than so many of us have settled for.  Lets change that.

I came across this quote today and it totally rocked me:

“All the beauty to be found throughout the whole creation is but the reflection of the diffused beams of that being who hath an infinite fullness of brightness and glory.  God is the foundation and fountain of all being and beauty.”  –Jonathon Edwards

I love that! I think that the guilt of giving God a tiny throne in a dusty corner of a lackluster life is the unfortunate pathology for many of us today—because we fail to see life the way Edwards described it!  God’s throne is certainly not confined to the periphery of anyone’s life.  When God is relegated to middle management we can be sure that this flows from—in the most gentle terms—a small view of god, rather than a massive view of a redeeming holy God.  It’s one thing to say that Jesus is King; it’s another thing to enjoy living on his land.  Do you know what I mean?

In light of what Edwards said about everything good being “but the reflection” of God’s glory, think about this: if we can bring to mind the best of all moments that we have ever experienced in life, we will have imagined only a dim caricature of God.  God is infinitely greater.  The fact that the Lord is, not only the giver of every good moment, but unimaginably better than the best moment, blows my mind.  My mind is blown.

It’s getting that perspective right that gets any of our ideas about serving him right.  If we miss that, we miss everything, we don’t get the gospel, we don’t understand the cross, and we cannot love his world or his people for whom he came to save.  Worship begins there.

What is up my friends! It’s good to be back. I have much to share. I could tell you a thousand stories, but I’m not going to; I just want to start by sharing about the massive shift that Jesus has been doing in my heart.

What an insane last few months. My life will never be the same. I might even—dare I say—know what I want to be when I grow up. Maybe. Lets not get crazy. What I know for sure is that Jesus is at the center of it all, and he is continuing to reshape my thinking moment by moment.

It has now been two years since a day I delved inside and pulled out the words that became a song I wrote called Blinding Light. Thinking about the words in this song, I realize that they signaled the beginning of a long process of change that God had begun in me. I was drifting into the confusion that grips our culture of complete uncertainty and doubt. It was an awful time. But God was setting me on firmer ground, removing me from sinking sand that was probably about to take me under.  Totally gripped by the truth of gospel in God’s word, and the fact that God has preserved truth in every word, I wrote:

A blinding light awakes my soul tonight
Beauty bright lovely heaven’s eyes
The haze is lifting the maze untwisting
I’m coming back to the start
Oh a peace is passing my understanding
I’m coming back to your heart
And I’m finding my life in you; I’m coming home.

That blinding light is Jesus, the light of the world, totally wrecking us for anything but him. Though we look to lesser versions, they don’t satisfy.

My life has been re-routed. I realized the misdirection, and I had to make a change. All of my iPhone GPS user friends know what I’m talking about, because they have experienced a micro version of this: “The stupid blue location dot is nowhere near the purple line! Totally lost.  Why am I in the middle of a field?  Crap.  Edit. From ‘current location.’ New ‘Route.’ Ah, peace and sanity!” Of course with the iPhone we end up doing that ten more times, but that’s another blog. The point is that I have a new clarity that I have never known my whole life.

Ok, but that was two years ago; why the sudden mention of it?

The work (sanctification) that God does in our hearts show’s its results at varied pace; I have been learning, slowly, what it means to join God on his mission, rather than trying to attach him into my life like an accessory—for sure, he is more Kinglike than capelike. I had those two confused.

All of that clarity has been sharpening into focus this whole time. Fast-forward to now. Have you ever had that moment where something previously confusing all of a sudden made perfect sense—perhaps, why women insist men lift the lid, or something like that; I had that moment over the last six months. The realization, despite my light-hearted tone, was nothing slight.

What does it mean to walk in redemption? What does it mean to tell others about redemption? What is redemption? Isn’t the Christian life redemption?—it is indeed! Isn’t redemption, the biblical promise since Genesis 3, freedom from the curse? Are not Christians to be joining with God in that redemption back to the state of how he saw it: “And God saw that it was good?” Why are Christians so caught up in what they are against, rather than what they are for? Isn’t the gospel good news? Is the Church not the body and bride of Christ? Then, shouldn’t the Church look like Christ, and be devoted to his purpose? Is there any other way for the Church to look like Christ than that it be gathered together, and living sacrificial lives toward each other and the needy? Is not the gospel the thing that unites everybody, even natural enemies, providing the basis for every good deed? Does the gospel not affect every aspect of life? Did Jesus set precedence for a life of comfort and affluence, or avoiding it for his sake? Then why do we say that we follow Christ and yet structure our lives toward that which he didn’t? Is there any motivation toward any of the previous unless you are one-hundred-thousand-percent convinced that you are justified purely by faith apart from works, on account of, none other than, Christ’s payment for your sin and righteousness to your account?

Some of my theologian readers snapped to their wide spread wrestling stance while reading the previous paragraph, due to the pervasive liberalism in the Church—calm down. I am not that, though I have been there, and have great sympathy for those, and their struggles. The gospel is doctrinal truth, internally transformative, socially revolutionary/regenerative, perfectly balanced between all three. Please, your grace is needed since my space is limited.

I love the Church. I am so completely committed to her. The bride of Christ is Christ to the world until he comes. The world God created, that he called good, is the world, which he is redeeming every aspect of. Every aspect of our lives has been redeemed for his glory; we are alive!  We live in grace as our mode of existence, and that grace, seen in every word of scripture, is the deepest beauty, infinitely to be unfolded, that he has brought into the lives of believers through the Church, that has become his visible representative to all, to come into and experience love, actually lived out between people; this is our origin in him, the point to which we must return.

To trust God is to trust his word. To trust is to stop focusing on the command to not eat of the one tree: it is to reclaim the freedom to love and enjoy fully all that he has created for and because of new life, by the Holy Spirit, because of Jesus, to the glory of God: the gospel in a sentence.

I love that I have been called to lead people to worship God.  That is my roll in the body of Christ. This is worship: that we get our eyes off of the idolatry of self, and let our desire for God shape every aspect of our lives as we enjoy him, in response to his love; our response is that we join him in his redemption of creation, every Christian on mission, bearing the name of Jesus wherever they find themselves, at all times. It is to this end that I aim to use every inch of this blog.

Grace and peace,

Elijah Stephen Meeker.

Well, I have to say that I, like the rest of us, was totally shocked by the news about Michael Jackson yesterday afternoon.  I got my news from my friends on Twitter.  My buddy Brody Harper posted his reaction of shock and I got the gist of the situation.  It’s a strange new world we live in with strange new ways of receiving our info.

When I first read the tweeted news, I wasn’t sure if it was legit—Don’t get me wrong, Brody is legit.  But as more and more people started to post, the picture became a little more “what the crap?!  I can’t believe that happened!” which, I’m sure you were feeling as well—even if you didn’t use an expletive out loud.  

And what was really weird was that it was less than 6 hours after Jackson’s death that it was already old news, due to such a large amount of communication on our internet social networks between each of the people that make up our circles of friends.  Not a single bit of information that I have was from an official news medium—it was all buzz from friends.  I assume that you all aren’t making it up.

I thought some good folks had some very insightful things to say.  Steve Fee (from the band Fee) said, “Crazy thought … The ‘king of pop’ stands before the ‘King of Glory’ today … Fame redefined.”  My good friend Mark South, Pastor of Origin Church, said, “Even if we have all the resources to make our “Neverland”. We can’t run from the end but we can run to Jesus.

Both are brilliant insights.  Jesus said, “What good is it if a man gains the whole world but looses his soul.”  I’m totally reminded to take inventory of my priorities by that.  Hopefully they are, and will always be, directed toward an eternity with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  I love that our stupid social networks, with all the junk that comes across everyday, can also be used to cary that message as well.  I like “redeeming stuff” like that.  Thanks for your grace God.

Ok.  Admit it.  At some point in the last 15 years, you have sported (even if only for clever fun making purposes) a bracelet or something with the letters WWJD on it.  Of course you’re embarrassed about it—we all know that—so don’t worry.  You had good intentions I’m sure.  So don’t lie, your secret is safe here.

Here’s the bracelet that I have worn most of my life: “W.W.J.L.M.G.A.W.J.T.O.I.I.S.I.W.R.R.S.A” (What would Jesus let me get away with just this once if I said I was really, really sorry afterward?).  Yes, I have really big wrists.  Isn’t that how most of us treat righteousness?  And it sucks!  (almost as much as that stupid slogan).  It sucks because it shows such a misunderstanding of righteousness when we approach it that way.

On the other side of it, have you ever told somebody that you can’t do something because you’re a Christian?  That is the saddest answer ever.  Hey!  Come and do this with us!  Ah …no …I can’t do that …because I’m a Christian.  No!!!!!!!!  Stop it right now!  That is the worst answer ever!  Self Righteousness is what that is and it’s gross!  Lord help us!

What we should be saying is, No!!!  I WON’T do that!!!  (won’t not can’t).  I won’t do that because Jesus gave his life to set me free and I couldn’t bare to grieve his spirit that lives right here in my being; I was dead and now I am alive and have no desire for those things of that old life.

It’s like my daughter.  I over heard her playing with a friend the other day and she said something to the effect of, no, I don’t listen to that music because my mommy and daddy won’t let me.  And I thought, good girl, but what she really means is:  NOOOOOOOO!!!!  I SHAL NOT DO THAT!  FOR IT IS NOT ONE OF THE GOOD THINGS THAT MY MOTHER AND FATHER WANT FOR ME!  THEY ARE SUCH WONDERFUL AND GOOD PARENTS AND I WOULD NEVER DO SOMETHING THAT THEY DID NOT WANT ME TO DO.  IT WOULD BREAK THEIR HEARTS WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT I COULD NOT BARE.  AND MY DAD IS SO VERY VERY HANDSOME AND SMART AND BRAVE!!!  That’s what she was thinking ok.  I know it.  She didn’t say that but she thought it I am certain.  It’s science.

I think you guys get my point.  We get all screwed up in our thinking about righteousness and we just need to get it straight.  We need to rearrange our thinking about our works.  Religion is: I obey, therefore I am excepted.  Saving faith is:  I am excepted therefore I obey.  The chasm between those two paradigms is so incredibly vast and it affects every aspect of a person’s life.  Grace and peace as you wrestle with that.