Are Christians in the church the most selfish generous people or are we the most generous selfish people? Why are we all so focused on having life our way? What we want, what we like. At this rate the songs of our faith will be “It’s All About Me”, “Lord I Lift My Name On High”, and “Have Mine Own My Lord”. When did Jesus ever teach us about getting our way? I remember Him specifically saying our ways are not God’s ways, I remember a lot denying ourselves, but I’m still trying to find the passage where God tells us that making sure things are “just the way we like it” is at the top of God’s to do list.

(Before I continue, let me make this disclaimer: The following comments are intended for the Church as a universal body and are not issues specific to any one body of believers. If anyone is offended by any of the comments below I am sorry you are, but they most likely apply, so if you are thin skinned stop reading now and let us avoid any unpleasantries that will likely end up back on this blog as a later entry.)

I’ve been in ministry for about 9 years now (pastorally speaking, that’s almost 10 years and that adds weight to what I’m about to say), and I am always astounded by the generosity and selfish that we, the church, display. I have been blessed by individuals and families that have selflessly given money to send a needing youth on a trip, or provided for a need without any fanfare, but then those same people will flat out refuse to consider changing anything about the way they do church to reach those same youth. A good while back I was told, in the same sentence (no punctuation, a comma at best), by a nice older lady that she hates that there aren’t as many youth in the worship service, but don’t go bringing that band in.

Basically we are upset that people who don’t like fish aren’t coming to an all-you-can-eat seafood spread, and the ones that are there aren’t getting much to eat. I know my opinion on this issue will be disregarded by some and it is true that as a youth pastor and modern worship leader I do have strong opinions; however, don’t hear this as a discussion about music. That would be missing the point. No, this is about reaching a generation.

I am scared to death that if we continue to call the youth in our Church the “church of tomorrow” that tomorrow may never come. With students leaving the church at the rate of nearly 80% after high school our tomorrow is looking thinner and thinner. Youth need to know about Jesus TODAY! Why are we not doing EVERYTHING in our power to reach youth and children? Some would say we are, but what message is it when the youth have “their time” in a separate youth area, and the kids have their own area, but the main worship and the heart of the church is not geared to reach these young people. They are ignored but expected to come and sit and listen to someone talk to their parents (and in some cases their grandparents) about things they can’t relate to. No wonder they are leaving the church.

I’ve never met a parent or grandparent that wouldn’t instantly trade their life for their young one. We will give money to send them on trips, we will get a youth pastor to teach them, but we won’t allow their music in our church. Isn’t it the responsibility of the mature to make allowances for the less mature? When Cee became a part of our family I had to change. For years I have always gotten up and turned on Sports Center (again, Tiff, the more mature one making allowances for the less mature one), but now Cee wants to see Mickey in the morning. What if I said I’ve watched Sports Center for years and that’s just how I wake up so Cee need to learn its value or I’ll put a TV in Cee’s room and she can watch Mickey in there while I watch mine? I would never do that (while Tiff was around…just kidding). Cee needs me more than I need Sports Center.

Church I’m not saying that we have to do thing any certain way because the truth is not in the music, or the décor. The truth is found when we are more interested in saving souls than the backdrop it happens on. Youth aren’t saved by cool leaders or the newest programs. They’re saved by the Gospel and by people who love them enough to tell them about it. A gospel built on music or appearance is not a saving gospel. Salvation is only in the Gospel of Christ and the last time I checked the His Gospel has never had a soundtrack (though if it did I’m sure Zondervan would have optioned it years ago). Until we are willing to give up EVERYTHING to save souls we will never be more than really generous selfish people. God is Everywhere.

This was my script for the promo voice over on the Behold the Lamb video. I used it to announce that tickets for the students performance were on sale. I almost got off on a rant but pulled it in. But I enjoyed writing it and so like everything else in my life its on the blog. Enjoy.

What is Behold the Lamb of God? Simply put, it is the story of Jesus. It’s the story of the God’s preparation; it’s the world’s expectancy of the savior it desperately needs, and it’s the fulfillment of an age-old promise.

This season our students will tell the story of Christmas like you’ve probably never heard it before. A lyrical retelling of the basic story of our need for a savor. There won’t be any tinsel, no snowmen, no shopping; none of the “stuff” that draws our attention away this time of year. What it will be is an hour of music and drama, art and scripture that all point to Jesus.

 What I believe you will find in this performance is evidence that God is still at work in the hearts of His people and that no matter how many times you hear it the story, it is the foundation and the truth of our faith. The story of God’s acting in history is so powerful and so overwhelming that not only do we feel compelled to respond, but we need to tell the story over and over again because some stories weren’t meant to be kept quiet.

This year come; visit with us, the true tall tale of the coming of Christ. Behold the Lamb of God has come.

It took me a few weeks to write this. Its been on my mind every day since I heard. But how do you express what can’t be put into words? Let’s begin with some context. Common experiences unite us and draw friends closer together, so naturally when Tiff and our friend Nikki got pregnant within a month of each other they began to compare notes and that has continued while our daughters have grown together over the last two-plus years. We’ve had play dates, done birthdays and shared some great “firsts,” like the fair and a Brave’s game just to name a few. So a few months ago, we were very excited to hear that Nikki and Daniel were expecting their second child. Sadly their joy was to be short lived. On the day they should have been celebrating that their little “peanut” was a baby boy their world broke. They found out that their unborn son, Aiden, likely had a fatal chromosome condition called T18. As the diagnosis was confirmed the news would not improve. Those of us who are lucky enough to be considered their friends could do nothing but watch as updates came out on their blog, theoddkouple. (I will not try to explain Aiden’s condition as I would not do it justice here, but please see their blog for more.)

Of course, when Nikki and Daniel shared with all of us their burden they were surrounded by love and encouragement from friends and family. While this reaction, I’m sure, was somewhat comforting there is a deafening silence when we ask the question “how could this happen?” And now, in light of what has happened how do we go on? This is the question that has haunted me for weeks. How can there still be joy in the world while there is this pain? I’ve heard and read this week stories of the fair and family vacations over the long weekend, and I am stunned that the world goes on as if nothing had happened. Even in my day to day activities there is a constant sobering weight about. How can we be happy when just the thought of Aiden is enough to reduce any of us to tears? I have written this entire blog around the idea that God is everywhere, but this pain is the true test of that viewpoint.

The answer that I know, that’s quick to my tongue, is that God IS present in our pain, that suffering is not a punishment for some wrongful act, and that while we don’t understand the “why,” God is still good even in our darkest days. These words are all true, but even as I type them they feel hollow against the enormity of our sorrow. They feel hollow because they are not words of action, and they don’t “make it all better”. They make us want to rage and lash out because we can’t just sit and accept it, but they are stubbornly true. God IS in this, God IS good, God IS, and it is the truth of these words that slowly, painfully and slowly, begins to work on what is left of our hearts. Truth resounds with us. Whether it is the truth we seek or not it clings to us and refuses to be shaken. It is like cool water on a burn, it stings at first but slowly it sooth. It will never remove the pain. The pain will leave its permanent scar on us but the truth makes the pain bearable.

The truth is that in our pain God has not abandoned us, but provided us what we need to continue. The harsh truth is that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away and in both instances God is worthy of our praise. And the truth is that during this God is not standing off to the side waiting for us to pull it together; no, God is with us each step, each heart beat and each tear are met with God’s endless compassion. I will not pretend that I have any idea what Nikki and Daniel are feeling. It is unimaginable for me but I know enough to know that they will need every bit of God’s truth to endure. I also know that they are never far from my thoughts and they are in my prayers. I still believe God is everywhere, and I hope that they feel the truth of it.

I love you my friends, and I hope your burden is made light.

Please pray for my friends Daniel and Nikki & their family. For more, see their blog theoddcouple.com.

About 2 weeks ago Tiff and I took Cee to see “Playhouse Disney Live.” For those of you without a 2 year old, Playhouse Disney features the characters Handy Manny, the Little Einstiens, Tigger & Pooh, and of course Mickey Mouse and his gang. The show was very cute and a lot of fun for everyone. I wish I could tell you that it was just something for Cee, but I really enjoyed at least as musch as she did.

As each of the characters looked for music for Mickey’s upcoming “music party” they sang and danced for the kids. It was very interactive as they taught the audience motions to go along with the music. I think at first Cee was mesmerized by the scale of the proceedings. She was enthralled and excited but truly awestruck as well. For most of the 1st half of the show she didn’t know what to. She just stood transfixed on how wonderful and exciting the experience was. During the intermission I think she was able to get her feet under her a little and when Mickey came out for the 2^nd half awe and wonder was replaced by pure joy and excitement. Cee jumped and squealed, waved and wiggled, and hot dog danced her way through the rest of the show.

Without knowing it, what really happened there was that Cee painted for us a picture of true authentic worship. Her unashamed demonstration highlighted two of the most basic fundamentals of worship. First, God is awesome. Not awesome like we say that car is awesome but the full context of awesome God is totally overwhelming and incomprehensible. When we, who are so limited and finite, find ourselves in the presence of the limitless and infinite God there are no words or thoughts that do it justice. When we are confronted with God the only comprehendible truth is the we are NOT God. In fact, this was best summed up in the movie “Rudy” when the old priest tells Rudy, “After 40 years of study I’ve come up with only two incontributable truths: There is a God, and I’m not Him.”

The second fundamental truth of worship that Cee so gladly displayed is that the previous truth is not meant to make us feel lowly or worthless but that we can rejoice that God is, without worrying about what we are not. Worship is a celebration! It is not the death march that all too often takes place on any given Sunday. We must be joyful in worship, it should be something we look forward to, and it should be so life altering that it is we need to talk about it.

In 10 years Cee may not remember the night we saw Mickey in the Macon Coliseum, but I will never forget it. I will never forget the pure joy on her face, how she held on to her mommy and daddy, and the way she laughed. I will treasure the pictures and memories I have of that evening. And I will always be amazed how, if we open our eyes a little, we find truth about our God even in an evening with Mickey Mouse. Cee reminded that night that God is everywhere.

PS To those interested I’ve got more pics from our Disney outing on Facebook. Enjoy!

This is a post that has been interrupted a couple of times this week. Once by an unexpected solar system model and once by a two hour chat with HP tech support (both of these are stories worthy of telling but now is not the time). So I’m pleased to finally be able to share with you guys a couple of random thoughts (I know you’ve been dying to hear them).

While posting one of my last entries about turning 30 I noticed something odd. I have an app on my site here to keep track of the number of hits my blog gets (which the 30 post got the 2^nd highest ever and was only beat out by the sappy post about Tiff). This app also tells me how people came to the site, like a Facebook or Twitter link or from a search engine and it tells me what they searched for.

This is where is gets a little weird. Most folks come from FB and Twitter, and there were a lot that even just typed in joncoder.com or godiseverywhere.joncoder.com (I like to assume it’s a saved favorite cause I won’t even type in such an accursedly long title…wait, I just did…curses!). But I noticed I’ve gotten a lot more search engine referrals lately. There were a couple where people searched “God is Everywhere” which I can only assume means they were looking for me (who can help them, they’re only human), and one was a search for Jon Coder and again I don’t think I’d be vain to assume that was also directed at me. However, I’m not sure everyone was quite so satisfied with their search results.

To the person who searched for “How to fix ugly hair” I hope the tale of my coloring woes was entertaining and encouraging but I doubt it was educational. And to those who were searching for “ferocious pink things” first, why? Second, was this really what you were looking for? While that disturbing dog might have qualified I’m not sure its what anyone is looking for. I’m hoping the person looking for “male bonding” found no help here, but I know I helped the folks looking to “compare and contrast honey nut cheerios and regular cheerios”.  My expert analysis for the breakfast bracket (pt2, pt3, pt4, pt5) was just what they needed. Sadly, to those seeking advice on “how to get chicken smell out of your car” the only way I got away from the smell of the chicken-mobile was to have some run a red light and total it out…so, try that.

Oh well, whether they found what they were looking for or not I guess they hung round because a lot of my older posts had been viewed, so that’s fun. I guess some people like to hear me talk (or watch me talk, or see my words…whatever) as much as I do (I could listen to me all day).

But there is one person I would like to seriously address. To the person who searched “If God is everywhere is he with me in tough times,” I would want to say to you that if there is nothing else that comes off these pages I hope you see that God is everywhere. God was in your hard times before you ever knew there would be hard times. The Bible tells us if you know God as your savior then God has promised that all things have been worked together, by God, for your good. Trust me friend, I know that those words do little to help when it all hits the fan, but from my most painful experiences I can promise you that God never leaves you and never forgets you, and God is never shocked by what is going on. There are times that we can’t see where we’re going but we have to trust that the God the created all of heaven and earth and everything in between might have a little better idea of the results your current situation will produce. It comes down to a question of trust. I trust God, and God’s track record has been pretty solid. Just remember, God is in control, God is good, and God is Everywhere.

“If a tree falls in my yard and no one moves it, is it really there if I ignore it.”

I really hate doing yard work. Most visitors to my home can attest to that. “Let my green grass grow,” (spoke in my best Ten Commandments voice) that’s my lawn care philosophy. It makes me feel a little bad that 2 of my 3 neighbors keep their lawns in perfect condition (for one it borders on an obsession), but then I go inside and close the door and don’t think about it again. Selfish, yes, but yard work combines heat, allergies, and nastiness with the fact that it will need to be cut again in a week or two, and as appealing as that is, I’ll pass.

But I digress. This is the story of a boy and his tree, his three trees. The boy had a sick tree, a sad tree, and a mute tree, and also a hippo. Wait…there is only one tree, moving on. In the early hours of Mother’s Day 2008 we were awoken by a horrible storm and a loud crash. Upon inspection all seemed well until a flash of lightning showed me a tree that had fallen in our yard. Amazingly it fell in the only direction where it could do no damage to our home, garage, or fence. We knew we had been very lucky, but as the total damage became known we had no idea how lucky. There was no hope of getting a tree service as they were swamped with more critical matters.

Tiff’s dad was nice enough to come over and cut up the fallen pieces of the trunk. He even cut down the last 15 or so feet of tree still standing. So I was now the proud owner of 20-30 large pine logs, plus an endless maze of limbs and branches. Haul away is of course much easier when you live next to woods, so I began trying to move the pieces away. I began with the lower trunk pieces since they were already close to the back of the yard, but they were far too big and the best I could do was roll them to the back of the fence. The more I moved the more discouraged I became because rolling logs may move them but they are still in the yard and I knew I would soon be out of strength. So I left to the job with the intension of returning to it with friends.

A month passed, then 2, 6, a year, a year and a half, and still there was a tree in the yard. One day while I was trying to cut around the tree I started breaking off limbs so I could cut closer. I carried the limbs into the woods. After moving the limbs I noticed a lot of the pieces of trunk towards the top of the tree were quite small and I easily moved them as well. I kept carrying away pieces, through to the middle of the tree where it did take a good effort to move those pieces, but in a surprisingly short amount of time I was all the way down to the large pieces at the bottom. Well I decided I’m not leaving 2 logs in the middle of the yard no matter how big they are. So with a lot of effort, I knew I’d regret in the next 24 hours, I got the last pieces up and into the woods. The tree was gone!

Since my tree moving experience I’ve been stuck on a truth. We are all called by God to do more than we can possibly do, but God promises to provide. So we enthusiastically jump into our calling and all too often we see how impossible is truly seems. Frustration and feelings of being overwhelmed soon paralyze our mission. We can become angry wondering why God would send us into something that we couldn’t accomplish or we beat ourselves up over our failure. The truth is even the smallest bit of faith can command a mountain to move, and there are times where God moves in awesome and unmistakable ways, but most of the time it’s not the faith to watch the mountain move but it’s the faith that God will provide and protect while we move a stone at a time.

We are so concerned with the parts of our job that seem undoable and we pray that those will get done. When many times if we would do everything we can do those undoables would seem much more manageable, and before you know your faith has moved a mountain, or a tree. God is Everywhere.

The last two days of FUGE camp were just absolutely crazy. Sorry to those who emailed, but I’ll briefly recap. The first couple of days taught us about having faith to let go and faith to stand. Then we moved into much more difficult waters. We talked about faith to take a risk and step out in the unknown and faith to wait. These are probably two of the hardest concepts for any of us. Faith to take a risk though is all a matter of perspective isn’t it? What appears to us to be a risk isn’t a risk at all really. When was the last time God called anyone to a task to big for God to handle? When was there a task too big for God period? We’re called to take a risk but its only a risk because we are so not God and God is. For God our great step of faith is nothing more than an infant finally letting go of the coffee table and trying out their legs. When I take C to the pool it is always an awesome moment when she stands on the side of the pool and just jumps to me. She may afraid at first but when I get in front of her and she focuses on me all fear is gone and she just leaps off the side knowing even though she can’t swim yet her daddy is more than sufficient for her needs. That is faith to take a risk.

Of course the final lesson may be toughest. Having the faith to wait is often agony. We’d rather be active. At least in doing something we feel like we’re at least somewhat in control. Waiting is the ultimate act of surrender. It is admitting that you are fully reliant on someone else to act before you do. This week I was asked by a student how can she tell her friend about Christ. After we talked about some different ways she told me she had done that and unfortunately there comes a point when we’ve done what we’ve been called to do and we have to wait for God to either open another door or bring someone else along to continue the work. This is especially hard when we are aching to see a friend or family member come to know Christ. But waiting is sometimes what we’re called to and in our waiting we can glorify God more than with our actions. Waiting is hard, but God is faithful and that sustains us.

As the week drew to a close we collected a missions offering. The main focus of the week was our neighbors to the north, Canada. Canada has really become a spiritually dark place. It is a moralist country, and we confuse a good people with a saved people. Today almost 90% of Canadians would go to hell. There is a great need to reach our neighbors. On the night of the offering the 1,500 students in attendance collected $23,783 to support the missions work. It was awesome to be a part of God working and student giving. I have more to say about this but we’ll save it for next time.

This week I learned that we expect too little from our students. They are more capable than we give them credit for. I learned not all goldfish are cute, and there are certain smells that come from an all guys rooms after a week that were not meant to exist in nature. And I learned that God is calling us to move, and faith that cannot move you is a faith that cannot save you. God’s call to move can be anywhere because God is everywhere.

Its Father’s Day 2009. It’s the 29^th edition I’ve had the privilege of being a part of (ok 30^th if you wanna count in the womb, but I didn’t want to get political). Last year my participation underwent a dramatic change. This is my 2^nd year being the focus of this day rather than part of the cheering masses. The funny thing is that it doesn’t feel like a day where I am being brought to the center but one where I find myself shuffling to the back of the stage trying to find the part in the curtain. I don’t feel like someone who has done anything worth being celebrated. Heck, most of the time I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. Its only by the grace of God and that little picture of a bathing suit tie that I can put a swimmy diaper on the right way. I guess if we’re honest most of us feel that way. In truth I think what makes a dad great is living in the constant fear that you could really screw up this poor kid if you’re not careful. That constant awareness of the delicate nature of that which has been entrusted to us.

For me its that awareness that make it impossible for me to understand an abusive father. Sure I get tired and I get frustrated but not once in the last two years has it ever crossed my mind to have anything but infinite compassion for my daughter. Perhaps that’s a God thing, perhaps it has as much to do with my example. My father is a great man and a great dad. When I think of that father’s day stage its men like him that I believe we are celebrating. He was soft spoken, but strong enough that there was never a question of who was in charge. There was a healthy fear of his disciple but neither my sister nor I ever felt intimidated or scared, but rather we knew we were infinitely loved no matter what.

My dad is a wiser man than I think I will ever be. He know how to work with, not manipulate, people and he has a patients that is at the same time impressive and endlessly frustrating. There have many time when I’ve wanted to act or rant or any number of other actions but he being him was patient and it was for God’s glory. He is the definition of meek. Which is great, he’ll inherit the earth and then, as long as I stay in the will, I’ll inherit it from him. Sweet!

To the fathers…happy you day. I guess that includes me…Happy Father’s Day me. Why thank you very much self. Same to you. You’re too kind me and so good looking. You’re not too bad yourself self.

See what I mean. Is the thought process of a responsible father figure? At least I’m doing better than Darth Vader. My wife is still alive and my children have all their extremities.

There is so much we can learn from these early chapters of John. This week in AMP I will be talking about the picture of worship that Jesus describes in John 4 but for now I want to look at the parallel that are made between needs of the body and the needs of the soul. The Samaritan woman confused the two. She was out to meet her physical need while Jesus was waiting to meet her spiritual needs.

There is a truth of all of us, whether we like to admit it or not, when we come to Jesus. We all come to have a need met. Usually not our greatest need, to be made right before God, but all too often we come to the Lord because we have a need that we believe is the most pressing of matters when in fact it pales in light of God truly wants to do in our lives. We come to the cross because we think, or hope, or have nowhere else to turn, and maybe we can have our needs met. We all come selfishly, at least initially. This is good, and it is the only way we can come. Jesus didn’t speak to those he healed about repentance first; he simply met their immediate need and then moved on to their need they didn’t even know about. The woman in the story was so concerned about the well’s water that she didn’t understand Jesus was offering her soul water, but when her eyes were opened she wanted the Lord’s forgiveness and then went to tell anyone who would listen about what had happened.

We all come out of need to Christ, but then when the hard times pass and our needs are met we tend to drift away. This is where we starve our souls. We come and drink the water and leave until we are so parched we can no longer continue. We will only truly grow when we learn to drink deeply, not because we need God to get us out of our need but because we develop a need to dwell in the presence of God. This is true and authentic worship, and it’s the only thing that will resonate with the world around us. And in the end that’s how we let the world know that God is everywhere.

For the past week I’ve been Tweeting on a chapter of Proverbs everyday as the students at LDBC and I read a chapter a day. Today I had a little more than a Tweets worth to say so stick with me. In Proverbs 29 the author draws sharp lines between the wise and the fool, the righteous and the wicked. I want to highlight one area in particular.

Fools give full vent to their anger, but the wise bring calm in the end. Prov 29.11 (TNIV)

It has brought to my attention again earlier this week, but Christians are caught in a precarious balancing act between how we are to act and how we are expected to act. We live in an aggressive “stick-up-for-yourself” culture, but where do we turn the other cheek? The example I heard this week was of a father and son at a Braves game. They went early for batting practice and the son was hoping to get a ball from one of the players. His waiting was reward with a ball tossed to him by one of the pitchers near the bullpen.  Sadly the ten year old wasn’t able to enjoy his prize as a twenty-something young man grabbed the ball out of his glove and took off. Witnessing this act the father did what most of you are thinking right now, he ran down the steps and got right in the face of the young man that stole from his son.

Now the story has a happy ending, the pitcher saw what had happened and got the kid another ball and the situation was defused, but what was the father to do. I challenge any parent to say they would allow the child to be abused by some stranger and I know most of would want to pound the moron who could be so despicable. But, this is where we enter a disharmony with our world. There is nothing Christ-like in pounding the loser.

Verse 11 gives us our tightrope. The foolish action would be to act in anger, to go down and scream or even beat to mess out of the offending party. Instead, we are urged to be wise. It is entirely appropriate to confront the man that stole from your son, and to attempt to get the ball back in a peaceful manner. The wise bring clam to the storm. And in the end you either get the ball or you don’t, but either way you haven’t lost yourself to anger or to this world.

Proverbs 29 ends by saying, “The righteous detest the dishonest; the wicked detest the upright.” That is where we live, a world that is fundamentally different than us. But we are called to be light in that world and to be different. It is that light that shows the world that God is everywhere.