Rob Bell is my pastor

OK so I'll say it... I love Rob Bell.

My daughter and I rented a car to go to Spokane because I have no air conditioning in my old Taurus.  It's a 5 Hour drive and it's been hot up here in the Pacific Northwest this summer.   We named our rental the Batmobile and headed off to see Rob Bell and "Everything is Spiritual".

Halfway through the trip we stopped at Starbucks to get coffee and burritos from Taco Del Mar.  Away we went.  We listened to Rob Bell videos in between iTunes interrupting with Mumford and Sons.

We landed in Spokane and headed to this interesting venue that normally showcases rock bands.  How many one man show's talking about God and spiritual things can fill up a rock venue?

So, i'll admit it.

I spent extra money because there was a meet and greet before the show.  Maybe that makes me some kind of celebrity fan.  But I actually just thought I might have a minute to ask him a serious question.  One of a dozen going around in my head.

All of us meet and greet celebrity fan want to ask a question folks filled up the chairs at the front of this rock venue waiting for Rob.  He was late.  

And then he just walked in.

It was like some friend we hadn't seen for a while.  He just plopped himself on the chair in front of us.

And then for an hour we sat and talked.

He engaged with every single person that was talking in a real way.  When it was over he took pictures with every one of us and he smiled like he meant it.

One person asked him a question if he missed being a pastor.  He said "I feel more like a pastor now than I ever have."

And then he got up on stage to a packed house and talked about physics and God and spirituality.  He told stories and so many interesting things that I'm still processing all of it.

It was incredible.

I love the way he thinks and all of the challenging interesting ideas he presents.

But behind all of it I think we got to see something more.  Someone who really engages with his audience and really cares and has a heart.

A pastor's heart.

So Rob Bell is touring the country pastoring groups of people in rock venues in cities across America.

I went to church in Spokane.

Rob Bell is my pastor.

And I think he's right.

Everything is spiritual!

Jack Miles on Christ

I just finished Jack Miles book "Christ: a Crisis in the Life of God".  I'm going to re-read it.  At least all my yellow highlights.

I'm not sure exactly what happened but this book moved me in ways I'm not sure I know how to articulate at the moment.  It may be one of the most profound things that I've read on Christ.

Miles takes the whole Christ narrative and then frames it in the end as work of art!  Art as a way of understanding.  I think that has things ticking in my brain that were either dormant or have never come alive before.  I'm so used to reading about Christology from either a historical standpoint or theological; whether Jesus really existed, who was he and was he divine.

Miles presumes right at the very beginning that Jesus is God.  That's what makes the story so compelling.  He then reviews and interprets it like a novel.  Like a work of art.   He pulls things out that I've never seen before.  It was very moving and very deep.

What's fascinating to me is none of this minimized the person and work of Christ in anyway.  At least not to me.   What it actually did is enhance it in a very significant way.   Miles moved away from arguing about the historical Jesus or textual criticism.  He looks at Jesus from a different angle. The way an artist would look at him.

I think that brings Jesus into view in a very unique way and exposes aspects about him that we would not otherwise see.  Because of that I am very grateful to Jack Miles for this book.

I guess this one's not going back on the shelf anytime soon.

A letter to NT Wright

Dear NT Wright,

I wanted to give you this note before you leave. 

I can't believe we're finally finished.  It's been three years. You took me through the entire New Testament page by page and I don't know how to thank you enough. 

I know how busy you are.  All the traveling you have to do. The speaking and book writing; let alone the classes you teach now that you're back at university. So to take the time to fit me into your schedule I know was a huge sacrifice.  But some how you did. 

Everyday I would wake up, grab my cup of coffee, and you were there.  Right on time.  You never complained.  And you gave without requiring back. 

You taught me so much.  You taught me about Jesus, about the church, about the first century, about the story of Israel and eschatology; so much it was incredible. It's been profound and life changing for me.  And now sadly it's come to an end.

I just want you to know how grateful I am. For all of it.

If you're ever in Seattle again and you need a place to stay or just somewhere to hang your hat, my home is always welcome to you. Anytime.

Maybe you would recognize the corner chair where we sat every morning.  Maybe we could revisit some of the deep things about God you taught me along the way.  Maybe I could ask you some new questions I've been forming.  

Or maybe we could just have a cup of coffee.  That would be awesome!

Thank you NT Wright.

I'll miss you.

My Big Brown Coat

I have a brown tweed coat.   It's falling apart at the sleeves and it's too big for me.  It stays in the closet all year until the weather turns.  Usually sometime in October.

My office is 100 yards from my house.  Every morning I make my trek to work.  Barefoot in the summer.  But the rest of the year I wear moccasins... and my big brown coat.

It's September.  It started raining yesterday.  So I opened the closet and there it was.  Like an old friend.

I remember 1987.  We were broke and we had a new baby girl.  I was able to book a one week tour up in Seattle so we packed our bags and my guitar.  Before we left, my friend Roby loaned me his guitar case because he traveled with that a lot.  He also loaned me something else.  His big brown tweed coat.  "You need to wear this when you're in Seattle because it's colder there and... you look good in it".

So we boarded the plane. My wife, my baby girl, my guitar, and me wearing Roby's big brown coat.

It was just one week in the Pacific Northwest but it felt like home.  There was something familiar about the place even though we had never been there.  We loved the rain, the water, the mountains, the trees, and the city.  And wearing that coat in some unusual way made me feel like I was part of it all.

That was 28 years ago.

I never gave him his coat back.  And Roby never asked for it.  It just became mine somehow.

We both eventually moved from Southern California up to the Pacific Northwest.  We shared a lot of dreams about life and music. Over the years we would hang out in his recording studio, play guitar, philosophize,  and smoke cigarettes.  We both got older.  Roby got more tattoos and I got more gray hair.

Then at Christmas time in 2007 I got a phone call. We lost Roby.

Just like that.  He was gone.

Today the weather changed and now something familiar begins.  I put my arms into the sleeves of this ragged brown coat that's too big for me.  But it keeps me warm.  It makes me think of 1987.  It makes me think of the rain.  It makes me think of why we love this place and moved here.  It makes me feel like I'm a part of it.  It makes me think about growing up.

And now It makes me think about somebody I miss.

Goodbye Roby.  What a ride.

Thanks for the coat.

Correct belief or a plum

I'm reading through the book of Matthew.

There appears to be a theme in Jesus's teachings and his parables that I have noticed regarding life and fruitfulness. 

When he discusses the kingdom he uses metaphors about things growing like seeds and fruit.  There's weeds and wheat, mustard seeds and fig trees. There are vineyards to work in and to harvest.  And then of course we ourselves are branches.  

It seems the kingdom of God is like growing fruit; a way of living rather than thinking. Less about a correct belief system and more about who we are.

We have a plum tree on our property.  Two years ago we had a heavy snow.  The snow fall was so great the tree could not hold it and it bent over under its weight.  And there it sits out our kitchen window today; a leaning crooked tree... but still alive.

In the spring it still flowers.  And it grows as many plums as it always has.  Maybe more.

Today I stood there looking at that leaning tree beat up by the winter.  I could smell the fruit.  So I picked one and took a bite.  It was perfect.

So maybe as Jesus taught, living out the kingdom is something like that.

Plum fruit.

If somebody asks me what it is to be a Christian, maybe I'll be less likely to pull out some correct system of belief or doctrine or creed.  

Maybe I just won't speak.

I'll just hand them a plum.

Music web page is back up

Just a quick blog post to say that my music webpage is back online.

www.billynorth.com

Going off the grid... Well sort of

I decided to go off the grid.  

I've heard of people taking a break from Facebook, or the Internet.  But I don't belong to any of those social media sites, so I just decided to turn off my phone.  

For 48 hours.

I didn't do anything dangerous; no cliff diving, bungee jumping, or jumping out of an airplane.  The most dangerous thing that happened was I got stung by a bee. But that's because I like to walk around my 5 acres barefoot.  You see there are some risks I'm willing to take. 

So what did I discover? That I still love the same things I always have.  Waking up to a good cup of coffee, reading my Bible, praying, kayaking, bike riding, playing my guitar, good red wine (no surprises there), even mowing the lawn.

While I was out running I came across a baby colt.  It came up and looked as if it wanted to talk to me.  I stuck my hand through the fence and it let me rub its head and touch it's face for five minutes.  It was a simple sweet profound moment.

I went to the local hardware store to pick something up.  And there up on the wall was an archery set.  I used to love archery when I was a kid at YMCA camp. So I bought it.  I picked up three bales of straw and built myself a target.  After a few rounds I got the hang of it again.  And what do you know; I'm actually pretty damn good.

So I think I'm probably going to go off the grid every now and then.  I would recommend it.

It's really quite simple actually.

You just push a button on your phone.