Echoing Voices

I think this is a new, post-seminary phenomenon. No longer having my mind overwhelmed with terms that I pretended to understand, my mind seems to latch on to particular phrases or ideas I hear in normal conversation, talk radio or off my podcast collection.

Driving home from my Presbytery Examination (I passed by the way), I listened to the Dave Ramsey show. It's a very interesting quasi-Christian, financial help radio program. I strongly agree with his no-nonsense, no-debt approach, and will be interested to learn more.

The phrase that stuck with me was: "Successful people don't know who American's next top model is, or who got voted off the island." As someone with a television addiction, as trite and silly as the statement was, it did help illuminate where my priorities lay.

I don't think "success" is a bad term for the church, in fact our shying away from such concepts because we don't want to be like the megachurch may be part of our problem. However, we should strive for success in the church, not at the expense of the gospel but in light of the freedom found in the gospel.

Therefore, as I seek to create the appropriate rythyms in my fully-employed life, Dave's words came at a crucial point for me. Methods of escaping the constant pressure of the church are important, but often times I can escape to the detriment of my family, and my own life into the worlds of Jerry and Elaine; Jack, President Palmer and Chloe; Jack, Kate, Hugo and Sawyer; and those folks on the island (or in China in the current case) who have no lasting significance on the success of ministry.

Now, I am not quite ready to say that successful people don't know what's happening with Jim, Pam, Dwight, Andy and Michael.

PS-is it bothersome to anyone else that probably 80% of folks will know what shows I am talking about merely by listing the character's first names?

Devotion: A Face in the Crowd

Each week, I write a brief, blogish devotion for the Young Adult Newsletter at FPC-Charlotte. I figured I might as well start posting them on here. That way there may be something interesting for folks to read...(Once again I will break protocol and backblog two other devotions).

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One of my favorite places to hang out right now is the Starbucks in Independence Square. Sitting right up by the window is an awesome opportunity to see people hustling. The speed and furry of Tryon Street could rival any race up at Lowe’s.

Last Sunday, Dr. Miller made a fascinating point—nowhere in the gospel accounts do we hear about Jesus rejecting anyone. The consistent message is that Jesus was able to reach out, connect and care for the numerous people he met.

John 1:47-50 says:
“When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, ‘Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.’
‘How do you know me?’ Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Phillip called you.”
Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You shall see greater things than that.”

The encounter with Nathanael shows us that God has come to us, knows who we are and calls us along a great journey. We are not just a blurry face passing before Him, rather He deeply knows each of us.

Life can often feel as though we are nameless face hustling off to the next meeting, but it is my hope that as the church gathers for worship and fellowship, for study and service, you will not feel like a face in the crowd, but an intimate and integral part of Christ’s body for Christ sees us before we see Him.

In Christ,
Wes Barry

Devotion: Deserve/De-Serve

As Lindsay and I prepare to move into a house, I am getting swooned by advertisements from Home Depot and Bed, Bath and Beyond telling me to take 10% off if I spend more than I would anyway. From those ads, a voice tells me, “Hey, you deserve it.” Then Phil Vischer’s, the creator of VeggieTales, comments, struck me:

“That little whisper—‘you deserve it’—comes I believe from the worst part of our sinful natures, the part that always wants another cookie, a bigger house, a nicer TV…I have come to hate that voice. I will avoid any product that tries to influence my purchase decision by telling me I deserve it. Why? First of all, the appeal is insanely selfish. If I deserve it, it must follow that someone else does not. I have achieved more. I am special.”

Those words stuck with me, leaving that unsettled lingering feeling. The one thing I disagree with Phil is that I am not sure this is a “little whisper.” It seems to come at us from so many different angles; in stereo.

What is whispered deep inside of us, that if we do not take the time to quiet ourselves we may miss, is the voice of God saying: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Phil 2:3-4).

As we struggle to figure out who God is in our lives, let us hear his voice that calls us together as a community to learn, serve and worship Him.

Burned Bachelor

The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Lindsay and Ellie have been out of town all week, and last evening I realized the biblical truth about this statement. It is not only good for me, but for all the people who live in our condo building that I have a helpmate.

So last evening, I figured I would cook myself a frozen pizza. I took the box out of the freezer and set it on top of the range as I preheated the oven. While it preheated, I decided I should check in on my fantasy football team. After 10 minutes of searching for a backup quarterback, I remember saying to myself..."huh, that's pretty amazing that the oven can get hot enough to start cooking the frozen pizza which is still in its box on top of the range." After about 15 minutes of preheating, I thought, "Wow, the pizza really smells good and I have not even put it in the oven yet."

Then, I got up to open the pizza box, which was strangely still cold, in the oven. As I opened the oven doors I discovered a blockage. On a baking pan sat two slices of the porkloin from my dinner three nights ago, which had been left in the oven and were now shriveled nuggets of pork.

Needless to say, I am looking forward to Ellie and Lindsay returning this evening...but I have got a quite a few "hours of power" to get this condo back to acceptability.

PS-I would like to apologize to my college roommates who I kept blaming for leaving dirty dishes in the kitchen--clearly it was me all along.

America at it's Finest

Ah, it is good to be back in the South, where photos like this can be taken. Thanks Rock Hill, SC.

Not only can you get an AK-47:
But if you are running low on cash, no problem, just head next door and get some Express Cash.

Life Phrase

As Ellie grows, I am getting startled and scared about how my parenting can greatly influence her development.
This past week, I came to the unscientific conclusion based upon self-reflection that we have a guiding statement at somepoint in our child, which greatly influences our worldview. I wish I could claim mine was biblical (in the literal sense, though I think their is some theological teeth to it). But it actually came from my third grade art teacher, who told me,
"There are no mistakes in art."

This was revolutionary to an elementary child. Everywhere else, I was being taught about rules, and living into the "system" of standardized education. I was being told to never ever let the #2 pencil cross outside the boundaries of those little bubbles, because otherwise I would be doomed to fail the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Life was being set with boundaries, with rules, with structure...and then this art teacher spoke one little sentence, which she could have never realized how profound that statement was on my life, "There are no mistakes in art."

It took me a long, long time to really accept that Truth. Not in a Joel Osteen, there is no "sin" sort of way, but a providential God sort of way. Though I am not sure I fully have, it can be seen in my artistic transformation. My early artwork was maticulous detailed drawings, where each brick was drawn in exacting and exhausting detail. Then, my senior year of college, I witnessed and experienced people I greatly respected make dramatic "mistakes." At that moment, the words of my teacher echoed in my heart telling me to explore past the boundaries, to draw with abandonment, to accept the tears of the paper, to expect the finished product to look nothing like I had imagined. To dig deep within my heart and explore the depth of God's creativity.

I can remember the first "exhibit" I did following this transformation. I had such joy, release and peace from the experience that the following week a fellow student put up his own creative release and when asked why he had drastically transformed his approach he said that he had wanted to try what Wes was describing.

Why do I write this now? Because I realize that I want to pass along a similar abandonment, joy and peace to Ellie. Not because an art teacher once said it, but because God says it to each of us: "you know that Christ appeared so that he might take away our sins." That she would feel free to make mistakes and accept the tears (pun intended) and to expect that life may look nothing like we imagine, but that God is working it all out for His good.

Busy Days

Today is the first month I have been at the church, and I have realized an important thing. It is easy to get wrapped up in visioning and theorizing. It is easy to stay on the phone, answering emails and staying "busy." But in doing so we lose sight of the call God has placed on our lives.
I have been reading Me, Myself, and Bob, an interesting memoir/leadership/inspiritational book by VeggieTales creator Phil Vasser whose company went from nothing to a huge success to bankrupcy in 10 years.
In the final chapter he wrote these words that convicted me as I begin my ministry:

So why do I believe a thousand kids walking with God will have more impact on the world than one kid making a hit a moive? Because the world learns about God not by watching Christian movies, but by watching Christians. We are God's representatives on earth--his "royal priesthood." We are his hands and feet. What I put in my movies is more or less irrelevant if it isn't coming out in my life. I realized I had become so busy trying to 'save the world' with my visionary ministry that I was often too stressed and preoccupied to make eye contact with the girl bagging my groceries at the supermarkt. And where does Christianity actually happen? Where does the 'rubber meet the road,' as it were? Up on the big screen in a movie theater? On TV? No. Across the checkout line at the grocery store, between me and a girl who makes a fraction of what I make and assumes I don't give a rip about her life. That's where it matters. And that's where, I realized, I was blowing it every day.