Author: admin_dftv_dms

What I Learned From My Visit to Alcatraz

This past week Paula and I were able to spend some time in San Francisco. It was our first visit there. And when time allowed, we took in all the touristy destinations like the Golden Gate Bridge, Napa Valley, and a must-trip down Lumbar Street, the curviest street in America that goes down at a 27 degree angle. But I must say the most impressive stop we made in the City by The Bay, was our visit to Alcatraz.

I’ve heard of it all my life, watched movies about it, and have been thrilled by Clint Eastwood and his escape from Alcatraz. But visiting the island itself is a little surreal and very surprising. I was surprised to know that the prison housed, even at its peak, only about 268 prisoners. I was surprised to know that the guards lived on the island with their families, that children were actually raised there during its 30 years as a federal penitentiary. I was surprised to see the small, 5 by 9 cells that the prisoners lived in, to see the cells where Al Capone and Machine-gun Kelly lived, to see the dreaded D-Block where prisoners were put in isolation. It was impressive to see the factories built on the island where inmates worked everyday.

The most impressive thing that I discovered on Alcatraz is a lighthouse. The lighthouse was there before it was a Civil War fort or a prison. The other interesting thing about the lighthouse is it is at the highest point of the island. As I was sitting on the ferry boat leaving the island, I thought how ironic it was that here on the rock, this symbol of brokenness, evil, darkness, crime, punishment, and deprivation, the highest point on the island was a lighthouse. When I saw that, I thought of the words of the Apostle John, when he said that Jesus was the light that had come into the world and it was the kind of light that the darkness could never extinguish. I was reminded that Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” I remember when Jesus said that those of us who are the followers of Christ would be like a light set on a hill for the whole world to see.

You see, the city of San Francisco is only 1 and ¼ mile from the tiny little island of Alcatraz, which means you can stand on Alcatraz and almost feel like you can reach out and touch the skyline of the city. What a contrast: a massive, burgeoning city, filled with activity, and a small, little island isolated with those who are deprived of all the freedoms and privileges. And yet standing above them all, tall on this island is a lighthouse.

One of the things I love about Christmas is that it’s the holiday of lights. It’s when we light up things in a beautiful way. San Francisco was all lit up. The homes in my neighborhood are all lit up. My own house has lights all over it. Remember, no matter how bad life gets, no matter how many prisons we build, no matter how many laws we pass, standing tall above everything else is the light. And it gives light to all men who come to it. And it’s also a symbol of hope; that goodness prevails, that love prevails, that God will endure and those who love and serve Him faithfully will never be forgotten.

Credit is Way Over-Rated

Why is it so many people are so quick to take the credit and yet so reluctant to accept the blame? It’s always been a confusing contradiction to me. Maybe it’s because people need attention. They need to be validated. They want to know their life is worth something. As Andy Warhol said, “We all need our 15 minutes of fame.”

But let me tell you, credit is way over-rated. And people of class and quality never seek it. Therefore they never end up casting blame. That’s the beauty of this dual equation. Those who do not seek credit also do not cast blame. These are people with servant hearts. Here is the bottom line. If you ever accomplish anything of any quality you have to have an awfully lot of people around you. It would have to be a collaborative team-effort.

Sixteen years ago, my wife and I moved to Nashville to plant a new kind of church; a church that would reach out and touch the hearts of men and women who had given up on church but had not given up on God. It was an amazing trip. It was an amazing experience. For sixteen years Paula and I watched as God did truly miraculous things. But as usual, people standing on the outside don’t get it.

The miraculous things I’ve seen in the last 16 years have very little to do with bricks and mortar, with attention, fame, or credit-grabbing. It’s about the change in the hearts and the lives of men and women. I’ve seen miraculous things that far out-weigh the buying of land, the building of buildings, the hiring of staff, the running of a massive organization, and the balancing of a thousand competing expectations.

I’ve seen God take a drug addict and set them free. I’ve seen cancer healed. I’ve seen children get up off of deathbeds. I’ve seen marriages resurrected. I’ve seen companies pulled back from the brink of failure by the power of prayer. I’ve seen people who were skeptical and agnostic fully embrace the miraculous and the possibility that God does love them as they are and not as they ought to be.

I’ve seen this happen all across the country in great churches unlike America has ever seen; churches like Saddleback Church in California pastored by Rick Warren, Willow Creek in Chicago pastored by Bill Hybels, NorthPoint in Atlanta pastored by Andy Stanley, Fellowship Church in Dallas pastored by Ed Young, Bay Area Fellowship in Corpus Christi pastored by Bil Cornelius. On and on and on I could go.

And what you’ll discover about all of these places is that none of these men seek credit. They don’t do it for the credit or the attention. Now what they do is very public and they practice their gifts in front of people. They all have servant hearts. They’re all mission-driven. They are all Jesus people who want to be part of a movement called Christianity, without the “ianity,” without the religion, without the rules. They want to be a part of setting people free. They want to be a part of seeing great things happen in the lives of people. That’s their joy. That’s their motivation.

Here’s the bottom line. If you’re a credit-seeker, if you want credit for what you did and when you did it and how much you did it, and you have to get it by climbing over someone else, cutting someone down, or doing something that you’ll later regret, you’re on the wrong path. The real joy in life is not the solo performance or the star player, it’s the team.

I learned that this week as I watched the Titans comeback from a 21-0 deficit into the fourth quarter. I saw Vince Young get forearmed in the mouth hard enough to break the ear-piece on his helmet. And I saw him get up mad, not just angry, but MAD – Motivated to Act Decisively. And he motivated his teammates. They all played at a level I had not seen in several years. Up until that moment they were lackluster. They seemed to be tired, almost ready for the game to be over. Yet something sparked them. And it was not Vince Young. It was the team. It wasn’t Pacman Jones. It was the team.

And it was not just the team, it was all of us in the stands rooting them on. It was an experience. It was a celebration. It was jubilation. It was a gathering on an amazing afternoon, not unlike what the church of Jesus Christ is supposed to be. Not star performers, but servants – loving, serving, giving, and exercising their gifts all for that moment of worship, experience, of setting people free. This is not only true in churches but in homes and businesses. Listen, credit is way over-rated. Seek to work with great people.

Here is my formula for success: Do something you really love to do, with people you love to do it with and where you want to do it, and you’ll be able to do it for a very, very long time and count it success.

Dave Does The Today Show

This week I’m going to dedicate The Dave Rave to my appearance on The Today Show this week. I’m in New York right now taping the session that will be aired Tuesday morning, November 14th. I’ve been invited to be a part of a panel to debate the role of religion and faith in America.

Meredith Vieira will be leading the discussion. There will be four of us on the panel, one of which is Sam Harris, whose controversial book; Letter To A Christian Nation is causing quite a stir. Harris believes that not only is religion not necessary, it’s actually dangerous and poses a great threat to the future of this country.

He says, for example, and I quote, “Forty-four percent of the American population is convinced that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead sometime in the next 50 years. According to most popular interpretation of biblical prophecy, Jesus will return only after things have gone horribly awry here on earth. It is therefore not an exaggeration to say that if the city of New York were suddenly replaced by a ball of fire, some significant percentage of the American population would see a silver lining in the subsequent mushroom cloud as it would suggest to them that the best thing that is ever going to happen was about to happen – the return of Christ. It should be blindingly obvious that beliefs of this sort would do little to help us create a durable future for ourselves socially, economically, environmentally or geo-politically. Imagine the consequence if any significant component of the United States government actually believed that the world was about to end and that its ending would be glorious. The fact that nearly half the American population apparently believes this, purely on the basis of religious dogma should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency.”

What anyone who takes their faith seriously, having read that paragraph knows is that Mr. Harris has a most definite agenda. The first that seems apparent to me by this kind of rhetoric is to sell a book. And that’s how you do it. Take an outrageous position and use it to scream at those on the other side.

And oftentimes those of us whom people think of as religious – and actually I’ve been spending my whole life trying to be non-religious – we often make the mistake of shouting back, not because we want to defend the faith. Too often it’s because we feel very insecure in the faith that we have.

There are so many holes in Mr. Harris’ paragraph it would take a volume to respond to them. Let me respond to two. He says that 44% of the American population is convinced that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead sometime in the next 50 years.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t believe that. I don’t know when Jesus is returning. I do believe that He is returning. It is obvious to me and it seems every other thinking person that this world is not going to continue to go on indefinitely as it is. Something’s going to wear out, break or blow up eventually down the road – 50 years, 500 years, 5,000 years – who knows? The future is in God’s hands. I don’t pretend to understand, to know or even to be involved in the cause of the end of the world. As a matter of fact, as a follower of Jesus I’m motivated to extend life as long as possible. I’m to celebrate life. That’s part of why I’m here – to love, to live, to help, to do everything I can to make this life better than it is.

The other thing I want to respond to Mr. Harris is when he says the fact that nearly half the American population believes this, that is, that Jesus is going to return purely on the basis of religious dogma should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency. I understand his definition of religious dogma. I would call it religious opinion. Everyone has one. There are a thousand different opinions on how the world is going to end. There are over 20,000 different denominations.

I agree with Mr. Harris that religion can be an exceedingly dangerous thing. We live in a brave new world where we’re no longer able to assume that all things religious are at least basically good. Sometimes they can be very evil.

Here’s my argument. Christianity is not a religion. Jesus did not come to make us more religious. He didn’t come to make us more moral. He came to change our lives, to give us a new life and a new heart, to put love at the core of our motivation – love for God and love for people, a love for life, a love for the things that are good and honorable, a love for your enemy, a love for those who disagree with you, a love for those who can despitefully use you, a love for those who betray you, a love for those who would come up and hit you on the cheek to turn the other side not because you like getting hit in the face and not because you’re weak, but because you believe that God would be pleased.

This is going to be an exciting journey for me. Pray that I am fit for the task.

They sent me eight questions that we’re going to deal with. I think they’re good ones for you to struggle with in your home, with friends at work, in your small group or at Starbucks or wherever people gather to talk. Check it out and see how many of the eight we deal with. Here they are:

1. What role do you think religion should play in this country?

2. There are those that would say religion is a vital part of our society and should be encouraged that faith will only make society better as a whole.

3. Then there are others who would say religion in society confuses issues like abortion, stem cells, gay marriage and turns what would be commonsense decisions into something more – that if you take religion out of those discussions the country would likely deal with greater issues affecting the world like genocide and poverty.

4. Then there are legal battles about prayer in school and public displays of the Ten Commandments. What do you think about these things?

5. Do you think there should be a separation of church and state and do you think there is one in this country?

6. Do you think America was founded as a Christian nation?

7. Would you be surprised to learn that “under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance in the 1950s and only as a response to McCarthyism? Is this a country that does reflect the religious state in different times?

8. What other things would you be interested in discussing with others who believe that faith is an important part of society and should be encouraged?

This should be an interesting time and as I pray and prepare for this moment I’m going to have to say, “Be careful what you pray for. You just might get it. God might put you on the hot seat where you’re forced to give a reason for the hope that lies within you.”

Check it out and I’ll give you some reports and perspectives in the next Dave Rave.

Let’s Fly to New York and Do the Today Show, Want To?

This has been quite a week for me. From dealing with my daughter’s tragic accident which left me both thanking God and asking, “God, why are you picking on me?” to my trip to Lakewood Church which rekindled my vision for what I am doing yet again – being involved in starting a movement for God here in Nashville. Let me tell you another thing God has done. I was sitting in a meeting with the head of marketing for Lakewood Church and Joel Osteen Ministries and received several phone calls, all at once. Like many of you, I certainly couldn’t bear to turn off my phone, so I had it set to vibrate so I could see who was calling.

I noticed I had gotten a call from my wife, Paula, and I thought, “I’ll call her back in a few minutes.” And then I got another phone call within the minute, from my editor. And I thought, “That’s odd, I am supposed to speak for my publisher tomorrow on the unveiling of my newest book, “A Renegade’s Guide to God,” maybe he’s calling to cancel.” Next I get a call from the Director of Publicity for my publisher and then I thought, “Sure enough they are trying to cancel because now they are both trying to call me.” Right after that I got a phone call that I recognized as coming from the New York area. And I thought, “Hey, my publisher, Rolf, is always in New York my editor and publicist have called, maybe something’s happened to him.” Then my wife called back. And then the publicist called back. And I thought, “This is too many coincidences all at once. Something bad must’ve happened.” Still reeling over the bad news phone call I had gotten earlier in the week, I dismissed myself to retrieve my messages.

The first one was from my publicist who was all enthusiastic saying that NBC had called them and requested that I be on the Today Show next Tuesday morning to serve on a round-table discussion on the place of Faith in American culture. I was absolutely blown away. I had to ask several times “Are you sure it’s the Today Show?” She said, “Yes, are you willing to do it? I need to call them right back.” And I said, “Absolutely.”

The next phone call obviously was to my wife Paula and I said, “Have you heard?” and she said “Yes. I’ve just been on the phone to New York and they are going to fly both of us up there, put us up, be met by a limousine, and take us anywhere we want to go, all at the expense of NBC.” And I thought, isn’t this just like God? I remember last year having an opportunity to go to New York and I said to someone, “I think New York is a great place, but the only way I’m going to go to New York is if someone else is paying for it.” And here was this prophecy coming true.

After what I’ve been through this year, all the stress of changing churches and losing jobs, and children going off to college, and careers being up in the air, and books being written and released, here is God’s one more sign that He’s been working overtime in my life. I’ve gone in the last three months from the lowest lows to the highest highs. And it’s almost as though God is laughing, “I want to keep your life interesting. I don’t want you to get bored. I know that your mind tends to wander so I am going to make your life more like a roller-coaster than a straight interstate highway.” Yea God!

But you know what? He wants the very same thing for you. How about you? Does your week go from one extreme to the next? Can you see the divine hand of God’s providence in it? Here’s what I want to ask. Pray for me as I go fly up to New York and prepare to appear on this panel. Pray that God would give me wisdom to be able to speak words of grace and healing, that I wouldn’t be just another religious guy on TV with “stupid” tattooed across his forehead, giving the same, old, inflammatory, divisive answers to the same old questions that maybe people intend to trap us by. But there is a more gracious, loving, and thoughtful answer.

Having contemplated speaking in this arena, I feel the Holy Spirit reminding me, “Go up and strike the themes that are the themes of your life. Go up there to help. Give them hope, give them encouragement, give them love, and make it practical. That’s what I want to do. As a matter of fact, that’s not a bad way to live, is it? If you want to help change the world, if you want to help the world with a message of hope while it’s swimming in pain, give them hope, give them encouragement, give them love, and make it practical. That’s how I spell HELP.

More to come… Get all your friends to watch Tuesday morning.

The Vice and Virtue of Voting

Today across the United States, Americans will go to the polls to vote for governors, senators, congressmen, and local officials. Here in Nashville there are constitutional amendments on the ballot that range from gay marriage to how many months in advance our local mayor has to present his budget to the council. This is a day Americans get to exercise our unique freedom to have our voices be heard. And yet as we contemplate voting there is always a bittersweet feeling in the air.

On the one hand, there is the virtue of voting which says that I participate in my government and I have a say in what happens. It is the act of going beyond complaining and griping, getting up and standing in line, standing over a voting booth and having the power of voting “yes” or “no,” for one person over the other. This is the basic democratic way.

There is also a vice involved, or a letdown, or as we often say, the lesser of two evils. By the time each candidate and party has gotten through with each other, both candidates look somewhat less than noble and virtuous. If the statements in political ads can be believed, both candidates should be under some kind of federal indictment for fraud, theft, or a multitude of other civil and legal infractions. Mudslinging and half truth-telling does not lead to a sense of virtue, confidence, or victory.

And yet in both the virtue; letting my voice be heard, exercising my freedom, and the vice; not knowing who to believe or who to trust, there is a third element for those of us who are Christians. That is the deep conviction that we have dual citizenship. Not only are we citizens of this country, state, city, or neighborhood, we are also citizens of another country whose builder and maker is God. Our hope isn’t tied to good government or the right party being in power. Our hope is in God. We believe He is the King, the Ruler, the Lord over all His creation. We truly believe the words of Scripture when it says that the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord and He can turn it whichever way He chooses.

While part of our service and honor to God is to be a good citizen and be engaged in the political arena in the public debate, and we do it with vigor, we do it with commitment.

We also recognize that our hope isn’t in government. If government could solve our problems, God would’ve sent us a king. If education could solve our problems, God would’ve sent us an educator. If science could solve our problems, He would’ve sent us a scientist. But the truth of the matter is He sent us a Savior, for it is our hearts and souls that need to be saved. And when our hearts and souls are converted to truth, beauty, love, and honor when we seek justice, these are the ways in which society changes and our world becomes a better place.

As you vote today, vote your heart and your conscience. But understand at the end of the day, our hope is not in Republicans, Democrats, or Independents. Our hope is in God, Who loves us too much to leave us to our own devices. Yea God!

10 Things We Say We Don’t Mean

Have you ever noticed that we say an awful lot of things that we don’t mean? We think it’s harmless but after a while you begin to talk yourself into acting out the things you say but you really don’t mean. You say them because you’re tired, upset, or angry. What you say is really important because it exposes the content of your heart. Here are ten things I hear people say all the time that I know they really don’t mean. And since we don’t mean them, we need to drop them from our vocabulary.

1. I don’t care. The truth of it is, we usually say this when we are hurt, upset, tired, or frustrated. We really do care but we don’t know how to respond. Saying it often enough leads people to believe that we really don’t care.

2. It doesn’t bother me. Usually the opposite is true. It does bother us. That is why we are saying it. We’re hurt and have feelings in need of expression.

3. I can’t take this anymore. This creates a false dilemma in our thinking and ultimately in our lives. We can take a lot more than we think we can. If we talk ourselves into giving up and quitting on our dreams, our jobs, our families, our marriages too soon, we’ll always be starting and stopping and never completing and knowing the joy of victory.

4. I wish I were dead. More and more when I hear people say this I perk up. People used to say this and not mean it, but these days you have to take people very seriously because suicide is growing among every age group. Be careful what you say about your physical well-being.

5. I’ll never be able to trust again. The truth of the matter is, you will be able to trust again if you allow yourself. But if you close yourself off and try to avoid the hurt of betrayal or letdown or disappointment, you’ll never trust again. But your life is going to be determined in direct proportion to your ability to trust other people. You can’t go it alone.

6. This will never change. It will change. We often think that trouble, problems, or adversity reverse or close doors forever when the truth of the matter is the situation is changing. We’re coming out of trouble as often as we’re going in. Things will change. If you’ll believe they’ll change, they can change positively by becoming proactive.

7. I hate you. We often mean the exact opposite. “I love you and I need you to respond to me because I feel there is a distance between us and the only way I can get you to pay attention is to raise the stakes by saying something hateful, hard, mean, or harsh.” Remember, words do matter. Sticks and stones will only break your bones, but words will break your heart.

8. I’ll never get over this. The truth is, we do get over it. We move on. All of life is about turning corners and making transitions. Relationships grow. Sometimes they grow apart and other times they grow old. You will get over it if you open your heart to the healing God offers.

9. I can’t go on. A person who says this is looking too far into the future. What they are really saying is they can’t go on this way forever. The good news is you don’t have to. All you have to do is get up each single day, put one foot in front of the other and do the next right thing.

10. It’s over. It’s never over. Hope never dies. As Studs Terkel said in his latest book, “Hope Dies Last.” It only dies when we let go of it. Hope is the best thing. It is a God thing. It is a gift from God to believe that the future can always be better than the present or the past. It is not over if you don’t want it to be over; not your marriage, not your career, not your dream.

These are just a few of the things I hear people saying I know they don’t mean. Instead of saying things that express hurt, pain, disappointment, or despair, start programming your mind with positive things, positive words, positive people, Scriptures. “Anything is possible to him that believes.” These are the words of Jesus. What we believe is what we say and what we say is what we believe. They work hand-in-hand, together.