All posts by : Joel Phillips

David Bowie

On January 10, 2016, two days after his 69th birthday and the release of the album Blackstar, music legend David Bowie died from liver cancer. Tony Visconti, David Bowie’s long-term producer and friend said, “His death was no different from his life–a work of Art. He made Blackstar for us, his parting gift.”

Since his death, fans and media have tried to piece together the cryptic messages in the album. One connection is that “Black Star” was the name of a little-known Elvis song about death. “When a man sees his black star,” Presley sings, “he knows his time has come.” Bowie was a known Presley fan, also shared the same birthday as him.

There are some indications that before he died David Bowie had a spiritual breakthrough. While fighting the cancer Bowie said to someone, “On the battlefield, there are no atheists.” Bowie’s wife Iman tweeted a few days before his passing: “The struggle is real, but so is God.”

David Bowie showed us how music can stir the soul, even in the face of death. However, he didn’t help us much with what happens when you die. In the song Blackstar, he refers to a place called the “Villa of Ormen”. “Ormen” means “serpent” in Norwegian, and is a creature mentioned in the writings of the occultist Aleister Crowley (who Bowie admired earlier in life). No one is really sure why Bowie mentions this place, but it seems to be figurative of where he saw himself going after he died.

Cha-cha-changes

Putting death in your own terms isn’t illegal, but is uncertain. If there is life after death, where do you go? Who will be there? These are questions that need to be looked at. The Bible doesn’t talk about Blackstars or “Ormen,” but it does say that God knows the moment of our death, and that there will be a seamless transition after death.

So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8)

Heaven is a place prepared for people who know Jesus as Lord. Heaven is not the default destination of every person. Fortunately, this hasn’t been put in cryptic or veiled terms. It’s as simple as, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” I hope David Bowie knew this.

Thanksgiving long ago

Loaded with 102 pilgrims fleeing religious persecution, the Mayflower struggled for 66 days to cross the stormy North Atlantic Ocean. Unable to make it to New York, it landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts on December 11, 1620.

During that first cold winter, 46 pilgrims died. But during the spring of 1621, in an act of true kindness, the Wampanoag Indians taught the pilgrims how to cultivate the land—growing corn, beans, and squash, which helped them survive.

At harvest time the colonists were so grateful for their bountiful crops that Governor William Bradford organized the first Thanksgiving feast, and invited the Wampanoag Indians to join them. With joy and thanksgiving, they expressed their gratitude to God, but they also gave thanks to their native neighbors.

Many years later, in 1789, President George Washington wrote a proclamation, recommending that…

“…a day of public thanksgiving and prayer be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God.”

Conscious of our treasures

Over the years Thanksgiving Day has lost its original significance. For many people, it has simply become a time when families come together to eat turkey and watch football.

I read a quote by Thornton Wilder that said, “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” So I decided to write a list of people I am thankful for…

• My dad for teaching me good theology and how to love life (not always in that order)
• My mom for always telling me I could do anything
• Kathie for loving Jesus more than anyone I’ve ever known
• My kids for letting my God become their God
• Dr. Roy Hicks, Sr. for teaching me about the Holy Spirit
• Ron Mehl for modeling a shepherd’s heart to me
• Jack Hayford for being my hero
• Dr. John Maxwell for being the first to teach me about leadership
• Don Long for being one of the best leaders I’ve ever seen
• Miriam Piper for always making me look better than I deserve
• Stan Carney for his 0’dark-hundred texts to me
• Regen for giving me great hope in the future

My challenge to you is to make a list of people you are thankful for and why. After making this list take some quiet time and reflect on everyone you have listed, then express your gratitude to them. It could be a hand-written note, an email, a text message, or a phone call. Whatever method you choose, make it personal and heartfelt. Let these people know how you feel about them and how special they are to you. They are Thanksgiving treasures!

We called her “Rocky”

My mom passed away Monday. I’ve been thinking about her life’s accomplishments and how to contextualize some of them. She was an incredible leader. She was a renowned speaker and author. She was musically gifted. She could manage and administrate at the highest levels. She had a love for adventure and traveled the world.

She also broke down many of the barriers that had kept women excluded from leadership roles within the church. She saw those barriers as an especially odd reality in her own church organization, which was founded by a woman.

My kids affectionately called her Rocky. Mom loved this nickname because it identified a tenacity in her that characterized so much of what she did.

Her last journal entry

Not long after my dad’s death in 2013, we noticed that something wasn’t right with mom. She was diagnosed with dementia. This began a difficult process of watching “Rocky” go from an incredibly capable person, to needing assistance at basic levels.

While cleaning out her room, we found a journal she had begun after losing dad. Page after page records simple routines and outings. She also shares the deep pain of missing her husband of 57 years. On September 21, 2013 mom wrote…

Each day seems empty without Coleman. Lord, please hold my hand on this strange journey. I have always known what do for You, now I’m not sure.

Every entry, until her last on May 31, 2015, echoes this same frustration of missing her husband and not knowing what she was to do. While I lamented the toll dementia took on my mom, the Lord helped me see something.

Even though my mom had been very independent, she was always under the covering of my dad’s authority. There are many beautiful stories of women who went on to new levels of living after their husbands die. Not Rocky. When her husband died, she lost her strength. Peter puts it this way…

This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God and accepted the authority of their husbands. (1 Peter 3:5, NLT)

This isn’t just the secret to beauty, but also strength. I hope the next generations of “Rocky’s” help other woman understand this. It will make them more beautiful and stronger in all their life’s accomplishments.

Ever been in love?

Remember how crazy things were when you first fell in love? The minutes hung like hours when you were apart, and the time flew by so fast when you were together. No distance was too far to travel just to be together.

I fell in love with my wife Kathie at Point Loma University. For a whole year we were inseparable. Then she moved 350 miles away back to her home in San Luis Obispo. I know every inch of those miles because I traveled them often. Sometimes just for the day. Five hours of driving just to see her face and to hear her voice. It was extreme. It might’ve seemed wasteful, but I didn’t care. I was in love!

Love that remembers

One day Jesus was having lunch at a Pharisee’s house. A woman who was from a local brothel snuck in and sat at Jesus’ feet. She began weeping, in fact so much so that she was able to wash Jesus’ feet with her tears, and then began to wipe them with her hair. If that weren’t enough, she also poured costly oil all over his feet.

Everybody was watching.

Jesus asked the his host, “Do you see this woman?” “Uhh yeah, kinda hard to miss her,” answered the Pharisee. Then Jesus told him,

“Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, therefore she loves much.” (Luke 7:47)

She was in love with Jesus. She was grateful for the grace he had shown her and did not care about how over the top or extreme her expression of love may of seemed.

What was happening with the Pharisee is what can happen to us. Over time we can forget where God has brought us from. We lose that un-abandoned expression of our love for Jesus and our thankfulness for His grace. We see ourselves as having arrived, and can began look at people who are expressing their love for him as extreme, maybe even weird.

Don’t forget what God has done in your life, and more importantly don’t forget to express your love for him. Others may think you’re being extreme, but don’t worry about them. Be like the woman, not the Pharisee. God’s forgiven you extravagantly why not love him extravagantly!

Missionary of charity

One of the greatest examples of Christian love in the twentieth century was without a doubt Mother Teresa. Born in Macedonia to Albanian parents, she felt a call to ministry at the age of 12, and six years later joined the Sisters of Loreto as a missionary.

In 1948 Mother Teresa, in what she later described as “the call within the call,” left the convent to go live among the poor in Calcutta, India. She helped begin a new community called the Missionaries of Charity. When asked what it was about, Mother Teresa surprised the person by answering,

“…to care for the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone.”

Later in her life, after years of such incredible impact that her name a household word, Mother Teresa revealed a significant insight when she said,

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

Small things

Jesus said, “Anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name does it unto to me.” In saying this, Jesus shows that it is not just the big things that count, but also small things. Small gestures of kindness and love: giving a cup of water, an act of acceptance, a kind word, a smile, taking time to bake someone a cake or write a card, or sitting with someone who is sick. Little things, which in themselves may not seem like much, but make a difference.

The prophet Zechariah wrote, 

Do not despise these small beginnings. (Zechariah 4:10)

It tends to be the big gestures that get recognized and celebrated, but God says “Don’t despise the small things.” Just as a house is built from lots of small bricks, so the small things you do build into something much bigger.

Things that you do unto the Lord are never wasted. They always make a difference. No act of kindness is too small. The gift of your kindness starts as a small ripple, but over time turns into a tidal wave affecting the lives of many.

You’re growing fast!

I hadn’t seen my friend’s 6 year old son in awhile. “Whoa!!! You’ve grown a foot since I last saw you!” I exclaimed. He looked at me sort of puzzled and said, “Really?” “Yes!” I said, “are you keeping marks on the wall somewhere at your house?” Even more puzzled, he asked, “What is that?”

Marks on the wall were a high priority for Kathie and me with our four children. We would regularly check their growth and celebrate each little increment upward. It seems like yesterday our kids were standing as tall as possible with their backs against the wall. We would carefully make a mark and then celebrate each little increment upward.

Everyone knows that kids grow fast, but when you are around them all the time, it can be hard to notice. My friend’s son shouted to his parents, “Dad! Mom! He said I’ve grown a foot!” They smiled. I added, “He has grown a lot!” They didn’t seem as impressed as me.

Don’t forgot why

I remember hearing the story about the man who built the Taj Mahal. His name was Shah Jahan, and he was very rich. When his wife died in 1629, he placed her casket in the middle of a field and commissioned an elaborate tomb to be built around it. Over the next few years the project reached enormous dimensions, and the Shah’s grief gave way to an inordinate passion for the project. One day while he was surveying, he stumbled over a part of wooden box that had been thrown on the project’s trash heap.  To his dismay, he realized that the box was part of his wife’s casket.

Whether it’s building an elaborate building or raising kids, in situations we are around regularly and changes take place over a period of time, we can miss the importance of what’s happening. What’s worse, we can lose track of the why it’s happening.

“When each of us does our own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” (Ephesians 4:15-16)

Take a moment and think about the people in your life. Even though they are all on different schedules and at different stages of life, all of them are headed somewhere and important changes are taking place. And all of them could benefit from your noticing their growth. You can help them grow, be healthy, and feel loved! Make a mark on the wall of their heart.

Missing hero

Before my dad passed away, he and I would get together on Wednesdays. We’d talk, read, pray, laugh, eat, and sometimes take naps. It was a special highlight of my week.  Just sitting with my dad made me stronger. His wisdom and practical understanding of God and His Word was a treasure I am thankful for.

Heritage is a missing element of our modern world. Very few people have someone they can look to as model for living, much less someone they would consider a hero.  Many of our families are fractured. Relationships are dysfunctional. Instead of getting strength from our families, they’ve become sources of pain. And it’s this kind of pain that gives rise to this…

“There is a generation that curses its father, and does not bless its mother.”
(Proverbs 30:10)

New family

It is a sad fact that many of our fathers and mothers were horrible, perhaps even deserving our scorn. And as a result we live with a void of any heritage in natural terms.  But in spiritual terms it’s a different story! We can have a heritage that is better than anything this world has to offer.

When you make Jesus the Lord of your life you are now brought into God’s family. Your heritage is no longer through your earthly family, but through God’s. Paul says in Romans,

“You were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root.” (Romans 11:17)

I loved my dad and am very grateful for the things we experienced together, but that’s not the heritage that makes my life truly special. My life, and everyone else’s who knows Jesus, has been made special because we were brought into God’s family. We did nothing to deserve it, yet God chose to pursue a relationship with us. That’s now our heritage, and it’s a heritage unlike any other!

Smart bet

Some people actually make a living at gambling. They’re professionals. At the casino you’ll see these expert gamblers at the poker tables and the blackjack tables. They know how to play the game. They know the odds.

But you’ll never see them at the slots. They know the odds. 

Although some people claim they have strategies for winning at the slots, the masses of folks seen pulling the “one-armed bandits” are primarily hoping to win. For the most part the odds of winning at slots are totally stacked against you.

Big gamble

God’s a gambler. Not for money, but for lives. He knows the odds. He knows who will guarantee the best return on his bet. But time and time again he casts His lot with the riskiest ones. In fact, he’s bet his life on those whose likelihood of success is totally against the odds…

The broken

The weak

The foolish

The despised

The least likely to succeed

The ones who could never pay back His investment

But God doesn’t sit mindlessly hoping that there’ll be a lucky payout someday. He knows the lives that He’s betting on. He’s seen beyond promises of big jackpots and the warnings of guaranteed losses.

He strategizes. He sends the influence of his love and presence. He allows pain and relieves it with healing. He causes the lives of those he’s won by his grace to intersect with those yet to be won.

His fingers aren’t crossed, but he is praying for a win. He’s hoping there will be a great return on his investment. And when it happens, no bells, no sirens, no flashing lights, just the payout of heart touched and a life saved.

Making music

The Cateura Dump is the final dumping site for more than 1,500 tons of solid waste each day in Asuncion, Paraguay. It’s also a home for 2,500 families essentially living on top of the dump.

A man named Favio Chavez, saw the needs of the kids in Cateura and decided to open a music school. That was the beginning of his Recycled Orchestra project.

The Recycled Orchestra has received worldwide recognition and has performed throughout the world. In documentary about them, Favio replied,

“The world sends us garbage, we send back music”

Where the King goes

The story of people who can make music in and from the most horrible situation is a powerful illustration of what God intended praise and worship to accomplish through His people.  C.S. Lewis captures the importance of this,

“It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men.” C.S. Lewis

When we lift our voices to God––thanking him, blessing him, declaring our love for him––something happens! God makes His presence known!  David said this…

“You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.” (Psalms 22:3)

It’s through praise that you welcome the King of Kings Himself.
And where the King goes, his throne goes…
And where his throne goes, His kingdom goes…

No matter what you face, what’s been handed to you, or what’s being dumped on you, praising God offers the greatest hope. It establishes his kingdom, his authority, his rule, and his power, anywhere!  Even in a garbage dump, he’ll teach you how to make music.

Try again

After Jesus was crucified, Peter and some other disciples went back to where they were from and started fishing again. Fishing was something they were naturally comfortable with, and they knew how to do it. Yet, after working all night they had caught nothing.

They heard somebody yell from the shore asking if they had caught anything.  They yelled back that they hadn’t caught any fish. They person yelled again,

“Try again on the other side boat.”

One of the guys shrugged his shoulders and said, “What’ve we got to lose?” Peter was too tired to argue, so they threw the net out on the other side. Even in their wildest dreams they’d never had seen so many fish.

John started to figure things out. “Peter, that’s Jesus!” he said. But Peter was already swimming for shore. As Peter was swimming he remembered that this wasn’t the first time Jesus had given he and his friends strange instructions for fishing.

There was the time when Jesus told them to go into deeper water (where no one had ever caught fish before), and their nets were filled like never before. Then there was the time when they needed some money and Jesus told them to catch a fish and there would be gold in its mouth.

When you’re about to give up

When things aren’t going right it’s easy to get frustrated and discouraged, even confused. You can be tempted to take matters into your own hands, or worse, just give up.

Then Jesus shows up in your situation and tells you to do something that seems silly or illogical. He requires you to trust him and operate in faith. What then transpires is something that could never happen if you were left on your own—a miracle!

In the middle of difficulties, especially reoccurring ones, the temptation to give up can be great. But the possibility for a miracle is greater! It’s in these times that God will teach you how great he is, building your faith, and then giving you a testimony of what he did, and what he can do.

So try it one more time.