Anthony and Emily Parrott

No Fear of Judgment: 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 (Advent Week 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Parrott) — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 20:24:00 +0000

Do you remember the feeling of breaking something—or doing something wrong—and the anxiety of waiting for your parents to get home? There was a time in my life as a teenager where in quick succession I left the freezer door open all night, put kerosene in our gasoline-powered lawn mower, and (somehow accidentally) turned on an aquarium heater in an empty aquarium, thus shattering all the glass. That was a lot of days of waiting—with more than a hint of panic—for Mom and Dad to come home so I could receive my judgment.

Too many times I’ve ran across a train of thought in Christian circles that shares much of this anxiety with death and the return of Jesus. I’ve been warned many times to watch what I say and do because, “You’ll have to give an account to Jesus one day.” There is a fear of “judgment day” because I will have to stand up in front of Jesus and all of creation and tell them all of my dirty secrets and then cross my fingers and see what happens.

Now let’s be honest. There are some verses that—plucked out from their various locations in Scripture—would lend people to this kind of fear.

“Each of us will give an account of ourselves to God” (Romans 14:12).
“God...will judge the secret thoughts of all” (Romans 2:16).
"The Lord...will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart” (1 Corinthians 4:5).

And I don’t want to lie to you: judgment will come. Christ will return and put the world to rights. If justice is to come, that means that injustice, sin, and the causes (cause-ers) of pain will have to go.

But for those who are in Christ this judgment is not a thing we need to be afraid of. We wait for it with hopeful expectation because—in Christ—we know the verdict. 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 (the second reading of the first week of Advent) makes this abundantly clear. Check out the bolded text:

4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, 5 for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— 6 just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

We are waiting for the “revealing” of our Lord, the “day of the Lord.” Is this something to be afraid of? By no means! Because of God’s grace:

we have been enriched
we have been strengthened
we don’t lack any spiritual gift
we will be strengthened to the end
we will be blameless

Notice that this is all God’s doing. God is the one who makes us blameless through Christ. God is the one who strengthens us. God is the one who is faithful (even when we are not! 2 Timothy 2:13).

So whenever we run across “judgment” language in the Bible, be sure to place it within the understanding that God has already declared us righteous (Romans 3:24); has already declared you free of condemnation (Romans 8:1). This Advent is a season of hopeful expectation, not only of the wonder of the Incarnation, but also of Jesus’ return, when He comes again and declares us righteous, a faithful servant, heirs of His Kingdom.

This Advent season, may we treat others in the same way that Christ treats us, recognizing that through God’s love there is no more room for condemnation or rejection, but rather open-armed forgiveness, acceptance, and unconditional love.

Lord, Teach Us To Pray

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Parrott) — Tue, 25 Nov 2014 19:22:00 +0000

The Good Samaritan by He Qi

In light of recent events, it is good to remember that we should be "slow to speak and slow to become angry" (James 1:19) and quick to lift up our voices in prayer. Here are a few prayers to guide our words and meditations.

"For Social Justice" Book of Common Prayer

Grant, O God,

that your holy and life-giving Spirit

may so move every human heart

and especially the hearts of the people of this land,

that barriers which divide us may crumble,

suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease;

that our divisions be healed,

we may live in justice and peace;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

"For A Death in the Neighborhood" commonprayer.net

Lamb of God

You take away the sins of the world

Have mercy on us.

Grant us peace.

For the unbearable toil of our sinful world,

We plead for remission.

For the terror of absence from our beloved,

We plead for your comfort.

For the scandalous presence of death in your Creation,

We pleased for the resurrection.

Lamb of God

You take away the sins of the world

Have mercy on us.

Grant us peace.

"Prayer for Renewal" The Worship Sourcebook

Father, as we remember how our Lord Jesus was identified by baptism

with John’s message of repentance and renewal,

we pray for the renewal of humanity today

and for the church as a means of renewal.

We pray for the welfare of nations and the wisdom of governments,

for social justice and for racial harmony.

May laws and policies dignify, not degrade,

and may the arrival of your kingdom in Jesus

be attested by the witness of Christians in every walk of life.

We pray for all who suffer loss and who are diminished by illness,

by disappointment, or by the attitude of others.

Support and strengthen these and all who are in the wilderness

facing the testing of what they believe in.

We pray also for all who must die soon—

both those who know it and those who do not.

Confirm in every one of us that it is not for this life only

that we have hope in Christ,

and in the communion of all your baptized people

may we find bonds forged between us that endure to all eternity.

Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Isaiah 64: Lost in the Clothes Racks

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Parrott) — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 16:27:00 +0000

Do you remember getting separated from your mom or dad in a department store? I remember being pretty little—under 7—and going to K-Mart with my mom. She was doing some shopping for herself, which of course did not include spending copious amounts of time in the toy aisle like I had specifically requested. Instead we meandered through the women’s section, a complete bore-fest to any semi-normal child. To entertain my semi-normal self I was ducking in and out of the circular clothes racks, attempting to see how long it would take before Mom would forget about me. For a while Mom tried to pay attention to me, asking me to stop, to stay close by. But eventually I hid in a clothes rack for a little too long, she got a little too distracted by some article of clothing, and we were separated.

What’s funny about that experience is that I remember being the angry one. I had refused to stick close to my parent, I had literally hid myself from her, and yet I was angry that she would just leave me, abandon me to my fate in K-Mart of all God-forsaken places. I did the things that a lost child does—look around frantically, cry, look around some more, and eventually get asked by some employee if I was lost. In a moment lived-out by hundreds of families, we were joyfully reunited at the customer service desk after a call for “the mother of Anthony” rang out over the PA system.

Isaiah 64, the first Scripture of the first week of Advent, has Israel in much the same position as a lost child—but with the stakes much higher. Israel’s countryside has been burnt, it’s cities torn down, it’s civilization in ruins. And despite recognizing that they have sinned, that they have transgressed, that they have ran away from God, they still want to blame God for what has happened to them: “You have hidden your face from us” (64:7).

But the most forceful message of Isaiah 64 is the recognition that things are completely messed up, the world is totally screwed—but if God would “tear open the heavens and come down,” if God would make the earth shake in His presence, if God would baptize the world with fire and release His flames upon Israel’s adversaries, then all would be made right once more.

But we should pause before we join in too eagerly with these cries for vengeance. Because God did answer Israel’s prayer. God did come down, He did act decisively in Israel’s favor…but in a way totally unexpected, in a way absent of flame and earthquake and fear. God and His people were indeed reunited, brought into each other’s presence again, by way of God-in-the-flesh, the Divine-Made-Incarnate, Son of God and Son of Man: Jesus.

This Advent, we are right to cry out to God for Him to make things right in the world. We are right to recognize how lost we are without Him and how desperate things are without His presence. But let’s be slow to blame God for humanity’s mistakes. And let’s be slow to ask for God’s vengeance and anger and punishment. Rather let us anticipate together the presence of God made real in the unexpected: not in the earthquake or fire or storm, but in the still and in the quiet and in the recognition that God is with us, even when we’re hiding in the clothes racks.

Three Cues That An Invitation to Church Would Be Welcome

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Parrott) — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 19:18:00 +0000

CC Image courtesy of Rodney Campbell on Flickr

When's the last time you've invited someone to one of your church's services? I know it's been a while for myself. And for a socially awkward introvert like me, it can be hard to know when it's appropriate or not to bring it up with someone.

I recently heard* three cues of when to invite someone to come to a church service with you. These cues are something that you may hear in a conversation that serve as a clue that it might be appropriate to bring up going to church:

"Things are not going well..." When you hear someone say this - perhaps in the context of a job, a relationship, a life-transition - that's a great opportunity to say, "Why don't you come to church with me this Sunday?"
"I'm not from here..." When people move to town, it can be hard to find a system of relationships and friends to rely on. Hopefully your church is a place where people can find relationships of trust and loving acceptance.
"I'm not prepared for..." Sometimes things in folks' lives are going fine - new job, kids getting married, new opportunities - but they just weren't prepared for the newness of it all. A place where you can hear teaching or receive mentoring could be exactly what a person is needing in their life.

The ultimate goal of the church is not to make friends or just get help for tricky life-situations. The goal is to become more like Jesus. But when we invite someone to a church service, we may be helping someone in their next step in knowing God transformationally.

* From the "Keystone Habits" episode of the very excellent Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast.

The One Who Can Destroy Your Soul and Body In Hell (Part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Parrott) — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 13:07:00 +0000

Culture deeply impacts the way that we read Scripture. Some of these impacts are very subtle, requiring someone from outside our culture to point them out. And some of these ways are much more obvious, causing us to shake our head in regret once we see where we went wrong.

Leonard Sweet once explained the ways that different cultures understand the parable of the prodigal son. If you were to ask people from a variety of cultures the simple question, "What is the primary sin of this story?" you would get a multitude of answers. The U.S.'s sexually obsessed culture tends to narrow in on the phrase, "And squandered his wealth in wild living," filling in the details on what that means. Honor-based societies in Asia focus on the phrase, "Father, give me my share," angry that a son could dishonor his father in such a way. Community-based societies in Africa are outraged that when there was a famine the community sent the prodigal out into fields with the pigs.

Sometimes the cultural issue can be merely that of translation. The ancient Hebrews used to use the phrase “cleanness of teeth” as an idiom. Can you guess for what? It sounds like a good thing, but it was generally a thing that God would curse people with.

Cleanness of teeth meant famine. No food. No cavities.

A way that I recently woke up to some cultural conditional in my reading of Scripture was in Matthew 10. Here Jesus is sending His disciples out into the world on mission. Unsurprisingly—considering the religious and political implications of what they were to proclaim—Jesus is warning them about near-certain persecution. But He offers this advice to them:

“Do not fear those who kill the body

but cannot kill the soul;

rather fear him who can destroy

both soul and body in hell.”

So the question I found myself asking in this verse is, “Who is the one who can destroy me in hell?”

This is where my cultural conditioning sprung to action. According to the culture I grew up in, the one in charge of hell, throwing big parties for all the big baddies down there—it’s Satan is of course. He’s the one down there, large and in charge, envisioning new and wonderful ways to torment people just for the fun of it. These cultural memes have found their way into my imagination, changing the way that I read Scripture. Thanks to Dante’s Inferno, medieval art, and probably too many cartoons as a kid, I imagine hell as Satan’s playground, and him as it’s CEO.

But the Bible never says anything like this. Not even close. Our Adversary, the Devil we are never told to fear. In fact we are told to resist him, stand fast against him, to—in the power of God—fight opposed to him (1 Peter 5:8-9; Ephesians 6:12). Hell is not where Satan goes to enjoy his own twisted version of bliss. No, “the lake of fire” in Revelation is the final resting place of Satan; and he’s definitely not in charge of it and he definitely does not enjoy it.

This idea though—to fear Satan—has ingrained itself into the Christian culture I come into contact with. I know those who won’t even say his name because he might perk up, pay attention to us, and come get us.

While, of course, I’m not suggesting that we don’t take the devil or the demonic seriously (we should) or that we ought to pretend they don't exist (we shouldn’t), what I am saying is that Satan is not the one who can destroy our soul and body in hell. He can’t.

So who is? Well, God is. And that fact can make us very uncomfortable, can’t it? How on earth is that comfort for the disciples that Jesus is sending out to the world? We’ll address that in Part 2.

What do you think? How were you taught to think about Satan? Was he the one in charge of hell? Was his name taboo for fear of him coming to get you? Let me know in the comments below.

4 Ways to Keep the Resurrection Alive After Easter

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Parrott) — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 21:11:00 +0000

Most of us just got done with this 40-day season called Lent. It concluded gloriously with Easter - Resurrection Day - itself. Big church services with big attendance and - typically - shorter, to-the-point sermons. Many of us had big meals with families, enjoyed some spring sunshine, and perhaps even spent some extra time thanking God today for Jesus, His sacrifice, and His resurrection.

But now what? Now that the big lead-up to Easter is over, what are we supposed to do as a church and as Christians? Certainly the truths that we heard about resurrection and new life should have some continuing resonance. And certainly the fasting we did over Lent doesn't suddenly lose all its significance until next February or something. Right?

Right. But how do we keep these concepts going? Well, here are 4 ideas on how to keep the concepts of Easter alive as we move forward into the year.

ONE: Add a spiritual discipline.

Lent was an opportunity to recognize our sin and depravity, and to - in small ways - join Jesus in His 40-day fast in the wilderness. People give up all sorts of things - sweets, social media, negative comments, you name it.

Now that Lent has come and gone, this season of Eastertide (that it's official name) can be a great opportunity to add a discipline. Now for many of us, that "adding" should be something like silence, solitude, meditation, a continued fast...something that actually helps de-clutter your life. For others, it could be more action-oriented, such as prayer, hospitality, or giving.

If you need a list of possible spiritual disciplines, head here. You could also...

TWO: Read the book of Acts.

The literal, historical resurrection of Jesus makes the most sense out of what happened afterward: the birth and unprecedented expansion of the early church. People tend not to give up their lives for made-up stories about the dead coming back to life or failed messiahs being crucified. It makes the most sense that Jesus really, truly came back to life and empowered His disciples to make disciples of the world.

For a glimpse of just how convinced, dedicated and empowered the early church was by Jesus' resurrection and His call to make disciples, read the book of Acts. You will be amazed by the faith, courage, and audacity that these early church-planters had. Look specifically for the word "resurrection" and the effect it had on people (hint: it's used 11 times).

THREE: Bring something to life.

Easter has to do with new life and new creation. Jesus, as the "firstfruits of the resurrection" (1 Cor. 15:20), is the start of the world being re-made and re-created, without the fall, reconciled with God. And, nearly just as excitingly, God has made us agents of that reconciliation! We get to help put the world back to order; we get to be agents of God's resurrection power!

There are all sorts of simple ways to do that. But one of the most simple is by getting our hands dirty and planting some flowers, a tree, even some vegetables and herbs (which Emily and I hope to do this spring...we love basil!). When we help something grow and live, we are joining with God in His sustaining of creation, obeying our original commandment to "work the the ground, and take care of it" (Genesis 2:15).

FOUR: Remember that every Sunday is a mini-Easter.

Christian worship moved from Saturday to Sunday because it was "the Lord's Day" (Revelation 1:10); that is, it was the day when Jesus was resurrected from the dead. This was the pivotal point on which Christianity stood. Without Christ's resurrection, Christianity was worthless (1 Cor. 15:17). Because of the magnitude of this event, we see evidence from the earliest records of the first-century church that they worshiped on "the first day of the week," i.e. Sunday (1 Cor 16:2; Acts 20:7; Didache 14:1 [mid-late 1st cent.]).

So, when the church gathers together each Sunday, think of not just as a nice way to end the weekend; think of it as a weekly celebration that Christ is alive and is making us alive in Him! Every Sunday is Resurrection Sunday, a day to remember this glorious truth:

Romans 6:4-11. We were...buried with [Christ] through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Favorite Albums of 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Parrott) — Sat, 21 Dec 2013 16:57:00 +0000

December is always a good time to look back on things that have made an impact on you over the past 12 months. Since music is such an integral part of my life, I thought I'd see what my "most played" albums were and share them with you.

Best New Artist: The Lone Bellow
I have never been a country fan, but I grew up listening to it quite a bit (thanks, Dad!). I still avoid your typical country artists as much as possible, but I am a fan of the new folk movement, as well as some of the more interesting and artistic country artists.

The Lone Bellow bills itself as "Brooklyn country," and it somehow fits. Their tight harmonies and steel-y instrumentation are fantastic...nearly as good as their lyrics. Frontman Zach Williams wrote many of the songs based off his wife's near-fatal horseback riding accident, scribbling thoughts and lines into a journal throughout the ordeal. The music that has come from those songs makes for soulful, honest, and yet-somehow-hopeful lyrics.

Favorite track: "Green Eyes and a Heart of Gold."

Best New Worship
Obviously, as a worship leader, I listen to a lot of worship music. When you've been doing this for a while, it shouldn't surprise you to know that it takes something special to impress an old, cynical church musician like me. Though the bands below don't exhaust all the decent worship music that came out this year, these three stand out.

The Digital Age
The first concert I paid to go to with my own money was a David Crowder*Band concert. I've spent my own money on many more DC*B shows after that. So to say that I was seriously bummed out when I heard that they were "breaking up" would be an understatement.

Fortunately, although David Crowder and the band were going separate ways, it didn't mean that they were done making music. Crowder's new album comes out in 2014, but the rest of the *Band formed The Digital Age. Their first outing is a concept album around the themes of "Evening and Morning," i.e. the liturgical day. They are one of the few bands that can we re-do an already popular song - such as All Sons and Daughters' "All the Poor and Powerless" - and do it in such a way that's both familiar and interesting.

Favorite track: "Believe."

Hillsong Young and Free
I've said for a few years that the next trend in modern worship music is going to be the dance-pop sound that you hear on the radio so often. Soaring synths, four-on-the-floor digital bass drum thumps, obnoxiously-catchy lyrical licks. A couple of churches and worship bands have tried to pull this off with mixed success (I'm looking at you Newsboys).

The youth group of the uber-successful Hillsong Church has their own worship team (of course) and they have at last released their first album that absolutely nails dance-pop worship. They create a soundscape that at once accurately follows the musical zeitgeist as well as avoids an easy rip-off of actual pop artists.

The question of "attainability" for typical, average churches always comes up with albums like these. But for once that necessarily wasn't Hillsong's intent nor should it have been. This album proved that Christian artists can make music with the best of them. It may have taken years to prove that point, but the point remains.

Favorite track: "Alive."

Honorable Mentions: Dustin Kensrue; Hillsong United "Zion: Acoustic Sessions."

Favorite Soundtrack: Broadchurch, Olafur Arnalds
When you write as much as I do, you have to invest in some good "background music" without lyrics, that doesn't cry for attention, and isn't interesting enough to draw you away from the work at hand.

Arnald's soundtrack to the iTV miniseries Broadchurch fits none of those requirements. His soundtrack is so unique from anything else in film and television that it stands on its own as a musical achievement. It's brooding instead of in-your-face; it uses motifs without using them to death (John Williams, you could use this lesson); its haunting without being creepy.

Favorite Track: "Suspects."

Honorable Mentions: Hans Zimmer, "Man of Steel"; Murray Gold, "Doctor Who Series 7."

Overall New Favorite: Sleeping at Last - The Atlas EPs

I'm not entirely sure how I even came across Sleeping at Last; I'm less sure how I missed it for so long.

Sleeping at Last is made up of one member, Ryan O'Neal. The genre is best defined as "indie rock," though this really does little justice to everything Sleeping at Last achieves. A mix of orchestral, folk, and ambient sounds combine to produce soul-lifting melodies that just make you feel good. O'Neal's voice is unique without being overly novel; soaring without being cloying.

This past year he has been releasing a series of concept EPs called Atlas, each one focusing on themes of light, darkness, and space. It's in these albums that his lyrical skills truly shine. I don't know anyone who wouldn't have a better day by waking up to "You Are Enough":

“You are enough.”
These little words, somehow they’re changing us.
“You are enough,”
So we let our shadows fall away like dust.
“You are enough.”
These little words, somehow they’re changing us.
Let it go, let it go, “You are enough.”
So we let our shadows fall away like dust.

Favorite Track: "Light."

So these are the albums that I kept putting on repeat this year. What about you? What music moved you to tears, to dance, to worship this year? Let me know in the comments!

Niceness Isn't Everything

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Parrott) — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 13:18:00 +0000

From Storylineblog, by Allison Vesterfelt

When you can’t tell the truth about yourself, you cease to exist as a person.

Being “nice” kept me from doing what I was made to do.

Trying to manage my “nice girl” image kept me trapped, working to control other’s opinions of me, rather than doing what I knew was right. I couldn’t send an e-mail or even a tweet without hours of deliberation. I stayed on the margins of my life, scared to get into the thick of things, terrified that I was going to hurt someone, or offend someone, or mess everything up.

I avoided jobs I wanted, parties I wished I could attend, and friendships I longed for, with the excuse that they could be the wrong job, wrong party, wrong relationship, or that I would make a mess of them.

If I didn’t do anything, I couldn’t do anything wrong. Right?

I’m starting to see how doing nothing is sometimes the worst thing you can do.

Holes and Transplants

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Parrott) — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 19:47:00 +0000

CC Image Courtesy of Stephen Poff on Flickr

Most of you know that I was born with a hole in my heart (a congenital condition called Tetralogy of Fallot) that, due to the conditions that I grew up in, went untreated until I was 6 or 7 years old. This hole prevented blood from receiving oxygen; therefore this unoxygenated blood would flow through my body, unable to give my body's cells the nutrients they needed.

Clearly this is a problem.

Eventually, I was put into the care of an aunt and uncle who cared for me properly, ensuring that I received open heart surgery and had a healthy recovery process. The surgery was an all-day event that required surgeons to crack open my chest, sew up one hole and patch up another. And these holes were no small divots. One was the size of a quarter. In a 7-year-old heart. This was a big deal.

It was such a big deal, in fact, that I remember being a young Christian using this surgery as an analogy for what Jesus did to our spiritual hearts. "Just like I had a hole in my heart that needed to be closed, I had a hole in my life that needed to be filled with Jesus." Which, I admit, as a pious 12 year old, that sounds like a pretty neat analogy. Especially when I have scars on my chest to help give my point some more punch.

But this isn't how God works.

The prophet Ezekiel is given a message from God to pass on to Israel:

I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God (Ezekiel 11:19-20, NRSV).

From an early age, I made the mistake of thinking that all God wanted to do with me was stitch up some issues with my personality (my spiritual, emotional, soulish heart, the seat of my impulses and desires) and send me on my way.

But God doesn't mess around with stitches and patches.

Our God is the God of heart transplants.

It would be nice if we could reduce God's work in our lives to that of a finger against a leak, a plug in a hole. It would make the Divine work in our lives a lot easier to manage. Shuffle some issues over here, move over some problems over there, make some time every once in a while on a Sunday, and voila, a Life Improved By God.™

But God is not really into life improvement. God desires - demands - much more of us than this. And not just because He is a needy or demanding God. The fact of the matter is that our hearts are far more screwed up than a few holes or some blockage or a little too much cholesterol. No, our hearts have turned to stone. They can't pump blood at all. Which means, in spiritual terms, they can't even begin to be aware of God's presence and work in our lives, much less respond to His presence.* Remember, it was Jesus who said we had to born all over again (John 3).

What must happen is not just a plug-the-hole kind of spirituality that has just enough room for God. It calls for a complete transplant, a removal of the old, and a replacement with the new.

*This is the theological idea of total depravity. We'll talk about that soon.

Thoughtful Inaction

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Parrott) — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 21:04:00 +0000

There was one these ancient things in the apartment
I lived in from a very early age.

Recently I have spent entirely too much time thinking about writing more than actually writing more. I suppose that this is a touchstone of the human experience. We spend exponentially more time thinking - dreaming, wishing - about the things we'd like to do - experience, achieve - than we actually spend time doing those things.

Is that all bad? I would argue that, up to a point, no, it's not all bad. I think we're all well aware that if we acted on each impulse or "great idea" we came up with, then we'd all be in heaps more trouble than we already are. Ideas take processing. Thoughts need chewing. Sometimes the wisest action we can take is a well planned moment of inaction.

But - and I'm preaching to myself here - "thoughtful inaction" can soon become an excuse for well-pondered lack of effort. I've enjoyed writing for as long as I can remember. I have journals that I started keeping from second grade. As my brother reminded me today, I began writing science fiction since fifth grade (ripping off character names and plot ideas from someone else's creativity; Hollywood calls it a "reboot"; my critics called it "lack of imagination").

When I was fourteen or so I bought "The Writer's Guide to the Christian Publishing Market" and began submitting unsolicited articles to magazines. Boy, I was pretentious back then. (But not now, no, of course not, don't be silly).

I've been published exactly once and it was a great feeling; a really great feeling in fact. But pretty much ever since then I've stopped writing for anything but what has been assigned to me ("Write this paper"; "Turn in this this assignment;" "Craft this sermon"; "Sign this birthday card"). And while that has only further helped craft my skills (my birthday card signature is awesome), it is not always the most life-giving thing to write only because someone else has asked you too.

Even brownies, when forced to eat them, lose their sweetness.

And so I think it's time to put a little sweetness back into this whole writing thing. To attempt to write well, not because a grade demands it, but because it's what I would like to do.

Enough thoughtful inaction. It's time for thoughtful action; action in the form of well-crafted words.

Here goes.

Lions, Dragons, and Reading Your Bible.

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Parrott) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 23:42:00 +0000

“Stop doing spiritual disciplines.”

Oh gosh, did I really just say that when preaching last Sunday? I think I did. I didn’t intend to say that, but I'm pretty sure that’s what came stumbling out of my mouth as I tried to articulate that you don’t need to convince God to love you, like you, or accept you. What I really meant, though, was “stop doing spiritual disciplines for all the wrong reasons.”

Because there are wrong reasons and right ones.

Convincing God to give you something you want? Wrong reason.

Trying to impress God with how spiritual and mature you are? You just proved otherwise with that very thought.

However that doesn’t mean the disciplines are all for naught. For those of you who were at church on Sunday, you heard me read a passage from C.S. Lewis’s The Voyage of the Dawn Treader about the story of Eustace, the spiteful boy whose insides became his outsides - he turned into a dragon. Then Aslan the Lion, the Christ figure, invites Eustace to unclothe himself of his dragon skin and bathe.

To push Lewis’s analogy far beyond its intention, this is what I would like to suggest about spiritual disciplines. The act of Eustace trying to scratch and peel his own dragon skin off is much like performing spiritual disciplines with the idea that you are going to somehow make yourselfbetter, make yourself clean, remove sin from your own soul. You can keep on scratching, you can keep on peeling, but that old dragon skin just ain’t gonna budge.

But when Eustace sees the Lion call to him and then Eustace follows....when Aslan says “let me remove the dragon skin from you” and Eustace puts himself under the Lion’s care…those are what spiritual disciplines are meant to be like. They are an act of submission to God. When we pick up our Bibles, or go to our prayer closets, or fast from food, we aren’t doing these things to clean up our own act or to somehow impress God with how holy we already are. Rather, we do those things to put ourselves under God’s loving—but penetrating—scalpel; God is the one making us holy; God is the one removing the dragon skin once and for all.

The disciplines are about putting ourselves in a posture of obedience, in a place where we are allowing God to do His work in us, on us, and through us. The disciplines are an active posture of submission. Not to make God love us—that was never the issue. Not to make ourselves holy—that was never an option. But to let God wash us clean—as only He can do.

Never Alone

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Parrott) — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:06:00 +0000

Ascension from the Rabbula Gospels.
Source: http://gnccne.ws/JZhWU1

What can you say when

There's much too much to be said;

Verbosity stinks.

--My haiku on having to give a blog update after too long of a gap

Since the last time one of us wrote, I have since traveled to Florida for school, together we went to Indiana for vacation, and now we are in the throes of change. These things are all happening simultaneously:

Our close friend and compatriot Jon is moving out of Okoboji to Wyoming (which might as well be Mars, in our mind). Which means goodbyes. Which means tears.
We are moving out of our current condo and going to be renting a house about 4 miles north of us. Which means packing. And taking down wallpaper and painting at the new place. And then taking what we've packed out of one upstairs-and-up-a-winding-staircase location into a much-easier-to-move-into location. (Who wants to help?!)
I am wrapping up my second semester of grad school. Which means papers and final exams.
We are moving our church's worship location from our Julia campus to the Tabernacle for the summer. Which means long work weeks, lots of untangling of XLR cables, and the annual experience of discovering the ghosts in the system.
We are launching our Pilot Missional Community, which means organizing a gathering of 35 adults and 18 children into meaningful gathering of worship, learning, fellowship, and mission.

As I compile these things into a list, it can seem a little daunting. Not to mention, it can make you want to shake your first at...whatever it is you like to shake your fist at. Because why on earth do all these things need to happen in the same 31 day period?

__________

I've been considering the Ascension of Jesus recently. It is celebrated 40 days after Easter, so this year it will be Thursday, May 17 (and/or the Sunday of May 20). It is a time to meditate on Christ's final instructions to the church, the (delivered) promise of the Holy Spirit, as well as the promise of Jesus' return.

What I'm thinking about currently is Jesus' promise, "I am with you always, even the end of the age," (Matthew 28:20). The thought that we are never alone, never left by ourselves to deal with the up's and down's of life is (here comes an understatement) encouraging. Downright uplifting. Jesus' presence is with us; the Holy Spirit of God makes us His tabernacle, and the whole earth is filled with God's glory (Isaiah 6).

But in yet another stroke of genius, Christ is with us in another way than a spiritual sense. Jesus setup His church to act as His presence on this earth. In fact, the church is meant to be the very body of Christ. When people ask, "Where is God?" in fact they are asking perhaps the harder-to-answer question, "Where was God's church?" But on the flip-side, when we are looking for God's presence, protection, and love we need look no further than the Bride, the Church itself.

So when I think of us moving, us saying goodbye to a dear friend, us launching a fresh, never-done-before ministry at our church, we take heart in the fact that we are not alone. We never were and we never have to be. The very Body of Christ, His presence, manifest in the church (local and universal) is here with, strengthening, bolstering, and helping us.

And that (here comes an understatement) is encouraging.

Welcome 2012!

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:52:00 +0000

I suppose I should call this blog post the perfunctory New Years post. Though it may be cliche, there’s really nothing wrong to take the time to reflect on the past and dream about the future. In fact, a good reflection is probably needed more than once a year. We can’t really know where we’re going without knowing where we’ve been or how we got there.

All this to say that 2011 has been a good year for the Parrott household.

It’s been a year of travel (Hawaii, Switzerland, Italy, Grand Rapids, Minneapolis, etc). It’s been a year of new experiences (concerts, grad school, church planting, etc). It’s also been a year of settling. We’re coming up on two years as residents of Okoboji, IA, and it’s been a wonderful two years. We now feel very much at home here in this little corner of the Midwest. We’ve adjusted to our jobs, made friends, and probably can’t use the excuse, “we’re new here!” any more.

This idea of settling in has really got me thinking as I’ve been reflecting on the past year. Up until this point in our lives, neither Anthony nor I could really tell you what settling in somewhere meant. We’ve gone from school, to graduating, to getting married, to job hunting, and now are finally here. Up until this point, we hadn’t had a job longer than a year (not a real job, anyways)... we had never lived in a home longer than a year (unless you count growing up with our parents!). So now we find ourselves in this whole new realm of life. We’re past college. Past some of the uncertainties of life. And we’re here. At least for now.

All of this has really made me adjust my prayer life and desires for the next year. I can see how easy it can be to let apathy creep in once one is settled in somewhere. How easy it can be to become comfortable. And how easy it can be to let that comfort dictate our lives. My prayer for this next year is that Anthony and I live intentional lives. That we be intentional with our time, with our love, with our money. My prayer is that we would seek God’s desires above all else and follow them even when it doesn’t make sense. Even when it seems “weird.” Even when (and especially when) it pulls us away from being comfortable. I never want to lose that desire from God that love and grace really can change the world.

So hopefully our lives can reflect this in the year 2012. Hopefully we can continue to learn to hear His voice and let that guide us. That is my prayer for us, and it shall be my prayer for you as well!

Happy New Year!

Autumn for the Parrotts

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 18:01:00 +0000

There's nothing I loathe more than writing a blog entry after it's been dormant for a while. (obviously, this is an exaggeration because there are a lot of things I loathe more than this, but stay with me). I've been thinking about writing something for a couple weeks now, but every time I've moved to write, I freeze up. Do I just ignore the past couple months of silence and pretend like it never happened? Or do I clumsily attempt to fill the reader in on what's been happening and then go ahead and write about what I originally wanted to write about?

Well, I guess the good thing is that I didn't have a specific topic in mind for today, so you get a little of everything!

This fall has been full of work, church, and school for us! Anthony is almost finished with his first semester of grad school. The homework thing has been an adjustment (for both of us), and it's been busy, but he has been doing well and is excited for the semester to be over. Here are some highlights from the past few months:

* In September, we had a wonderful 2 day visit from the Boards, who were in the process of moving back to the States from teaching in South Korea. It happened to fall over my birthday, which made it extra special! We reintroduced them to American culture with the Clay County Fair and lots of fried food :)

* The first weekend in October, I traveled to Michigan City, IN for a girls reunion weekend! There were 8 of us who got together over the course of the weekend, and words can't express how wonderful it was to see my lovely roomies from college.

* Also in October, Anthony I and traveled to Minneapolis with 10 other members of the worship team at Good News for a David Crowder* Band Concert. It was his last tour with the band, and it was a fantastic concert! And with Gungor opening the concert, it's hard to go wrong.

* We celebrated 1,000 days of marriage on October 7th! Gotta love reasons to celebrate!

* Towards the end of October, Anthony and I made a trip up to Minneapolis again. This time to visit with some family! Anthony's sister lives near Minneapolis and his other sister and bro-in-law were in town for a conference. We seized the opportunity to eat at Benihana's and talk the night away. It was a good, though brief, visit.

* This fall we also participated in a Spiritual Retreat in Sioux Falls, SD. This was part of a class that Anthony and I are taking at church. The retreat was just a day long, but oh-so-beneficial. To set aside a day to rest in the Lord was very refreshing and much needed.

* In November, we found our traveling once again to Minneapolis with about a dozen members of the worship team. This time, it was for a Hillsong LIVE concert. Yes, it was 2 concerts in 2 months, but can you really pass up the chance to see David Crowder or Hillsong? I think not. The Hillsong concert was a wonderful night of worship. As Anthony said, it was nice to go to a worship night and not be the one planning it or facilitating it. We both thoroughly enjoyed the concert.

* Sometime this fall, Anthony made the tough decision to change schools. Originally registered at Fuller Theological Seminary, he discovered that their distance program was not what he thought it would be. They offer limited classes online and are limited in the intensives he would need to take at the school. So in January, he will officially be a distance student at Asbury Theological Seminary (based in Kentucky). His classes will transfer, and at Asbury, he will be able to complete a Master's of Divinity in less time than it would have taken him to complete a Master's in Theology. They have a much better program for distance students and have been much better to work with.

* And that brings us to Thanksgiving! Holidays are difficult for us to get away, so this year my parents came here! They were able to make it in time for our Thanksgiving Eve service that we do with the Presbyterian Church. We had a great time of visiting and eating and relaxing. Luckily, the turkey and meal we made turned out well :) I also took advantage of the extra hands and we decorated for Christmas the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We cut down a tree at the local Christmas tree farm, and spent most of Saturday trying to fit it in the tree stand. Word to the wise, don't buy a tree with a crooked stump - it's not worth it!

Well if you've stuck with the blog this far, then BRAVO! You are now up-to-date on our lives! This next month looks to be just as busy: it's advent, we have a wedding in Michigan (yay Brett and Anne!), and Anthony will be taking finals. But we are excited about it all (except for maybe the school work). We will try to be better about writing (don't we always say that?). More to come later. We love you all... thank you for staying with us and supporting us!

Emily

Living Out Your Giftedness

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Parrott) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 20:19:00 +0000

A few days ago I got an email advertising a sermon resource website. For a monthly subscription you would be able to download sermon outlines, media, and even entire sermon texts for you to use on your congregation. Now, I understand the need for resource websites. They’re helpful, they spark ideas, and they can come through for you in a pinch.

But the idea of a monthly subscription to this website just made me sad. It made me think of the many pastors out there who feel obligated to use this website, finding themselves called to ministry and yet not gifted in teaching and preaching. It has to be a scary place to be. And I can’t imagine that it feels very good to head to a sermon resource website each week when you’re probably thinking to yourself, Why am I not able to do this on my own!

So what causes this situation, that we have people called to ministry doing things that they don’t feel equipped for? Have we forced our pastors - and ourselves - into doing things that they’ve never been equipped for (either by natural talent, education, or the gifting of the Holy Spirit) because the rest of us, as the church, are not living out the things that we are equipped for.

I think many of us, way too early on in our lives, get pigeon-holed into a certain role or position we believe we must play. Much of our education system is based on the premise that you must pick one thing to major in and then do that one thing as a career the rest of your life. Can that really be healthy? Should our complex personalities, talents, and gifts we whittled down to a word or two?

Sometimes we get pigeon-holed into things we’re not even good at (like the person called to pastoral counseling, but finds themselves having to preach - and hit up sermon resource websites - 52 times a year). Sometimes we are pigeon-holed into something we are good at (like playing piano) and use it as our safe-place, never venturing to discover whether or not we’re good at anything else.

Is it possible that we have churches filled with folks who are simply unaware of their own giftedness? Many times it’s easy to get frustrated because of a lack of volunteers in a particular ministry. But do we simply live in a culture that constantly affirms this lie that you’re good only at what you’re most familiar with?

Now, don’t get me wrong. We can’t be faux-idealists and sit around only doing what we feel “called” to do. As a good friend of mine has said, “Do something you’re not passionate about.” And he’s right. Too many of us are waiting around for the “perfect” opportunity to get involved in something, but - gee whiz - that perfect opportunity just never seems to find us. So, on the one hand, I want to affirm that it’s okay to be involved not only in things you’re good at, but also in things that are just simply good. You may be uncomfortable changing a baby’s diaper, but sometimes they just need to be changed. Everytime you hear an opportunity to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, or help the poor, you can’t just claim, “I just didn’t feel ‘led.’” In the words of James, “If you know the good you ought to do, and do not do it, to you it is sin” (James 4:17).

But, on the other hand, what would happen in our churches - in our lives - if all of us began to seek out the rest of our giftedness? Could the woman who really doesn’t like children (God forbid) be allowed to leave the nursery and start some coffeehouse evangelism? Or the man who really doesn’t like handywork be allowed to pursue photography?

Most recently, I have been struggling under the weight of feeling unequipped to plant a new congregation. I’m fairly introverted, I’ve only led one person to Christ (and that was because I told him I would let him be my friend if he became a Christian. It was sixth grade), and I’m pretty comfortable doing the whole lead worshiper thing.

And then our denomination had me take a personality/giftedness test based on the “five offices” of Ephesians 4 (Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd, Teacher). Go figure, it came back saying I was an apostolic evangelist (apostle meaning “sent out”).

Perhaps there’s more to me than I’ve ever considered.

Perhaps there’s more to you than you’ve ever considered.

And maybe - just maybe - if we began to live out all of our calling, we would stop forcing people to do things they were really never meant to do.

The Spiritual Discipline of Worship

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 19:40:00 +0000

Yesterday, I ran slides for church. It’s one of the “perks” of being married to the Worship Director- I automatically get roped into volunteering in nearly every capacity. But I don’t mind this... it allows me to serve the church and be connected with Anthony’s ministry. However, yesterday was an early morning. The typical Wednesday evening rehearsal had been canceled, so the band was meeting extra early on Sunday morning to practice. As I sat behind the computer clicking sides, the sound man Chris made an observation. He said to me, “Do you think we really mean the words we sing about?” At that moment, the band was rehearsing a modern version of the hymn, “Take My Life.” Do we really want God to take control when we sing these lyrics? We mused for a few moments about what it means to truly desire God to take our lives, but then duty called and we were quickly pulled back to our respective jobs.

I found myself, however, mulling over this idea all afternoon. What does it mean to truly worship*? Why don’t more people actually bow down when we sing the lyrics “We fall down, we lay our crowns, at the feet of Jesus?” Why don’t more people lift their hands in worship when we sing “We come and lift up our hands, for the joy of the Lord is our strength?” I realize part of this is due to culture and comfort levels. But I found myself reflecting on my own history with worship. And it dawned on me that it takes me much longer to enter into authentic worship than it used to. So naturally I began to try and analyze why this is so. Back in college, it was easy for me to enter into worship without worrying about what people thought or without evaluating the band or my surroundings. But I think a large contributor to this fact was that I was attending chapel 3 times a week, church twice a week, and worshipping on a regular basis with wonderful communities and an amazing band. It was a constant part of my life.

On a bit of a different track, I have also been thinking a lot lately about spiritual formation and spiritual disciplines. I am working on choosing a book for our church’s women’s ministry small groups to study this fall, and the book I am looking seriously at is all about spiritual formation and discipline. It has been a great reminder that much of our faith is about training ourselves to become more like Christ. We don’t easily and naturally sit down and pray for 5 hours. Well, at least I don’t. But through discipline and training, this can become possible. In some ways, I think the same is true about worship. I believe in order to authentically and genuinely worship, it takes practice. It takes practice to shut out the nagging thoughts about the day’s schedule. It takes practice to turn your thoughts fully on God. And it takes practice to not think about how your voice sounds, how the band sounds, or how your neighbor sounds. Perhaps this is too harsh a way to think about worship. But I think we have to admit that there is a ring of truth to it. If our only time of worship is on Sunday mornings from 9:30-10:00am, then we don’t get much practice, do we? It’s difficult for your heart to be focused on worship. But if it’s a discipline that we focus on throughout the week, we learn to be better and more authentic worshippers. And not just alone, but together in church, in our small groups, at MOPS, wherever we gather. For me, I have been challenged to try and be more disciplined in my worship experiences throughout the week. I want worship to become a natural part of my life and who I am, and not just be a Sunday morning at 9:30 thing.

Do you ever feel out of practice with worship? What are some ways that you incorporate worship throughout the week?

*for the context of this post, worship is referring to singing worship songs. I realize that worship is so much more than song, but for simplicity’s sake I will use the term worship for music.

When in Rome...

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:52:00 +0000

Well, we've been there and back again as Bilbo Baggins would say. We managed to journey to Europe and back, and we had an unbelievable time! We've put lots of pictures up on Anthony's facebook account, so be sure to check those out. But I thought it would be a good idea to give a brief recap on the blog for those who are interested :)

Zurich:

Our first destination was Zurich, Switzerland! Why, you ask? Well because Anthony and I wanted to see more than 1 country (and Italy was for sure). We looked at France, Spain, and Switzerland, and Switzerland won out with the cheapest plane tickets! We flew into Zurich and spent much of our two days there recovering from jet lag. We didn't let it slow us down too much, though! Our first day was spent exploring downtown Zurich. We toured some cathedrals, wandered the streets of Old Town, and took a ferry around Lake Zurich. We spent a good portion of our second day hiking Zurich's mountain, Uetliberg. It was a beautiful hike with fantastic views of the city! The best part? Taking a cable car down the mountain!

Corniglia (Cinque Terre):

We could not have asked for a more picturesque location! Corniglia is one of the 5 towns making up the Cinque Terre region of Italy. These small towns are built in the cliffs along the Mediterranean Sea. Words cannot express how beautiful they are or how clear the water was. Try Googling Cinque Terre and look at the images. You'll begin to see what I mean. One cool, but exhausting thing about Corniglia is that the actual town is up on the cliff. Which means a good 400 steps from the train station. And a good 400 steps to get to the water. Beauty comes at a price, I suppose. We enjoyed a relaxing couple of days exploring the towns and swimming. Our last day there, we hiked part of the trail between our town and the next town. What I thought would be a simple, easy hike turned out to be much more intense. But the views made it worth it. And we met some fun people along the way.

Florence:

Florence was beautiful! It's definitely a bigger town, but easily walkable. We were lucky enough to spend some time with Anne Messer who was finishing her month in Florence taking a literature class for college. It was so fun to meet up with someone we knew and who could show us around a little. We visited the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio, and Piazza Signoria. We also made sure to walk through the Uffizi, one of the biggest museums in Florence. One special thing about Florence is that we happened to be visiting during Music Week. This, of course, meant that orchestra music filled the air every evening from the main square. We LOVED it! And spent some of each evening listening and taking in the sites.

Venice:

This was probably the most magical of the places we visited. Everything about Venice is beautiful. The canals, the bridges, the streets. It all looks just as you would picture old Italy. You just have to block out the thousands of tourists :) I had a love/hate relationship with the streets of Venice. No maps could help us, and we were lost most of our time there (they're just so winding!). This was fine most of the time and allowed us to explore the city. But when we're hauling luggage around trying to find out hotel, it's not so fun! We visited St. Mark's Basilica and the Realto Market (talk about fresh seafood!). Probably our favorite part of Venice was the most unexpected part.... we were there for the Redentore Festival which happens the 3rd Saturday of July. The fesitval celebrates the end of the Bubonic Plague (of course!). We joined the rest of the city on the grand canal to watch fireworks! It by far one of the coolest things I've ever experienced. We got to see how Venetians party, and the fireworks display was the best I've ever seen. Little One, you should put these on your list of firework shows to see in your lifetime.

Rome:

By the time we got to Rome, we were pretty exhausted. Walking all day, every day, in the hot sun really takes it out of you. But we were still determined to see what we could see. We stayed the longest in Rome - 4 days. Our first day (which was really a half day by the time our train arrived), we spent exploring the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon, and Piazza Navona (one of the most beautiful squares!). Day 2 was spent at the Vatican. We toured the Vatican Museum and stared at the Sistine Chapel. We explored St. Peter's Basilica as well (so huge!). Day 3 was our historical day... we went to the Colosseum, Palentine Hill, and the Forum. It was one of the time when I wished we had a guide to tell us more about the history. But being there was certainly still amazing. We ended Day 3 with an evening at the theater. Movie theater, that is! We found a movie theater showing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 in English! This is a rare thing indeed (most movies are dubbed in Italy). We simply couldn't wait until we got home to see it, so we gladly watched it in Rome. It was fun to meet other Americans and Brits who came to see the movie. We enjoyed the movie, though left a little sad that it was over. Day 4 was a more relaxed day. Part of the day was spent exploring St. Angelo's Castle (so cool!). We then relaxed in the afternoon in the Borghese region of Rome. It's a big park area with a lagoon. We found a bench and read for a while. It was a much needed break before heading home!

If you've made it this far, you've gotten a brief summary of our trip. We had so much fun, and were so blessed to be able to do it. It was definitely an adventure for the 2 of us. We enjoyed the places we stayed and have already begun dreaming of our next Europe trip (maybe France and England....?). It's good to be home though, and we're ready to take on the fall!

Emily

The March-y-ness of Time

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Parrott) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 03:23:00 +0000

Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore
So do our moments hasten to their end.
William Shakespeare, Sonnet 60

Time is ever marching onward and there is nothing (short of experimental time travel) we can do to stop it. Which to some, I suppose, can sound entirely depressing. But when you're still 24 (or only a quarter-century old, such as my splendid wife) time moving quickly is still exciting and breathtaking. One moment you're dancing, the next you're receiving knee-surgery (that would be me); one moment you're office support, the next you're Office Manager (and that would be Emily); one day you're dreaming of traveling to Europe, and the next you're beginning to pack and do laundry for your trip which is only 8 days away (that would be both of us)!

And, of course, blogs have no respect for time. They will continue sitting there unentertainingly as your life moves forward and no one bother to update. But no longer! Today this blogging-strike ends! Today words shall flow like water cascading off of a cliff! Or at least like jello jiggling out of a Tupperware dish. Regardless, here is a brief update on just about everything. About Emily and I. In particular.

1) While dancing a jig in February, I somehow managed to tear my meniscus in my left knee. Many painful, limping weeks later, it was delightfully repaired by a surgeon who apparently I met, but I have no recollection. Ah, the delights of anesthesia.

2) My parents visited Emily and I and the Okoboji region last week (was it only last week?). They were here for 10 days--over two weekends--and we were thrilled. We showed them around town; they were able to hear me lead worship one week and preach the next; we spent a thoroughly therapeutic Thursday on the water (with many "thank yous" to the Steffens); we met up for dinner with my sister Jolee; and we conversed for endless hours, usually long, long after sunset. Emily and I both love to have guests as well as entertain, and it's always a special treat (if not a strange role-reversal) when it's our parents.

3) Some of the most exciting--though aforementioned--news is that Emily and I are heading to Europe! Since the primordial days of our friendship, we have always talked about wanting to go to Europe, and once we became lovers, it became clear to both of us that it was a dream that had to one day come true, or else we might each go crazy in our own little ways. Well, craziness will not overtake us. We came to the conclusion that while we don't have kids, before I start grad school, and while we don't yet have a house to take care of, we should grip this opportune time of our lives by the horns and ride it all the way to Zurich, Cinque Terre, Florence, Venice, and Rome. It will be a trip that will be romantic, adventurous, carefree, educational, and dream-come-true-ing all at once. In a word: stupendous.

Okay. Alright. Enough from me for now. Just as time is unceasing and stubborn, so does this pesky need to sleep at least once a day. I suppose I will succumb to it yet again. G'nite!

Book Review: One Thousand Gifts

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:33:00 +0000

Contrary to popular belief, Anthony and I have NOT fallen off the face of the earth. Just the face of the blogging sphere. And though I will try to make a real update come soon, this will have to do for now. A while back, Anthony signed up to receive a free book from Zondervan Publishing with the promise of blogging a review. The book came in the mail and sat there for a while unread (which happens when you have a husband who likes to order tons of books but then doesn't have time to read them.) So one day, with the urging of a friend who was already reading it (thanks Little One!), I decided to pick it up and read it myself. And therefore found myself with the job of reviewing it. So bear with me folks, I don't think I've done a book review since 5th grade. The book, which I'm sure you all are dying to know by now, is One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.

I will begin by saying it was very difficult for me to get into the book. Some books are able to pull you in right away, and other are so easy to skim through. But Ann uses such a unique voice in her writing that it was near impossible for me to use my well-honed skimming skills. Although this might sound like a negative to the book, I will say that it ended up being one of the most positive things I can say about it. What Ann was able to do was force me to sit and actually read the words she had written. I had to take time and actually think through what she was writing. Not skip ahead and assume that I knew what the author was trying to say. So kudos to Ann Voskamp for her unique writing style that eventually got me in the end. If you happen to pick up this book... give it a chance to get used to her voice and style. It will be well worth it in the end.

Overall, I would say One Thousand Gifts is a refreshing take on what it means to actually live out the Christian life. Ann challenges her readers to live fully and purposefully in everything you do. She shows practically how she moved from being a woman dissatisfied with the mundane to learning to see God working in and through her life. What I appreciated about this book is that it doesn't give the reader "5 easy steps to having more of God in your life." Nor does it sugar coat the growth process. Ann was very real and honest in her struggles with the transformation process, and she readily admits the years it took her to get where she is now. Through story and inner musings, Ann takes the reader on a journey exploring how to live out a life of continual thanks and in grace - a life of eucharisteo. And for her, it all started with a challenge to write a list of 1,000 things she loves. And from there, discovering that perhaps the Greek word eucharisteo really does hold the key to it all.

I won't go into much more detail. I encourage you to read it for yourself and be challenged to live differently. One final note that I will mention: many might see Ann's book as a women's book (especially by looking at the cover), but I would argue that story and lesson transcends gender. I believe men could get just as much out of this book as women. Yes, it's written by a woman and therefore includes details about her life as a wife and mom, but there is so much more depth that should be experience by men and women. I will end by saying that I definitely recommend the book. It was challenging, encouraging, and unlike any book I've read before.

If you're interested in buying it, here's a link to the book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/One-Thousand-Gifts-Fully-Right/dp/0310321913/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307732338&sr=8-1

Until next time,

Emily

It's Friday (Friday, Friday, Friiiday)

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 18:55:00 +0000

It's Friday!!! For some reason, whenever I say that (or think it or write it), I am always reminded of a song I sang my freshman year of high school in choir. I don't even remember what the name of the song is, but it was a cheesy song about students being excited for Friday. So it starts with "It's Friday! (and the other parts echo: Friday, Friday Friiiiday) Today is Friday-day." It never fails. After all these years, that silly song is still in my head. Just thought you all would enjoy that :)

The sun is shining today with temperatures in the 30's... it's about as warm as it's been since October! I am definitely getting antsy for spring. I thought a trip to Hawaii would cause us to be ok with the rest of winter, but not so! I am ready to be outside again, for people to come back to the area, and for flip flops. But March is here, so hopefully it won't be too much longer!

Nothing too exciting is going on in the Parrott household. Perhaps the most exciting this for us recently is that we got a new couch and chair set! My boss is in the process of building and moving into a new home, and was looking to get rid of her set. It's a million times nicer than our old set (may it rest in peace in the church's youth room) and so comfortable! We were happy. A big thank you to those who helped get it in! It's no easy task to get a huge couch up to a second floor condo unit with only a small winding staircase.

Anthony and I don't have a lot planned for this weekend. Which is a nice thing because this week has felt really long and really busy for some reason (it really wasn't much different than a normal week). Tomorrow (Saturday) night, we are hosting 2 students from St. Olaf College. Their band is coming to play at the Sami Center (our theater/auditorium) and then smaller ensembles will be playing at various churches. A flute ensemble will be at Good News, and 2 of them will be staying with us! It should be a fun adventure.

It's been a while since I've blogged, so I don't think I mentioned the wonderful surprise visit from friends last month. Anthony was in on it, but managed to keep it a secret from me for quite some time. 3 of our best friends from college came and surprised me, and we had such a good time! I was thinking it would be spring or summer before we would see faces from home, and it was a perfect pick-me-up for February (or any time of the year, really). Speaking of visitors, my parents are coming out in a couple of weeks to spend their spring break with us (they both work for the local high school)! I am really excited to see them and spend some time with them. Hopefully some of the restaurants start to open up by then :)

Welp, I think that might be it for today, folks. Sorry for the not-so-deep post, but like I said it's Friday and my mind is not running too deep today :)

Much Love,

Emily

Big Announcement (no, not a baby)

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Parrott) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 22:08:00 +0000

First off, our friends back in Indiana have this great (read: obnoxious) tendency to assume that whenever we have announcement, it must mean Emily and I are going to announce we're pregnant. Because of this, we will either have to announce any possible pregnancy in the future in some ultra-creative fashion...or just not tell anyone until we show up with a baby in our hands.

Anyway, I do have an announcement. And no, it has nothing to do about placentas, umbilical cords, or gestation.

Instead...I'm going to grad school!

Even before finishing college, I knew that I would soon want to return to school in order to further my studies in Scripture and theology. (Which, by the way, is hilarious to me now, because before college I swore that I would NEVER go to seminary). I just wasn't sure when that time would come. Well, in November I submitted a letter to the elders and pastor of Good News Church, asking if they would consider allowing me to become a distance student in order to achieve a Masters Degree. They said, yes! I applied to two schools, was accepted to both, and choose to attend Fuller Theological Seminary.

I will begin in the fall of this year, working towards a Master of Arts in Theology (MAT). A MAT is typically a two-year program that focuses on systematic and Biblical theology. Because I will doing half of the degree via correspondence and online courses (and the other half through on-campus, two-week intensive courses) it will probably take me closer to three. I will choose to do a Biblical Studies emphasis. This will prepare me for either a Master of Divinity (MDiv), which is a typical pastoral degree; or a PhD program, in order to go into academic work (writing, teaching, and research).

Emily and I both are excited about this next step in my life. I'm excited to continue to learn more about my God and His Scripture and to be able to still serve the church and share what I'm learning.

Please pray that 1) finances will come through; 2) I will able to give my best to my marriage, my role at church, and to my studies; and 3) that God would even now shape my heart into a the place of a humble learner at His feet.

Travelin' Fools

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 19:30:00 +0000

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you all had wonderful holidays :) We had a great, but unique Christmas. We spent Christmas here in Okoboji... Christmas Eve we had our service at the church. Afterwards, Anthony and I watched the Santa Clause and cuddled on the couch. Christmas Day, we traveled oh so far to Spirit Lake to join the Skalbeck and Messer family for Christmas dinner. It was so wonderful for them to include us in their family. For one thing, it gave us a chance to hang out with Ben and Jen who were home for Christmas. It was also nice to not be alone. We played games, ate TONS of food (Kathy, you're so good at cooking), and laughed a lot. It was quite enjoyable.

The day after Christmas, we drove a lovely 10 hours back to Indiana! It was a whirlwind of a week. 5 days doesn't give you a whole lot of time with anybody. But nonetheless, we loved the little time we had with everyone. I was so thankful that my parents had the week off work... we got to hang out all day with them. We also got time with a majority of Anthony's siblings and all NINE of our nieces and nephews! Let's just say it was a little more crazy at Anthony's parents than at mine :) Finally, we got to spend New Year's Eve with our dear friends. This was especially special because our friend Chris was in town from Japan where he has been teaching English for the past year and a half. It felt good to be back with the gang.

So now we're back in Okoboji catching up on work, laundry, broken cars, and more. But not for long because in 5 days we leave again for....

HAWAII! Yes, it's true. Be jealous because this time next week, Anthony and I will be living the good life on the island of Kauai. We will be visiting our good friends Matt and Jamie (and their son!), celebrating our anniversary (it will be 2 years on the 10th), and seeing some of Anthony's old haunts from when he lived on the island for an internship in college. Overall, I think it will be amazing. I've always wanted to go to Hawaii and to do it while seeing friends is going to be great! If you think about it, pray for good travel weather. We fly out of Minneapolis to Chicago to LA to Lihue. I really don't want bad weather to hold us up either on our way there or on our way back.

On a more humorous note, Anthony and I have gone tanning a couple times this week. We're trying to prevent complete shock as our pastey-white skin is exposed to the Hawaiian sun. I don't know if it will help or not, but it's actually kind of relaxing to lay in a tanning bed even if it is for only 5 minutes. We'll see how it goes.

Well, I have a lot to do before we leave, so this is probably my last post before we get back. Much love!

Emily

Thanksgiving!

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 23:36:00 +0000

So I know it's a little late to write about Thanksgiving with everyone focused on Christmas and all, but I wanted to give Thanksgiving the time it deserves.

Thanksgiving this year was quite different for us. Instead of trying to figure out how to balance seeing all of our family at the same time, we found ourselves without any family. It was a bittersweet time. I think I took it harder than Anthony (boys always seem to have this annoying habit of compartmentalizing things)... I had a little breakdown the night before Thanksgiving. I guess I was holding out hope that one of our sets of parents would visit, but it didn't end up working out for either one. BUT, Anthony and I decided to cook a turkey anyways and have a traditional Thanksgiving meal. We were invited by quite a few families from the church to join their festivities, but we just felt like doing it ourselves this year. In my humble opinion, I think our turkey/meal turned out great! Check it out:

Over the next week, we found ourselves in a battle with the leftovers. Try as we might to eat it all, the leftovers ended up winning and we were eventually forced to toss some of the food out :( It was still worth it to try our hand at a Thanksgiving meal.

Later that weekend, Anthony and I got out the Christmas stuff and decorated our tiny apartment. I always love decorating for Christmas. Anthony loves that I love decorating, but that's as far as his love goes :) We had fun anyways. We even found a local Christmas tree farm and cut down our own tree. Here's Anthony after fighting with the tree to get it in our stand:

It fits perfectly (if not a little big... we currently don't have use of our dining room table...) Here's an after shot:
P.S. Why is it always so hard to take a good picture of a Christmas tree?

We survived our first Iowa blizzard this weekend! Nasty cold temperatures, horrible wind, and about 6 inches of snow. It didn't stop blowing all day on Saturday. It was so bad they pulled the plows. We spent the weekend locked inside watching movies and reading books. It was actually quite lovely not to have to go anywhere. Church ended up being canceled on Sunday, which in some ways was a blessing. Anthony's been battling a cold, so it was probably for the better that he didn't have to lead worship.

That's about all that's happening here. Tomorrow begins our round of Christmas parties with my office party.

Oh we are for sure coming back to Indiana from December 26th - January 1st. It's kind of short trip and we'll be with family for a lot of it (celebrating Christmas), but we would love to see as many people as we can. Let us know if you want to get together and we can try to work something out!

Much love,
Emily

noreply@blogger.com (Anthony Parrott) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 02:11:00 +0000

An Anniversary
Almost a year ago (December 11-13, to be exact) Emily and I drove 10 hours from Mishawaka, IN to this little podunk town called Okoboji to interview at Good News Community Church. We had so many emotions on that trip. Do you take a job out of desperation? We had always wished to leave Northern Indiana. But when faced with leaving our friends and family, it was actually pretty scary. Not to mention that trading Northern Indiana with (even further north) Northern Iowa wasn't exactly what we had in mind.

But details like this seem small when compared to God's will. And though we couldn't necessarily see all the ways that God was pointing us towards the Iowa Great Lakes a year ago, we can look back and confidently say, "We belong here."

Advent
I love Christmas, but the few weeks before Advent begins can always be scary as a worship leader. Expectations are higher, traditions can accidentally get trampled on, and somehow you have to come up with (yet again) another unique way to present the birth of Jesus.

But fortunately, I remembered I don't lead worship for people, for a congregation. I lead worship for an Audience of One, for God alone. And His expectations are always the same: surrender. Not performance, not checklists, not resumes. Just me allowing Him to love me, change me, shape me.

Wisely, I think, Good News also has intentionally decided to not plan pageants, parties, and extravagances in the name of Christmas. Jesus came to bring peace. Someone named Him the Prince of it, actually. And so, in that spirit, we're trying to make Christmas simpler. More peaceful. Less stressful. We're giving more time to spend with friends and family, brothers and sisters by blood (the plasma, red cell kind) and by blood (the redemption kind).

Trips
In a few weeks we'll be making yet another 10 hour drive back to Indiana. It will be wonderful to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with our friends and family. Though it is always stressful balancing our two families and our friend group all living within the same 30 mile radius, it is always worth it, and we will of course look back longingly as soon as we drive away.

But then a couple of weeks later we'll be heading to Hawaii! We'll be heading to the island where I did my internship, as well as where our friends Matt and Jamie Metzger are pastoring. I am so looking forward to showing Emily all my haunts. Not to mention get a nice respite from the ridiculous Iowa cold.

Update

noreply@blogger.com (Emily) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 19:11:00 +0000

November is here already, believe it or not. I have been so thankful for the warmer weather this fall. we had some days in the upper 70's in October, and even the past week or so has been in the 60's. I am happy to delay winter as long as possible. They're predicting snow for Saturday, but I am blissfully ignoring that bit of information :)

This past Sunday, Anthony and I were able to go horseback riding with a couple from the church. It was a gorgeous day and it seemed as though we had the park all to ourselves! It felt great to be on a horse again (I used to ride). This time, the horse did not run away with me, so that's always an accomplishment. At one point as we were riding, we even saw a couple of bald eagles flying overhead. Now, this might not seem special to you Iowa folks, but we did not have bald eagles in Indiana, so it's still pretty exciting to me when I see one.

This past Saturday, I had my first opportunity to speak for Cherish Center (the place where I work). A baby bottle campaign was being kicked off at a Catholic Church in Spencer. Our normal speaker was not able to be there, so I filled in. It was a good experience to get to speak about the organization. And it was nice to attend a mass. It's been a while since I've been to a Catholic mass, and I always find things I appreciate about the service.

Good News is gearing up for the holidays. Or at least the staff is. Anthony has been working hard the past week or two planning for Advent. It's coming sooner than I realize! We have no plans for Thanksgiving yet. Not sure if we're going to just celebrate ourselves or if we will join a family from the church. For Christmas, we're hoping to make it home, but we're still working out details.

Currently, I am working on reading through Harry Potter in preparation for the 1st of the last movies coming out next week. My goal was to make it through book 6, but as of now I am in the middle of 3. Not sure it's going to happen in time. Nonetheless, I am thoroughly enjoying myself. I always love rereading those.

I can't think of anything else too exciting going on right now. Mostly life as usual. I will try and be better about updating more often :)

Emily