Uncategorized - Aaron Buer

My Don Miller Mystery Note

The year was 2003. I was perusing the shelves of a local bookstore the day before a cottage weekend with some buddies. The plan was to eat good, relax, play obnoxiously nerdy board games and do some studying. I needed a good book–something compelling with a story that gripped but wasn’t pointless.

The book I chose did not disappoint. I picked it off the shelf, not knowing the author in the slightest, and it instantly became one of my favorite books. I read it from cover to cover before we even left for the retreat. I simply couldn’t put it down. Then I read it again.

Blue Like Jazz was unlike anything I had ever read before. It was like Salinger meets theology conversations in the lounge of my college dorm. It was compelling, hilarious and real. Not much of what I was reading by Christian authors at the time was real. I loved it and it launched me on a journey of deeper thinking and healthy spiritual exploration.

Since that time I’ve read every Don Miller book there is. Searching for God Knows What is the best, if you want to know the truth. I’m so obsessed that I even read Prayer and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance and Through Painted Deserts even though they are the same book. I couldn’t help it. I love the authenticity of Don’s style and the fresh way he approaches the Christian faith. His books have helped me rethink, jettison or shore up many of the ideas I grew up with. Quite simply, he’s my favorite author–which brings me to the point of this post.

You see, I like to use Don’s Storyline book as part of our college transition curriculum. It’s a great tool for exploring who you are and what exactly God might be calling you to. I love the idea of drawing students into the mission of Jesus as they explore their future.

Anyway, I ordered about 30 of the Storyline books and not only did they ship exceptionally quickly but they also came with a handwritten note.

Now, I’m sure you can understand my excitement in receiving a handwritten note from Don Miller, whose books have so deeply shaped my thinking. And, this isn’t one of those photocopied prints of a handwritten note that important people sometimes give out. This is the real deal. Or is it…

As I looked closely at the note, I couldn’t help but notice that it appears a certain “Dan” wrote it and not Don. Who is Dan? No offense but I don’t know you, Dan. Or wait, is the note from Don and he sort of ran the “o” into the “n?” Now I’m really confused.

Don, if this is from you could you please work on your handwriting? And Dan, if this is from you, do you think you should be going around signing notes with simply “Dan” when you work with “Don?” I’m just saying. I mean, I feel bad for not being happy with a handwritten note from you “Dan,” but the truth is, you aren’t a famous author an I haven’t read each of your books 3 times. Perhaps you could switch things up and go with “Danny” or “Dan-o” so that people don’t get confused.

But, on the off-chance that this is from “Don,” thanks for writing a handwritten note. That’s classy. And yes, I would like some help with my story. Could we do coffee? Or maybe we could ride bikes across the country? A trip in a Volkswagen van to the grand canyon? I still have a blockbuster card. I can come to you. My sister lives in Portland. Call me.

Read This Book!

I just polished this book off last week. Of all the books I’ve read this year, this one might be the best.

As it turns out, not everyone agrees. There is a rather ugly debate raging on some of the specifics of Gladwell’s arguments and also the genre of his writing style itself.

this guy thinks Malcolm Gladwell is an idiot

Malcolm Gladwell defends himself.

Wherever you land on the debate, Malcolm Gladwell’s hair clearly wins..

I will admit that I don’t like Gladwell’s telling of the David and Goliath story itself. I think he misses the point of the biblical story and uses some questionable interpretative techniques to arrive at his conclusions. However, the rest of the book is fantastic. Why? Because it is utterly compelling and moving. All I can say is that I listened to it while mowing my lawn and I was not crying. It was the dust. It’s terribly dusty this time of year.

The truth is that Gladwell is a marvelous storyteller. At several points I found myself mowing halfway into my neighbor’s yard because I was so captivated by Gladwell’s stories. In the audio book, Gladwell reads the story himself which magnifies the experience. Had the book not finished, I may have mowed every yard on my street just to keep listening.

The thing I love about this book is it’s central message. Gladwell doesn’t use this language but it’s essentially about redemption. Any bad experience or handicap can be redeemed. Gladwell writes about parental loss, dyslexia, persecution, and systemic racism. In each of these situations, through adaptation, perseverance and forgiveness, people or cultures become stronger, not in spite of their pain and struggle but because of them. The cure for lukemia, the will to oppose the Nazi’s, the fortitude to battle for civil rights and the strength to forgive were all birthed out of tremendous pain and loss.

This is a story that we need. Life is relentlessly painful, full of loss and disappointment. We either rebuild out of the ashes as stronger and better people or we fold.

Redemption is also the central message of the Gospel, which is perhaps why I loved David and Goliath so much. Jesus can redeem and restore any life no matter how dysfunctional and broken.

It seems that the process of writing about persecuted faith communities, forgiveness and redemption deeply affected Gladwell and his own faith journey. According to him, the journey brought about a return to faith in his own life.

Gladwell rediscovers faith

My recommendation would be to go out and by this book. If you are a church person, like myself, you will likely get annoyed in the early pages because of Gladwell’s spin on the David and Goliath story. Keep reading. I think you will love it and at the very least you will be inspired.

Getting Students into the Bible

For years we’ve been bothered by the reality that our students are largely Bible ignorant. Most of them don’t read the Bible regularly or even have a strong grasp of how to navigate it’s pages. Part of this is is due to the fact that students don’t read much of anything in our culture and part of this is probably due to the fact that we as parents and youth workers are dropping the ball.

Our student ministry team is making an effort to think creatively on how we can get students into the Bible. Our first idea is embedded in our Wakes teaching series.

Wakes Bumper from LifeLine Student Ministries on Vimeo.

This is a four week teaching series on influence from the book of Acts. As part of the experience we invited our volunteers and students to read through the book of Acts together. We sent this bookmark home with each student and built this website: lifelinestudents.org/wakes. We built the website because students usually only read physical books if there is a grade dependent on it but they will often read voluntarily on their phones.

The beautiful thing about this project is that it cost us basically nothing–only printing and shipping for the bookmarks. Through a couple announcement videos and encouraging students to post to instagram and twitter with #lifelinewakes we’ve created a little buzz. So far so good. We’d love to hear your ideas on how you are getting students into the Bible.

Wakes – Acts Reading Plan from LifeLine Student Ministries on Vimeo.

Stuff I’ve Been Reading

There are a lot of great blogs out there. Here are a few of my favorite posts from the past few weeks:

1. I love this post about secretly being an introvert. This was a recent and incredibly freeing discovery for me. Here’s an old post that describes my discovery.

2. I’m a fan of social media and I usually don’t oppose it for students. However, there are two apps that I would like to punch in the face: snapchat and ask.fm. This post by Walt Mueller explains my issues with ask.fm

3. If you are a parent that is thoroughly confused by the apps your children are downloading, this site is for you: http://www.commonsensemedia.org

4. Maybe it’s a good thing if you don’t go to college: http://themattwalshblog.com/2013/08/23/kids-go-to-college-or-youll-die-alone-in-misery/

5. Here is a sobering post on the pervasiveness of pornography: http://www.covenanteyes.com/2013/09/10/10-surprising-pornography-stats

6. I’m very excited about this blog series on teaching students: http://uthmin.net/np-communicating-to-students-1

Enjoy…

An Open Letter to Fathers

A few weeks into this whole blogging thing I wrote a post based on a teaching I gave to our students during our spring sexuality series. The post blew up. Women were posting it all over Facebook, Twitter and even Pintrest. I was shocked and sort of embarrassed about being on Pintrest. I still feel like I lost a few man points there.

The post was all about identity and value. The central idea was, “You are immensely valuable and beautiful because God made you and loves you. Your sexuality is a precious gift. Protect it.” You can read it here if you like.

I received so much positive feedback from this post and I still can’t believe how many people have read and shared it. The question is…why?

THE TRUTH

Here’s the thing: I’m no expert on girls or sexuality. I’m married and have two cute little daughters but I would consider myself to be a novice at understanding girls. I haven’t remotely figured out my wife either. Every time things get emotional at my house you can find me in a corner with a pillow over my head. And don’t even get me started on the ridiculous idea that someday my daughters will want to date.

All this is to say, I really don’t think my blog post went “Pintrest” because I’m an eloquent writer or because I have some newfangled understanding of girls and sexuality. It must be something else.

I think the answer lies in a question: Why do so few girls feel good about themselves? Why are so many girls susceptible to guys who are interested in nothing more than a few hours with their body?

I know that we live in a messed up culture that uses sex to sell everything from cologne to cereal and that girls are conditioned through advertising to find value solely in the way they look but honestly, I’m not sure that culture is the biggest problem.

I CAN’T HEAR YOU

I think the problem has less to do what girls are hearing through culture and more to do with what girls aren’t hearing at home. Why is it that the only guys who are communicating value to girls are men who want to take advantage of them? Where are the fathers, brothers, uncles and grandfathers who are supposed to be communicating value to our girls? This, I believe is the core of the problem.

The feedback I’ve received over and over from girls is: “I wish someone would have told me these things before…” Speaking as a father, we need to start speaking up! Our daughters, nieces, and granddaughters need to be told over and over again that they are beautiful and valuable, that God created them just the way they are on purpose, and that only a guy who will love them on a heart level is worth their time. The first, “you are beautiful” should not come from some punk looking to take advantage of her.

SPEAK UP

I think we are guilty of making assumptions. We believe that somehow our girls just know. We assume that how we feel about them is obvious. It isn’t. In the absence of positive words they assume the worst. Tell her that she is beautiful. Tell her that she is special. Tell her that only guys of the highest quality are worth her time. Tell her that her sexuality is a precious gift. Tell her that you’re proud of her and that God loves her.

God put you in her life to guide her. Speak up. I think you’ll be amazed by how much impact your words will have.

image credited to jjpacres

What is Worship?

Last Sunday and Wednesday night I taught on worship at LifeLine. The question is: What blows your mind? For me, it is the vastness of the universe. What if God spoke it into being? What if this incredibly powerful Being knows you and loves you. Worship is responding to this incredible God.

Let me know what you think…

Falling out of Love

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of officiating the wedding of one of my good friends. If you’re wondering, yes I can legally do this and no I didn’t screw it up.

As a pastor, a wedding sermon is an incredibly unique opportunity to speak to a couple who isn’t hearing a darn thing you’re saying. If you’ve ever been in a wedding you know exactly what I mean. The bridesmaids are busy trying not to cry and or topple over in their heels and the groomsman are concentrating on breathing and keeping their knees bent so that they don’t faint. And the bride and groom? They are staring at each other, as they ought to be.

Basically, I know I’m speaking to the audience because no one on the stage is paying attention to me. Perhaps this is an opportunity encourage a marriage that is struggling. That was my strategy and here’s what I shared.

GOD INVENTED MARRIAGE

Marriage was God’s idea. He invented it. We have recorded in the early pages of the book of Genesis God exclaiming that the purpose of marriage is oneness. “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.” Oneness makes sense because it reflects the perfect unity within the trinity. We were created in the image of God and God exists in intimate and perfect relationship.

So that’s the purpose of marriage. Let’s be real, you don’t see a lot of oneness in marriage these days—not on TV, not in real life, not hardly anywhere. Which raises a great question, if that’s what God’s dream for marriage is, how in the world do you actually get there? I’m glad you asked.

A NEW COMMANDMENT

The best marriage advice I’ve ever heard is actually not marriage advice. It comes from the Gospel of John. As Jesus was teaching his disciples, he gave them a new commandment:

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

The idea is this: Regardless of what is going on…love one another. When your husband forgets your anniversary, love one another. When your wife says something snarky and disrespectful, love one another other. To be a follower of Jesus is to love one another.

LOVE IS NOT AN EMOTION

Most of us have misinterpreted what love actually is. We believe that love is something that you feel. And yet, Jesus commanded us to love. He’s talking about something active. Like DcTalk said way back in the day, “Love is a verb.” Love is action.

THE SECRET SAUCE

Our thinking typically goes like this: “If I feel loved then I will love her.” Or, “When my needs are met, I’ll care for his needs.” What if we flip this around? What if we act in love first? I believe this is what Jesus is getting at. You see, the truth is that emotions follow actions. We think that if we don’t feel love then we must have fallen out of love. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of what love is. Love is a verb. It’s an action, not an emotion.

DON’T WAIT

I believe that almost any marriage can be rebuilt around this principle. Jesus commanded me to love so I will love. If you begin to love your spouse through your actions, the emotions associated with love will follow over time.

However, if you wait to love your spouse until after the emotions come back you’ll wait forever. Love isn’t something that you fall out of. Love is something you do. Don’t wait. Start loving your spouse now.

If you thought this concept was profound you are right! I learned this idea from Andy Stanley. Check out this sermon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riA0O8yoCew

image credited to Meyer Felix

Earl July: Scooter Launch Technologist

It’s time for a new LifeLine video! Last week we invented a new character for the “Great ‘Merican Camp Out. I have been known to be wrong but I think it’s epically funny. Check it out:

Announcements | Camp Out from LifeLine Student Ministries on Vimeo.

Life Lessons from 80s TV

I’ll tell you right now that TV is not what it used to be—particularly in the realm of kid’s shows. When I was a kid in the early 80s, the TV show options for a little boy were phenomenal. First off, The Muppet show was the best. Need I mention Fragglerock? Or how about the original Transformers? There has never been a better television sound than Optimus Prime transforming. The second best thing about the original Transformers? There was no Megan Fox.

I also submit to you G.I. Joe. There is no explanation needed here. And, of course, He-Man. “By the Power of Grey Skull!” I wasn’t allowed to watch that one because of the magic which made it even more compelling.

VOLTRON

All those shows were fantastic but now it’s time to enter the upper tier of 80s TV. I would argue that the original A-Team was one of the best shows ever or how about the Thundercats—legendary. But of course, the best animated show of the early 80s was Voltron. OK, truthfully I’m not sure if it was the best show of the 80s but I want to make a point about community using the concept of the show. We can finish the argument later about what was the best show. For now, just stay with me.

Voltron, if you were born in a cave, was the combination of 5 different Lion robots. When things escalated quickly, the 5 different robots could combine into Voltron which was, of course, the best part of every episode.

There is something that I just love about this concept. Alone, the different robots were vulnerable and in one case, a pilot of one of the lions was killed, but combined no one could defeat Voltron. He was a boss.

BACK TO COMMUNITY…

There is something about interdependence that rankles me. I want to stand on my own two feet. I want to be my own man and I don’t want to rely on other people. I think it has a little to do with being a man and a lot to do with being an American. We value fierce independence. Needing help is a sign of weakness.

And yet, I know I have been created for community. Community requires mutual submission. I am made in the image of God—who exists in community. Without interdependence I will never be the person God dreams that I could be.

I constantly feel this tension. When I am struggling, my instincts tell me to keep it inside. Sharing my weaknesses and needs with others feels like a trip to the dentist. I’ve come to believe that this isn’t strength. It’s the pull of sin. It’s the work of darkness to keep me in a place of vulnerability to evil. When I am alone, I am susceptible to temptation and incredible selfish.

This is the lesson of Voltron in my life. A silly illustration I know. And yet, when I am alone, when I refuse interdependence, I am vulnerable. I am easily defeated. When I submit myself to community I become stronger. I am less vulnerable to selfishness, temptation and poor thinking.

We have been created for community. Our instincts tell us otherwise but then again, since when has trusting our hearts been a good idea?

BACK TO 80S TV…

Actually, maybe Alf was the best show of the 80s. Or maybe it was Knight Rider.

image credited to Shaun Wong

Don’t Be a Radagast

Sometimes it’s the details that matter. There’s this little detail in the 2^nd chapter of Genesis that reveals an important reality about being human. In the 1^st chapter, God repeats over and over, after every day of creation, that what He has made is good. Everything is perfect and wonderful. And then, in the next chapter we hear about something being not good.

You see, Adam had just finished naming all of the animals. Based on how many species of animals exist, or did exist, this probably took an incredibly long time. I love what the writer of Genesis says about this process:

“But for Adam no suitable helper was found.”

Either Adam was trying to hang out with the hippos or he noticed that every other species had a female counterpart while he was alone. He spent a really long day or perhaps 100 years expecting to find a girl hiding behind the next tree.

Whatever the case, God made a declaration:

“It’s not good for the man to be alone.”

This has nothing to do with sin either because that comes in the next chapter. It has to do with community.

The author of Genesis tells us that humans are created in God’s image. This means that we reflect his nature. God exists in relationship—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Community is at the heart of God’s nature and therefore at the heart of what it means to be human.

We need each other. There is something core to the nature of humanity that requires deep relationships. When we try to go solo, we go against the nature of how things are—against the created order.

You will never be what you ought to be without community. There is a very real sense in which ignoring this basic human will make you weird.

I love the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The characters are incredibly fascinating. There is a very odd character in newest Hobbit movie called Radagast the Brown. He’s straight weird. He travels by a rabbit pulled sleigh. He talks to birds and dresses worse than Lady Gaga.

He’s weird because he’s been living alone in the woods for years. He’s a hermit. He’s ignored the pull of community and he’s ended up weird.

Don’t end up weird. I mean that in the nicest way possible. But there is a serious point here, you were created for relationships. You’ll never be the person God intends for you to be if you try to go solo. You were created in God’s image and God exists in perfect community.

If you want to grow this year, if you want to become the person God created you to be, you need to let people into your life. You need to be honest. You need accountability, laughter, sympathy, conflict and everything else that comes with authentic relationships. Without these things…you’ll be a Radagast.

image from The Hobbit

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