Shawn Stutz

Christmas was really good this year (if you are in to rating holidays). For me, food was more than satisfying, St. Rick-a-laus’ Christmas Eve story was great, much-o-time spent with the fam was enjoyable, and my big gift was one fine thing. I’ve also come to realize that extended vacation is the best; needed more than I thought.

This Advent was a renewal of the Christmas season for me. I had to reconnect with the wholeness of the season again. There was a certain disenchantment with the consumerism and commercialization of the holiday. And to be really honest, I began to feel like believers were running the risk of making Jesus’ birth yet another sales pitch and not the subtle, sacred, scandalous event that it was.

I needed that renewal. I longed for the simple, yet sacred recapture of the Divine Incarnation (yes, both immaculate and virgin). There is such a craving for simplicity in life and faith lately… and not in the sense of boiling things down to the bare bones. Instead of formulaic frenzy, I hunger for the rediscovery of the sacred priority tucked into everything God has revealed to us. I really believe there is greater wholeness for the believer in a faith dedicated to simplicity.

Either way, the holidays have been good… and the baby remembered most was and is the center of it all for me.

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   A friend and I recently had a conversation about the following comment: “I don’t ever get fed at church.” It happens to be a comment I’ve heard often during my 11 years in the ministry. But during the course of our dialogue, the metaphor of the cafeteria was discovered.

   When you head to the cafeteria at your local university or national food chain, you aren’t expecting to be stunned by the unbelievable quality of food. Exquisite texture, abundant flavor, and beautiful presentation aren’t high on your list of ‘must haves’ at the run-of-the-mill smorgasbord. No, you hope the fried fish is actually fish, the pork tenderloin is actually tender, and the macaroni isn’t from yesterday. You just might find one or two things from the whole palatte that suit you enough for a round-trip. And after expanding your pants from gorging in the variety of options, you’ll say something like, “Wow, the breaded catfish was actually edible!” One thing, many options, hunger held at bay.

   If you actually wanted a real meal– I mean real quality– you’d probably home-cook it (or head to Dewz, holiday shopping hint if you’re still hunting for Michelle and I {ha ha!}). You’d buy fine ingredients, heat the grill, marinate fully, cook with care, and prepare the perfect side dishes. The drinks would be poured in nice glasses and paper plates would no longer make the cut. Everything would be just perfect and your taste buds would be ripe with anticipation. Afterward, aah… afterward. Now, that’s when this truth would hit you, “Tonight, we have feasted!”

   I was amazed at how these thoughts paralleled the church so vividly. It’s funny to me that people head to a congregational buffet hosting 50, 500, or 5000 people in the hunt for a feast. We soak up the variety, we ask the pastor to slice us up some meat {who thankfully doesn’t where a fake chef hat}, and if it doesn’t meet our standards we complain that the cafeteria failed. The truth is, it didn’t. Maybe we just aren’t in tune enough to hear the one thing God would have for us in the midst of the buffet. And to get real picky– as western believers I wonder if we just might be gorged so greatly with knowledge that rich servings of faith are lost in our indulgence.

   No, the cafeteria community church is not our feeding hour alone. We have to learn to prepare the meat and feed ourselves. The savory morsels of scripture are so often enjoyed in the secret place; the divine hours with God. (Amen? Pause and re-read this until you can say “Amen, I agree.”) **

   And yet… remember to enjoy the buffet. It’s good. There is much to taste and see there.

   However, don’t neglect preparing the banquet table for you and the Lord alone. It’s the preparation, the baking, the conversations over eating, the dessert with coffee, and the fond farewells that will make a meal a true feast.

   … and suddenly I’m hungry for the Word… eat the book.

** This footnote is reference to this article

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Here are a few recent articles that I have tracked through the blogosphere-subscription-genius of Bloglines.com. Some prove to be quirky, some controversial, and some just plain interesting. Enjoy…

• You’ve been Nooma-ed!
• Googling God — Stats from Google itself.
• The Slave Church.
• Ask Anything of Mark Driscoll
• Go Green:  Get Married?
• The Brick Testament:  What?  Wow!

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The ShawnStutz.com blog is officially 1 year old today. It’s wild to think that this live journal experience has been happening for a full 12 months now. Check out some the first few posts (here, here, and here) or just browse the categories for a year in review. Celebrate this great year with me… yeah!

Read more about live journaling here.

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I have had such a reflection-ary (not a word, I know– I find it fun to coin) holiday season this year. I don’t know what it is with my recent aversion to traditional celebrations, usual terminology or colloquial phrasing, but there are weird feeling settling in.

Life feels like a Charlie Brown Christmas Special. The setting is festive and cheerful, Charles is bugged, and the dog is simply funny. Thankfully, the blanket-carrying boy, who appears the most childlike and innocent, offers the sound wisdom about the season. Linus, the wise– sharing the hope. See the rest here.

Relevant Magazine posted an interesting article that addresses similar issues. I also stumbled on a quote which often describes the heart of man at Christmas.

I keep hearing a subtle whisper saying, “Don’t forget Messiah!”

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Pray for the New Life congregation in Colorado Springs. They and the YWAM Training Facility in Arvada, Colorado were victimized by a shooting-spree that left a total of six people dead on Sunday.

New Life is also the church that experienced recent controversy with former Senior Pastor, Ted Haggard. This congregation has been through a lot recently. They have handled it well, but they will need our prayer.

Remember their 20-Something’s Gathering, TheMILL, on Friday night as they tackle the grief and the ever-challenging ‘why?”.   Read more concerning the tragedy from a New Life attendee here.

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The History Channel has been a source of great cosmic inquiry for me lately. Whereas many would think that their programming would consist of mostly ancient wars (or rumors of wars), the fact is they offer much broader viewing content. The show I have enjoyed the most as of late is entitled The Universe.

One a recent episodes, scientists addressed hypotheses concerning black, white, and worm holes. The reason I say hypotheses is because no one has ever experienced these phenomenons (but we have a lot of ideas). However, the really mind-blowing information came when they began to talk about the relativity of time– something that we often think of as constant in the universe.

One fact about time shared was that GPS satellites have to factor an equation into their locative practices in order to calculate the differences in time as perceived on the planet verses in space. The closer an object is to a strong gravitational force, the s-l-o-w-e-r time will progress. Therefore, a clock on a satellite will appear accelerated verses the clock in your GPS guided car.

These wild facts got me pondering that maybe we are closer to timelessness than we truly understand. Then the narrator made this statement about the speed of light that stretched my thoughts even farther. He said: “Objects moving at near the speed of light will age much slower than objects that remain fixed or stationary.”

The ability alone to determine such truth is amazing to me. And yet, I wondered ‘What if something moving at the actual speed of light doesn’t age at all? What if the traveling of light takes us to the very brink of that which is eternal?” (And no, I’m not trying to sound new age — trust me).

The scripture teaches us that Christ is The Light of the World (here, here, & here). Maybe there is something to this thought or maybe it just serves as a great metaphor for me of the profound truth of God’s eternality. Either way, this week’s History Channel moment felt very devotional.

That’s okay… right?

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My brother killed an Elk this past week. Here are two of the many photos. I personally think the one of him hugging the dead elk is disturbing, but I just had to share.

The largest thing I’ve ever slaughtered was a Tri-Tip. Can you even imagine me doing that– killing and dressing an Elk?

My brother, I think, is one of the luckiest people I know. He won the Elk Lotto on his first try.  Then he stumbled on obviously a deaf bull and blasted it from about 20 yards away.

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I’ve stumbled on a personality profile by way of two friends, Gavin and Scott. Personal DNA is quite an interesting style of test; different than the plethora of others I’ve taken before. But according to the results, I’m a

I’d be interested to see if you think this describes me at all. For a better definition of the Benevolent Inventor, click… (more…)

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Check the updates… click here.

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