Tag Archive - #NashvilleFlood

Eye Check

May 20, 2010 in Faith with 21 Comments

It’s quite obvious that I’ve been neglecting my blog lately. I honestly hate it, but with the recent life changes I’ve had, I’m struggling to find a new rhythm with everything. I think it’s getting better, and I can certainly see my heart changing about a lot of stuff.  I’ve been learning a LOT and have much I want to blog about, and I will… soon. In the meantime, today’s post is very short, but it’s something that I haven’t been able to escape lately.

Last Saturday, Cross Point once again organized over a thousand volunteers and mobilized them to hit the flooded communities of Nashville to serve and be the hands of feet of Christ in our city.  The pic above was taken by my friend Kenny in the Ashland City area, which was terribly devastated by the flooding.  I haven’t been able to get this image out of my head all week, along with 2 Corinthians 4:18…

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (NIV)

The Message translation says: There’s far more here than meets the eye.

Not only is this a timely reminder in the context of the flooding here in Nashville, as the temptation to focus on the loss of material things is so great, but also in each of our lives in general.  I know I can often be guilty of becoming so fixated on what I can see that I sometimes miss the greater story and the invisible, often intangible work God is doing. It’s easier to look at what’s in front of me than trust in what God is doing inside me.

The great paradoxical challenge of the faith life is this: keep your eyes on what you can’t see.

So… Eye Check. What is your vision fixed on?

 

You Make Beautiful Things

May 14, 2010 in Community, Faith, Music, Service with 8 Comments

Last Saturday, Cross Point Church organized and mobilized 1,600+ volunteers into flood-ravaged Nashville communities to serve and help families affected by the flood begin the clean-up process.  Yesterday I shared one of my take-aways from that day, and today I want to share another.

All during last week immediately following the flood, my heart was so heavy for what was happening in my city.  As such, I fully expected to be an emotional wreck last Saturday as I got the opportunity to help hands-on and be in the middle of so much of the destruction.  The first few sights I saw were overwhelming, as huge piles of debris lined the sidewalks in front of every single home.  Once we got to the neighborhood our team was assigned, we got into groups and dispersed to serve.

With each home, homeowner and volunteer we encountered, I could not escape the overwhelming sense of hope that was everywhere.  Sure there was a lot of loss, and there were plenty of questions, but there was also community and humanity.  Sprouts of hope were pressing their way through the soil of confusion that otherwise blanketed entire communities. You couldn’t necessarily see it with your eyes, you had to see it with your heart.

See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. – Isaiah 43:19

Throughout much of the day last Saturday, Gungor’s “Beautiful Things” song was running through my head. The song paints a perfect picture of the collision of loss and hope that so many are experiencing in the wake of the flood, and that I saw first-hand last week.  So, imagine my surprise (and explosion of emotions) when the worship team at Cross Point sang “Beautiful Things” the very next morning (which had been planned for WEEKS)!

Below is a video with images of Cross Point volunteers serving the flooded communities of Nashville, set to Gungor’s “Beautiful Things.” It’s a powerful video and depiction of hope in the midst of loss, hurt and confusion.

This Saturday, Cross Point is partnering with WAY-FM to once again dispatch volunteers out to serve flooded communities of our city.  If you’re interested in joining us, you can meet everyone Saturday morning at the Cross Point Bellevue campus at 9am (more information here). We’d love to have groups from your church, your office, your neighborhood, etc, come join us in being the hands and feet of Christ and serving our city.   If you can’t go, you can still give.

You make me new, You are making me new…

 

God Of This City

May 3, 2010 in Culture, Faith, Life with 12 Comments

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I live in Nashville, where we are experiencing a natural disaster of historic proportions.  We received  more rain in 2 days than Nashville historically has seen in all of May… which produced massive widespread flooding unlike anything this town has ever seen. Homes by the hundreds (if not thousands), popular attractions and landmarks and entire parts of the city are buried under water.  Historic downtown Franklin… the Gaylord Opryland hotel… scenic Bellevue… downtown Nashville… the Grand Ole Opry…  entire interstates… completely flooded. (photo courtesy of Kelsey Wynn)

The steady stream of live news, Twitpics, videos, images and media over the past 48 hours have been almost numbing.  But there is no time to be numb, because there is loss, devastation and people who need help just about everywhere you look.  I am grateful that I did not experience any personal loss, but my heart is just broken for the many who lost so much.

You can really never explain away the pain caused by this kind of destruction.  It is a sobering reminder that we are not really in control as much as we like to think we are.  In his new book, “Plan B”, Pete Wilson talks about the illusion of control, saying “the greatest of all illusions is the illusion of control.” I don’t know if I have ever personally witnessed a greater example of that in my life than right now.

Stories of complete destruction are being written all over Nashville.  But in the midst of the chaos and hopelessness, other stories are also being written… stories of redemption and restoration… stories of community… stories of survival… stories of hope.

All day today, the song “God Of This City” has been running through my head.  As I watch the constant twitter stream of images and damage reports, I find my heart singing…

You’re the God of this City
You’re the King of these people
You’re the Lord of this nation
You are

As I watch the news reports that the Cumberland river is continuing to rise even at this very moment, and people all over this city grasp for hope and ask “what now?” while others ask “how can I help?”, I’m singing…

You’re the Light in this darkness
You’re the Hope to the hopeless
You’re the Peace to the restless
You are

But as the waters continue to rise, they do not rise alone.  I cannot escape an overwhelming sense of hope that is also rising, as this city reaches out to each other, becoming the hands and feet of Jesus to the broken.  I do not pretend to know or understand what God is doing or how He is working.  But I’ll tell you what I do know… a song is also rising…

Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this city

There is no one like our God.

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