WIDOWS AND ORPHANS

James 1:27 says, "Religion that God our Father considers pure and faultless is this:  taking care of widows and orphans in their distress, and keeping yourself from being polluted by the world."  On the surface, this couldn't be clearer:  God is less impressed by what we often consider "religious" than by three distinct things.  Unfortunately, HOW to act on this revelation is rarely as clear as the statement itself.  Here are some of my thoughts in my own order, and I'd love to see your responses.

Keeping yourself from being polluted by the world
I believe this is more about us remaining pure in the midst of a polluted world, rather than forcing the world to stop trying to polite us.  It seems like Christianity at large has gotten this backwards, and this has hurt us.  But that's a whole other blog...

Ultimately, I believe remaining unpolluted requires constantly, intentionally, proactively filling our lives and hearts and minds with what is pure (see Philippians 4:8).  It also requires not filling our minds with what is bad, what drags us down, what twists and morphs the truth within us.  Again, I don't believe it does much good to spend our energy on protesting these things--just avoiding them and focusing on the good.  And speaking of the good...

Taking care of widows...in their distress
In modern America, so many men have dropped the ball as fathers, husbands, grandfathers, boyfriends, and authorities that most American women have been left without any kind of positive male influences.  Obviously, applying this verse has to include reaching out to women who's husbands have died and left them in need, but I believe it's much broader, now, as well.  Perhaps women who are in distressed because of abuse, abandonment, divorce, etc. are also "widows" we should be reaching?

Taking care of...orphans in their distress
Perhaps, using the logic above, some kids with only one parent or two absent or abusive parents are now part of this category in God's mind.  Obviously, it's a good thing to reach out to them, but let me end with where I'm really struggling and praying for God's leading and provision, right now

Kim and I have such a burden for actual orphans--especially the so-called "slum dogs" of India--that we are seriously pursuing adopting one of them.  This has everything to do with acknowledging the undeniable need and acting on this clear window into God's heart--not a perceived need on our part.  In fact, with four boys of our own and a growing youth group I love and feel like are "mine", we feel really blessed and occasionally overwhelmed as it is.  But I don't see an out, here.  No disclaimers.  No "unless you already have..." or "...but of course, this does not apply if you..."  I only see the clear presentation of  some of God's own core values and the huge need in the world.

Please pray for us as we pursue this.  Maybe God has something even bigger in mind than adding one child to our family.  Maybe He wants YOU to add a child to your family!  But until He slams this door and throws another open, this is where we're heading.

JP

You Never Know

The second cut on the CD is one of the rockiest musically and deepest philosophically.  Some of my all-time favorite artists and bands--including U2, Sting, and Steve Taylor--have used this dichotomy frequently, so I'm not totally alone!

Here's the chorus:

I don't care what you believe / 'cause believing doesn't change a thing / a lie's a lie no matter who believes it / and truth is true, no matter where you go, you know? / yeah, well, you never know

I know the first line is a little misleading, but not so much if you keep listening.

Do I really not care what others believe?  Of course I do!  My whole life is devoted to spreading the Truth, and I wouldn't even be a Christian if I didn't believe that God is real, Jesus is who He said He was, the Bible is reliable, and that all the other possible answers out there are fundamentally--though rarely completely--wrong.  Of course I care.   I want everyone else to know and live the truth as much as I want to do so myself.

So what am I trying to say?  Two things:

1) Our opinions don't legitimize or negate what is absolutely true or false.
Our job is to discover, to learn, to test, to seek, and to find--not to loudly proclaim and defend the first answer that seems or feels good to us at any given time.

2) Even when we do discover absolute truth, none of us has an absolute grasp on it.
Ultimately, we have to have faith and perseverance to believe and keep believing ANYTHING--even if what we believe in really is true.

Here are the rest of the lyrics from the song:

You imagine, you believe, you can comprehend and conceive
You can try to prove it's so, but you never know

You can think you understand, choose your path, and take a stand
You can find a way you're proud to go, but you never know

You can love, you can hate, you can empathize and relate
You can rush ahead, or you can wait, but you never know

AND

You never know until you try, until you laugh and love and cry
Till you really live or really die
And even if you're sure that I believe a lie
You never know, no, you never know

So what do you guys think about this?  Dialogue on deep truths is one of the best ways to get our brains around whatever really is absolutely true or false.  So yeah, I really do care what you believe, you know?  Oh, yeah, you never know...

The Lyrics Project Begins

I'm trying to generate some conversation about the deep ideas in my recent musical project, Broken In.  The best way I know to begin is to simply post some of the lyrics with a few brief thoughts about what they mean to me and invite people to respond.  So here goes...

BROKEN IN words & music by John Pryor

Torn and ripped, faded and stained from the dirt and the sweat and the miles

You feel used and all worn out, but you look good to me

'Cause I see Jesus when I see you.  It's the shape you're in and the things you do

That I know you can't do on your own--the way you make me feel at home

What this means to me is basically that the scars of our adventures and mistakes actually make us more beautiful--or at least attractive--rather than ruined.  I know I'd rather wear an old, soft, torn pair of jeans than a brand new, stiff, perfect pair any day...

The CD Is Here!!!

I'm pretty much overwhelmed with gratitude.  There is a box in my living room holding nearly 100 totally professional, barcoded, shrink-wrapped CDs.  The web site should go online any minute (it's nearly 12:30a as I type this), and the long, long journey so far is wrapping up.  I feel like Frodo waking up in slow motion with warm, brownish lights everywhere.

I'm so thankful to Mom, Dad, and Grandma, who helped me over the humps financially.  I'm crazy thankful to everyone who's helped create this and to all who encouraged me along the way.  I'm thankful to Jon Guymon for the stellar web site he's building that will make all the ways to get this music easy.  But most of all, I'm thankful to two people:  Cody Hazelwood and Kirby Waggoner.  I'll tell you more about them in a later post, but suffice it to say for now that this CD is as much theirs as it is mine.  Amazing guys, ridiculously skilled musicians and producers, and fantastic friends.

God bless all who read this, and welcome to johnpryoronline.com!

The Whole "Broken In" Idea

It's less than a week till my new CD, Broken In, is supposed to show up on iTunes, CDbaby, and my doorstep.  I'm so thankful to everyone who's been a part of creating this project and can't wait to see what happens next.  I hope people enjoy the music, and even more, I hope they get the message.

The common thread connecting these 12 songs is the idea that life softens, stains, tears, and wrinkles us--and that this is a good thing.  In fact, it's THE thing that makes us usable by God and comfortable to be around.  That doesn't mean that every rip wasn't painful or every stain doesn't mar what we could or should have been.  It does mean we aren't as afraid of getting hurt or dirty anymore, so we're a lot more likely to actually get out and get something done.

When you hear my CD, you'll hear 12 versions of how this works for me.  Got any stories to share about how it works in your life?