Reflectant

Speaking of Truth?

2008-04-22T15:46:00.000-07:00

So this is my sermon title for Sunday. It's on John 14:15-21 which is:

¹⁵ "If you love me, keep my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. Anyone who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them."

This pericope is problematic for me because it has so many sermons in it. I think you could spend at least 3 months on this single section. It has so many complex theological and practical issues in it, so the question for me is which to choose. Do you preach on the parakletos (advocate/holy spirit), keeping commandments, what does love mean, what does it mean that we have the spirit in us?, etc...but I think I'm going to pass by these to preach on verse 17 and the spirit of truth. I want to look at what it means to refer to truth as a person; The spirit of truth and what it means to have a relational idea of truth.

What do you think? What does this passage mean to you?

How do you organize?

2008-04-03T16:19:00.000-07:00

So after my weekly meeting with Bruce, he asked me a bunch of questions about how I get things done. It's really an interesting question, because I'm not much on the organizational side (to say the least) and things pretty much get done with either a deadline or inspiration happen. Neither of which you can count on regularly (well some deadlines but not my self-appointed ones).

So I thought I would give this a try and float one out to any of you? How do you get things done? How do you stay organized?

Here are some brainstorming:

- write it down (keeping copious hand written notes that you check regularly)
- use iCal or Outlook (some kind of software package)
- use an online task manger type thingy (yes technical I know) like backpackit.com or rememberthemilk or ta-da list or Todoist

anyways, my current options (not doing anything on purpose or writing it down and not looking at it again) just isn't working anymore.

In Response to Hunger

2008-04-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

So as those of you who follow the news (or like me love NPR) then you are probably aware of the rising cost of stock foods, like Rice. This week at church during prayers of the people this issue was brought up. We've seen the price of rice DOUBLE. That's so not go for the millions of people who function every day with this as the staple of their diet. So in response to this prayer request Tiffany shared about freerice.com which is a vocabulary quiz site that is free to play and the advertising of the website donates free rice for every one you answer. So instead of reading this blog...click over here and earn some rice.

Yes, this could almost count as a part time job...

BTW I've only gotten up to 34 so far (and raise a few thousand grains of rice).

Trival...yet important

2008-03-27T23:19:00.000-07:00

Movie Meme "borrowed" from Tiffany. Here goes:

Bold the movies you've seen; italicize the ones you've seen part of:

1. The Godfather (1972)
2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
3. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
4. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966)
5. Pulp Fiction (1994)
6. Schindler’s List (1993)
7. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
8. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
9. Casablanca (1942)
10. Seven Samurai (1954)
11. Star Wars (1977)
12. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
13. 12 Angry Men (1957)
14. Rear Window (1954)
15. Goodfellas (1990)
16. Cidade de Deus (2002) [City of God]
17. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
18. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
19. Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
20. The Usual Suspects (1995)
21. Psycho (1960)
22. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
23. Fight Club (1999)
24. Citizen Kane (1941)
25. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
26. North by Northwest (1959)
27. Memento (2000)
28. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
29. Sunset Blvd. (1950)
30. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
31. The Matrix (1999)
32. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
33. There Will Be Blood (2007)
34. Se7en (1995)
35. Apocalypse Now (1979)
36. Taxi Driver (1976)
37. American Beauty (1999)
38. Léon (1994)
39. Vertigo (1958)
40. Amelie (2001)
41. American History X (1998)
42. No Country for Old Men (2007)
43. The Departed (2006)
44. Paths of Glory (1957)
45. M (1931)
46. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
47. Chinatown (1974)
48. The Third Man (1949)
49. Leben der Anderen, Das (2006) [The Lives of Others]
50. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
51. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
52. Alien (1979)
53. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
54. Laberinto del fauno, El (2006) [Pan's Labyrinth]
55. The Shining (1980)
56. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001) Spirited Away
57. The Pianist (2002)
58. Double Indemnity (1944)
59. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
60. Forrest Gump (1994)
61. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
62. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
63. L.A. Confidential (1997)
64. Boot, Das (1981)
65. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
66. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
67. Untergang, Der (2004)
68. Aliens (1986)
69. The Maltese Falcon (1941)
70. Raging Bull (1980)
71. Metropolis (1927)
72. Rashômon (1950)
73. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
74. Modern Times (1936)
75. Hotel Rwanda (2004)
76. Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
77. Sin City (2005)
78. Rebecca (1940)
79. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
80. Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957)
81. All About Eve (1950)
82. Some Like It Hot (1959)
83. City Lights (1931)
84. Amadeus (1984)
85. Vita è bella, La (1997)
86. On the Waterfront (1954)
87. The Great Escape (1963)
88. Touch of Evil (1958)
89. The Prestige (2006)
90. The Elephant Man (1980)
91. Jaws (1975)
92. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
93. The Sting (1973)
94. Nuovo cinema Paradiso (1988)
95. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
96. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
97. The Apartment (1960)
98. Braveheart (1995)
99. Blade Runner (1982)
100. The Great Dictator (1940)
101. Strangers on a Train (1951)
102. Batman Begins (2005)
103. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
104. Ladri di biciclette (1948) Bicycle Thieves
105. Salaire de la peur, Le (1953) Wages of Fear
106. High Noon (1952)
107. Ran (1985)
108. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
109. The Big Sleep (1946)
110. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
111. Notorious (1946)
112. Back to the Future (1985)
113. Fargo (1996)
114. Oldboy (2003)
115. Unforgiven (1992)
116. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
117. Donnie Darko (2001)
118. Ratatouille (2007)
119. Mononoke-hime (1997)
120. Cool Hand Luke (1967)
121. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
122. Yojimbo (1961)
123. Per qualche dollaro in più (1965)
124. The Green Mile (1999)
125. Million Dollar Baby (2004)
126. The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
127. Notti di Cabiria, Le (1957)
128. Gladiator (2000)
129. Battaglia di Algeri, La (1966) The Battle of Algiers.
130. Annie Hall (1977)
131. Die Hard (1988)
132. Into the Wild (2007)
133. Ben-Hur (1959)
134. The Deer Hunter (1978)
135. The Sixth Sense (1999)
136. It Happened One Night (1934)
137. The General (1927)
138. Platoon (1986)
139. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
140. Life of Brian (1979)
141. The Killing (1956)
142. Smultronstället (1957) Wild Strawberries
143. Amores perros (2000) Love's a B'tch
144. Finding Nemo (2003)
145. Diaboliques, Les (1955)
146. The Incredibles (2004)
147. V for Vendetta (2005)
148. The Wild Bunch (1969)
149. Heat (1995)
150. Children of Men (2006)
151. Brief Encounter (1945)
152. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
153. Juno (2007)
154. The Princess Bride (1987)
155. 8½ (1963)
156. The Graduate (1967)
157. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
158. Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
159. The Night of the Hunter (1955)
160. The Big Lebowski (1998) Dude.
161. Crash (2004)
162. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
163. Stand by Me (1986)
164. Gandhi (1982)
165. Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
166. The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
167. Snatch. (2000)
168. Harvey (1950)
169. Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
170. The African Queen (1951)
171. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
172. The Thing (1982)
173. Trainspotting (1996)
174. Gone with the Wind (1939)
175. The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
176. Wo hu cang long (2000) Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
177. Belle et la bête, La (1946)
178. The Gold Rush (1925)
179. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
180. Groundhog Day (1993)
181. The Conversation (1974)
182. American Gangster (2007)
183. Scarface (1983)
184. Patton (1970)
185. Duck Soup (1933)
186. Toy Story (1995)
187. Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (1922)
188. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
189. Twelve Monkeys (1995)
190. The Terminator (1984)
191. Cabinet des Dr. Caligari., Das (1920)
192. Sleuth (1972)
193. The Hustler (1961)
194. Umberto D. (1952)
195. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
196. Stalker (1979)
197. Glory (1989)
198. Ed Wood (1994)
199. King Kong (1933)
200. Grindhouse (2007)
201. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
202. The Exorcist (1973)
203. The Lion King (1994)
204. Hotaru no haka (1988)
205. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
206. Spartacus (1960)
207. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
208. The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
209. The Lost Weekend (1945)
210. Stalag 17 (1953)
211. Magnolia (1999)
212. The Lady Vanishes (1938)
213. Lola rennt (1998) Run Lola Run
214. In the Heat of the Night (1967)
215. The Philadelphia Story (1940)
216. Frankenstein (1931)
217. Out of the Past (1947)
218. Big Fish (2003)
219. Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)
220. Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
221. Casino (1995)
222. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
223. Toy Story 2 (1999)
224. Mystic River (2003)
225. Du rififi chez les hommes (1955)
226. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
227. 3:10 to Yuma (2007)
228. Hot Fuzz (2007)
229. A Christmas Story (1983)
230. Ikiru (1952)
231. Mou gaan dou (2002)
232. Manhattan (1979)
233. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
234. Young Frankenstein (1974)
235. Dial M for Murder (1954)
236. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
237. Rope (1948)
238. Once (2006)
239. Roman Holiday (1953)
240. Quatre cents coups, Les (1959) The 400 Blows
241. The Searchers (1956)
242. In Cold Blood (1967)
243. Ying xiong (2002)
244. His Girl Friday (1940)
245. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
246. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
247. Samouraï, Le (1967)
248. Strada, La (1954)
249. Harold and Maude (1971)
250. Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes (1972) Aguire, The Wrath of God

Apparently Bible Bread Kicks Ass!

2008-03-27T16:44:00.001-07:00

In case you didn't know it yet, apparently the bible isn't just about telling us about God, the history of our faith, or the ever forth coming apocalypse. That's right at your very own neighborhood Trader Joe's you can get a blend of freshly sprouted organically grown grains following the godly recipe.

Ezekiel 4:9 Bread is inspired by our very own Biblical narrative: "Take also unto thee Wheat, and Barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and Spelt, and put them in one vessel, and make bread of it..." Ez 4:9.

If you doubt it just read the packaging...

"We discovered when these six grains and legumes are sprouted and combined, an amazing thing happens. A complete protein is created that closely parallels the protein found in milk and eggs. In fact, the protein quality is so high, that it is 84.3% as efficient as the highest recognized source of protein, containing all 9 essential amino acids. There are 18 amino acids present in this unique bread - from all vegetable sources - naturally balanced in nature."

So yeah, in case you didn't know it. Bible Bread Kicks Ass!

Not to disown the DOC, but...

2008-03-20T23:22:00.000-07:00

Some DORK actually developed a meme specifically for Presbyterian Church (USA) folks. So, because he asked so nicely, I guess I'll participate.

The rules are pretty basic

in about 25 words each, answer the following five questions;
tag five presbyterian bloggers and send them a note to let them know they were tagged;
be sure to link or send a trackback to this post;

presbyMEME

What is your earliest memory of being distinctly Presbyterian?
As you may have noticed by the title of my entry, I'm actually not a Presbyterian. But since deciding to attend SFTS I often feel like one. So about the time I got introduced to a new student on campus as being another presbyterian, followed by me correcting them, was about the first time I felt like I was truly on the inside.
On what issue/question should the PC(USA) spend LESS energy and time?
I think the PC(USA) should spend less energy fighting over who can do the work of building God's Kingdom. Cause seriously people, you say you believe in the priesthood of all believers, isn't it about time you start practicing it?
On what issue/question should the PC(USA) spend MORE energy and time?
IMO the PC(USA) should spend more time and energy figuring out how to give away the massive endowments of its congregations to small start up churches like this one. In case you hadn't noticed the best thing going in the SF presbytery is currently going to be homeless. But seriously I think the PC(USA) should find new ways to reinvest its capital into new movements of the Spirit.
If you could have the PC(USA) focus on one passage of scripture for a entire year, what would it be?
Philippians 1:3-11 - I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
If the PC(USA) were an animal what would it be and why?
A sloth, hanging around trying to get to the next branch but moving so slowly you always wonder if she is going to make it.

Extra Credit: Jesus shows up at General Assembly this year, what does he say to the Presbyterian Church (USA)?
Sorry Bruce, I'm running...err standing for Moderator!

So let's see...TAG: Doug. Aric. Evans. Josh. and Heather W. Reichgott

Have you been to MBCC?

2008-01-22T01:11:00.001-08:00

Hey Folks. If you've been to MBCC we'd really appreciate your feedback on your worship experience. So if you have 5 minutes go fill out this online survey and let up know what's going on.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=hyX_2bYqeCB74aBfS5xFXHbg_3d_3d

Thanks!

so yeah...I'll make it up to you...but...

2007-12-19T15:21:00.000-08:00

So yeah, I know I said I was going to post stuff from Soularize this year but I got extraordinarily busy with this semester. I'm not exactly sure why, but even with the normal 4 class load I found my self way busy for the past 2-3 months. I've heard it had something to do with taking two upper level theology classes.

I know I haven't posted in a while but I'll make it up to you. For those few of you out there the reward for checking an erratic poster out like myself is that when I do post, you get the read the thoughts of a genius.

At least according to these guys...

Cash Advance Loans

But the catch is you never know when they are going to come along...bawww....haha...ha....ha...

Soularize 07

2007-11-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

So I have a ton of things to talk about with this (we just got back into town). But unfortunately this is a busy week at school (it's amazingly busy when you come back after purposefully unplugging for a week -- pages and pages of email to sort through).

But to give you bit of a taste...What do you get when you put Bishop Tom Wright, Father Richard Rohr, and me on a boat? About 50 reef sharks who want a visit!

I had a wonderful time at Soularize '07 and I plan on writing more about my talks with Rita Brock about her new book "Saving Paradise," about how she and NT Wright might actually start building off one another's theologies, visiting the local art scene in the Bahamas (www.popopstudios.com) check out John Cox, and even finally meeting folks like BJ Woodworth.

Anyways. Gotta run. More to come I promise!

The Sweetest Thing!

2007-10-20T02:58:00.000-07:00

This is the best hockey play I've seen in my 12+ years of watching hockey. This is what makes this game the best sport on earth as far as I'm concerned. And the beauty of it all is this is what the blackhawks have to look forward to for the next decade plus of hockey!

Sentences can contain a lot

2007-10-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

One of the classes that I'm taking this fall is on Lectio Divina it's been a really interesting class and very good for me (I do better with spiritual disciplines when I have someone/some group holding me accountable). But I came across a line in "Praying the Bible" by Mariano Magrassi that I was like wow, that for me summarizes the whole lectio process in a very nice, yet not simplistic way. So I thought I would share it.

"Reading enables us to learn what we do not know, meditation enables us to retain what we have learned, and prayer enables us to live what we have retained."

This reminds me very much of the beginning of 1 Thessalonian's where it says "We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."

Every Rule? You said every Rule right?

2007-09-30T00:37:00.001-07:00

Biblical Living

It's a really interesting article about a man who lived the Bible as best as he could for an entire year. I'm so interested, I'll be buying his book. Check it out it was a great read!

Personality Tests, love'm or hate'm?

2007-09-24T22:45:00.000-07:00

So after being in one of those re-fresher meetings about the leadership at church it reminded me I'm a 7. That's right a 7. Now what is a 7 you ask. Well good question. Here is what a 7 can hope to be and a what a 7 can try to avoid being.

Level 1 (At Their Best): Assimilate experiences in depth, making them deeply grateful and appreciative for what they have. Become awed by the simple wonders of life: joyous and ecstatic. Intimations of spiritual reality, of the boundless goodness of life.

vs.

Level 9: Finally, their energy and health is completely spent: become claustrophobic and panic-stricken. Often give up on themselves and life: deep depression and despair, self-destructive overdoses, impulsive suicide. Generally corresponds to the Manic-Depressive and Histrionic personality disorders.

Which do you say I am? I guess that would depend largely on the context in which you know me. Are you familiar with my grumpy moments in which I can't articulate a single issue except for the fact that I'm pissed off? or are you more familiar with me when I am ecstatic about a new or fresh idea and the wondrous opportunities that lay before us on our journey to discover?

Well I guess that's why I'm writing this post. To explore me...yes, that odd endeavor that feels very selfish yet the very one that can lead to great peace and fulfillment.

Maybe I'm more like a Level 5: Unable to discriminate what they really need, become hyperactive, unable to say "no" to themselves, throwing self into constant activity. Uninhibited, doing and saying whatever comes to mind: storytelling, flamboyant exaggerations, witty wise-cracking, performing. Fear being bored: in perpetual motion, but do too many things—many ideas but little follow through.

I think that's where I stand right now. I'm taking 14 credit hours (including two doctoral level seminar systematic theology classes -- hey it sounded fun) and a part time internship. I'm feeling a bit hyperactive at the moment. You would think after a semester at 12 credits, a twice-as-much-as-I-am-now internship, and co-managing an on-campus coffee shop would have made this semester a cake walk. I guess either the summer made me weak or I have a much better view of myself now.

Either way, I'm looking forward to going to Soularize. I haven't been before but my wife and I couldn't honestly turn down a conference in the Bahama's that happened to fall directly onto my fall-break week and her needing to be in Florida the week after the event.

What the heck is a Meme?*

2007-09-23T23:33:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by a meme? So I guess this is one of those online things to get the conversation going, so here it goes...

Current reading list:
Organic Community: Creating a Place Where People Naturally Connect by Joseph Myers
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris
This Beautiful Mess: Practicing the Presence of the Kingdom of God by Rick McKinley
Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading by Eugene Peterson
Church Dogmatics, Volume VI, part 1 & 2 by Karl Barth

Total number of books in my library:
I have no idea. I have 2 tall bookcases overflowing with books plus two shorter bookcases and a stack of boxes in my closet. That's all not counting the 3-4 larger boxes that I left in Indiana with my parents.

Last book read:
The Changing Shape of Church History by Justo, L. González

Last book bought:
2020 Vision for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) by Richard Hamm

An aside:
Halo 3, only hours at this point!

Five meaningful books I've read in the last 6 months:
The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom
Atonement and the Incarnation by Vernon White
An Emergent Manifesto of Hope edited by Tony Jones and Doug Pagitt
Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense by N.t. Wright
Obey: Supply & Demand : The Art of Shepard Fairey by Shepard Fairey

Five books you should read:
The Bible by follower of God (ok, ok, I get it)
Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality by Donald Miller
Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli
The Search to Belong: Rethinking Intimacy, Community, and Small Groups by Joseph R. Myers
Contemplative Youth Ministry: Practicing the Presence of Jesus (Youth Specialties) by Mark Yaconelli
A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey by Brian D. McLaren

*Official warning, some of these book may be required readings for classes...but mostly I tried to keep those on the DL...oh yeah, and I really need to get out of seminary so I can read books that are read by real people ;-)

Theology thoughts...

2007-09-04T00:20:00.000-07:00

Following Bruce's lead I'll take part in Heather's game.

This week's topic, The Commitments of Theology.

Finish these sentences. (And explain why you say what you do, if you like giving explanations!)

Theology exists to ________________.
If someone reads my theological writing and only remembers one thing afterwards, I want it to be ___________________.
No matter what topic we're dealing with, theologians must take into account ___________, because we ignore it at our peril.

Here are mine . . .

Theology exists to help us navigate the world between the finite and the infinite.
If someone reads my theological writing and only remembers one thing afterwards, I want it to be there are more people in the world that this matters for than them, basically it's not about me it's about God.
No matter what topic we're dealing with, theologians must take into account our lived experiences and their ability to shape our world, because we ignore it at our peril.

What do you do with 5 minutes on the Internet?

2007-08-07T14:49:00.001-07:00

Read blogs of course. So you must read this because I couldn't help but laughing about it...It's from Jason Boyett and his new book "The Pocket Guide to the Bible" and at least this quote is seriously worth you time.

Nine Miscellaneous Things You Must Not Do, According to the Law of Moses (from p. 175 of Pocket Guide to the Bible)

1. Boil a young goat in its mother’s milk (Exodus 23:19).
2. Eat a bat (Leviticus 11:19).
3. Audibly mock the deaf, or attempt to trip the blind (Leviticus 19:14).
4. Wear a garment that mixes linen and wool (Leviticus 19:19).
5. Disfigure the edges of your beard (Leviticus 19:27).
6. Cut down the trees of a city while you are besieging it (Deuteronomy 20:19).
7. Hide and refuse to help upon seeing your brother’s donkey or ox fall down in the road (Deuteronomy 22:4).
8. Charge interest on a loan, unless it’s a loan to a foreigner (Deuteronomy 23:19-20).
9. Pity a woman who gets her hand cut off because she grabbed the genitals of a man who was attacking her husband (Deuteronomy 25:11).

So for all you wives out there, If you husband is getting attacked you can grab the balls of the guy who's attacking you, but when you loose your hand for it, we can't be sad about it. The joy's our world was/is filled with.

Reconnection Week!

2007-07-27T15:47:00.001-07:00

Isn't it great when you can go through a week in your life when you just seem to reconnect with a lot of people from way-back-when? I've loved it. First, Jon Swain a friend of mine who I met through his now wife Emily who knows Julia from sunday school days at Federated. Emily and Jon were also awesome help when we were doing youth ministry together at Federated. I've always really apperciated their help but when you don't connect with someone for a while it makes the heart grow fonder.

Second, I've been trading emails with JC Trombley who is one of those people that I will always have a special place for in my heart. He, Brian, and I used to do literally everything together. Who I am today has so much to do with my relationship with JC over the years. Any sense of self-confidence that I've ever had in my life comes from knowing that no matter what happens or what I do, JC and Brian will always be there for me. Always. JC and I have had a lot harder time staying in touch (no real reason just busyness) so now I've tried to make the extra effort after getting to see JC, Sara, and Luke when I was home for Hannah's wedding it's been cool to regularly trade emails this week.

Third, happened today when I got an IM from Josh McDowell. Who I worked with at Krannert and is a good friend of JC's. He's been working at 3rd Floor Video for Purdue and he does really good work. Josh has always been the guy as far as I'm concerned with the eye for design. Josh's work always impresses me, from the subtle fades and ghosting to bold use of color. Josh and I got a chance to really catch up. It was really nice to catch up and see what he's up to these days. I still can't believe I saw him and his now wife on the letterman show. :)

3 people from the past all in the same week. God is good!

The Joy's of 17 in Worship

2007-07-20T01:51:00.000-07:00

So this past week at MBCC we had only 17 adults in worship (SF AIDS walk week) and while we could have probably all just drag ourselves over to AIDS walk (which raised a record $4.5 mil btw). I got a pleasant surprise which is when there are only 17 of you in worship you get a chance to talk to pretty much everyone of them (and much more at length than an average Sunday).

So I wanted to post something about this because my conversation with Ray, Hannah, Phil, Jee, and Joe about how prophecy came to be and what my own teaching perspective is around the least well known books of the bible (we're currently doing a series on that at MBCC). They encouraged me to write without pulling any punches about how we came to get a lot of the stuff that we have in the OT (and really the NT for that matter too). So I'm writing on the evolutionary themes of prophecy in the OT based out of Amos (a lot of my ideas come straight out of Bob Coote's brilliant book "Amos among the Prophets").

Anyways. That is what most of my thinking has been based around this week and it's really interesting to see how God drops all sorts of supporting evidence and stories in my lap when I get to teach. A friend of mine (Don who I still can't believe just turned 40) and I were out to lunch when we got to talking about this idea. He mentioned to me that Einstein wrote on similar subject around the problem of what space is made out of. He said that Einstein used to have to argue over what the density of space was and if it was made out of ether or a vacuum (I have to warn you I don't know much about science).

Basically the story goes that he got so tired of arguing over which it was made out of he just choose one. He then set about using it (I believe he choose vacuum) to do his other research. When he started to present findings he was met with questions about how he had made an assumption. So he showed how he did the math to include either ether or a vacuum, and he discovered that it ultimately didn't matter, which is really wonderful. He discovered that it didn't matter. He did all his calculations over and over again (using both) and discovered that mathematically speaking it was such an insignificant difference that it didn't really matter (yet remember that many at that time were fixated on it). I think this is what I'm going to close my teaching with on Sunday. That we have all of this textual evidence and can see the process of prophecy (I think that might be better than evolving?) and we are left to decipher what we think is right. That we can spend our days arguing over it or we can raise these sorts of questions and observations and see how they can lead us further down the path.

So many people in religious circles are so focused on which is right that they miss that maybe we can see that their is a step in faith beyond this deconstruction that can take us to new territory of changing the world. All of that to basically say that I think that while all this stuff around the development of scripture over the course of human history is interesting and needs to be taught in church, it is also important not to lose sight of where all of it is pointing. Just look at the book of Amos. Amos A (the oldest part) is about condemnation and inevitable catastrophe, which then progresses into Amos B (the first redaction) becomes more f a warning to do justice or else while Amos C (the last redaction -- although it's probably not a simple 3 times) is about a reversal and justice as hope. But after all this deconstruction of the book of Amos, I'm struck with the simplicity of Einstein which is that it doesn't really matter what was intended, that if Amos was indeed written by one guy one day speaking out a specific moment in time that ultimately it's not as important as being able to move past the details and just start doing calculations.

So all that to say. I loved it that my entire sermon shifted gears based on a short conversation I had with the handful of people who came to worship with us on Sunday. Here's hoping God can use my teaching to speak to the lives of people just as 17 in worship spoke to me.

Simpson-mania

2007-07-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

The real Nick and Julia Larson.

For your own creative fun go make yourself...

Minutes to Midnight

2007-07-03T10:46:00.001-07:00

I don't normally think to do this but I have to say that I've been impressed with Linkin Park's new Album "Minutes to Midnight." It's rhythmic drumming and poignant lyrics have really caught my attention and I can't seem to drive anywhere without flipping over to listen to this verbal anthem. So I thought I would post the lyrics and I invite you to go pick up the CD or run over to itunes to get it (a word of warning there is a bit of cussing).

Turn my mic up louder, I got to say something
Lightweights steppin' aside when we come in
Feel it in your chest, the syllables get pumping
People on the street then panic and start running
Words on loose leaf sheet, complete coming
I jump in my mind, I summon the rhyme I'm dumping
Healing the blind, I promise to let the sun in
Sick of the dark ways we march to the drumming
Jump when they tell us that they wanna see jumping
F*** that, I wanna see some fists pumping
List something, take back what's yours
Say something that you know they might attack you for
'Cause I'm sick of being treated like I had before
Like it's stupid standing for what I'm standing for
Like this war's really just a different brand of war
Like it doesn't cater to rich and abandon poor
Like they understand you, in the back of their jet
When you can't put gas in your tank, these f*****s
Are laughing their way to the bank, and cashing their check
Asking you to have the passion and have some respect
For a leader so nervous in an obvious way
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
In the living room, laughing like, "What did he say?"

Amen

In my living room watching it, I am not laughing
'Cause when it gets tense, I know what might happen
The world is cold, the bold men take action
Have to react to get blown into fractions
At 10 years old, it's something to see
Another kid my age drugged under a Jeep
Taken and bound and found later under a tree
I wonder if he had thought 'the next one could be me'
Do you see the soldiers that are out today?
They brush the dust from bulletproof vests away
It's ironic, at times like this you'd pray
But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday
There's bombs on the buses, bikes, roads
Inside your market, your shops, and your clothes
My dad, he's got a lot of fear, I know
But enough pride inside not to let that show
My brother had a book he would hold with pride
A little red cover with a broken spine on the back
He hand-wrote a quote inside,
"When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die"
Meanwhile, the leader just talks away
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
The rest of the world watching at the end of the day
Both scared and angry, like "What did he say?"

Amen

With hands held high into a sky so blue
As the ocean opens up to swallow you.

The only place I found it at length online is on utube (here's one with subtitles). I love the second verse especially, taking on the perspective of a 10 year old who's trying to live out life in the middle of all of this chaos, searching for answers. This song is also just a taste of the album as a whole. It's still got a bit of that classic LP vibe but this is really a step out for them. It's about complex issues and is dealing with a lot of anger and frustration in the world.

Think...but also enjoy.

Is there a day in life that will make sense?

2007-06-11T04:05:00.001-07:00

Something about life just makes you stop and think "will there ever be a day in life that just makes sense?" Today is not that day, from discovering how things might go when we're back in IN for this visit to not being able to get back to sleep at 4am. This day has been all over the map. How do you talk to someone who thinks differently than you do (I mean process info not disagree with) and explain to them what's inside your head? Can words convey more than someone is willing to hear? Why is that when people encounter something that they found extremely helpful that they want to improve on it, while the thing they didn't like gets left by the wayside untouched?

Maybe this post won't make sense either, but in this dark hour I'll try just about anything to smooth out the waves my brain. For something actually interesting check out this image I came across this evening. For more check here.

Visual Disobedience

2007-06-03T22:49:00.000-07:00

Those of you who live SF may have actually seen Shepard Fairey's work (see 6th and Folsom on the left --it's not there anymore). If you seen a giant image of a man's face (actually Andre the giant to be exact) then you've seen the work of this visual artist. Currently there is a half of the giant's face on Lombard st. I recently acquired his book "Obey: Supply and Demand" and I have to say that it's fantastic!

It chronicles Fairey's work since 1989-90 when he began the "giant" campaign based off a sticker of Andre the Giant (yes the professional wrestler) that claims Andre the Giant has a posse. It has formed and melded into many forms over the years but one thing remains the same. Fairey's brilliant eye for creating striking images that grab your attention.

Fairey invokes a true sense of visual disobedience posting his art not in galleries but in public spaces. He talks about his work in terms of Heidegger's "phenomenology" saying people become numb to their environment, and they need certain experiences to snap them out of their trance. Heidegger said "a hammer isn't a hammer b/c it looks like a hammer; it's a hammer because it hammers things." Fairey's obey campaign isn't propaganda because it has a message but because it's everywhere. It's about function not face value. You form a theory to validate experience not find the experience that validates your theory.

Fairey expresses that his sticker/poster campaign that has been raging all these years didn't start with a message, it started with a medium. The medium is the message. If you encounter a large stoic face on the side of a building and it has the word "Obey" printed beneath it, you are left to wonder obey what? In it's own way it's telling you not to obey, after all this medium is illegal street art.

But if your in love with form, function, and the pursuit of great art (or just have a love for stickers like me). I defiantly recommend that you check out Shepard's book or website.

summer freedom?

2007-05-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

I'm not particularly good at posting regularly (see my grand total of posts). But because I've actually managed to do only one major thing this summer (well two if you count preforming my sister's wedding ceremony) coming on full time at Mission Bay Community Church, that leaves me normal amounts of free time. Because of this new found 'focus' I'm going to try to start blogging regularly as a spiritual discipline.

I'm looking forward to this dedicated reflection time to gather my thoughts and see if I can spot God at work in more places than I might normally notice. So I plan on posting some book reviews (some from this semester of classes, some for fun), movie reviews (can't wait for transformers), church musings, and what ever else might be going on in my life.

So that's the plan.

Funny, aye?

2007-05-03T17:10:00.000-07:00

So two posts in the same day, crazy I know.

Anways, 'cause it's stanely cup playoffs (and to continue my hockey theme in honor) and the playoffs are being drowned out by baseball, NBA playoffs, and all other such sports in the US. I thought I would put up my new favorite clip. This is why hockey is the best sport of all time!

Does the shirt make the man?

2007-05-02T16:39:00.000-07:00

This is the question that you must ask yourself?

Does the shirt make the man or does the man make the shirt? Anyways, this has been a really busy few weeks and I have a lot of posts in beginning stages and not many in finished form so I thought I would just put something up to let you all know that things will come along. This summer the plan is to post 2 posts a week.

That's the goal anyways...

Blackhawks to draft #1

2007-04-11T12:43:00.000-07:00

Maybe I should pledge my loyalty to something else (like winning the lottery). Yesterday the NHL announced that my beloved Chicago Blackhawks will draft #1 overall in this summers draft. A complete first for the team. We've drafted as high as #3 overall before (including last year). So to say the least I'm excited.

Pledge my loyalty

2007-04-06T00:26:00.000-07:00

As the regular season for the NHL winds down, I thought I would post something in retrospect. For those of you who don't know I'm a loyal Chicago Blackhawks fan and have been ever since my grandfather introduced me to the game of hockey when I was so young, I don't know how old I was. But the state of the Blackhawks has left something to be desired. We will miss the playoffs again this year and that makes basically a decade out of the postseason (minus the 1st round exit in 01-02 season).

So never the less I'm a bit depressed as we've gone 31-40-9 for 71 points (that includes winning these meaning-less last 4 games) and haven't even managed to score 200 goals as a team. It's been a pretty depressing season even though things started out looking up. We acquired Martin Havlat who is a legit 1st line forward we've lacked since the departure of my beloved Tony Amonte. We got Handzus from Philly even though we had to give up Calder. Handzus is the type of player that every team needs, he's a huge, skilled, center who can play against the opponents best line and still manage to score from time to time. But then Handzus went down with a season ending injury (stupid knees) and Havlat got hurt (high ankle sprain) and to make matters worse was Habby followed suit. Anyways a long season, a coaching change, and other things later I feel rather depressed.

Handzus is an unrestricted free agent and we've got gaping holes to fill in our top 6 forwards (we probably truly need 2 more). Our young defense has started to grow together more and that's a plus. I love what I've seen from Seabrook (my new favorite hawk) as he's been physical and played pretty well at both ends of the ice. Plus he's a born leader always sticking up for teammates. Anyways next year with Duncan Keith, Barker, and Seabrook back their we should be ok, even though Aucoin has at best been described as a bust (not the player he used to be on the island). Anyways...

Next year seems bright, Toews seems like a real keeper, Skille's made progress, Bolland's gotten better after getting off to a slow start with Norfolk. Bertram seems to be a gamer (he scored 2 goals tonight for BC in the frozen four). So their does seem to be hope at the end of the tunnel.

Anyways the Chicago Daily Herald is doing a decent series about the state of Hawk Hockey so if your interested check it out...Part one and two are already up...three is still to come...

btw; if you want great hawks hockey commentary and such check out "The 300 Level"

Where do I belong?

2007-04-03T11:09:00.000-07:00

Lately I'm having to start making choices post seminary that will effect largely the circles and arena's in which my ministry will take place and I'm having a heck of a time deciding where I fit in the landscape of Churchianity.

Ok, for those of you who don't know it. I'm kind of a misfit when it comes to Churchianity. I range across the differing range of denominational experience, theological, and praxis issues. I don't know of a denomination that really fits what it is that I want to do in the way that I want to do it (emergent friendly, congregational polity, open theological interpretations, and money for developing new churches). You see I come out a youth ministry background (at a interesting multi-denominational church) that we tried to base it in the contemplative realm (for what I was striving towards check out Mark Yaconelli and The Youth Ministry & Spirituality Project). That along with a bunch of other things lead Julia and I to move to San Francisco for me to attend San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS). So even though I'm not Presbyterian, I thought if this school can support this awesome project then I'm interested in learning from these people. It fit fine with my current denominational alignment (Disciples of Christ)...plus I always figured I could figure out the denom thing later (later being now). Once at SFTS I hooked up with some cool fellow postmodern folk, one being Derrick who brought me to a really cool community in MBCC and through a series of interesting twists and turns I'm doing my SFTS necessary internship here currently. Through my exposure with MBCC (which is a PCUSA), I've pretty much figured that the area of growth for me in my leadership of the church is in New Church Development (the presby term) or church planting in the arena of emerging church movement.

So that brings me back to the topic of this post, Where do I belong? Should I continue down the path for ordination in the DOC where I might have to give up time with MBCC to go to a disciples congregation? Should I switch and pursue ordination in the PCUSA (where I'm not sure theologically I fit as well)? The PCUSA does a decent amount of church planting based off of the emerging church philosophy of doing church and probably would be easiest to raise funds to plant a pomo church? Should I stay with DOC but try to integrate some of the things learned at MBCC and through presbymergent ideas to work in their church planting area and goal of a 1000 churches by 2020?

Arg. Where do I belong? Isn't it ironic that this question of identity which is staring me in the face now is so similar to Jesus' question in the gospel accounts (who do you say I am?)?

F#^&ing Funny

2006-11-15T23:49:00.000-08:00

The superbowl version of Jimmy Kimmel Live that you have to watch.

IT'S SO FUNNY!

Faith and Politics?

2006-10-30T15:49:00.000-08:00

So much news lately has contained our Midwestern senator from Illinois Barack Obama. It seems since he's mentioned the possibility of running for the highest position in the land he seems to be everywhere. But my personal favorite is the article in this months issue of sojourners Magazine written by this man in question.

It's an excellent articulation of faith and politics. It's a really interesting speech/article about how the progressive Christian voice can have good conversation with the Christian right.

So if you haven't read it. Go over to Sojourners or pick a copy up at Borders or wherever and check this article out.

The Valley of Dry Bones

2006-10-21T22:23:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 37:1-10 - The Valley of Dry Bones

1 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”3 I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord."

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'" 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

--

If we are honest with ourselves, we live amongst a valley of bones. It is not hard for us to see the downward spiraling direction of our world. Each day as we turn on the TV or pick up a newspaper we am bombarded with each new outrageous event, yesterday I opened CNN.com and the lead story was this bombing in a holiday market in Iraq. Did you see it? This attack was 5 bomb-rigged motorcycles and mortar rounds exploding in a crowded holiday market killing between 18-20 people and injuring many more. These civilians were out in the market buying chocolate, candy, and new clothes to celebrate the end of Ramadan (the holy month of fasting). Imagine that one moment you are shopping, the next moment you are standing next to an exploding motorcycle? I don’t quite know what to make of things. It’s sometimes hard to imagine that we, as humanity, are capable of such wickedness and evil. Ever since this most recent war in the Middle East has erupted it has become increasingly hard to see the end of this conflict, it has been hard to see the good amongst the bad. Each day seems to take us further into the darkness of the night.

But we don’t have to go half way around the world to find messy justice or suffering. What are you supposed to do, when what is happening can’t be explained or rationalized, and the old rules no longer apply?

When I was in high school my grandfather came to live with us because he was in the later stages of Alzheimer’s. You see my dad and his siblings took turns taking care of their father, who had progressed so far into Alzheimer’s that on certain days didn’t even recognize them. Alzheimer’s is bad and then some; and all you can do is watch as someone you love becomes a shadow and fades away.

As a teenager (and even now) I didn’t really understand how and why things like Alzheimer’s happen. It’s really heart wrenching and painful to look your grandpa in the face, and see your grandpa staring back at you, and he doesn’t remember you; or that he used to take me to the swimming pool where he taught me how to do handstands in the water.

Sometimes my brother and I used to laugh about it. We used to laugh at ourselves and at him, about the seemingly hopelessness of it all. There was an afternoon when I came home from school and my grandpa chased me out of my house ‘cause he thought I was the gardener who was stealing from him. Ironically, he never had a gardener.

We sought all sorts of help for my grandpa, we took him to doctors, and we dealt with lawyers, and we prayed about his condition. I remember one night where I prayed that he would die in his sleep. The next morning I was sitting at the kitchen table talking to my mother about all of it. I asked her if we knew what we were doing with grandpa was right. I asked her if she thought we were doing the best thing for him. That’s when my mom said something I will never forget, “We don’t know what’s best anymore, how could we know?” How are we supposed to know what to do about suffering? How are we supposed to know what is true amongst all this violence and pain that is in this world?

So if we are honest, we are like Ezekiel looking over this valley of dry bones, we see the devastation and destruction lying before us. We see conflicts breaking out in more places than we see peace. Instead of countries putting down their weapons, we have added another country to the nuclear family. Instead of learning to mix with those different around us, we see ourselves creating more gated communities. Instead of seeing fewer people living in extreme poverty, we are seeing more. Instead of finding alternatives fuel sources, we are driving bigger SUV’s. Instead of feeding the children in Africa, we buy more Starbucks. Instead of our justice system rehabilitating prisoners, we see more repeat offenders. Instead of learning how to share our resources, we are teaching people to stockpile. Instead of revitalizing inner cities, we move to the suburbs. Instead of extending civil liberties, we are beginning to legislate them out of existence. Instead of helping those who come to this country seeking a new life, we build a $1.2 billion dollar 700 mile long fence! I think it’s pretty clear that when we look around and tell the truth, that we (like Ezekiel) are standing in a valley of dry bones.

God asks Ezekiel a question “Can these bones live?” Ezekiel responses “Lord, You alone know.” I think it’s like my mom telling me how could we know what was best for your grandpa? This is us asking for God’s answer. This is a tipping point. This is the moment when we can pack it in and say that we don’t think things are going to work out in the end; that there is just too much evil in this world. Or this can be the moment when we stand up and proclaim life.

This is where people have a critique of Christian hope, Christian eschatology, the doctrine of the ‘end times’ or ‘last things,’ has often been reduced to escapism, fire insurance, and/or justice in the future. It has been reduced to a heaven away from here, and the Christian’s job is to take as many people along to this good place as possible. We can’t let our hope be reduced to this; we can’t leave hope to deal only with the future. If we leave hope in the future, we lose the impact of hope on the present. God doesn’t call Ezekiel to leave hope in the future; God calls him to speak out now!

God said prophecy to these bones and Ezekiel prophesied. God said tell these bones that there will be life; Ezekiel does and then there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. As Ezekiel stood in this valley of death he watched as tendons and flesh appeared on the skeletons and skin covered them. God is calling us to prophecy today on his behalf to yell out to this valley of dry bones that they too will live and that God will give them the breath of life.

I was reading a book around the Truth and Reconciliation Committee in South Africa the other day. The author, John De Gruchy, talked about a symposium that he went to in 1994 about whether or not the first democratic elections in South Africa could be ‘free and fair.’ Virtually all the participants were social and political scientists, except him (he’s a theologian). Hard nosed statistics and political realism drove the discussion throughout the day, and as the day progressed the mood became more somber and pessimistic. There was so much intimidation and violence in certain parts of the country that everything pointed away from the elections fulfilling the necessary criteria. Having agree with a great deal of what was being said, he began to share the mood, yet there was always something nagging in his consciousness that prevented him from succumbing to the prevailing pessimism. Finally in an act of desperation, he blurted out that no matter what statistics and the wisdom of political science might tell us, they could never have the last word. From a faith perspective nothing could happen to bring about change in South Africa unless people lived and acted in hope. Politics might be the art of the possible, but theology is the art of the impossible and unexpected.

We acting together can participate in developing a common vision for the future and in seeking to make that vision a reality. Judgment day is every day, just as every day can be the day of salvation. How we respond to this possibility and offer determines whether the future opens up in a way that restores justice or not.

“Hope becomes the only realistic way to live because it takes seriously ‘the possibilities with which all reality is fraught’ (Theology of hope - Jurgen Moltmann).” Those who trust in God’s promises will never be prepared to give evil the last word. We the church must be a ‘constant disturbance in human society’ because we refuse to allow things as they are to remain set in concrete. Hope must lead to creative action, for new thinking, new planning. Hope should be distinct from wishful thinking or utopian longing, it should precisely be that which makes us creatively alive to possibilities in the present as well as the future.

Not only does God raise the valley of bones into flesh once more, but God also breaths his spirit into them. “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live.” You see the problem with hope only in the future is that it leaves little room to imagine alternatives; if we look at things only in a rational modern framework we take away the element of surprise. One of the best things about humanity is that even in the darkest of times, even in the most selfish nooks on the planet, we get surprises. We must live in hope. Hope remains powerful and the necessary antidote to despair – despair about crime, violence, illness, and the ongoing struggles of this world. Hope is all about the vision of what God believes our world can be and should be. Hope is a valley of bones becoming an army that knows God’s love.

Hope must be our obsession of life! What else is the Christian gospel of reconciliation about than life lived within Christ’s call to enter the Kingdom of God, the promise of new life, new worlds, and new possibilities breaking down the old?

Let us Pray.

I want to show you a video during our reflection time, which is a prime example of hope as an obsession for life. I want to show you want it looks like to tell the truth and move towards a new relationship. I want you to see what it looks like to live into the vision of hope.

Check out http://www.worldonfire.ca/ for more info on the video and donations made.

Re-imaging a Process

2006-09-14T00:09:00.000-07:00

Ok. I have found myself in over a handful of conversations about ordination and call to ministry over the past week and I feel it’s about time I post/talk about it. Being at a Seminary such as SFTS this topic seems to be one that is always present.

This topic is particularly interesting to me for a few reasons. First, recently I have a friend whom is disillusioned about his ordination process with the PCUSA as a denomination. This disillusionment has stemmed out of his Committee for the Preparation of Ministry (CPM). They have not realized that they have a talented, smart, Godly man on their hands and should be looking towards him to help move that denomination forward. They have not shown much support or interest in him as an inquirer or brought him along in the ordination process. They have just left him dangling on a string. If an upstanding individual such as him can slip through the cracks of a system then it needs serious reevaluation. Second, for myself, I need to buckle down and decide about my future process in terms of denominations. Disciples of Christ? American Baptist? (both official denominations of my home church, Federated Church of West Lafayette) or even the option of becoming a Presbyterian? Third is that I think this is an important topic when you talk about community and their role in our lives and ultimately your image of how to live out the way of Jesus. This third point has stemmed from my conversations with a good friend of mine and my mom based around these first two points.

First off I would like to say I am a person on this side of a formal ordination process and on the other side of an informal ordination process. So you can probably guess where my bias is, but here I offer up my opinion humbly, so that we can work toward and hope for something better.

So the question is this, how does one begin to affirm a call from God for Ministry (mostly based around it as a vocation/job)? Is ordination by a denomination or group a required step in this process? What should the process look like?

In the classically Reformed theological tradition we talk about four things that are the basis for understanding theology and this being a theological issue I feel they are appropriate here. The four are scripture, experience, tradition, and reason. These areas are the basis for forming and understanding a person/communities theology. Ideally you can use all of them as a series of checks and balances, such that you can show how a specific theology is an accurate reflection of the will of God.

My experience around this issue is that denominations as a whole are rather inaccurate in figuring out which individuals should be ordained. Let me tell you more about my own context. I was raised in a Christian family and was instilled with many wonderful values (thanks mom) and ideas about how I am loved by my family and my God, but we didn’t really go to church. I started dating my now wife, the lovely Julia, in high school (pause… for the collective awww) and I went with her to Federated Church. I went to paint a youth room and ended up almost 8 years (I think) later at a Seminary studying to become a pastor as a vocation. What a long and strange journey it has been.

Now to say this was an easy or simple process would be very reductionistic, but just the same I want to try to represent the journey I have been on and will continue to be on. I like to begin this story by saying “God dropkicked me into Ministry.” Anyways (big ups Becky Dunham), I went to Federated to paint a youth room. The youth pastor at the time, Tim, spoke with me about life, faith, etc and was convinced that Julia and I would make excellent volunteers for the newly growing youth ministry. Rather sheepishly we accepted, being scared that we didn’t really know what we were doing or how we felt about life, faith and God (looking back we really didn’t). Through my first three years of undergraduate studies I was preparing for a career as a graphic designer at Purdue University and attending youth group helping to facilitate discussion, lead a small group, chase kids around the church, etc.

Now this is kind of a long story and to not get into it all here, lets just suffice it to say that in my last semester of undergrad Tim left the church abruptly. This left the youth group of 30ish kids and a handful of volunteers in shock and horror losing their pastor, friend, and confidant. With wisdom beyond my knowledge, David the senior pastor at Federated (and now I understand God) had a new plan for me. David came to me and asked me to take the reigns of the group and like any logical individual I turned him down. He left telling me to pray and consider it. I tried to ignore this “call” on my life for a while but he kept asking and I kept saying no. It became very obvious to me that these students needed a pastor and I had many meaningful relationships to them, but I felt completely under qualified. I truly loved and still love those students and what I did know is that I didn’t want them to feel that they have been abandoned. I wanted them to understand that God loved them even in the midst of what they were going through.

One Friday night, I went to the church to sit in the balcony (a spot for me that is holy ground) and pray and talk it over with God. I was meditating and praying. From below me I heard a noise, and went to check it out. It was David; he was coming into the office to put the finishing touches on his sermon for Sunday. He asked “What are you doing here? It’s almost midnight.” I told him and he took the moment and asked “So are you going to do it?” and for whatever reason I blurted out “Yes.” Having not really logically reasoned this decision out and hardly believing the words coming out of my mouth, added “at least until we find a more permanent solution.”

Over the next three years I not only cared for these students, but God strengthened my call to ministry. David took me under his wing and taught me many skills and knowledge that continue to guide and direct me. I grew and developed in my call in such a way that God continued to draw me closer, to bring people and issues into my life and ministry to Him/Her. That left me with a clear direction; full time ministry. As Niebuhr would say the void swallowed all other gods and left me standing before God on a path to ministry.

Now to make this clear, I was never formally ordained. I faithfully served what I believe God was calling me to do within that context and place. I operated through the blessing and watch of my mentor and the congregation. I preformed baptisms (at the request of the students), served communion, counseled students, and preached/taught. My call has yet to be affirmed by the Disciples of Christ or American Baptist denominations (the two official denominations of Federated). Is what I did not valid? Do you deny that people had experiences with the risen Christ? How about those students who trusted me to guide, direct and baptize them? Are those all of sudden invalid based on a technicality?

In my experience of 2.5 years of full time ministry I understand ministry (and conversely the call to it) as God calling individuals and it is their choice to answer that call. In my own experience of a call it is something that took discernment of the individual (me), the pastor/mentor (David) and the community in which the person will serve (in this case Federated). This is not to say that affirmation from the larger church community such as a denomination is not valuable because I also believe it is to some and can continue to be. I just don’t view it as a requirement for ministry. If God calls us to be a priesthood of all believers, why would God choose to make a call to one specific ministry more difficult to obtain than others? Do we really need years of institutionalized education to understand the mystery of sacraments or community of God more fully?

Now that I’ve shared with all of you my experience, I also want to share with you a few other places that I understand my experience to be re-affirmed. Within the area of tradition (I can say that my viewpoint is not the dominant point of view) I can think of a few instances where my experience is validated. For me it takes looking no further than the reformation itself. To my understanding, John Calvin’s call was not affirmed by the Catholic Church in fact the Church felt quiet the opposite. I think part of how I understand what happened in the reformation and my experience is part of recognition of apostolic leadership. Where in the current denominational ordination system is that allowed for? When it is one voice crying out against the majority about a specific issue is the single voice rejected because it’s not part of the majority. I am sure most of you would agree that does not suffice. How about how it affirms the movement of the Holy Spirit using whom ever God chooses? How are we set up to respond to the ever shifting winds of God when it takes an individual years (apart from ministry) to affirm their call?

That leads me into the next area, Scripture. “Church” leadership is a debated issue in the Old and New Testament. Paul’s conversion experience shows us an instance of a New Testament “call” that was highly contested by others. People were very weary of Paul because of his sudden 180 degree flip. Where is the formal education and passing of exams there? Wasn’t Paul’s “ordination” affirmed more by the communities over time as he was teaching? Is our best response to an individual to make them wait before working through all issues of faith? How did Paul train others in the ministry? Did he require them to leave the settings of ministry? No, they traveled with him learning and being encouraged by him. I think there is something we can all learn about the process from that of our rabbinic friends. Rob Bell says that a famous rabbinic blessing was “May you be covered in the dust of your Rabbi.” It was a disciple’s duty to follow the rabbi so closely that by the end of the day he was covered in the dust that was kicked up by the rabbi’s sandals.

This is a point of view that I believe is not just New Testament but an Old Testament vantage point as well. Let’s examine the prophets. We learned in our Prophets class last semester that a (if not the) major tipping point about which prophets were “true” prophets and which ones were “false” ones was based on if their “prophecy” came true. Yes, some prophetic individuals had communities that gathered around them and embraced their words, but weren’t also some rejected for the very “truth” they proclaimed? We don’t just have popular prophets; we have one’s whose prophecies came true.

The last area of the four is Reason. I want to make a small disclaimer; I am a member of what I would consider the upper-middle class of white America and definitely the upper class of the world, so please take my words as trying to understand another background and the bigger perspective (maybe other readers can share more on this subject).

Isn’t using a degree system that forces an individual to go to school for 3-4 years for a master’s degree an exclusionary system? Is it fair to put a price tag on your process of ordination? Is it an accessible system for those in the working poor or 3rd world countries? I believe it is not. I look around my seminary and see a large portion of our students to be from similar backgrounds (at least economically and socially) as myself.

Where is the benefit of removing an individual from a context in which they come and wish to do ministry and placing them in an isolated intellectual community for 4 years? If a person wished to become a carpenter or a fisherman what would the best method be? Sitting them into a classroom and teaching them what a saw looks like and what types of woods are the strongest? No, we would send them to a master in their profession and have them learn by using the machines and handling the wood.

Do I believe that a formal educational system has benefits? Sure I do, and I’m choosing to participate in one. Do I believe that what I learn in Seminary will make me a better pastor, of course! Do I believe that it makes me different than others who devote their lives to following the way of Christ, no I don’t. Do I think that if an individual feels God’s presence in their lives demanding of them to take up a specific ministry, it is required to be affirmed by the church, no I don’t.

I understand that ordination from a denomination IS meaningful for some people, Bruce my pastor and mentor at Mission Bay Community Church is one of them (and thank God for him). It is not my intention to demean these people in anyway and I want to say again, I recognize that I stand before an event/ritual that I am somewhat passing judgment upon (and I as always reserve the right to with draw this statement in a few years) but just the same, I make these comments striving for faithfulness in Christ.

** so yeah, I apologize for the long post. But I wanted to write out my point of view. Please, please comment and work on this with me.

A little help people?

2006-09-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

My new intership Church has just launched a
NEW WEBSITE and we are hoping to get some feedback. In this latest version of the online "Face" of Mission Bay Community Church we have tried to capture the faithful, yet quirky nature of our community, blending conviction, humor, authenticity and relevance.

We would appreciate getting your feedback about the site. I think it will take about 10-15 minutes to get through the site. After you do so we would love to get your comments via this post or you can fill out our brief 10 Question Survey.

While we would appreciate everyone's input we are most interested in getting feedback from folks who fit the following characteristics.

* are not attending any church, but might be open to the possibilities;
* live in the san francisco bay area or at least live in an urban/metro context;

We would also be interested in the same kinds of folks who are . . .

* Church Professionals
* Seminary Students
* Current Church Goer's

So for all you folk, lets get to work.

Website
Survey

The "Bio"

2006-08-31T17:29:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know much about me I wanted to toss out a few factoids.

I'm a 25 year old graduate student working on his Masters of Divinity at San Francisco Theological Seminary. I got my undergraduate degree from Purdue University in Computer Graphics Technology with an emphasis in Interactive Multi-media Development. Purdue is in West Lafayette Indiana. That is where I grew up, went to high school, met my beautiful wife (Julia), got my bachelors degree, and worked in my first church experiences.

God called me into the Ministry in the last semester of my senior year in college. I had been volunteering at my wife's church, Federated Church of West Lafayette. There I had been working as a mentor to High School guys as part of the youth ministry, and unexpectedly we lost our Youth Pastor. With wisdom beyond my knowledge, the senior pastor asked me to lead the youth group. I at first rejected the idea expressing no interest in working in ministry but God had other plans. God lead me to take the job in Youth Ministry and I fell in love with the teaching and guiding of people on their journey through life. Dealing with examining how one can live out their faith 24/7 365.

Through soul searching and God's leading Julia and I decided it was time for me to get my Masters of Divinity and we found a loving and wonderful community at SFTS. This year at SFTS I look forward to helping with Holy Grounds (an on-campus student ministry of hospitality for the community) and working with Mission Bay Community Church.

Left and Right....Right and Wrong

2006-06-05T00:40:00.000-07:00

Check out this post about Emergent called "Is Emergent the New Christian Left"

I think that it is an interesting conversation to talk about emergent as left or right. And please read my comment there (maybe i'll copy it here later). But the one other thing that I want to add is from one of McLaren's book about most people argue about where we fall on a linear path but what Jesus did was change it from being about the line to being about the circle. Jesus is not on the linear path but on a circle above the path.

I also posted a second point which I copied before I posted it. And it says...

“Your conversation is like two people standing on the shore talking about the best way to save the guy drowning in the river. You can't even decide if the guy is really drowning.

I'm diving in.” --Richard Dennis miller on May 25, 2006

First, Richard, I want to make sure that you know that I applaud the fact that you have dove in. I’m swimming too, and I’m part to the emergent community. In fact, pretty much everyone in the conversation I’ve met is swimming. It’s not that the emergent conversation is two people standing on the shore talking about the best way to save the guy who’s drowning; it is more a conversation about what you say to the guy to let you help him out of the river (or another analogy could be that it’s teaching people how to swim). If a drowning man doesn’t trust you to save them and they don’t relax (or you don’t know how to swim fairly well) they will pull you under. Now you have two dead. The point is that the people I know in the emergent community are diving in day after day. I think the point is we all want to figure out how to help the drowning man out of the river. We may just disagree on the way to do it. It is unfair to judge a group of people because they have different opinions about what you should tell the man after you pull him out of the river or what stroke to swim on the way out to him. I believe this was the point Tony was making when he said we know that we need to do something about poverty. Poverty is the river that people are drowning in. We all pretty much agree with need to get them out. Where differences come into play is how to do just that.

To go back to the drowning analogy, if a man is dying of poverty and you walk up to him and tell him to believe in Jesus and he will not be hungry, is he going to accept this? That has not been my experience. That would be like shouting from the river bank saying if you believe in Jesus you won’t sink. The point is still the one that you were making and that is we have to get in the river to help them out. We need to go to areas of poverty and bring them food and supplies (i.e. get them out of the river) before we share with them about Jesus.

It has been my humble pleasure to observe that people I’ve met in the emergent community are diving in on a regular basis (I also want to say I know lots of people who would not consider themselves part of the conversation that are swimming as well).

“I do not believe that a lesbian priest is right in the eyes of God. I can’t help but think I would not be welcome in your Village holding this belief.” --leoskeo at May 26, 2006

Leoskeo, I encourage you to go to the village or to an emergent cohort meeting in your area and find out. I have faith that you will experience, as I have, that you can bring a very different opinion from the majority of the people in attendance and still be lovingly accepted into the community and conversation. I’m not saying that its perfect or that people won’t disagree or argue with you, because they probably will. But I know that if you came to our cohort, that we would welcome you in with open arms.

This issue about the conversation taking a stand needs to be put in the right framework. Emergent does not tell people who participate in the conversation to not take a stand or say definitely what they believe. But at the same time, one person can not speak for all the individuals out there that are part of this conversation; hence the no “Emergent” statement of faith. Would you like me to tell people what you believe? I know I wouldn’t.

I also want to totally applaud you if you are a part of that list of things that you were talking about sending all that money to help all those people in need! That’s so awesome! God is truly at work in those areas.

“What makes some issues more important to Emergent than other issues? What criteria did you use to discern the important from the less important issues? Can these questions be a part of the conversation?”

No issue is truly more important than any other issue. People may be spending a lot of time talking about specific issues but that doesn’t make them more important or others less important. The point is if you want to talk about an issue then we can talk about that issue. I have experience in my cohort that I can bring ANY issue to the table. So to answer your question. YES! Those questions can and are a part of the conversation!

“My frustration with emergent continues to be very simple. I still have no idea what anybody in the movement really believes.”

If you want to know what someone in the movement believes ask them, face to face (especially if you expect someone like Tony or Brian to answer that sort of question). The problem with answering that for the high profile emergent individuals is that when they open their mouth to express themselves they don’t want to cast that shadow on everyone else in the conversation. If you want to know what I believe on any issue feel free to email me, I'll gladly explain my point of view to you.

“They simply mean that biblical condemnations of murder, theft, adultery, homosexuality, which have been authoritatively interpreted by the church for twenty centuries as meaning pretty much what the words say, need not "discussed" or "deconstructed" according to a set of philosophical assumptions that have only recently gained ground.” --Dan at May 26, 2006 05:45 PM

The problem with accepting all those as authoritatively interpreted by the church is the pitfalls that all of us as part of the church have been through before on issues that we thought we had figured out. Take slavery, many within the church used to definitely believe that slavery was made right by the authority of the bible.

What about an eye for an eye? In the biblical day that expression was an extreme movement towards reconciliation because before that if you took someone’s eye they could kill you. God was asking for a change in that behavior. Does that mean that when someone punches me I should punch back? No (as many here would argue that Jesus changed all that).

The point is that the Gospel is lived out differently in different contexts. The emergent conversation is dealing with the postmodern shift (if you argue that the postmodern shift isn’t happening then that’s another argument). The emergent conversation is about discussing and examining how the Gospel can be meaningfully lived out today. But it doesn't stop there, it's about living in relationship with the living God. It's about how do we have a 24/7 365 faith. If you want an emergent bottom line that's about as simple as I can state it.

value? without no value?

2006-05-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

Can something valuable come out of something that is not valuable (or considered less valuable)?

I had coffee with a friend of mine today and we got to talking about authentic community and the issues involved with postmodernism and modernism. He sees major issues with postmodernism (and for that matter modernism as well – but thinks it is better than PM) because he thinks that it eliminates the regions that modernism creates in such a way that makes it so individual that no one can say anything that stems outside of their own context (if you want to argue about if postmodernism says that or not, that’s another argument).

This got me to thinking (because we were talking about authentic community) in such a way that community needs events in which generate transformative experiences but is not reliant completely on the context of those events. For example, you go drinking with 3 of your good buddies for an afternoon and hang out. You then at a later time have a deep conversation with one of these individuals. Would that deeper conversation happen if you had never gone drinking with them before?

Can you have a conversation that stemmed out of a context without the context that you had? Would it even be the same conversation? Would you have ever had the ability or awareness to know that that person is capable of having this deeper conversation without the prior event?

Can you have something valuable grow out of something else that is less valuable and then separate it off? Can postmodernism have benefits once modernism is no more? Can authentic community be created without some form of less "valuable" community?

Evangelism (a few thoughts)

2006-05-10T00:21:00.000-07:00

When it comes to evangelism I often feel we act like teenagers stuck in a van for a long road trip when we are trying to decide what CD or radio station to play. When teenagers decide what music to listen to it is typically followed with a series of shouting, ultimatums, and shame-based negotiations. We all talk about the way others do evangelism in the way that teenagers refer to the types of music each other listen too. We often attack and critique the way others do evangelism (or not do evangelism).

Evangelism is both a modern and postmodern issue, but it is imperative that we recognize that we are a part of a postmodern world. We need to work hard to demonstrate the implication of evangelism to our congregations. There are many ways to do evangelism and many definitions of what it means for each of us to be the resident evangel. A definition of evangelism is faith sharing with the unchurched, a way to introduce a person to Christ. The PCUSA defines evangelism as joyfully sharing the good news of the sovereign love of God’s calling people to repentance, to personal faith in Jesus Christ, to active membership in the church, and to obedient service to the world. Each definition brings clarity to evangelism but isn’t limiting it to one idea.

As pastors and leaders we work hard to demonstrate that the severity of the choices that we make in the way that we personally and professionally do evangelism. They affect people and the world. Ways that we do evangelism often stem too much from the entitlement of an entertainment-based society, rather than from any biblical or spiritual mandate. This is not to say that we can or should just drop all the forms of evangelism that represent society but it is important to identify where our motivation or sense of entitlement stems. We have become indoctrinated with the idea that our faith is part of this affluent, consumer driven multi option society and that the answer revolves around finding the right kind of marketing scheme for the good news. It doesn’t. We can’t just participate in this market economy of possibilities providing outlets to suit each preference on how and when evangelism should be done. Evangelism is not about how you choose to share the good news but rather that you do it.

The style of evangelism that we choose is not just a pastor issue but an issue relevant to each congregation in its own unique and context. There is an ongoing debate about which is the best form of evangelism. It is often just banter of philosophies that think they have it figured out. This debate is not a new debate but it is an essential issue. There are many philosophies, principles and values that inform the practice of evangelism in our postmodern world but there is no one model that simple works.

The essence of evangelism is not a well thought out approach, event or path to enlightenment. It is not as simple as implementing and teaching the right technique to the right people in order to grow the church. Better strategies and new styles are not the answer. Our pluralistic postmodern context is not going to be won over based on event savvy churches that are targeting specific audiences. This culture does not need churches that major in offering the right kind of faith or right kind of product for them to join. What this culture desperately needs is to see God’s story and kingdom as a good, plausible, and an embodied reality.

The theology behind our practice of evangelism is the most important part of evangelism (not excluding doing something). Missiologist Bengt says “Theology is, in the last resort, translation. It is an ever-renewed re-interpretation to new generations and peoples of the given-Gospel, a re-interpretation of the will and the way of the one Christ in a dialogue with new thoughts forms and culture patterns.” Our theology is the way that we choose to represent the Gospel in our culture. I believe that evangelism is a part of our theology and is best represented by missio dei (God’s sending of the Son and the Holy Spirit into the world for the healing of creation). God is a missional God who calls the church into being and sends the church into the world on God’s mission of healing. At the end of the day evangelism is about love. As Rob Bell talked about in the Bullhorn Nooma video we watched in class, often the Christian loves people and build relationships in order to convert them to the Christian faith. That’s love with an agenda, and if we think about it, and there is an agenda, then it isn’t really love. Our goal is to then rediscover how to truly love people, because that’s what Jesus teaches us to do. We have to realize that we will never convert them and if they choose to not to become a Christian there is nothing we can do about it. We have to trust God to be at work in that person.

Evangelism is about sharing the good news with people around us; simply put loving God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves. It is not some perfect blueprint or twelve step process. Anne Lamott in Traveling Mercies talks about faith saying “I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox, full of shinny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up I found that life hands you these rusty bent old tools – friendship, prayer, conscience, honesty – and says, do the best you can with these, they will have to do. And mostly, against all odds, they’re enough.” Evangelism is not a shinny wrench that you apply to a person and they magically twist them into a life of faith. We are left with our tools like friendship and honesty to share our story about how God has affected our lives in such a way that this rusty old tool actually does work and is important.

This still leaves us to figure out how evangelism works in the congregational context. It is important to realize that each context is different. What is a meaningful way to evangelize and love people in one context may not be affective in another. You don’t need to take soup to the millionaire and you don’t need to tell the poor to give up their possessions. Craig Cross has an interesting point of view on this topic. His book The Gutter has made a lasting impression on finding where it is that God is calling us to help. “The gutter can be described in different ways with different terms. Put simply, my gutter is not necessarily your gutter. The gutter is the place where we discover that we need God most.” The goal for evangelism is then to find the gutter in which you can go and where you can help. You need to realize that their really isn’t a big difference between ourselves and the people in the gutter and the biggest mistake is not going to the gutter. We can identify and meet a need there.

The interesting thing is evangelism in this form is not just about the person that we can help, but in some magical way it helps us relate to God. Cross puts it this way “When we go to the gutter, we aren’t just changing gutter-dwellers; they’re changing us. We’re all being changed for the better. Too often we sit through church, and when it’s over, we think we’re done with our work for the week. That is wrong, wrong, wrong. You cannot live out your faith based solely on what other people tell you; you can not be okay with merely consuming information. You must be convicted to take action for God.” Jesus said that what you do for the least of my people, you do for me.

The last portion of evangelism to consider is those who have gone before us and the good/bad that they have done. There has been plenty that was done in the name of Jesus that I’m sure Jesus didn’t want a part of and it’s important to realize that many people have many legitimate reasons for bailing on this whole Christianity thing. That there is a choice involved. But in the same way we have a choice as well, when we encounter a disgruntled individual that has been hurt by Christianity in their past that we can either turn away from them or we can embrace them. I think that most people can identify with the fact that the church has caused some hurt in people’s lives (haven’t we all?). But we have a choice to not become bitter, suspicious, and fed-up, because anybody can do that, we can choose to reclaim the Gospel message as good news, we can insist that the hope is real, and the world can really be changed by it.

It is our job as pastors and evangels to never stop believing that God can and does redeem this world. That Jesus has lived and died for us to have a better way. It’s important to not stop talking about evangelism in terms of the ongoing process that we are still all a part of. Evangelism and faith are not destinations but a journey. And our conversion or our works as an evangel are only road markers along the way. We need to realize that while we may be stuck together in this van that we don’t need to take it out on each other. We can take this thing called evangelism and dust it off. Talk about in real, honest, and loving ways to both those who have Jesus in their lives and those who have yet to recognize his face. The two things that I am absolutely sure of; one, that others out there are capable of thinking about evangelism in ways I haven’t even thought of and two, that God is driving the van.

ps. i stole the kids riding in the van thing (although it wasn't originally about evangelism) from Tim Conder's great book "the church in transition" but it's fair because im a former youth pastor too ;)

There is Simplicity ...and then there is Simplicity

2006-04-01T12:47:00.000-08:00

If you haven't read this yet you should...

Lenten Reflection by Doug Hagler, HAE team, March 31, 2006

There is simplicity...and then there is simplicity.

There is the simplicity of 'us versus them', the simplicity of 'with us or against us'. There is the simplicity of right and wrong, of good and evil, of orthodox and heretical. This sort of simplicity comes naturally to us. It is a way of making the world about the categories we choose, so that we get to determine what is true and what is false. Our ideas of the world, our biases and petty bigotries, become the world. All of us do this, in one way or another. This is the kind of simplicity we practice.

There is another kind of simplicity, and it has to do with who you are, who you choose to be. It is simplicity of the self, paring down to what is essential and letting everything else fall away. It is the radical and countercultural act of saying "enough." This kind of simplicity is a calling. The Dao De Ching says "for the Sage, every day another thing is put aside." Jesus says "give all
you have away to the poor and come follow me."

Something in us truly fears to give up the things that insulate us. We don't need the clutter that chokes our lives. Most of the time, we aren't even sure we want it. For some reason, though, we fear to live without it. When we begin to give things up, when we begin to put things aside, what is left? Only our selves.

This shouldn't frighten us, but it does. How can we face God if we cannot even face ourselves? How can we serve God if we are buried under our own lives?

Singular God, we ask for new life while yet fearing it - give it to us anyway. Shock and surprise us with gifts of true value. Don't listen when we say we can't, or we won't, or we aren't worthy, or we aren't ready. Just listen when we say "thy Kingdom come, thy will be done..." Amen.

In the beginning...

2006-03-28T00:52:00.000-08:00

In the beginning...God said let there be a blog...ok ok, it was just me saying that. Welcome to my random sparatic thoughtful (and less) rambings. I apperciat your reading it. I encourage you to comment and reflect back your own thoughts and feelings.

I would like to thank one of my partners in crime (eman) for generating this name with me. Reflectant was orginally started as a partnership in designing really good websites. We've got mad design skills (speaking of which I have still not designed my own blog template) and like to create some wicked slick designs. Reflectant is what we came up with as our company. But I'm approriating it to my own personal usages.

The intention of REFLECTANT is to be a forum for thoughts generated and then reflected back.

So Enjoy!

.n