Until today I had only seen one of Rob Bell's Nooma films. At the time, for various reasons, one of which was pride, I didn't fully appreciate it (sorry to the friend that showed it to me!). I read Velvet Elvis several months ago and bought six of the Nooma films this summer in order to jump in once more. I just watched two of them and wrote down a few thoughts I had in response. Overall, I really like them. I like the concept, the topics; the production is top-quality (not that I would really know, but it seems well done); Rob is a great communicator; and, they are multi-lingual (with subtitles)! Also, I didn't realized until I bought some that they come with a booklet with some quotes, scripture, pictures from the film, and reflection questions which would be great for small group discussion. So, I definitely recommend them as ways to open up or further dialogue on the topics presented and relevant passages of Scripture. They're great for those that follow Jesus and for those that are still looking. Following are a few thoughts and questions that I had as I was watching them today.
Nooma:Rhythm
Rob evaluates what it means to be in relationship with God in terms of the process of relating and following instead of the in/out terms common in conversion language. Near the end he says "you ARE in relationship with God," and on the back of the DVD package it says "maybe it's through trusting Jesus and living the kind of life he taught us to live...that we have a relationship with God." Is this "discipleship to converted discipleship"? What does it look like for someone to walk the path of Jesus before they are counted "in Christ", reconciled to God in Him?
In the notes, the question is asked, "Which is more important to Jesus: what we believe or what we do?" I think I understand what he's getting at, but to me, really, it's neither, because what we do betrays what we really believe, and what we really believe is inevitably worked out in what we do. Jesus repeatedly told people to "believe" in Him, and there was no gap in His mind between believing and doing. To believe is to do and to do is to believe. It is trust. So the question is really "Who or what do you trust?" because life and reality is personal, relational, or at least it was meant to be.
So, maybe at some point those that begin to walk the path of Jesus and listen to the words of Jesus begin relate to him and finally come to say, "You have the words of eternal life. I have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God."
And this is renewed, just as the grounds of our baptism is remembered in the Eucharist week by week, so at points we are reminded of our confession when we find Jesus asking us, "Do you love me more than these? ... Then feed my sheep." And so it continues until we die, finally, with Him.
Nooma:You
Rob made a lot of assertions about many of the New Testament concepts being firmly in relation to and in opposition to the 1st century religious and political context, concepts and expressions like "No under name by which men must be saved" and "Jesus is Lord" and "Gospel" and "Ekklesia (or church)" and even the resurrection of the savior-god. I'm familiar with a few of these points of contact and conflict, but I wonder if the emphasis is too heavily placed on the 1st century context on not enough on the language and tradition of the several thousand years before as revealed in the hopes and experience of the nation of Israel. He brought it through a little bit in talking about the hope of the Messiah, the brokenness of the world, and the hope of God's program to fix it.
Some good questions to ask would be: "What are the sources and context for some of the sayings like "No other name..." and "Caesar is Lord" and "Gospel" and "Ekklesia"? Are there roots in Israel and the OT for these concepts and assertions as well (e.g. the Lord as YHWH, salvation in the name of YHWH, the gospel or good news of Isaiah 52, the congregation of Israel as ekklesia)? Where's the overlap? Where's the conflict? How were the Jewish concepts translated into the Greco-Roman? What influenced the Jewish concepts? What influenced the Greco-Roman? Any other influences? What were the apostles and 1st century church aware of? And Jesus?
I think the most powerful part of the film was near the end when Rob said, "There's a deeply personal dimension to this. Jesus is saving me, he's saving me from my sins, from my mistakes, from my pride, from my indifference to the suffering of the world around me. From my cynicism and despair, the brokenness I see in the world around me is true of my own soul."
As some of have observed in response to the popular recent discussions about evil and those on the side of evil, "If we look close enough we will see that the line dividing good and evil runs right through the middle of each one of us."
Anyone seen these, thought about this stuff? Thoughts?
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
New Every Morning
Today I was afraid. I was afraid of being insignificant.
Today I was proud. I wanted honor and success and notoriety.
Today I was ashamed. I did not size up, and I was sizing up.
Today was like yesterday.
And the day before, and the day before...
Will tomorrow be like today?
... but today's trouble is overwhelming enough.
The sun dies,
The sun rises,
each day
Does it die under the weight of our collective sin?
So that we help it over the noonday hump and push it back into the ground?
Does it mean to wake us up in the morning when our blinds are shut tight?
Does is muffle through the curtains
"Awake sleeper!
Arise from the dead
and I will shine on you!"?
Today the sun died, again.
Today I buried it just past the mountains.
Tomorrow the sun will rise, again.
Tomorrow will I rise with it?
Tonight the sun will not die for nothing.
Tonight the curtains are pulled back.
Picture from www.discosuperfly.biz
Monday, July 02, 2007
A Poem and Prayer
Jesus,
bread and light of life,
I am not
but you are
in me I am
in You alive.
"But we, O Lord, behold we are Thy little flock; possess us as Thine, stretch Thy wings over us and let us fly under them. Be Thou our glory." - St. Augustine
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
long time, no blog, good link
I haven't written anything in a while, and to commemorate that I will continue not writing anything and just post a link to something someone else wrote. Shame on me...
Here's Scot McKnight answering a question that I specifically begin asking in earnest last summer but have asked in many other ways since college. He gives some great advice, not necessarily solutions, but a good way forward in faith, especially in the last paragraph. Check it out and be encouraged.
Scot McKnight on questions about difficulties in Scripture and who to believe.
Here's Scot McKnight answering a question that I specifically begin asking in earnest last summer but have asked in many other ways since college. He gives some great advice, not necessarily solutions, but a good way forward in faith, especially in the last paragraph. Check it out and be encouraged.
Scot McKnight on questions about difficulties in Scripture and who to believe.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Links and excerpts
Jurgen Moltmann on our conception of God and ourselves:
Without a revolution in the concept of God, however, there will be no revolutionary faith. Without God's liberation from idolatrous images produced by anxiety and hubris, there will be no liberating theology. Man always unfolds his humanity in relation to the divinity of his God, and he experiences himself in relationship to what appears to him as the highest being. He directs his life toward a highest value. He decides, who he is by his ultimate concerns. As Martin Luther said: "Where you put the trust of your heart, that in fact is your God." That holds true for the Christian faith just as for every secular faith.
In fact, there is no true theology of hope which is not first of all a theology of the cross.
Eugene Peterson on Annie Dillard on worship and creation:
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is a contemplative journal of her attendance at the theater (of God's creation) over the course of a year. She is breathless in awe. She cries and laughs. In turn, she is puzzled and dismayed. She is not an uncritical spectator. During intermissions, she does not scruple to find fault with either writer or performance-all is not to her liking and some scenes bring her close to revulsion. But she always returns to the action and ends up on her feet applauding, Encore! Encore! "I think that the dying pray at the last not 'please,' but 'thank you,' as a guest thanks his host at the door. Failing from airplanes the people are crying thank you, thank you, all down the air; and the cold carriages draw up for them on the rocks. Divinity is not playful. The universe was not made in jest but in solemn incomprehensible earnest. By a power that is unfathomably secret, and holy, and fleet. There is nothing to be done about it, but ignore it, or see. And like Billy Bray I go my way, and my left foot says 'Glory,' and my right foot says 'Amen': in and out of Shadow Creek, upstream and down, exultant, in a daze, dancing, to the twin silver trumpets of praise."
Got your cars Straight? On Automobile Gender and Sexuality
John McCain on the War
Pope Benedict, his new book on Jesus, and criticism of the West
"Only if something extraordinary happened, if the figure and words of Jesus radically exceeded all the hopes and expectations of his age, can his Crucifixion and his effectiveness be explained."
Without a revolution in the concept of God, however, there will be no revolutionary faith. Without God's liberation from idolatrous images produced by anxiety and hubris, there will be no liberating theology. Man always unfolds his humanity in relation to the divinity of his God, and he experiences himself in relationship to what appears to him as the highest being. He directs his life toward a highest value. He decides, who he is by his ultimate concerns. As Martin Luther said: "Where you put the trust of your heart, that in fact is your God." That holds true for the Christian faith just as for every secular faith.
In fact, there is no true theology of hope which is not first of all a theology of the cross.
Eugene Peterson on Annie Dillard on worship and creation:
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is a contemplative journal of her attendance at the theater (of God's creation) over the course of a year. She is breathless in awe. She cries and laughs. In turn, she is puzzled and dismayed. She is not an uncritical spectator. During intermissions, she does not scruple to find fault with either writer or performance-all is not to her liking and some scenes bring her close to revulsion. But she always returns to the action and ends up on her feet applauding, Encore! Encore! "I think that the dying pray at the last not 'please,' but 'thank you,' as a guest thanks his host at the door. Failing from airplanes the people are crying thank you, thank you, all down the air; and the cold carriages draw up for them on the rocks. Divinity is not playful. The universe was not made in jest but in solemn incomprehensible earnest. By a power that is unfathomably secret, and holy, and fleet. There is nothing to be done about it, but ignore it, or see. And like Billy Bray I go my way, and my left foot says 'Glory,' and my right foot says 'Amen': in and out of Shadow Creek, upstream and down, exultant, in a daze, dancing, to the twin silver trumpets of praise."
Got your cars Straight? On Automobile Gender and Sexuality
John McCain on the War
Pope Benedict, his new book on Jesus, and criticism of the West
"Only if something extraordinary happened, if the figure and words of Jesus radically exceeded all the hopes and expectations of his age, can his Crucifixion and his effectiveness be explained."
A Poetic Prayer from Down Under
God of Eternity, Lord of the Ages,
Father and Spirit and Saviour of men!
Thine is the glory of time’s numbered pages;
Thine is the power to revive us again.
Pardon our sinfulness, God of all pity,
Call to remembrance Thy mercies of old;
Strengthen Thy Church to abide as a city
Set on a hill for a light to Thy fold.
Head of the Church on earth, risen, ascended!
Thine is the honour that dwells in this place:
As Thou hast blessed us through years that have ended,
Still lift upon us the light of Thy face. Amen.
-Australian Presbyterian, Ernest Northcroft Merrington
Father and Spirit and Saviour of men!
Thine is the glory of time’s numbered pages;
Thine is the power to revive us again.
Pardon our sinfulness, God of all pity,
Call to remembrance Thy mercies of old;
Strengthen Thy Church to abide as a city
Set on a hill for a light to Thy fold.
Head of the Church on earth, risen, ascended!
Thine is the honour that dwells in this place:
As Thou hast blessed us through years that have ended,
Still lift upon us the light of Thy face. Amen.
-Australian Presbyterian, Ernest Northcroft Merrington
Saturday, April 07, 2007
On Institutions, Western Culture, and Spirituality
Speaking about lay movements in the Roman Catholic Church and Pope Benedict's addressing of the spiritual state of Western Europe, Russell Shorto of the New York Times said in his article, "Keeping the Faith",
According to many observers, the lay movements substantially accounted for the unimagined numbers of mourners who poured into Rome. Data on declining church attendance obscure the fact that there is a good deal of spiritual hunger in Europe, but it is largely outside institutional religion, a phenomenon that the British sociologist Grace Davie calls “believing without belonging.” The Vatican is aware of this and says that the lay Catholic movements may represent a bridge, a way to bring the aimless, searching, largely secular Europeans back into the fold.
Msgr. Donald Bolen, an official with the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, told me that the lay movements “are movements of the Holy Spirit. The temptation in the church has long been to try to keep the parishes filled, to spend energy on maintenance. These movements are not about maintenance of old structures. But this isn’t a new thing. When Francis of Assisi started with his little band of disciples, some were confused. Movements within the church are not new.” The pope’s media spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, made much the same point to me: “The lay movements are a sign of life. The Vatican is not the whole church.”
But the problem is that the spiritual hunger that exists in Europe seems to be precisely for what the church can’t provide. Polls show that Europeans distrust institutions of all kinds. For an institution that is practically synonymous with hierarchy and control, the lay movements may represent as much a threat as a promise...
Benedict may be right that the Catholic Church has a world-historic chance to transform Europe and bring about change. But the church’s own strictures could work against that... “Think of the silencing of theologians in recent decades,” said Father Reese, the former editor of the Jesuit journal America. “The suppression of discussion and debate. How certain issues become litmus tests for orthodoxy and loyalty. All of these make it very difficult to do the very thing Benedict wants. I wish him well. I want him to succeed. But it seems everything he has done in the past makes it much more difficult to do it.”
Like the last guy said, I really do want the Pope to succeed in helping Europe to move past postmodern secularism. I really do want the institutional church to succeed so far as it makes disciples of Jesus, but it seems that, like the Jews of Jesus' day, there are some systemic "logs" that will prevent the institutional church from being all that, in Christ, it could be.
Maranatha. Come Lord Jesus, make all things new.
"I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me." (Jn 17:20)
Friday, April 06, 2007
The Shadow of Good Friday
To reflect and to pray.
"But what Christ did on the Cross was in no way intended to spare us death but rather to revalue death completely. In place of the 'going down into the pit' of the Old Testament, it became 'being in paradise tomorrow'. Instead of fearing death as the final evil and begging God for a few more years of life, as the weeping king Hezekiah does, Paul would like most of all to die immediately in order 'to be with the Lord' (Phil 1:23). Together with death, life is also revalued: 'If we live, we live to the Lord; if we die, we die to the Lord' (Rom 14:8).
-Hans Urs von Balthasar (as quoted at the BHT)
"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you." (John 15:18)
UZBEKISTAN
Pastor Appeals Sentence - VOM Sources/Forum 18 News
Pastor Dmitry Shestakov has appealed his four-year work-camp sentence. According to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts, Pastor Shestakov's family will be permitted to go with him to one of Uzbekistan's open work camps. Forum 18 News reported that in imposing its verdict, the court said it would be impossible to "re-educate" Shestakov without isolating him from society. Forum has also reported that prison administration has banned Pastor Shestakov from kneeling to pray and his New Testament has been confiscated. In exchange, he has been offered the Koran to read. He remains imprisoned in Andijan until his appeal is heard. Pray Pastor Shestakov's appeal is successsful and for God to comfort his family. Psalm 41:2-3
NIGERIA
Teacher Killed by Muslim Students - Compass Direct News/VOM Sources
On March 21, 2007, Christianah Oluwasesin, a teacher at a secondary school in Northern Nigeria was beaten, stoned and burned by Muslim students over claims she desecrated the Quran. According to a Compass Direct News report, Oluwasesin was supervising a final examination on Islamic religious knowledge when she collected papers, books and bags from the all-girls class and in accordance with school procedure and dropped them in front of the class to prevent cheating. According to another teacher, soon after Oluwasesin dropped the bags in front of the class, one of the girls began to cry. She told her classmates she had a copy of the Quran in her bag, that Oluwasesin touched the bag and by doing so had desecrated the Quran, since she was a Christian. This led to a riot which was joined by Muslim extremists, resulting in Oluwasesin being beaten to death. They brought old mats to where her body was, placed dirt on her corpse and then burned it. The Voice of the Martyrs has met with her husband and is supporting her family. Pray God will comfort Oluwasesin's family and for her testimony to those that killed her, that it will bring them into the knowledge of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:5
INDIA
Christians Attacked, Pastor's Arrested - VOM Sources
"But what Christ did on the Cross was in no way intended to spare us death but rather to revalue death completely. In place of the 'going down into the pit' of the Old Testament, it became 'being in paradise tomorrow'. Instead of fearing death as the final evil and begging God for a few more years of life, as the weeping king Hezekiah does, Paul would like most of all to die immediately in order 'to be with the Lord' (Phil 1:23). Together with death, life is also revalued: 'If we live, we live to the Lord; if we die, we die to the Lord' (Rom 14:8).
-Hans Urs von Balthasar (as quoted at the BHT)
"If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you." (John 15:18)
VOM News and Prayer Update: April 3, 2007
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."(Hebrews 12:1-2)UZBEKISTAN
Pastor Appeals Sentence - VOM Sources/Forum 18 News
Pastor Dmitry Shestakov has appealed his four-year work-camp sentence. According to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts, Pastor Shestakov's family will be permitted to go with him to one of Uzbekistan's open work camps. Forum 18 News reported that in imposing its verdict, the court said it would be impossible to "re-educate" Shestakov without isolating him from society. Forum has also reported that prison administration has banned Pastor Shestakov from kneeling to pray and his New Testament has been confiscated. In exchange, he has been offered the Koran to read. He remains imprisoned in Andijan until his appeal is heard. Pray Pastor Shestakov's appeal is successsful and for God to comfort his family. Psalm 41:2-3
NIGERIA
Teacher Killed by Muslim Students - Compass Direct News/VOM Sources
On March 21, 2007, Christianah Oluwasesin, a teacher at a secondary school in Northern Nigeria was beaten, stoned and burned by Muslim students over claims she desecrated the Quran. According to a Compass Direct News report, Oluwasesin was supervising a final examination on Islamic religious knowledge when she collected papers, books and bags from the all-girls class and in accordance with school procedure and dropped them in front of the class to prevent cheating. According to another teacher, soon after Oluwasesin dropped the bags in front of the class, one of the girls began to cry. She told her classmates she had a copy of the Quran in her bag, that Oluwasesin touched the bag and by doing so had desecrated the Quran, since she was a Christian. This led to a riot which was joined by Muslim extremists, resulting in Oluwasesin being beaten to death. They brought old mats to where her body was, placed dirt on her corpse and then burned it. The Voice of the Martyrs has met with her husband and is supporting her family. Pray God will comfort Oluwasesin's family and for her testimony to those that killed her, that it will bring them into the knowledge of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 1:5
INDIA
Christians Attacked, Pastor's Arrested - VOM Sources
- ORISSA - On March 18, 2007, Hindu extremists attacked Abraham Burdhan with a sword. According to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts, Abraham was pulled off his bicycle, beaten with rods and sticks on his whole body and hit with a sword causing severe injury to his hand. Doctors are not hopeful they can save all four of his fingers and think he will lose two. Pray for Abraham's healing and the safety of more than 20 Christian families living in the area which is in the midst of more than 150 Hindu families.
- RAJASTHAN - Pastors Gorthan Leetha, Laxman Gorthan, Khana Gutta and Ramesh Gutta were attacked by Hindu radicals and handed over to the police, who are sympathetic with the radicals. They are being held in the local prison. In addition, more than 30 families had to flee the area when they were attacked and their homes destroyed. The families had to scatter to nearby villages and work as laborers. Meanwhile, VOM in partnership with Emmanuel Ministries is providing emergency food and clothing for the family, and their pastor is helping them relocate to relatively safe, Udaipur City. Pray for the pastors in prison and the families who have lost all their belongings. Ask God to comfort them and encourage them to continue standing for Him.
- KUNDRA - On March 25, Pastor Rajendra Chauhan was arrested after Hindu extremists complained he was involved in "forced conversions." He was charged under the State's Anti-Conversion Law because the police said he was holding large religious gatherings without asking permission. Through VOM's legal network, Pastor Chauhan was released. Pray his ministry will not be hindered by these challenges. Psalm 111: 5-9
Monday, April 02, 2007
Training and Tradition
Some thoughts on training for Christian ministry.
Where I work we talk about it a lot, so I thought, why not a little more? It's natural for us as humans to find that the things that we have systematized and refined for the purposes of understanding and transferability have lost their edge and clarity of vision. So, it's helpful and necessary to rethink old concepts reconstituted in new contexts so as to bring the vision back into focus and the life back into the methods.
In thinking about training, we want to train so as to enable the vision to take root and grow in the community of faith for the sake of the of the world. In our training we want not so much to instruct as to enable, to provide the trellises without which the vines have nowhere to go. We want to make level the roads to freedom, creativity, and inspiration so that students can engage authentically in Christ with the world around them, speaking and acting in the world and as part of the world so as to be light and salt, the truth and redemptive power of the Gospel, to bring people to Christ and Christ to the people.
"Tradition, then, is not something which is essentially static and backward looking. It looks to the past and seeks to learn from its inheritance; but it looks equally to the present and the future, seeking in the acquired wisdom of former generations appropriate ways and means of dealing with new challenges and circumstances; seeking to adapt itself, so that its voice may be heard speaking in the language which today's generation can hear and understand; committed to the view that what it offers is of lasting value, but open in principle to the revision and adaptation which ongoing engagement with reality and new discoveries may compel it to accept." - Trevor Hart in Faith Thinking, p. 180
Where I work we talk about it a lot, so I thought, why not a little more? It's natural for us as humans to find that the things that we have systematized and refined for the purposes of understanding and transferability have lost their edge and clarity of vision. So, it's helpful and necessary to rethink old concepts reconstituted in new contexts so as to bring the vision back into focus and the life back into the methods.
In thinking about training, we want to train so as to enable the vision to take root and grow in the community of faith for the sake of the of the world. In our training we want not so much to instruct as to enable, to provide the trellises without which the vines have nowhere to go. We want to make level the roads to freedom, creativity, and inspiration so that students can engage authentically in Christ with the world around them, speaking and acting in the world and as part of the world so as to be light and salt, the truth and redemptive power of the Gospel, to bring people to Christ and Christ to the people.
"Tradition, then, is not something which is essentially static and backward looking. It looks to the past and seeks to learn from its inheritance; but it looks equally to the present and the future, seeking in the acquired wisdom of former generations appropriate ways and means of dealing with new challenges and circumstances; seeking to adapt itself, so that its voice may be heard speaking in the language which today's generation can hear and understand; committed to the view that what it offers is of lasting value, but open in principle to the revision and adaptation which ongoing engagement with reality and new discoveries may compel it to accept." - Trevor Hart in Faith Thinking, p. 180
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
The Hidden Smile of God
Light shining out of Darkness
(Book III, Hymn 15, page 571)
by William Cowper
(taken from ReformationINK)
- God moves in a mysterious way,
- His wonders to perform;
- He plants his footsteps in the sea,
- And rides upon the storm.
- Deep in unfathomable mines
- Of never-failing skill,
- He treasures up his bright designs,
- And works his sov'reign will.
- Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
- The clouds ye so much dread
- Are big with mercy, and shall break
- In blessings on your head.
- Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
- But trust him for his grace;
- Behind a frowning providence
- He hides a smiling face.
- His purposes will ripen fasts,
- Unfolding ev'ry hour;
- The bud may have a bitter taste,
- But sweet will be the flow'r.
- Blind unbelief is sure to err,
- And scan his work in vain;
- God is his own interpreter,
- And he will make it plain
Monday, March 12, 2007
Power of Percentages
"If Christians had given a 10 percent tithe to their churches in 2004, instead of the actual 2.56 percent, there would have been an extra $164 billion. And of churches spend $70 to $80 billion of that on missions and humanitarian works, the basic needs of every person on the globe would be provided."
- Relevant, Nov./Dec. 2006, p. 30
"Personal wealth is distributed so unevenly across the world that the riches two percent of adults won more than 50 percent of the world's assets. The poorest half of the world hold only 1 percent of the wealth."
- Financial Times, www.ft.com, Dec. 5, 2006
As quoted in Campus Crusade for Christ's March 2007 issue of Connection.
- Relevant, Nov./Dec. 2006, p. 30
"Personal wealth is distributed so unevenly across the world that the riches two percent of adults won more than 50 percent of the world's assets. The poorest half of the world hold only 1 percent of the wealth."
- Financial Times, www.ft.com, Dec. 5, 2006
As quoted in Campus Crusade for Christ's March 2007 issue of Connection.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
The Breadth of Incarnation
"...people are more interested in seeing Christians actually live in a way the reflects what they believe instead of an hollow invitation to come to a church service where you can meet God."
Exactly. It's not only non-Christians who feel that the invitation is hollow...
Our breadth of incarnation has been insufficient. Meeting with God happens no more on Sunday morning than on Friday night. Everything is sacramental, every moment "charged with the grandeur of God." And yet, Sunday morning or Saturday night, or whenever the church gathers for worship, is special, or should be special. It is not so much the place to come meet with God as it is the place to come and celebrate having been met by God and to find the context for and learn the shape of what it means to be God's image out there in the world.
This morning in church we danced. Not the palm leaves, people with banners in the aisles, and tambourines kind of dancing (not that there's anything wrong with tambourines per se), but the all we needed was a strobe light and some turntables kind of dancing. And it was beautiful. Not because people were so holy and so spiritual that they had ascended to the heights of "holy dancing" or "holy laughter" or any other imaginary spiritual watermark, but because we are material beings who live in bodies that engage in life with God and life with others through the bodies God has given us by seeing and eating, singing and dancing. Much of Christian subculture has been stiff and split down the middle by a dualistic gnosticism that says "this material world is bad, the spiritual world is good. Only what is 'supernatural' is good. Whatever is 'natural' is bad." Tim Keller talks about how Jesus is the happy ending to every community's cultural narrative. Today I saw how Jesus breathes life into his design for us to worship Him with rhythm. And besides, it was all still pretty tame compared to the church in Africa...
-Chris Burton on the changing scene of church in America
Exactly. It's not only non-Christians who feel that the invitation is hollow...
Our breadth of incarnation has been insufficient. Meeting with God happens no more on Sunday morning than on Friday night. Everything is sacramental, every moment "charged with the grandeur of God." And yet, Sunday morning or Saturday night, or whenever the church gathers for worship, is special, or should be special. It is not so much the place to come meet with God as it is the place to come and celebrate having been met by God and to find the context for and learn the shape of what it means to be God's image out there in the world.
This morning in church we danced. Not the palm leaves, people with banners in the aisles, and tambourines kind of dancing (not that there's anything wrong with tambourines per se), but the all we needed was a strobe light and some turntables kind of dancing. And it was beautiful. Not because people were so holy and so spiritual that they had ascended to the heights of "holy dancing" or "holy laughter" or any other imaginary spiritual watermark, but because we are material beings who live in bodies that engage in life with God and life with others through the bodies God has given us by seeing and eating, singing and dancing. Much of Christian subculture has been stiff and split down the middle by a dualistic gnosticism that says "this material world is bad, the spiritual world is good. Only what is 'supernatural' is good. Whatever is 'natural' is bad." Tim Keller talks about how Jesus is the happy ending to every community's cultural narrative. Today I saw how Jesus breathes life into his design for us to worship Him with rhythm. And besides, it was all still pretty tame compared to the church in Africa...
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Light and Heat for the Path
This is from a professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Kevin Vanhoozer, from the beginning of an essay in the March 2005, edition of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society entitled "Lost in Interpretation? Truth, Scripture, And Hermeneutics". I'm looking forward to the rest of the article, but I thought this first part was too good not to share! (italics mine)
There has been too much wrangling over whether evangelicalism is a matter of doctrine or piety, the head or the heart. Those who see the essence of evangelicalism in pietistic terms tend to see the Bible primarily as a means of spiritual sustenance. Those who see the essence of evangelicalism in doctrinal terms tend to see the Bible primarily as a means of propositional communication. It is neither necessary nor advisable to take sides in this debate. Indeed, to do so is to reduce, and so distort, the very concept of biblical and doctrinal truth. Let no one put asunder what God has joined together. Far better to see the Christian life as a way where head and heart come together to get the feet moving. Evangelicals need to put feet on the gospel, and on our doctrine. Evangelical theology should provide direction for walking the way of truth and life.
There has been too much wrangling over whether evangelicalism is a matter of doctrine or piety, the head or the heart. Those who see the essence of evangelicalism in pietistic terms tend to see the Bible primarily as a means of spiritual sustenance. Those who see the essence of evangelicalism in doctrinal terms tend to see the Bible primarily as a means of propositional communication. It is neither necessary nor advisable to take sides in this debate. Indeed, to do so is to reduce, and so distort, the very concept of biblical and doctrinal truth. Let no one put asunder what God has joined together. Far better to see the Christian life as a way where head and heart come together to get the feet moving. Evangelicals need to put feet on the gospel, and on our doctrine. Evangelical theology should provide direction for walking the way of truth and life.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Truth, Knowledge and Communication
Some thoughts on some quotes from Faith Thinking, by Trevor Hart, pp. 92-95.
Although the "ideal of truth as absolute certainty, knowledge as a subjugation of reality by the mind, and true statements as a direct and exhaustive mirroring of reality in propositional form" is an ideal which cannot be attained, "least of all where God is concerned, ...knowledge does not need to be absolutely certain nor (do) statements (need to be) precise verbal representations in order for there to be true knowledge and speech which bears appropriately upon the world."
For all the science folks out there, I would put it like this: at the beginning of college you learn certain equations and models for evaluating things that happen in the world around you, but these equations and models on approximate an actual situation. Towards the end of college your equations and models become more sophisticated, with more variables, constants, coefficients, and even more sophisticated approximations, but you're still approximating to a certain extent. That's why there are safety factors in engineering, to provide buffer for all the things that your approximations might have misjudged.
Now, just because a scientist or engineer can only really just refine and reshape all these approximate models and equations doesn't mean that the effort is pointless and better left to the backyard mechanic who finds a way to make it work for himself and his situation. There are discoverable reasons he is able to "make it work," and the pursuits of those reasons are worthwhile, and even authoritative to a certain extent, even if they are only approximate.
The references outside the system of Christian theology are "the very thing(s) with which Christian theology begins and ends: namely the claim that an extra-systematic reality is indeed to be known here; not on the basis of human endeavor and self-transcendence alone or as such, but because he makes himself know in particular ways, times and places. The claim, in other words, that God has revealed himself. Such a claim may well be impossible to prove or to demonstrate in 'public' fashion, but it furnishes the very starting point for theological activity as a passionate, committed quest for further understanding and truth. . . For if God has indeed spoken or acted in such a way as to give himself to be known here, then to withhold or suspend fiduciary commitment to this story as public truth is to fail in one's moral responsibility in the face of reality."
It is ridiculous and foolish to deal with the system of Christian theology as if it had no meaningful references or sources outside its collections of propositions and doctrines, as if it were just a "value meal" among "value meals" with no connection to the cow or potato or food distribution warehouse from which it came. The system of Christian theology claims a source outside itself, rooted in the public and observable, even if it still open to interpretation in public. To ignore Christian theology's claim on reality while seeking to do Christian theology is not to do Christian theology at all. It is as if, stranded in the wilderness, one said to one's family "Well, we believe that we are stranded in the wilderness so let's use these resources we have to make it out" while saying to and of others, "They may not believe they're stranded in the wilderness, and they could be right, so we'll not bother them too much. I'm sure they'll work things out as what's best for them, and maybe we can learn something from them too." It may still be a theology of some sort, but not of the Christian sort.
Although the "ideal of truth as absolute certainty, knowledge as a subjugation of reality by the mind, and true statements as a direct and exhaustive mirroring of reality in propositional form" is an ideal which cannot be attained, "least of all where God is concerned, ...knowledge does not need to be absolutely certain nor (do) statements (need to be) precise verbal representations in order for there to be true knowledge and speech which bears appropriately upon the world."
For all the science folks out there, I would put it like this: at the beginning of college you learn certain equations and models for evaluating things that happen in the world around you, but these equations and models on approximate an actual situation. Towards the end of college your equations and models become more sophisticated, with more variables, constants, coefficients, and even more sophisticated approximations, but you're still approximating to a certain extent. That's why there are safety factors in engineering, to provide buffer for all the things that your approximations might have misjudged.
Now, just because a scientist or engineer can only really just refine and reshape all these approximate models and equations doesn't mean that the effort is pointless and better left to the backyard mechanic who finds a way to make it work for himself and his situation. There are discoverable reasons he is able to "make it work," and the pursuits of those reasons are worthwhile, and even authoritative to a certain extent, even if they are only approximate.
The references outside the system of Christian theology are "the very thing(s) with which Christian theology begins and ends: namely the claim that an extra-systematic reality is indeed to be known here; not on the basis of human endeavor and self-transcendence alone or as such, but because he makes himself know in particular ways, times and places. The claim, in other words, that God has revealed himself. Such a claim may well be impossible to prove or to demonstrate in 'public' fashion, but it furnishes the very starting point for theological activity as a passionate, committed quest for further understanding and truth. . . For if God has indeed spoken or acted in such a way as to give himself to be known here, then to withhold or suspend fiduciary commitment to this story as public truth is to fail in one's moral responsibility in the face of reality."
It is ridiculous and foolish to deal with the system of Christian theology as if it had no meaningful references or sources outside its collections of propositions and doctrines, as if it were just a "value meal" among "value meals" with no connection to the cow or potato or food distribution warehouse from which it came. The system of Christian theology claims a source outside itself, rooted in the public and observable, even if it still open to interpretation in public. To ignore Christian theology's claim on reality while seeking to do Christian theology is not to do Christian theology at all. It is as if, stranded in the wilderness, one said to one's family "Well, we believe that we are stranded in the wilderness so let's use these resources we have to make it out" while saying to and of others, "They may not believe they're stranded in the wilderness, and they could be right, so we'll not bother them too much. I'm sure they'll work things out as what's best for them, and maybe we can learn something from them too." It may still be a theology of some sort, but not of the Christian sort.
Monday, February 05, 2007
ugh...this one is hard
Here's a Bible quiz that Alastair Roberts created after he conquered all the others. It's quite challenging. How do you fair?
You rank 53% on the biblical comprehension scale.
Good work. You obviously know your Bible well. However, there remains plenty of room for improvement. Close attention to the details of Scripture can result in great rewards over time. Perhaps a more focused Bible study plan would help you improve your level of biblical comprehension.
How Well Do You Know Your Bible?
Quizzes for MySpace
Sunday, February 04, 2007
"The Bible says it, and that settles it!"
So my friend and I were talking about the meaning and nature of language over a bowl of red curry today, and I said something to the effect of, "It makes me nervous sometimes when I hear people pick up their Bible, read a short story or a couple of verses, and matter-of-factly say 'The Bible says ____, and that settles it.' We're so far away from the cultural context of the New Testament at the least, not to mention the range of cultural settings in the Old Testament, that if it weren't for the sovereign and active work of the Holy Spirit and all the elements of common grace, it would be very difficult for the Bible to mean anything to us at all."
As I was cleaning my room up a little bit, and even as I am writing this, I think that I had overplayed in my mind the enormity of the influence of such a cultural divide and downplayed the extent of the Spirit's work and of elements of common grace in any and every age and culture. The Spirit has in fact been at work both in the academy and on the streets and in the jungles to enlighten and to teach, to open up the Scriptures as Jesus did on the road to Emmaus, and to cross cultural divides as Paul did on Mars Hill. Truth is not out of reach for anyone to receive and believe, even though our hands are not so big as to hold it all at once.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Jesus loves porn stars, just in case you were inclined to think otherwise...
Several friends of mine have been telling me about these guys who go to porn conventions and tell people that "Jesus loves porn stars." So, when I saw that they would be on ABC Nightline with Martin Bashir, I put down the remote paid attention for a few minutes.Basically, XXXChurch.com started as a web resource for Christians struggling with pornography, but changed courses a bit when the founders, Craig Gross and JR Mahon, decided to set up a booth (not unlike my organizations "FSK tables") where they handed out New Testaments with "Jesus loves porn stars" on the cover.
The Nightline interview seemed to focus heavily on their impact, or lack thereof, on the porn industry, to which they replied that they weren't trying to stop the porn industry, just inform and educate. By which they meant, I assume, to inform and educate as to the destructive capacities of pornography and the restorative and redemptive power of the Gospel. Mahon and Gross weren't as articulate and insightful as I hoped they would be (but would I be on national television?). But, their actions, of course, were the most telling, which is exactly what they would want, I'm sure. They stand in good company with others that have dined with prostitutes and tax collectors...
While they had some great things to say about pornography and the sex industry, their most powerful confrontation came not in the parking lot of the adult video store but in the front lawn of the local church. In a clear and passionate prophetic voice they said,
"The church is good at sitting in their pews and judging the world, but if you really want to change the world, get off your butts, get out into the community, and do something for a fellow human being. If you're not doing that, and you're just sitting in your pews raising your hands and praising God, then you're not really doing even that." (my rough paraphrase)
It reminded me of something else someone said along the same lines:
If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. - James, Jesus' brother, from James 2:8-13
And from Jesus' closest disciple John,
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. - 1 John 3:16-18
If you want the scoop from Nightline, check it out here:
ABC News: The Porn Pastors: XXXChurch.com
If you do anything with this information, pray for these guys and all the ones that labor with them. Pray that God would use them and their living out of and proclamation of the Gospel to bring real transformation and freedom and that He would protect them from temptation. They are right in the middle of all sorts of spiritual battles. And then pray for yourselves, that the Spirit of Jesus would show you how you might grow in faithfulness, purity, and how to love "in deed and in truth."
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
some words on The Word
Excerpts from the Edwardian Homilies of the English Reformation as issued by Edward VI of England and composed by Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1547. Cranmer was martyred 9 years later after the Pope regained control of England.
Taken from Creeds of the Churches, edited by John Leith, gifted to me by my friend Kat as bathroom reading material... :)
A Fruitful Exhoration to the Reading and Knowledge of Holy Scripture
Unto a Christian man (or woman) there can be nothing either more necessary or profitable, than the knowledge of holy scripture, forasmuch as in it is contained God's true word, setting forth his glory, and also man's duty. And there is no truth nor doctrine necessary for our justification and everlasting salvation, but that is, or may be drawn out of that fountain and well of truth.
Therefore as many as be sesirous to enter into the right and perfect way unto God, must apply thier minds to know holy scritpure; without the which, they can neither sufficiently know God and his will, neither their office and duty. And as drink is pleasant to them that be dry, and meat to them that be hungry; so is the reading, heargin, searching, and studying of holy scripture, to them that be desirous to know God, or themselves, and to do his will.
And their stomachs only do loathe and abhor the heavenly knowledge and food of God's word, that be so drowned in worldly vanities, that they neither savour God, nor any godliness: for that is the cause why they desire such vanities, rather than the true knowledge of God.
And in reading of God's word, he most profiteth not always that is most ready in turning of the book, or in saying of it without the book; but he that is most turned into it, that is most inspiried with the Holy Ghost, most in his heart and life altered and changed into that thing which he readeth; he that is daily less and less proud, less wrathful, less covetous, and less desirous of worldly and vain pleasures; he that daily (forsaking his old vicious life) increaseth in virtue more and more.
And, to be short, there is nothing that more maintaineth godliness of the mind, and driveth away ungodliness, than doth the continual reading or hearing of God's word, if it be joined with a godly mind, and a good affection to know and follow God's will. For without a single eye, pure intent, and good mind, nothing is allowed for good before God. And, on the other side, nothing more darkeneth Christ and the glory of God, nor bringeth in more blindness and all kinds of vices, than doth the ignorance of God's word.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
2+2=Jesus
I'm working it out.
I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm working it out.
You see, some things are really hot right now. Social justice, redemptive history, church-planting movements, the "kingdom". It's not a time for specialists; there's too much to think about, to do. It's not a time for generalists either, one wouldn't even know where to begin.
People keep telling me that it's all about Jesus. I believe them, I do. 'Cause it is, you know, all about Jesus. I mean, he said it himself, "This is eternal life, that they would know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." And, whatever he meant by "knowing" and "eternal life", it certainly seems like He takes center stage and first place and number one and everything up to those.
So, I'm working out. Certainly Jesus didn't mean that it's just him and me and no one else or nothing else, but, shoot, what the heck did he mean?
I mean, I was thinking: What if knowing involves doing? and thinking? and speaking? and working? and resting? and worshiping? Didn't Jesus say, "He who loves me will keep my commandments, and I will show myself to him, and the Father and I will come to him and make our home with him"?
To borrow a phrase from Brother Andrew, "practising the presence of God" seems to involve some external activity as well as internal. John said that when Jesus returns we will become like Him, "because we will see him just as he is." With our eyes, the ones in our head, I expect. Kinda like when you see something indescribably beautiful or terrifyingly hideous, you don't recover from that too quickly. But when we finally see Jesus, with the eyes in our head, then we will be changed, permanently. Not just on the inside, but all over and all throughout, forever.
So, what if we know Jesus through our hands too? I mean, not perfectly right now of course, but a little bit, like when we see a sunset and worship its maker, or when we listen to Sufjan Steven's rendition of Amazing Grace and worship the one who makes grace sound so amazingly sweet. I think that our hands can be conduits of knowing too. Just ask Helen Keller. Or rather, touch her hands.
It is the Spirit who moves in hands and feet and words and images to bring the mind to apprehend and the heart to engage the mind and heart and spirit of Christ.
Would I think Jesus' thoughts after him? Would I work his works? Would I pray his prayers? Would I speak his words? Would I then know him?
Theology proper is the study of God, who he is, what he is, why he is, where he is, how he is. You get the picture. But is that all you get? Is that all I get? Is God like history? or math? or biology? or music? or art? or a good story? Can I know God without knowing anything about him? Can I know anything about God without knowing Him?
The world is theo-centric, and in the center are two pierced hands and two pierced feet and a bleeding side. Put your feet on his. Put your hands to his. Hide yourself in his side and step out into his world with a calculator. He is the sum of all things.
"Worship is the gathering up the praises of all creation, making them articulate, and presenting them to God." - N. T. Wright
Grab your baskets.
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