Healing Malchus

When Heaven and Earth Collide

2007-06-20T11:18:00.000-06:00

My birthday is Thursday, but I received the present from my wife over a month ago.

As backstory, I built a band with many of my friends when I was in high school. It lasted through college, and even into my adult years. It stands as one of the most important times in my life. It was a time when I got together with other men my age. We spent time praying, sharing our struggles with faith, sex, and the world around us. We rehearsed regularly and played as often as three or four times a week in bars, clubs and churches around Colorado.

The brotherhood created through that band is one of the true treasures of my life. I have a few photographs from our time together on the walls of my office. They are reminders to me of so many things. Things I could express like friendship and pleasure, and things I can’t express but are hinted at by words like joy, thankfulness, regret.

The last show I played with TMJ didn’t end as it should have. I had been in a fight with one of my best friends about how things were being handled in our band. I was transitioning into grad school and marriage, and as the show concluded it suddenly felt like something I had worked to build--had enjoyed for seven years--simply evaporated before me. My best reasonings said it was just time to grow up. But my heart has been saying that things ought to have been different ever since.

Even in regret life moves on. I still saw many of my bandmates regularly, but not in musical settings. As my birthday approached I had some conversations with a few them about old times. On a recent occasion, one of them slipped me a tape from a show we did in 1998. I happened to be going on a retreat that weekend and had 10 hours to fill. Driving there and back I must have listened to that tape 20 times, singing our songs at the top of my lungs and just reliving a show that at the time was just another weekend gig.

Around midnight, as I drove home, I recall praying in my car and briefly asking that when God raised me to life again--when all things were restored and made whole--I would just like to play with my band again. There is very little else in the world I would treasure as much.

I suppose, the ache of joy once experienced, discarded, and now placed in a future hopes is the story that the Bible tells from cover to cover.

As is frequently the case with God, he had begun answering my prayers months before hand, and in the middle of May my beautiful bride assembled all the players from the later days of my band. She drew together people from around the country back into one of our favorite little venues and invited all our closest friends to participate in one last trumpmotherjones show.

Before we began our show, we stopped to pray, and it all struck me. I saw that my prayer had been answered. That my last show was not the one six years earlier that ended so poorly, it was this one which was surrounded by a spirit of joy and togetherness. I stood, there with my brothers, and heaven was engulf all the space around us. We were standing in the presence of our savior, with our friends, with our family. I was experiencing now, what it would be like then. “May your will be done on earth at it is in heaven.”

It was a profound illustration to me of God’s dream for our broken world. One day we will be raised to life, the everlasting life to come, and then all the hints and experiences of fleeting joy will culminate. We will see that we were always in heaven seeing the shadows and the edges breaking into our backstory.

I suppose I won’t have to proposition Jesus for the opportunity to gig with my band again. I have already seen and experienced now, what things will be like then, when all things are restored, even Colorado funk bands. A TMJ reunion is a given even if we don't play again in my lifetime.

The question now is whether or not we get to play for the company of Heaven (which is a whole new request). But the most enjoyable setting I can think to play won't be in that grand arena. It will be in a small practice room somewhere, and in it will seven guys sharing life, reminding each other of times from long ago, just being together.

Creedal Christianity

2007-06-19T14:19:00.000-06:00

I'm just pompous enough to think this is a good idea.

This is an attempt to begin a contemporary creed. By no means do I think I could (or should) be the only author of such a statement. Nor do I think it would have much impact if I were. This is more of an experiment. I want to see theologians today draw a map of Christianity. I want to see where we put our own emphases. Where we sketch the lines. The best thing that could happen is that it would go out and folks would begin altering it wikipedia style. Perhaps this will serves as an adequate skeleton.

This initial offering focuses on trinitarian orthodoxy, ecclesiastic unity, and communal redemption. As a beginning point, these seem to me three points of Christianity which are non-negotiable.

The philosophy behind this statement is to affirm Christianity in its most fundamental form. There are many topics worthy of inclusion, but which do not strike me as essential to one being a Christian. I desire this creed to articulate the raw Christian worldview, and allow freedom and openness for exploration in other matters. Theology is an alive science: these are the borders as I see them:

"We are united in these essentials; gracious and tolerant toward other non-essentials, and in all things charitable toward our brothers and sisters who are pursuing God and his wondrous love.

God is real and utterly in love with you and I.

God can be known and enjoyed. God has been known and enjoyed through out history. God can be known and enjoyed through our reason, our experiences, and the experiences of other God-followers. We know God best through the life and teaching of Jesus.

Jesus is God. The Father to whom Jesus prays is God. The Love--the Spirit--that exists between the Father and Jesus is God. God is three, three personalities who each are God. God is one, one divine essence. God is a diversity of persons: three members; God is a unity of substance: one divine being. Threeness is the way the One God actually is. There is no God but the Father, Son, and Spirit, bound together in community, devotion, and love throughout eternity.

The universe and all humanity are the creation of God. The universe was made for no other reason than to create a family of loving personalities with God himself as the architect, sustainer, and most glorious inhabitant. We are made to imitate God. In reflecting God, we meet the purpose for our creation: being in community with God and with each other and with God's creation. This community of love, fellowship, and joy will last forever.

Something has gone wrong. Humanity is born into a cycle of failure that has characterized human existence from the beginning. Created by God, we are good. But humanity--initially, as a whole, and individually--has chosen to reject the community God offers with himself and with each other. We are made to reflect God's love and goodness, but the most essential aspects of ourselves reject this. Our failure to reflect God is known as sin. Sin is essentially that which destroys the community we share with God and with one another. Sin has found lodging within all human beings. We all sin and desire to continue sinning, and are each aware of our personal participation in sin as an outworking of our choices, attitudes and actions.

Because of sin, we have been alienated from God, from real intimacy with one another, from harmony and joy within the creation as a whole, and from the purpose for which God created us. Because of sin, we have been enslaved. Our hearts are dark and our wills are corrupt. Because of sin, we have become depraved, and we are unable to remedy our dire situation. The problem of sin extends to the core of our being and cannot be solved by any effort we might muster.

God desires deeply to free us and set all things right again because, despite our state, each person matters to God. God--the Son--became a human being to free us from sin and its consequences. Jesus' death has restored the relationship we were made to share with God; He bears the cost of transforming us from God's enemies to his friends. Jesus' teaching show us how we may walk in that relationship with God and each other as we are meant to. And Jesus life is the supreme example of a human living in the image of God. By the power of God's Spirit, we are each being made more like Jesus that we may love each other and enjoy the community of God.

Jesus reveals God's essence and his design for human life; He discloses God's intention for humanity: life-in-community; and in calling His hearers to enter the kingdom of God by repenting and believing the Gospel, Jesus established the foundation for participation in the community of God. Jesus' entire life, death, and resurrection mark his work in originating the eternal community of God. Until the day he returns, Jesus continues to unite and lead the community of God through his ongoing presence, and the Spirit of God living in each follower.

Our best response is to give our whole self to Jesus, to love one another, and to live our lives as a wholistic community dedicated to one another, the good of the world, and the God who makes us alive. In doing so, we will fulfill--as best we can--the intention God had in creating us, loving us, and dying that we might live."

Please contribute by posting, or bet yet take it and post your additions somewhere else.

Inspiring Humor

2006-11-01T20:31:00.000-07:00

This was an article run by The Onion recently. Its humorous. It plays on Christians, and thank God the thing we are being made fun of is not controlling people, scaring people into hell, telling people, "This world is not my home I'm looking forward to being sucked out of it. " No, here it is a group of young men going beyond to make their world beautiful and bless someone else. Thank God.

Christian Rock Band Cleans Up Hotel Room

October 16, 2006 | Issue 42•42

WAYCROSS, GA—Hotel staff at the Highway 82 Best Western found the suite occupied over the weekend by members of the Christian rock band Ruggid Krøss swept, dusted, scrubbed, and readied for immediate occupancy. "Bands have come through here before, but I've never seen anything like this," said housekeeping supervisor Maria Konieczna, who was called to the scene after maids expressed alarm at the carefully mended furniture, retouched bathroom-wall paint, and hospital corners the five-member evangelical group inflicted on the hotel's property. "The television was lifted up, dusted under, Windexed, and placed carefully back in the cabinet. Plus they apparently had our towels professionally laundered at their own expense. There's nothing in the manual about dealing with this type of propriety." Hotel staff are attempting to contact Ruggid Krøss' manager to return the six extra Gideon's Bibles they left in the suite's nightstands.

Click here for Link

Mere Wright

2006-10-16T10:07:00.000-06:00

(A Review of "Simply Christian" by N.T. Wright)

You know you are reading a good book when you look back and every other line is highlighted. Though I didn't enjoy this book as much as I have other books by Wright, it is certainly a welcome edition to his works.

The comparisons to C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity" are over exaggerated. This is not that book, nor should it be. Expecting Wright to be Lewis is like expecting Spielberg to be Shakespeare. Spielberg is a bad ass of a different sort than Shakespeare, even though they both tell good tales. "Mere Christianity" is C.S. Lewis's Magnum Opus. This is not Wright's. See his "Christian Origins and the Question of God" for that.

This book serves as a wonderful introduction to the thoughts of Wright. He emphasizes those places where contemporary Christians need to think again, while laying out his amazing view of what Christianity is. He re-affirms what we ought to emphasize in our thoughts about Jesus, his Jewish roots, and the Church now. His chapter on Israel is worth the price of the book.

Though this is far more common today in Jesus scholarship, Wright is the king of placing Jesus in historic Jewish, faithful context. Jesus is not a modern or a medieval man. He is a first century peasant who loved the story of Yahweh and found his identity therein.

The most valuable material here is Wright's future perspective. He knows that the Bible does not teach that Christ Followers will be sucked up into some ethereal heaven when they die. He instead makes case for the resurrection of believers and their work now between the resurrection and return of Christ. This is one of the top 3 books I would offer for someone interested in knowing what Christianity is. Read it! It will give you a beautifully grounded perspective that is not just about me and my salvation.

Home Show Article

2006-10-13T11:06:00.000-06:00

(From the UNC Mirror 10.11.06)

Church invites community to submit art for charity

Atlas Church, 829 16th St., will host an art show and auction for charity on Friday. The church will donate the proceeds of the auction to a homeless family in Greeley. Event coordinators invite all artists to submit art to auction and the community to attend the show.

by Christina Romero

October 11, 2006

A Greeley church has invited all artists to get their work into the public, join a supportive art community and help the homeless through an art show and auction on Friday.

The Atlas Church, 829 16th St., will hold the art show, donating the proceeds to Habitat for Humanity.

“It’s a chance for artists to make a difference in the world through their works,” Chris Mclean, the director of the art show, said.

The theme for the show is “Home,” and all the money made from the art will go to a homeless family in Greeley. The church invites everyone who can submit art and view the show to participate.

Atlas church pastor Jeff Cook talked about what he wants the students of the University of Northern Colorado to understand about the homeless.

“The biggest thing we would like the student body to know is that there are poor, hurting families less than two or three minutes from UNC who have real needs,” he said. “Each of us have skills that if we are simply available can meet those needs. We long for artists, musicians, dancers, writers to give what they have, not only so we can build an art scene in Greeley, but so we can build a home for the poorest families in our area.”

The art show is set up as an auction where anyone can purchase a piece of art. Anyone who wants to submit art must register with the director of the show, Chris Mclean. There is no registration fee, but tickets will be available for reservation for any potential auctioneers. All artists or spectators must call Chris Mclean at 970-405-2238 or e-mail him at mosaicartshow@gmail.com to participate.

Atlas will also host a food drive at 6 p.m. on Nov. 17. The community is invited to bring canned food and non-perishables to donate to the Weld County Food Bank. The church also invites people to help Greeley’s homeless by donating mittens and coats for children at 6 p.m. on Jan. 5.

In the News

2006-07-10T12:41:00.000-06:00

Not that I care much about publicity, nor do I think many of the folks who would get into Atlas read the Greeley Tribune, but our local paper ran an article on a series of concerts we promote in our building. It was unsolicited and very complementary.

The last paragraph is a quote from one of the girls who came to a show, and it expressed precisely what we are seeking to do with the space. She said, "Lots of different kids are drawn because of the music, but it's more than just the music. You get to know people that you may never have known otherwise. It sounds sort of unrealistic, but because of that common ground, I've met some people that have become very close friends."

I found out later that this girl is a Christian, but what if the folks she is interacting with aren't yet. What if the relationships created are meaningful and real commonalities are discovered. What if the Holy Spirit has a chance to work in those relationships because a church simply opens up its doors and created events meaningful to those who are not yet in Christ.

We ought to ask ourselves constantly if the space we take up with our church buildings is good news, no news, or bad news for those in the surrounding area. I have often felt like when Atlas moved into the old Beetle Beanery (one of Greeley's most beloved buildings) that there was a collective groan. It feels like we are just now slowy breaking out of that. I hope for nothing less than a future where the people in and around the university look at our building and the people who occupy it and say, "I am so glad those people are there. They bring so much life, and service, and energy, and blessing to our area."

A Yellow Argument for God's existence

2006-06-14T22:37:00.000-06:00

Click Here

2006-06-14T22:00:00.000-06:00

"All are welcome to come to Jesus and his community as they are. The church should be a hospital for sick sinners, not a museum for saints. But no one is welcome to stay as they are, whatever their particular sins. Nor should they expect the church to baptize their sins and call them good. "

- Ben Witherington

Diamonds and a lot of rough

2006-06-08T09:16:00.000-06:00

(I am going to begin doing book reviews at least once a month. This is the first of that series. I realize some of the stuff I read won't be relevant to everyone, but I hope to get a solid mix going.)

Book Review: Confessions of a Reformission Rev. by Mark Driscoll

This book isn’t for everybody, but it is for some. It deserves a medium recommendation because despite the many places this book fails, occasionally Driscoll hits gem insights.

Focusing heavily on the good aspects first, Driscoll’s structure (chapters which focus on different stages of growth: 0-45 people, 45-75, 75-150, etc.) combined with the story of personally wrestling with growth issues make the book enjoyable and highly readable. I finished it very quickly, and I am not a quick reader.

Structurally, the introduction stands alone proposing a series of distinctions in Christian ministry today: some of them are helpful (“Will your church be attractional, missional or both?”), some of them are a step backward (IE – “Will your church be an emergent liberal church or an emerging evangelical church?”). Driscoll is highly gifted in systematic thinking which makes his ability to draw distinctions over and again a common feature of the book. This both helps and hinders his cause. Seeing that one can be both attractional and missional is an original insight which flies in the face of much thinking in emerging circles. On the other hand, his knee-jerk tendency to over-emphasize second tier issues and throw sledgehammers at Christians who do not hold to a boldly conservative hermeneutic destroy his credibility as a first tier leader of emerging churches.

Driscoll’s self-analysis is quite helpful when he deconstructs the role of a senior pastor and redefines how he sees the vocation, for example, “I have accepted that I am not much of a pastor but rather a missiologist studying the city who leads a church filled with missionaries who reach the city with pastors who care for converts” (52).

His analysis of where churches focus their energies—dreaming, managing, justifying failures, and dying—is keen stuff. Driscoll encourages church leaders to never settle in the management comfort zone, but to consistently push the bar higher. If we do not, he rightly asserts, we are inviting stagnation or death.

On the downside, Driscoll is obsessed with his sexuality (a misplaced theme through out this book). He often comes across as the fundamentalist who annoys you most on CNN or Fox News: not because he is wrong, but because he has no tact. His tendency to demean people who have beliefs or behaviors he objects to often leads to dangerous overstatements. An example from the intro was that one’s belief in hell actually has salvific ramifications (“I am particularly concerned with…the questioning of a literal eternal torment in hell, which is a denial that holds up until, in an ironic bummer, you die and find yourself in hell” (22).) I assume Driscoll doesn't think believing in hell gets you into heaven, but if read "literally" his statements leaves that impression. (Who, by the way, doesn't long deeply that hell doesn't exist? It seems that one of the marks of a compassionate individual would be questioning "eternal torment" even if at the end of the day your views look more like Dante than CS Lewis.)

But the book hits its lows when Driscoll starts swinging prescriptive ethics like a club, demeaning people caught in a cycle of sin or theological confusion. He thinks his banter is humorous; it is actually base and cruel. Ironically in the last few pages he feels compelled to put forward all his own struggles asking for sympathy. It seems to be the mark of a particular sort of bad man who fragrantly insults those wrapped in moral failure, then turns and asks for pity for their own sin. I hope I miss read him on this front.

Thankfully, most of the readers of this book will be mature believers, primarily pastors who will easily slide over Driscoll’s over-exaggerations, self absorption, and straight out mean-spiritedness. If you buy it, cherish the good when you find it cause there is much to be discarded.

If I Could Make a Movie

2006-05-26T10:01:00.000-06:00

The situation is ripe to make a new movie about Jesus in the style of Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet. If you remember, Luhrmann took the story with its Shakespearean dialogue and simply placed it in a contemporary European setting. The effect was quite beautiful, and many of the details we might have missed if it were placed in the year 1600 were revealed quite powerfully in the film.

If I had the cash and skills and time and know how, I would make a movie in the same style about Jesus with the setting in Iraq. Though I am not very passionate about the war in Iraq, there are some very interesting parallels that would display the socio-political realities of Jesus own day very well.

Iraq is a country with a rich but broken religious tradition. It is occupied by the world's lone empire. The question on the minds of Iraqis seems to be how do we react to this occupying force. There is a zealot element using violence to promote its end. The religious order is torn between differing responses to the problems. There is a complex relationship between the leaders of Iraq and the ambassadors from the US. Most look and just see a disparaging situation. The backdrop in many ways is amazingly similar.

Imagine a film in which a charasmatic personality from the Muslim community began to speak of a new way of being human, a new way of loving God. Imagine that he spoke of a new Kingdom where bombs and tanks and sabers were irrelevant. Where power was illusory for the world is God's. Imagine that he began to draw people to hear him in the market square, but that he had to hide because of the violent nature of those who opposed him. He in fact had to speak in parable so that he would be understood, but vaguely. We might imagine him saving a woman caught in adultry waiting to be stoned (as is still common). We might imagine him healing those who have been wounded by a dysfunctional world and dysfunctional rulers. Imagine that he went about the streets of Baghdad simply doing good and proclaiming a better way. Perhaps he tells a story of the "Good Jew" who stopped to heal a man on the side of the road who had been beaten and left for dead. Perhaps he stands in the mosques of his day to call Muslims back to the God who is real.

Passion week might be difficult to orchestrate because the US doesn't govern the way Rome did. Handing a man over to the US to be executed would be hard to realistically pull off, but there could be some bad guys in the story. Allowing the zealots to cut Jesus' head off may be too easy. Hanging his body from the highway bridges (as some Americans were in Fallujah) would be more in line with the idea of the cross, surrounded by the mobs, on the traveled road of the day for all to see.

Though my movie may never be made, the long and short is that both the US and the Muslim community need a man of peace to step into their midst to reveal a better way. He will have to be a man of courage for he will be immidiately opposed, but just maybe he will gather followers to his side, and over time his reflection of Jesus will bring new insite and a pattern to follow into that broken region.

Worship as a Means

2006-05-18T11:20:00.000-06:00

(Originally written for purposedriven.com)

The last few messages I have heard on worship have discussed the similarity between our praise of God and the union of husband and wife in sexual intercourse. In both activities, the lover is giving all of one's self to the other in passionate devotion. The self-giving of both sex and authentic worship result in a unique happiness we experience no where else. Aristotle rightly saw such happiness as an end in itself. Such experiences are valuable for their own sake.

As a pastor, I have responded to this idea by gearing my teachings to culminate with an entrance into worship. Most of my teachings end with a release of our people to praise God through song, confession, or communion. The worship experience is the goal of all we do on Sundays.

Recently, however, I have found a place for worship not just as an end, but as a means. That is worship also has utility. It is valuable in accomplishing other things of high worth.

Perhaps we could bring back the sex metaphor again. Though there is inherent value in a husband and wife coming together in sexual union, in some instances that union produces a child. That is, the act of sex is both an end (an expression of joy between husband and wife) and a means (an activity which births a human soul). Worship too is valuable for its own sake, but I wonder deeply whether it may in fact be useful in overcoming some of the difficulties we experience as Christ followers.

In my opinion, the most troublesome characteristic of the church today, and through history, has been its infighting and division. Some times this has lead to differing church buildings on the same block. Some times it has lead to gunfire.

Because we have such different lives and such different experiences of the God who is real, it is no wonder that what we hold as primary in our theologies are different. God interacts with us where we are, with our specific baggage, predispositions, and struggles. Often this affects what we see as important in our theologies, what we see as problematic, and what we conclude is most worthy of our time and focus. Aside from irrelevant power structures, it seems that these differences, more than anything else, are what separate Christians of good faith. It is not that one side is wrong and the other is right. It is that God is working on us in deeply relevant ways which effect how we think about him and his activity in the world.

As an example, some of my favorite books recently are those published by Zondervan in which scholars from differing denominational backgrounds debate theological topics (Sanctification, Hell, Law and Gospel, Women in Ministry, etc.). The amazing thing is that all the scholars are absolutely committed to the authority of the Bible. All of their arguments proceed from its pages. In the end, however, these scholars come to differing, some times opposite conclusions about what God affirms.

How is this possible? How is it that we can be united to a common savior, a common history, a common text, common creeds and still find such divisions? Certainly such divisions hurt the very God we love, especially when such differences lead to schisms between Christ followers. How can we resolve this problem?

It seems to me that it is in shared worship that we will unite in ways that are beyond words and ideas. We can, despite our difference, encounter the same God together and find ourselves united in ways that mere concepts cannot provide. Through worship, we can experience God together in ways that are fresh, that transcend many of the places we find ourselves at odds.

NT Wright and Marcus Borg begin their wonderful book "The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions" by taking communion with one another. Despite their deep differences in their historic understanding of Jesus, theology, and practice, they still could share the same table in common devotion to the Jesus who is real. Many large church conferences offer similar opportunities when laity and clergy from quite different perspectives and theological commitments can sing the same song and worship the same God, even though their theologies may be for the moment incompatible.

It is because we do not worship an Idea--do not worship a systematic theology--that this is possible. We worship a Person: three in fact. The Trinity is alive and active, shrouded in mystery yet vibrantly present to all. Because God is personal and not ideological it is no offense to him if we worship with those who have different thoughts. In the end, our doctrines are simply maps or pictures by which to guide us toward God, but at the end of the day, we must--along side Thomas Aquinas--see them as "just so much straw." It is the actual living God that is important and our shared participation in his life.

May we take more opportunities to receive Communion with our brothers and sisters from different denominations and backgrounds. May we find places to sing together, serve together, and love a broken world together. They will know we are Christians, not because of our unified thought. They will know we are Christians because we love one another. Through out the New Testament, the shared meal--the Jesus meal--is the symbol of love. It is easy to love those who are like us. The real test of our transformation as Christ followers is whether we love those who are different.

As we move into a post-denominational world, it is through worship that Christ followers will find their shared identity.

Pictures by seminary student Mike G here.

Ranting on Things I Know Nothing About...

2006-05-11T03:32:00.000-06:00

So I used to listened to political commentary 24/7, but I have been thankfully nauseated by most of American politics recently and it has allowed me to get on with my life. However, the immigration issue--of which I have little knowledge or experience--has come up in a few conversations recently with my good friends and my family.

The polarity between people who's opinions I normally respect has really challenged me here. I hear good folks on each sides speaking with fervor. On the one hand, there seems to be a lot of fear: both in terms of someone from another country taking my job, or someone from another country blowing up my city. I suppose there is the added fear of people who are different changing our culture, sapping governmental resources, and perhaps adding to the crime burden.

On the other side, there are the obvious compassion issues. Those crossing the border are the face of the poor and desperate in our midst. They are the targets of racist angst. If anyone is needy and oppressed in America, certainly it is these people.

My wife was scouring a website for bumper stickers--a new obsession--and it was unreal the amount of shameless hate (exemplified in the mustached picture on the left) making its way into the propaganda on both sides. The website had at least 300 different reactions to this issue. It is worth going there simply to see the energy and passion of both the thoughtful and the perverse. (The American Indian response was some times humorous and can be boiled down to: Illegal immigration began in 1492.)

Because this is such a difficult issue, it is important to self-consciously decide where we begin when addressing it. Where do we start: with the protection of my culture, with the needs of the citizen, with my own needs, with the protection of the poor, where?

Mark Driscoll--who's stuff I normally find bland--actually gets it right on this issue (here) by simply pointing to some key Old Testament passages about how one ought to treat aliens in your country. As it stands, these are some of the best golden rule style passages in the Bible and they are worth digesting.

*Leviticus 19:33-34 says, "When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself."

*God cares for and defends those immigrating to a new nation because He loves them. In Exodus 22:21, 23-24 God says, "Do not mistreat an alien or oppress him. ... If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused."

*Immigrants should be given economic opportunity including fair wages. Deuteronomy 24:14 says, "Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns."

*Deuteronomy 24:17 says, "Do not deprive the alien ... of justice."

But Driscoll also says that God commands strangers immigrating into a nation from other lands to abide by the customs and laws of their new nation. Romans 13:1-7 says that God works through governments to bring justice and social order.

These issues are much more complicated than this, but these are worthy observations with which to begin our thinking on this matter.

Beyond this particular debate, we ought to be aware that the restoration of our world is best showcased when people of different cultures love one another and worship at the same table (see the entirity of Acts). He has choosen the Church to be the great unifer of humanity, with our common language--not English--but faith in the risen Jesus.

May we be faithful in being the people of God for the good of the world.

McLaren on Da Vinci

2006-05-09T11:11:00.000-06:00

This recent interview with Brian McLaren conveyed some sobering and worthwhile insights into how Christ followers might engage the Da Vinci Code.

Church without Walls

2006-05-09T09:55:00.000-06:00

Here's a link to an article written by Tim Coons (a worship/ teaching pastor at Atlas) on breaking down barriers that have traditionally stood between churches. Good Stuff.

If you go to UNC

2006-05-04T09:07:00.000-06:00

Here is the Department of Philosophy course listing. I will be teaching Phil 110, and would welcome any friends to join us.

I may also teach Phil 260--Ancient Philosophy--but the chances are slim.

Jeff

Audio!

2006-04-28T11:06:00.000-06:00

For those of you who are obsessed with audio files (like me), the talks from Atlas this year have finally been uploaded and are all linked below.

Let me know if there are errors, but I think they will all role.

I will try and get each week uploaded as they are created (look for them on Tuesday or so). There is now a link to all the Atlas talks on the right hand side of the screen (IE - "Download Atlas Talks") .

Talks

2006-04-27T22:31:00.000-06:00

All material below is available only for use as subversive propaganda for the restoration of the world. All other uses are strictly forbidden.

Click on the link below to listen on your computer, or right click and hit "save as target" to download the file.

Creeds

(Summer 2006)

The Father Almighty (Jeff)

The Son of God (Jeff) 6.18

The Word Made Flesh (Jeff) 6.25

For My Sake (Tim) 7.2

The Resurrection (Tim) 7.9

Judgment and Power (Tim) 7.16

The Holy Spirit and the Scriptures (Jeff) 7.23

The Church (Tim) 7.30

The Renewal of All Things (Jeff) 8.6

Questions: Our Journey, Honesty, and the Da Vinci Code

(Jeff: Spring 2006)

Was the Creation of the New Testament Arbitrary or a Power Play?

Was Jesus Married; Why Should We Think Jesus is God
Pentecost (Tim)

Elements

(Tim: Spring 2006)

Earth

Wind

Water

Fire (unavailable)

.....

New: Reflections on John

(Jeff: Spring 2006)

John 9 - Ostracized

John 10 - The Shepherd Lays Down His Life

John 11 - Lazarus (Robyn)

John 12 - Power and the Passion

John 13 and 14 - The Great Commission Redefined

John 15 and 16 - The World and the Spirit (Robyn)

John 17 - The Glory of God

John 18 and 19 - Light Enters the Darkness

John 20 and 21 - The Resurrection of Jesus

Seven

(Spring 2006)

Seven: Pride and the Poor in Spirit (Not available)

Seven: Envy and Blessed Mourning (Jeff)

Seven: Sloth and the Hunger for Righteousness (Jeff)

Seven: Greed and Giving Mercy (Tim)

Seven: Lust and Purity of Heart (Jeff)

Seven: Wrath and the Meek Peacemaker (Tim)

Seven: Gluttony and the Courageous under Persecution (Tim)

Paintings are those of Corinne Vonaesch and can be found here.

John 20-21

2006-04-20T17:38:00.000-06:00

Here's the talk at Atlas from Easter.

(Right click and hit "Save Target as..." to download.)

Paintings are those of Corinne Vonaesch and can be found here.

Toward a Postmodern Response to the Da Vinci Code

2006-04-12T10:09:00.001-06:00

Though many of us know that the working subtitle to the Da Vinci Code film--"So Dark the Con of Man"--is appropriately directed at the book and (presumably) the film, it is another thing to actually articulate that truth to those we care for.

The Christian community around the world has been wrestling for about a year on how to respond to the coming Da Vinci Code movie. Not only did the book sell two zillion copies, but the new film brings together some of the most talented, well-liked film makers in the world.

I went to a simulcast at a local church recently. It was broadcast for Church leaders to essentially prepare them to go to war. "We need to arm ourselves" was a common phrase used, as the scholars pointed out the vast number of historic fallacies in the book.

Leave aside the fact that our Christian leaders can't seem to get away from military language when describing evangelism, and the invitation to another human soul to have an encounter with the Prince of Peace: Is this the best way to go about responding to the Da Vinci Code?

The immediate thing that stands out to me is the fear of our community. Our reaction seems to be universally one asking, "How ought we hit back?" Unfortunately this is often how apologetics is conducted in America. We get our debate style from Fox News and conservative radio, and we move into conversations with the same intellectual pride displayed in those genres. If we are lucky, we will escape without our friends saying to themselves, "Gee I won't bring that topic up again. Perhaps I won't speak with him about anything religious in nature again."

It seems to me that being filled with fear or being reactionary are not very attractive faces to display to our friends. It is unreal that some think handing out tracts at the movie theaters or assaulting Dan Brown's character in their sermons is effective. On the contrary, it is a sure way to be marginalized and ridiculed.

I take seriously the idea that the messenger is the message, and that language and film are often used, not to display things as they are, but as power plays to control others. We need to be serious about how we respond because we have not been called to control others (the sin of the Christian antagonists in this book, by the way). We have been called to set others free!

So what might that entail? First, it seems to me that this is an excellent opportunity to show the world that we are open minded. Let's go see the film, and if it is good, let's enjoy it. Let's tell people we enjoyed it. Like being sensitive to race, may we be hyper-sensitive to what we say about this film, because it will say more about our faith than any critique we offer.

Secondly, there are going to be lots of questions brought up by the film. Instead of having eight reasons at hand for why Jesus didn't have an affair with Mary Magdalene, why don't we direct them a different way: Let them tell us what they think about Jesus. Seriously, put aside some of the truth claims of the film. Simply talk about Jesus. Hopefully we have already created credibility with our friends to were their opinions can be said openly and honestly. If the conversation hits that depth, then perhaps we can offer why Jesus is so incredible in our eyes, what attracts us to him over and again, and why we want to live like he did. And perhaps this won't be the last conversation we'll have, but will be open-ended enough to invite further dialogue.

Thirdly, I have found only two words worth using if a critique is at all necessary for the Da Vinci Code: "Conspiracy Theory." Lump it in (as it has already lumped itself in) with the grassy knoll, Roswell, and those who think the moon landings were shot in a sound studio. Say, "I thought that was a better conspiracy film than JFK." It is a complement (with a dose of reality). It may also invite your friends to ask why you thought it was a conspiracy theory film: and then the conversation is about history and not a defensive diatribe about your faith.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Apologetics seldom if ever brings someone to faith in Jesus. It certainly does not without a real, authentic Christian care beside it. As Christians, we need to ask the questions raised in the Da Vinci Code much LOUDER than our brothers and sisters who are ensnared by gnosticism. We need to confess boldly where we, as Trinitarian believers, have screwed up in the past two thousand years, and have tragically rejected our God on the cross for a god of power and control.

We need to ask boldly: "How did the New Testament Canon come together?", "What is the appropriate place of political power in our world?" and "Why should we think that Jesus is divine?" (and let's think up some better answers than 'because the Bible says so.')

We need to be honest with the honest questions we all have about our faith. Apologetics is much more valuable for believers than unbelievers. It not only should confirm that the Jesus-way of life is the best possible way to live. It should also showcase the God we experience in prayer, worship and suffering in our own lives, is likewise at work in all the world at all times, and especially in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

I trust NT Wright more than any other scholar today, and here is his treatment of the book: only to be read if you are NOT arming yourself to shot your friends in the head after you see the movie with them.

(NT Wright and CS Lewis are my personal favorites on that front, and these links are great places to begin. For CS Lewis, my favorite book is the Great Divorce and it would serve as a solid starting point. If you are looking for reasons to believe in God's existence, the resurrection of Jesus, etc: here is a worthy site of essays.)

On the Gospel of Judas

2006-04-11T07:28:00.000-06:00

I had a friend send me this Denver Post article on the discovery of an ancient document which has been called the Gospel of Judas. Here are the reflections I sent him:

Many articles have appeared recently talking through this discovery. The author of the Denver Post piece, along with many other I read recently, does his best to build up the scandalous nature of the document. He seems to insist that there is no difference in the historic reliability between this book and the four Gospels. However, as the article progresses he begins to let out some of the more important details. For example, that it is a Gnostic document and that it is a product of the second century.

The Gnostic Gospels (Thomas, Mary Magdalene, Peter, etc) discovered over the last century are all quite fictious. In one scene of the Gospel of Thomas (the one Gnostic scholars regard as the most reliable), Jesus turns one of his childhood friends into a toad. He also insists that to be a disciple women must become men. It is rather goofy stuff.

These Gnostic writings are products of the 2nd century, as the writer notes, "The 26-page Judas text is said to be a copy in Coptic, made around A.D. 300, of the original Gospel of Judas, written in Greek the century before."

Unlike the four gospels which were written by friends, followers, and first century historians, these Gnostic Gospels don't have much credibility historically.

We might imagine waking up tomorrow and reading in the newspaper: "New Discovery: Historic Documents reveal the intimate conversations of Abraham Lincoln, saying he really hated slaves and secretly hoped the South would win." But as we read on, we come to find out the historic document was written in 1987.

That is the same time frame between Jesus life and the writing of this work.

The first paragraph in the Judas Gospel says, "The secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot during a week three days before he celebrated Passover."

It is tough to record accurate history about what was said in a secret conversation between two friends one hundred and fifty years after the fact, but it is nearly impossible when both Jesus and Judas died within the next four days. If Judas survived, maybe it could be argued that this was a memoir, or that he passed his story on to the early gnostic Christians--but the record is real clear that Judas lost all his friends, and committed suicide the same week Jesus was crucified. It doesn't seem he was very interested in leaving a legacy.

In my quick over view of the first 7 pages, the Judas Gospel tries to be like the other gospels: having Jesus say cryptic things that his disciples do not understand. But it also suggests that Jesus changed his bodily form to become a young boy, and it seems to suggest that Jesus traveled through time to other places where the people were more "holy."

Again, these Gnostic Documents are just weird.

You can read the first 7 pages here. The National Geographic Society has created a detailed site here on the document, which they may own.

Gnosticism (as we will see again with all the Da Vinci Code stuff coming soon) has no historic footing. It died early in Christian history, and today it thrives on conspiracy, pushing a "discover yourself" theology, and a little PT Barnum thrown in to capture the attention of Newsweek and Time.

Left Behind Part II

2006-04-04T16:43:00.000-06:00

So it is easy to say Left Behind is left behind without offering anything to fill the void. Check out this talk by Rob Bell on Revelation. Huge Stuff. (Click on "watch" next to Rob's name.")

The Video

2006-03-31T07:59:00.000-07:00

Donald Miller was using this video as part of a lecture he gave relating Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to the Gospel.

I find it immensely powerful. Please take 3 minutes to watch it if you haven't yet. It is a small, dark screen, but you will get the idea. The song which plays over it is Derek Webb's "Wedding Dress."

Left Behind

2006-03-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

It may be inappropriate, but I seem to have a secret passion to want to undermine the Left Behind series when ever possible.

I heard a recent comment on Jesus' healing on the Sabbath that blew my mind, and pushed this enveloped.

Jesus often intentionally healed people on the day set apart for rest. And often we read this as a spit in the face to the religous order of the day, or perhaps an undermining of the Jewish law given through Moses.

But Jesus' healings on the sabbath may have been--if possible--even more subversive than that. They proclaimed a new kind of future for the Jewish people. The assumption of the day, we might assume, was similiar to that held by many Jews today: God will vindicate us some day, some day God will show up, put down the foriegn nations, and we will enter our sabbath rest as a people.

Jesus' actions show that he is completely antagonistic to that perspective. The future is not about rest. When the Kingdom of God comes it will be a time of restoration when the blind are healed, the lame can walk, and the whole world is set to right. By healing on the Sabbath, Jesus is proclaiming what the future of God's people will look like. It is no longer about us putting up mirrors to gaze on our own fair beauty. It is about letting our light shine forth into a dark world.

The end times for Jesus are not about his return. The end of the world for Jesus comes when all the world's systems are put down by his own victory over sin and death, and he stands in the garden on Sunday: the first day of the new creation.

It is Christian mythology to think that we as Christians need to bunker down and protect ourselves from the elements until Jesus comes to snatch away his faithful. Rather, the call of Jesus is to go into the world where it hurts, to be salt and light, to be for the world what Jesus was and is for us.

Again the Left Behind series lives up to its name.

New Promise

2006-03-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

So for the two of you who still come to Healing Malchus, I want to make a promise. I have been swamped recently with the amount of teaching I do on Sundays now, but I will make it a renewed point to atleast post at the beginning of the month.

Many thanks for all your support!!
Jeff

The Great Commission Revised

2006-03-23T16:00:00.000-07:00

As we have been reading John at Atlas, we know Jesus is going to be executed, but we don't know what he will tell his best friends before he leaves.

He has assembled twelve men. He has spent three years teaching them. He is going to die, but what is it he wants them to do after he is gone. For us as readers, these two chapters are essential. If we wanted to boil down the revolution Jesus wants to start to its core: this would be the place to look.

Now, this section of John is the beginning of what is known as "the farewell discourse," (chs. 13-17).

This is a large chunk of John's story which tells all the things Jesus wants to say on the night before he died.

So the setting here is Thursday night of passion week. It is the night before Jesus is crucified.So let me give some quick background on what Jesus has done here in the last week of his life.

On Sunday, Jesus entered Jerusalem to great fanfare--we covered this last week--and literally the whole city turns out calling him King and Lord. The masses believe he is the Messiah--the Returning King--come to over throw the Romans.

On Monday, Jesus returns to the Temple, the central location in all of Judaism, and he goes to the place in the temple reserved for non-Jews to worship, and he finds it overrun with profiteers selling stinky, noisy animals. The temple authorities have obviously allowed the sale of animals in this spot. And Jesus is outraged. Israel was to be a light for all nations, a blessing to the world. But instead of reaching out to gentiles, they have crowded their worship space with salesmen. So he begins turning over tables and reciting scripture. Now Jesus action is highly symbolic, for only the King can judge the conduct in the Temple. So by throwing out the merchants, Jesus is reaffirming his status as Messiah before all the religious leaders. But at the same time his actions are deeply insulting to the authorities. And it is this event, more than any other, that leads the priests to seek Jesus execution.

On Tuesday, the temple authorities come to question Jesus: does he really have the authority to judge them. They want to show the people listening that Jesus is not trustworthy, so they ask him where he gets his authority. They ask him whether--as the coming King--it is right to pay taxes to Caesar (a different king). They ask what Commands are most important to follow.But Jesus uses the opportunity to challenge their entire tradition. He tells them their Temple--the place they consider God's home--will soon be destroyed, but that he will rebuild the temple: and his temple will be his followers.

On Wednesday, Jesus returns to Bethany about 2-3 miles away, where Lazarus, Martha, and Mary live and this is the day Mary comes and pours the jar of costly perfume on his feet (as we read last week). Now, Mark tells us that it is this event that sends Judas Iscariot over the edge, and Judas leaves Bethany to speak with those plotting to kill Jesus. He will be the one who will hand Jesus over to his enemies when no one is looking. He will show the authorities where Jesus sneaks off to after he teaches. He will betray Jesus into their hands.

On Thursday, in John's story, we find Jesus and his followers have walked about three miles in sandals down a hill from the home of Lazarus into Jerusalem. And John implies that these sweaty men have all walked into town, walked up some stairs into the upper room of a home and they have plopped down to eat what will be known as the Last Supper. Now in ancient Jewish culture hygiene was very important. You have to wash your hands before all meals. You have to wash all your body parts before worshipping God on certain days. But also, it was a social custom to have your feet washed--especially after travel or a long days at work--by the lower members of the household. Some have pointed out that most Jewish servants wouldn’t do it, but that it was reserved for the gentile-foreigners.

Now, in this story, no one washed the disciples' feet at the door. The disciples are upstairs waiting for dinner. They would have been sitting on the floor, which was the custom of those being served. And they are awkwardly sitting around. It would be like hiking all day through the woods and coming home to your nice carpet, sitting on the floor, and not taking off your boots.

Of course, seeking higher office in the administration of "Jesus the Messiah" meant none of the Disciples would volunteer to wash feet: that would be to present yourself as the lowest person there. If you want to be next to the King, you talk about policy. You talk about your skill-set and what you bring to his administration. You jockey for position. You don't show off by doing menial tasks. So the guy who washes feet in this culture is like the manager of a football team who collects towels and jock straps. Or it is like the guy who works in a high rise office building late cleaning bathrooms. Or he is the bus boy at a nice restaurant. These are all places where the lowly find a place in the social structure. The quarterback doesn’t put down his play book to help pile laundry.

The CEO doesn’t take Saturdays to wash the toilets on floor 30. The master chef doesn't help shove nasty plates into the dishwasher. Jesus kneeling to clean his disciples feet is akin to these awkward pictures. And John implies that the disciples do not speak. It seems they do not have the categories to understand what is happening.

Here's a question for you, who washes feet in our day? The picture that comes to my mind is pedicurists, and these are most often administered by Asian woman who are first generation immigrants trying to enter our culture.

My wife has tried to get me to go in and get a pedicure for the experience alone, but even though my feet could use the work, I won’t do it. The activity strikes me as uncomfortably intimate. It would make me feel helpless: in that I could not help do some pretty nasty work. It is absolute service.

And this is exactly the picture Jesus wants his disciples to receive and remember. He wants them to know love is intimate and tangible. He wants them to know that they are to serve in places that may be considered humiliating. He wants them to showcase their care for people, by lowering themselves. Washing feet is Jesus showing us what dying to yourself looks like. And Jesus unpacks it in V. 13 "You call me teacher and Lord and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you and example that you should do as I have done for you…" Some translations say, "I have set for you a pattern that you should follow."

Now this is huge! It's as though Jesus has given us the blueprint of a master building we are to build, or he was written out a grand symphony for us to play, or he has designed a great feast for us to enjoy with all the recipes and details prepared." I have set for you a pattern (an example) that you should follow." Why? Because it will make your life music. It will construct the world into what it ought to be. It will bring the joy and delight of God to the masses.

NT Wright says, "For us as for Jesus, we should be looking away from ourselves, and at the world we are supposed to be serving. Where the world's needs and our vocation meet is where we ought to be ready to take on insignificant roles if that's what God wants, or to be publicly visible if that is our calling. And as with Jesus, the picture of foot washing is meant to serve not only as a picture of all sorts of menial tasks that we may be called to perform....It also points towards the much larger challenge, the challenge that Jesus issues to Peter in the last chapter of the book, the challenge to follow Jesus all the way to the cross, to lay down life itself in the service of God and the world he came to save" (49).

The pattern of Jesus is one of laying down his life for those he loves. And then Jesus says this (v.34), "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know you are my disciples."

It is not that his listeners had not heard that they ought to love each other.The revolutionary aspect of Jesus is that he redefined, symbolized, and acted out in dramatic and clear fashion what love really is.

Now notice this, it is after showing his followers how to love that he gives one of his hardest teaching of all: (ch 14:6) "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me."How many of you have heard this, and struggled with it when you think of good people you know, who don’t believe in Jesus?

This is one of the most difficult positions for Christians to affirm, especially in a pluralistic culture like ours (and actually that of Jesus' day). "Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father but through him." This is not a message of domination: My religion is better than yours. Jesus is affirming how things are at their deepest levels. And here is the crux--by placing it after his command to love one another, he is saying that the love between Christians will be the evidence that that is true.

Jesus isn’t sending his follower out as lawyers to argue the case for Christianity. He doesn't put together a list of reasons he is so much cooler than Buddha. And he certainly doesn’t give his followers swords: physical, verbal or otherwise-- to go defend Christianity: as though Jesus needs to be defended.

Jesus sends his followers out to love: and says everything else will follow. That is what evangelism looks like for Jesus. That is how lives will be transformed. That is how the Kingdom of God comes to those chained to sin. This is what the Jesus revolution is.

Now, in 20th century America we could get away with just standing on a pulpit and inviting people to get right with God. For most of that time, Christians were still seen as good people who had your best intentions at heart.

That time has passed. Christians are seen more and more by the secular mind as ignorant, control addicts. Watch the news on Comedy Central some night from 9-10. Read the Onion. Look at the output of Hollywood and see who is easily mocked as the bigoted, hate-filled, ignorant hoards out to subjugate the masses. I have heard that the Wachowski brothers new movie V for Vendetta is case and point.

And if you think there is no reason for this fear from secular society consider the Terri Shivo incident, consider the Christian rights obsession with gay sex, consider the frequent use of people on tv calling the US a "Christian Nation": which is another way of saying, we've been in control for a long time and we should remain in control. Those who call themselves Christians in America have lost their credibility because they have failed to love first, and have put other issues at the fore. I am convinced that today the workers are many but the harvest is nearly non-existent because few people desire to be Christians. They do not see Christians as attractive people.

Let me confess, this is the place I am most depressed--seeing my brothers and sisters in Christ on TV pursue power for their organizations, or their political agenda, or their point of view. The issues at heart here are often about control.

I recall one very well known Christian on MSNBC recently saying his dream job is chief justice of the supreme court. That was his highest ambition. Think of that. Not eliminator of AIDS, not Peace bringer to war torn countries, I want to make decisions for everyone else about how they ought to live their lives. Control. It is a lust for power.

And how effective is this strategy? By some estimates evangelical Christians make up 1 in 5 Americans. But as one writer notes, a cup of salt in a pound of meat should taste different.

This is exactly what is going on in John's story. When Peter objects to Jesus washing his feet, he desires a figure head of power, not one of love. When Judas rebukes Mary for pouring perfume on Jesus feet, he desires a messiah who solves problems with monetary power verses one who dies for the poor, as well as wealthy. If you read the gospels closely, you will see that Judas (the betrayer) and Peter (the Rock) are often at exactly the same spot. If you look at John 13:18-30 it is about Judas's betrayal. Verse 31-38 is about Peter's denial. Both object to Jesus embracing a cross. Both voice strong opinions about who Jesus ought to be. And as with the Palm Sunday Crowd (last week), both worship power and leave Jesus to die alone.

The worship of Power is the rejection of Jesus.

Now, Chapter 14 ends with the question of Thaddeus (called Judas here): v.22 "Lord why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?" In other words, 'Why don’t you exercise your power, and demonstrate convincingly that you are God?' Have you ever wondered why Jesus doesn’t show himself to your family? Have you ever wondered why Jesus doesn't show himself to your friends? 'Why Jesus don't you let people know who you are in a more glorious, a more vibrant, a more POWERFUL way?'

And Jesus answer is amazingly cryptic (v. 23), "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." That is, my Father and I will be revealed in the lives of those who obey my teaching to love. And that is how I am showing myself to the world.

I have often pointed out that Colorado University--which is the heart of secularism in our state--honors only two men's birthdays as holidays. It is not Lincoln or Washington or Jefferson or Columbus or Ford or Marx (as some might assume). It is Jesus Christ and a Christian minister from the south named Martin King.

Think of the most powerful Christian people in the world now, and I guarantee you their names don't make it into the minds of the person on the street when they ask themselves what the good life look like. But I tell you, without fail, every ethics class I have taken has mentioned Mother Teresa as the epitome of a life of beauty and ethical virtue.

"I have set a pattern for you to follow."

GK Chesterton rightly said "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It has instead been found difficult and left untried." The truth is, the closer we get to Jesus, the more revolutionary his prescriptions will look. It will expose selfishness in us; it will strike us as odd and overly idealistic. We will fight back with excuses: certainly if everyone did THAT society would fall apart The Taliban or the nazis would rule the world. I would have nothing to eat, or car, or clothes. I would be a door mat for thieves and bullies.

And it all boils down to this: if I followed the things Jesus actually says, my life would no longer be mine.

"Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried." What if there were small communities around the world that stopped making excuses for the hard sayings of Jesus, and actually began embracing their difficulty. What if there were small communities of Christ followers who made each other's needs, each other's priorities. They served one another so that together they could serve the world. What if they identified real places of want, neglect, and destruction in their society and they lovingly, gently, passionately entered those place of pain and brought with them just love. Just love. How can I wash your feet?

There are people in the Atlas community who make it their absolute ambition to go build homes for families in desperate want. Here, let me wash your feet. We spend the first 15% of all money given to Atlas on serving, teaching, even saving the lives of kids, so that they can be Jesus to others in their world. When you give to Atlas you wash the feet of desperately needy kids some of whom have AIDS, most of whom have lost one or both parents. Here, let me wash your feet. We have a few folks here who simply go and wash the feet of teenage moms in our city by baby sitting their kids for a couple hours, so they can go and be regular teenagers. Giving them a little freedom. Giving them the chance to rely on the church and know Jesus. Giving them the chance to possibly meet a spouse who they can depend on. And they're saying, 'Here, let me wash your feet.'

When we moved into our building last November a lot of us heard a collective groan from people in this area. We took a space that was well loved for its atmosphere and service and the good things it brought to the college area, and we replaced it with a building that sits empty for 6 days a week, and where weird singing and sermons that are way too long are presented on Sundays. I long for the day when the people at the Mirror and Mellow Yellow and UNC say, "I am so glad those people took over the Beanery. They bring so much to this area.

What would it look like for the church to simply dedicate all its resources and energies to washing the feet of the people close to them?

I wonder deeply whether it would not be the most effective evangelistic strategy ever devised. There seems to be good authority behind it.

Sloth v. Hungering and Thirsting for Righteousness

2006-01-29T07:49:00.000-07:00

Click here for the talk.

Salmon Ad

2006-01-28T23:02:00.000-07:00

Find the play button on this site and hit it. This ad is hysterical.

Peace

2005-12-05T10:53:00.002-07:00

(This was an address I gave for Advent this weekend at Atlas Church, Greeley.)

If you want to address Peace in the scriptures, where do you start? The Bible is a bloody collection. Warfare and conflict are the norm. It seems that all the players involved have swords. Where do you begin?

As I began this study, it was shocking to me how frequently and in what ways "Peace" is elevated. It was not just the amount of times the Bible referred to Peace, but how often, at the climax of central passages and ideas, Peace is the conclusion.

The Bible speaks of Peace like health. It is a condition. It is a state of being well. The Bible is real clear that our world is sick, and its healing is described as Peace.

The Hebrew word for Peace is "Shalom," which comes from a verb meaning to "make complete" or "make sound." It is used when a building is being finished, or a debt is paid off or when something broken has been made whole. "Peace" is used in almost every book of the Bible.

The Bible calls God: "the God of Peace," "The Lord of Peace," "The King of Peace." It says, "He himself is our Shalom."

Perhaps the earliest prayer ever recorded is one, not said from a man to God, but from God to Moses. It is a benendiction which has been said millions of times over God's people for thousands of years: "The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you Peace." (Numbers 6)

The entire Old Testament--the first half of the Bible--is a story of a war torn people (the Jews) longing for, praying for, and failing to achieve peace: failing to be united with God and see their small, sliver of a country whole. The story peaks early as the Jews come into the land of Israel, and it is God that is giving them this piece of property. But they consistently fail to take the land in the way that God is giving it. After some initial failures (see Joshua), it becomes a full-on nose dive (see Judges).

Halfway through the story, the country breaks in half. The people are at odds with each other and at odds with their God, and it is easy to destroy them. Israel is attacked by a nation to the North and a nation to the East. Many of the people are led away into slavery, and the Old Testament ends with a small remnant coming back to Jerusalem to rebuild some walls.

However, during this time of Exile there are writers--Prophets--who address the spiritual health of Israel, and begin to foresee a new day. Almost every Prophet--and there are at least a dozen--anticipate a great king who will rise to rule Israel. The ancient Hebrews called this coming King 'the Messiah,' and almost every passage of anticipation for the Messiah describes his reign, not just over that small sliver of land and its desert people, but over the whole world. His coming will not be one of military domination and the power of God destroying the walls and armies of other nations. Instead, he will come as a peace bringer. Consider:

Micah says a man will come from Bethlehem, who will be ruler over Israel "and they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach the ends of the Earth and He will be their peace." (5:1-5)

Zechariah says, "Rejoice greatly...See your king comes to you righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey...I will take away the chariots...the war horses from Jerusalem and the battle bow will be broken. [For] He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from River to the ends of the earth." (9:9-11)

And Isaiah says a verse often quote this time of year: "every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end." Later Isaiah writes that the Messiah, "took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, the punishment that brought us peace was [laid] upon him." (Ch. 53)

So for the prophets, this coming Messiah would not only bring peace to the whole Earth, not only restore the people of God, but would even bring peace to human relationships and wholeness to each individual. This is a bold, amazing vision, and it is at the heart of the New Testament and its picture of Jesus.

At Jesus birth, Luke says a great company of angels appeared singing, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." (Ch. 2) Much of Jesus language and teaching display the way of peace: "Turn the other cheek," "Those who live by the sword will die by the sword," "Blessed are the peacemakers for they will inherit the earth."

At the Last Supper, Jesus promises to fill his followers with the Spirit of God and in order to describe God coming to dwell in the believer he says, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you." So God coming to live in men is emphasized twice by Jesus as Peace.

The last thing Jesus says to the disciples before he is arrested is, "I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." And he is taken away to be tried and crucified

Following his resurrection from the dead, the first thing Jesus says to the disciples is "Peace be with you." (Which might be appropriate given his brutal murder three days earlier.) To those who take the good news of Christ's resurrection into the world, Isaiah says, "you will go out with joy, and be lead forth with peace, the mountains and hills will break into songs before you."

The very first thing written in the entire New Testament is Paul's letter to the Galatians, and it begins this way, "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age."

God's graciousness, extended to us through Jesus has brought us peace: has made you and I complete, has made us whole, has brought "Shalom." Embracing God's grace always leads to Peace.

Because of this profound truth, listen to how Paul begins each of his letters: To the Romans, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." His first letter to Corinth, "Grace to you and peace," His second letter to the Corinthians, "Grace to you and peace." To the Ephesians, "Grace to you and peace," Philippeans, "Grace to you and peace", Colossians, "To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace." To the church of the Thessalonians, "Grace to you and peace." His second letter to the Thessalonians, "Grace to you and peace." His first and second letter to Timothy both say "To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord." His letter to Titus, "To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God," and to Philemon, "Grace to you and peace...I always thank my God for you as I remember you in my prayers."

Thus, in every letter Paul writes, he wants to say something important right from the outset. Hey, before we begin, before I tell you anything else--before I tell you about right doctrine, or suffering for Jesus, or the way to live beautifully, or how to fix your disfunctional situation...

Grace. Peace.

Let me remind you of the extraordinary reality in which we presently live.

Grace. Peace.

It is all that really matters: Jesus graciousness leading to peace forever.

The other New Testament writers, agree, so Peter begins his first letter, "May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure." His second letter, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord." John's second letter, "Because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy and peace will be with us." John's third letter, "Peace be to you." Jude's letter, "May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you." And Revelation, the very last book in the Bible begins, "To the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come."

And the final two chapters of the Bible speak of God coming to live with men, and the world "does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light...and the nations [these striving, fighting, seeking their own to the bitter end, selfishly reflexive intities] will walk by [God's glorious] light... and the glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it." And the final verse of the Bible says, "The Grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen."

Grace. Peace.

So when we come to Advent, and when we come to communion, we celebrate and identify a longing. Our longing is for Jesus to return, a longing for him to reign. For if you haven't watched any high quality cable news programming recently, this world is not filled with peace. And Christians are often not filled with Grace. The Messiah is not governing the world. So what's the story?

How is God bringing Peace to our broken, hurting, sick world?

After 9/11, I remember having a conversation with my brother, and he told me of his experience on that day. He recalled filping through the stations and landing on a station out of Mexico. He didn't stop for the commentary. He stopped because this station didn't put up filters on its content, so he saw the people jumping from buildings. He saw them hitting the ground. He saw the body parts strewn everywhere.

In reflection, he and I both affirmed that had the President got on tv that night and said, "hey its time to sign up and go kick someone's ass." We would have said, "mr. president, I've brought my own pen, thank you."

And that is our tendency right? The way things work in our world, is when someone hits you, you hit back...harder. It's a defense mechanism. If I can hit you harder than you hit me, maybe next time you won't hit me in the first place. If I can push you away then maybe I will be left alone, left safe, left...in peace.

This is the way we are preprogrammed to pursue peace: hit back.

This is also true in our relationships. If you say something rude, how do I let you know. Do I say, "Hey what you did really hurt me." Or do I look for opportunities to get even. If we haven't discovered it already, this kind of tactic doesn't work:

When I was in High school I loved the game Risk, and Iwould play it on the computer in the library with a few friends before school. Now, I wasn't very good, so I decided one day to take the program home and practice, but I quickly found a way to win without much effort. I would position myself in such a way as to get the other countries fighting each other, and once they had exhausted their resources, I would come in and wipe them out. It was easy to win, because if you can set people fighting each other, it is easy to destroy them.

Stephen King wrote a book called Needful Things, in which he pictures a small maine town where things are normal, but like ever other town, there is bitterness, envy, and malice just under the surface. Now in the story, a devil like character moves into town, and he begins selling people fantastic items. Items that they only dream of: a pair of Elvis's glasses, a sliver of wood from the Ark, a signed Baseball card to complete a collection.

Now, the salesman does not want money for these items. He wants the people to do him a favor. He'll say something like, "You know that person down the street , I want you to throw mud on her hanging white sheets." "You know the drunk down the way, I want you to slash his tires." "You know the nice lady over there, I want you to kill her dog."

And all of a sudden all the stuff just under the surface comes screaming to the top. Everyone is out to defend their precious dignity, and at the climax the streets are filled with people with guns and sabers hacking each other to bits. And the devil sits back and smiles because if you can set people fighting each other, it is easy to destroy them.

What happens when the world is shaken up a bit? What happens when the junk and poison that the world hasn't dealt with gets poked? What happens when a world Jesus created to birth children of God suddenly turns against itself. According to Christ, hitting back is a sure way to destroy yourself:

"Those who take up the sword. Will perish by the sword."

Isn't there a better way?

There is. It is the way of the cross. It is the way of coming to Jesus and--first--seeing the poison in our own lives (which by the way does not leave just because you became a Christian). It means purging ourselves of that poison at every conceivable moment in and through our lives. It means asking for over and over and over again: Grace. Grace. Grace. That your life might be one of peace.

Second, it means seeing how God deals with the poison in others, and striving as best we can to reflect him. Jesus does not hit back. He does not defend his Precious Dignity. He allows the world's poison to nail him naked to a stake of wood. And through his own self-surrender he brings healing, he brings life, he brings Grace to all the world.

We live in the story of God, between the Cross and Resurrection and the Return of our great King. Jesus has done the work only he could do. He has set the healing process in motion. He has given the work to us, to draw the nations into the healing grace of his cross, to be little Christ's going into all the world, ridding ourselves of our precious dignity, ridding ourselves of our attachments to things that don't matter, ridding ourselves of the poison that has been in us a long, long time.

We are to take up our own crosses and walk in the way of Jesus for the sake of the world. We are to show the world a better way in a world full of swords. This is the way God is bringing peace: through his church reflecting its Lord, walking in the power of the Holy Spirit.

This means that we must know the grace God has shown to us, and we are to show that same grace to others.
This means we must learn to love our family and friends, and colleagues, and bosses, and neighbors, and enemies. CS Lewis says love is like math. You can't just jump into calculus. You must start with simple addition.

Perhaps we should't try and love the 9/11 hijackers just yet, maybe we should start with those who live under our own roofs first. Taking up our own crosses means we realize that this world and its pattern are passing away, and behold all things are being made new.

That is the way of grace which leads to peace.

It will not be perfectly completed until Jesus returns, but it is our role, to partner with the Holy Spirit in restoring this world in his power, until he returns to finish the job.

Rolling Stone, Bono, and Faith

2005-11-11T08:18:00.000-07:00

(This is an excerpt from Rolling Stone's recent interview with Bono. The whole interview can be found here.)

What role did religion play in your childhood?
I knew that we were different on our street because my mother was Protestant. And that she'd married a Catholic. At a time of strong sectarian feeling in the country, I knew that was special. We didn't go to the neighborhood schools -- we got on a bus. I picked up the courage they had to have had to follow through on their love.

Did you feel religious when you went to church?
Even then I prayed more outside of the church than inside. It gets back to the songs I was listening to; to me, they were prayers. "How many roads must a man walk down?" That wasn't a rhetorical question to me. It was addressed to God. It's a question I wanted to know the answer to, and I'm wondering, who do I ask that to? I'm not gonna ask a schoolteacher. When John Lennon sings, "Oh, my love/For the first time in my life/My eyes are wide open" -- these songs have an intimacy for me that's not just between people, I realize now, not just sexual intimacy. A spiritual intimacy.

Who is God to you at that point in your life?
I don't know. I would rarely be asking these questions inside the church. I see lovely nice people hanging out in a church. Occasionally, when I'm singing a hymn like . . . oh, if I can think of a good one . . . oh, "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" or "Be Thou My Vision," something would stir inside of me. But, basically, religion left me cold.

Your early songs are about being confused, about trying to find spirituality at an age when most anybody else your age would be writing about girls and trouble.
Yeah. We sorta did it the other way around.

You skipped "I Want to Hold Your Hand," and you went right . . .
. . . Into the mystic. Van Morrison would be the inverse, in terms of the journey. It's this turbulent period at fifteen, sixteen, and the electrical storms that come at that age.
There was also my friend Guggi. His parents were not just Protestant, they were some obscure cult of Protestant. In America, it would be Pentecostal. His father was like a creature from the Old Testament. He spoke constantly of the Scriptures and had the sense that the end was nigh -- and to prepare for it.

You were living with his family?
Yes. I'd go to church with them too. Though myself and Guggi are laughing at the absurdity of some of this, the rhetoric is getting through to us. We don't realize it, but we're being immersed in the Holy Scriptures. That's what we took away from this: this rich language, these ancient tracts of wisdom.

So is that why you were writing such serious songs when you're nineteen?
Here's the strange bit: Most of the people that you grew up with in black music had a similar baptism of the spirit, right? The difference is that most of these performers felt they could not express their sexuality before God. They had to turn away. So rock & roll became backsliders' music. They were running away from God. But I never believed that. I never saw it as being a choice, an either/or thing.

You never saw rock & roll -- the so-called devil's music -- as incompatible with religion?
Look at the people who have formed my imagination. Bob Dylan. Nineteen seventy-six -- he's going through similar stuff. You buy Patti Smith: Horses -- "Jesus died for somebody's sins/But not mine . . ." And she turns Van Morrison's "Gloria" into liturgy. She's wrestling with these demons -- Catholicism in her case. Right the way through to Wave, where she's talking to the pope.
The music that really turns me on is either running toward God or away from God. Both recognize the pivot, that God is at the center of the jaunt. So the blues, on one hand -- running away; gospel, the Mighty Clouds of Joy -- running towards. And later you came to analyze it and figure it out.
The blues are like the Psalms of David. Here was this character, living in a cave, whose outbursts were as much criticism as praise. There's David singing, "Oh, God -- where are you when I need you?/You call yourself God?" And you go, this is the blues.
Both deal with the relationship with God. That's really it. I've since realized that anger with God is very valid. We wrote a song about that on the Pop album -- people were confused by it -- "Wake Up Dead Man": "Jesus, help me/I'm alone in this world/And a fucked-up world it is, too/Tell me, tell me the story /The one about eternity/And the way it's all gonna be/Wake up, dead man."

Soon after starting the band you joined a Bible-study group -- you and Larry and Edge -- called the Shalom. What brought that on?
We were doing street theater in Dublin, and we met some people who were madder than us. They were a kind of inner-city group living life like it was the first century A.D.
They were expectant of signs and wonders; lived a kind of early-church religion. It was a commune. People who had cash shared it. They were passionate, and they were funny, and they seemed to have no material desires. Their teaching of the Scriptures reminded me of those people whom I'd heard as a youngster with Guggi. I realize now, looking back, that it was just insatiable intellectual curiosity.
But it got a little too intense, as it always does; it became a bit of a holy huddle. And these people -- who are full of inspirational teaching and great ideas -- they pretended that our dress, the way we looked, didn't bother them. But very soon it appeared that was not the case. They started asking questions about the music we were listening to. Why are you wearing earrings? Why do you have a mohawk?

How did you end up leaving that?
I think we just went on tour.

And forgot to come back?
Well, we'd visit. If you were going to study the teaching, it demanded a rejection of the world. Even then we understood that you can't escape the world, wherever you go. Least of all in very intense religious meetings -- which can be more corrupt and more bent, in terms of the pressures they exert on people, than the outside forces.

What draws you so deeply to Martin Luther King?
So now -- cut to 1980. Irish rock group, who've been through the fire of a certain kind of revival, a Christian-type revival, go to America. Turn on the TV the night you arrive, and there's all these people talking from the Scriptures. But they're quite obviously raving lunatics.
Suddenly you go, what's this? And you change the channel. There's another one. You change the channel, and there's another secondhand-car salesman. You think, oh, my God. But their words sound so similar . . . to the words out of our mouths.
So what happens? You learn to shut up. You say, whoa, what's this going on? You go oddly still and quiet. If you talk like this around here, people will think you're one of those. And you realize that these are the traders -- as in t-r-a-d-e-r-s -- in the temple.
Until you get to the black church, and you see that they have similar ideas. But their religion seems to be involved in social justice; the fight for equality. And a Rolling Stone journalist, Jim Henke, who has believed in you more than anyone up to this point, hands you a book called Let the Trumpet Sound -- which is the biography of Dr. King. And it just changes your life.
Even though I'm a believer, I still find it really hard to be around other believers: They make me nervous, they make me twitch. I sorta watch my back. Except when I'm with the black church. I feel relaxed, feel at home; my kids -- I can take them there; there's singing, there's music.

What is your religious belief today? What is your concept of God?
If I could put it simply, I would say that I believe there's a force of love and logic in the world, a force of love and logic behind the universe. And I believe in the poetic genius of a creator who would choose to express such unfathomable power as a child born in "straw poverty"; i.e., the story of Christ makes sense to me.

How does it make sense?
As an artist, I see the poetry of it. It's so brilliant. That this scale of creation, and the unfathomable universe, should describe itself in such vulnerability, as a child. That is mind-blowing to me. I guess that would make me a Christian. Although I don't use the label, because it is so very hard to live up to. I feel like I'm the worst example of it, so I just kinda keep my mouth shut.

Do you pray or have any religious practices?
I try to take time out of every day, in prayer and meditation. I feel as at home in a Catholic cathedral as in a revival tent. I also have enormous respect for my friends who are atheists, most of whom are, and the courage it takes not to believe.

How big an influence is the Bible on your songwriting? How much do you draw on its imagery, its ideas?
It sustains me.

As a belief, or as a literary thing?
As a belief. These are hard subjects to talk about because you can sound like such a dickhead. I'm the sort of character who's got to have an anchor. I want to be around immovable objects. I want to build my house on a rock, because even if the waters are not high around the house, I'm going to bring back a storm. I have that in me. So it's sort of underpinning for me.
I don't read it as a historical book. I don't read it as, "Well, that's good advice." I let it speak to me in other ways. They call it the rhema. It's a hard word to translate from Greek, but it sort of means it changes in the moment you're in. It seems to do that for me.

You're saying it's a living thing?
It's a plumb line for me. In the Scriptures, it is self-described as a clear pool that you can see yourself in, to see where you're at, if you're still enough. I'm writing a poem at the moment called "The Pilgrim and His Lack of Progress." I'm not sure I'm the best advertisement for this stuff.

What do you think of the evangelical movement that we see in the United States now?
I'm wary of faith outside of actions. I'm wary of religiosity that ignores the wider world. In 2001, only seven percent of evangelicals polled felt it incumbent upon themselves to respond to the AIDS emergency. This appalled me. I asked for meetings with as many church leaders as would have them with me. I used my background in the Scriptures to speak to them about the so-called leprosy of our age and how I felt Christ would respond to it. And they had better get to it quickly, or they would be very much on the other side of what God was doing in the world.
Amazingly, they did respond. I couldn't believe it. It almost ruined it for me -- 'cause I love giving out about the church and Christianity. But they actually came through: Jesse Helms, you know, publicly repents for the way he thinks about AIDS.
I've started to see this community as a real resource in America. I have described them as "narrow-minded idealists." If you can widen the aperture of that idealism, these people want to change the world. They want their lives to have meaning. And it's one of the things that the Democratic Party has missed out on. You know, so much of the moral high ground in the past was Democratic: FDR, RFK, Cesar Chavez. Now I suppose it's Hillary's passion for cheaper medical care. And Teddy Kennedy, of course.

Wright

2005-10-14T12:33:00.000-06:00

I found this interchange wonderful from a questioner and NT Wright on Sin.

"Question: You often speak of Sin as a dominating power, and not just discrete acts of human wickedness. Some have accused you of downplaying personal sin, and its accompanying guilt. How do you conceive of the relationship between Sin as a world-dominating power and sin as acts of human wickedness?

ANSWER: it’s of course absurd to think that I downplay personal sin. Goodness, I know enough about it in my own life and am daily grateful for the kindness and faithful forgiving love of God in Christ. I have tried in my writings to track as faithfully as I can the way in which Paul himself uses ‘Sin’ sometimes as a power (e.g. Romans 7) and sometimes as specific actions of sin. The latter are clearly a manifestation of the former; though sometimes it seems he is using ‘Sin’ in a personified way where he could actually have said ‘Satan’. On the one hand, it is clear that all humans (other than Jesus) do in fact perform acts which constitute a refusal of the vocation to be genuinely, God-reflectingly human, and which therefore ‘miss the mark’ of that lovely, fully-human life which is not only glorifying to God in itself but which reflects that glory powerfully and creatively into the world. On the other hand, ‘Sin’ as a large-scale power has as its main aim the distortion, corruption and ultimately destruction of God’s good and beautiful and powerful world of creation. The link then becomes apparent: if Sin-as-a-power is to succeed, what is required is that human beings are deflected from their task of reflecting God’s glory and love into the world; in other words, if they default on the vocation to live as gladly-obedient, God-reflecting humans and so effectively hand power over either to elements of creation itself or to Sin which will only too readily use it..."

See the NT Wright link on the right for more stuff.

Links

2005-10-08T10:39:00.000-06:00

This may be the most incredible site I've ever seen. Take two seconds to look at it. It is as powerful a research tool as Google for those interested in restoration, theology, and the emergent conversation.
Jeff

Market Share and God's Kingdom

2005-09-23T15:07:00.000-06:00

In a recent interview with Belief.net, Brian McLaren said:

"In the last thirty years, there's been more crossover between denominations. People are exposed to a lot more theological diversity even though many of our church structures were set up to preserve a lot more theological uniformity...A lot of these very detailed doctrinal statements arose in an era where almost everybody went to church. You had a little bit of competition about who would get a bigger part of the market share, if I can say it that way. Churches tended to emphasize their distinctive features. You could tell somebody that they should leave their denomination and join yours because their denomination is wrong about X, Y, and Z. But that's not the situation that most of us live in anymore. Now, less than 20% of Americans attend church on an average Sunday...What we have to do is honor the church in all of its forms. We need the eastern Orthodox churches to be strong and we need the Roman Catholic Church to be healthy and we need all different kinds of churches because there's so much work to be done in our world. God wants to work through all these different forms of churches. We shouldn't say this is the only legitimate form, but we should just be happy with every group of people who are seeking to follow Christ."

How much energy has been wasted by Christians who, instead of assaulting hell's gates where ever they find them, have turned their bayonets on each other. Rob Bell, who has recently been the object of such assualts, wonderfully refers to such energies in this talk.

He notes that religion is often a crutch for miserable people who need a place to stand and promote their misery. A perfect example is the dialogue at amazon.com over Rob's book. You will find (at present count) 118 different reviews (not quite as many as "The Da Vinci Code" which has over 3000, but not too far behind best-sellers like "Purpose driven life"). These reviews are almost entirely polarized, and many of them are quite venomous.

Take all the energy put into such reviews (of which I was one) and tell me that these Christians could not have done something else lasting, joy-filled, hopeful...even spectacular. Instead, we decided to spend time firing at one another. What a waste. Talking about who-God-is obviously has its place (I in fact have master's degree in the subject and find it quite valuable), but when the Body spends its time drawing distinctions, building walls, and seeking divorces from every other subset of believers over petty differences, we have failed our God.

In one talk, philosopher Ravi Zacharias pictured the Church as a crabby old man who lived on some run down property in the middle of a thriving city. When developers would come to ask to purchase his property, he would shake his fist and say that he had been on this lot when there was nothing else around, and no one was going to take it from him. For those who have ears...

Who's-in and Who's-not

2005-09-20T10:48:00.000-06:00

John 5 - Part 1

I have enjoyed no other passage of John more than the fifth chapter. There is big stuff going on in this section. It begins with two miracles - the official's son healed at a great distance (at the end of ch. 4) and the crippled man standing at the pool of Bethesda. John wants to showcase Jesus saying something important, so he sets the scene by saying that these miracles are "signs." They are posts sticking out of the ground with directions on them.

The bulk of this chapter is Jesus telling his listeners what the signs are pointing at. The practical, accessible material have Jesus focusing on LIFE. Zoe in Greek. The kinda of stuff that is inside and spilling out of God. The kinda stuff that makes dead people--like us--perk up and experience what we're made for. I got really into this study and taught on it before our church.

What I didn't get into in John 5 was Jesus saying that he is the "Judge.” Not a comfortable topic for me. Not something that most folks coming to church for the first few times probably would desire to hear about: "In conclusion, Jesus miracles show us that he judges people. Amen. Come back next week."

But this morning, my men's study (just two of us today) began going through Galatians and we asked some of the tough questions most Christians ask about salvation. What does faith mean? Does your faith now affect your standing with God in five years, ten years, fifty years? What if the faithful person changes, rejects God, and does something awful, like, hunting fifth graders for fun? What if you are faithful to God, but your picture of God is slightly askew? We're familiar with such inquiries. They basically boil down to the question, "who's-in and who's-not?"

Then Rick--the other guy--said something profound, like, “These topics are interesting, but what do you gain by asking who gets in?” Not only was I not sure, but all that useless material I had skipped over in John 5 came flying back to me. "If Jesus is judge, then who's-not?"

I'm not.

How freeing! Isn't it? To not have to look at those you care about and say: you're definately going to hell. Isn't it freeing to know that you cannot make that call? To find that Jesus--the one who said, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest"--is the only one able to make such decisions.

"The Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son" (5:22).

So--we might ask--what are Jesus' criteria? Certainly Jesus has some standards. He isn't arbitrary, is he? What hoops would Jesus want us to jump through? What are the rules to this game? What are God's policies? How can I win? How can I ensure that I'm-in?

Catch the theme here? Hoop jumping misses the point! Paul calls one form of hoop jumping “a different Gospel” in Galatians. We should be mindful.

But as I thought on these passages something else occurred to me. Not only are we free from the burden of hoop jumping, but surely God is too. If God is so concerned with us not be held down by laws, rules, regulations, policies: why would he possibly want to place himself under such bondage, especially in regard to who he will and will not have saving compassion on?

God is not a concrete wall, standing fixed and immovable. The God revealed in Jesus of Nazareth is an alive, dynamic, ever-loving personality that reacts to his creation in generous and thoroughly creative ways. Do we really believe that God has opted for stagnation regarding how and who he is going to draw into his wondrous love such that it can be systematized? I don;t know about you, but there is no God I would perfer to serve more than one that deals with me systematically. Think: DMV.

For those of us who want to talk about God in meaningful ways and describe what he’s up to, we need to keep this mind.

"But how do we know what we're supposed to do?!? Because I love Jesus, I want to know the expectations." Again, that's just the point of Galatians. It is not what you do; it is what Jesus has done (and is doing) for you. Get your eyes of yourself. Quit being so self-absorbed. Surrender.

Certainly, God has set a certain course. Certainly, it is Jesus death that is saving men from sin as we saw in John 3. Certainly how we look on Jesus--this faith--describes our relationship with God and has some specific elements. And there is a way God is doing things and we can write these things down and study them.

But what do cliff notes to a great novel look like if the novel has not been completed yet? What does the movie review look like for a film that isn’t yet in the can? We must always hold this perspective in front of us when we talk about God, for what would a systematic theology look like if God kept doing new stuff?

Tragically dated.

Brian McLaren rightly points out that theology is an alive science. If it were not--if it were simply a set of immovable facts--then God isn't doing anything. He has set everything in motion to run in clock-like order without myself. This, however, is the god of Deism, not of Christianity.

The God of Christianity has a personality--three in fact. We know him, not just through the past and what he has done, but what he is presently doing. He makes new decisions. He has new encounters and adjusts as a loving Father would. God is affected by who people are because he loves them! He internalizes these relationships and reacts to specific needs. God engage us, not like the DMV, but in an individual manner. Why would we think his judgment is any different?

It seems then that those who want to say who's-in and who's-not are crowding Jesus space. They're saying, "Hey man, scoot over. I can do your job a bit better. You obviously were not thorough enough in that book.”

As Aquinas said looking at the volumes of theology he had composed: it's all just so much straw.

Signs

2005-09-19T14:08:00.000-06:00

John 5 - Part 2

When I was eighteen, I went on a trip to Orlando. For months before hand I was amped for this trip, not because I like the mouse, but because there is such a mystique surrounding Disney World. It is "the magic kingdom." It is "the happiest place on earth." It is the American Hajj.

What I remember most clearly was not the theme park itself, but the trip there. I remember getting in a rental car, driving down the highway, and all of a sudden seeing the highway split. A giant sign announced that the two lanes to the left were headed to "Miami" (city of a couple million people), but the five lanes to the right were headed to "DISNEYWORLD".

The sign blew my mind. I remember shivering a bit and thinking, "It's gonna be huge!!"

Signs can be quite exciting. There is a city in America that must spend billions of dollars on just their signs. This city has gone so far now that not only do they have five story TV screens and dancing lakes, but the buildings themselves have become signs: shaped like giant Pyramids and even entire city skylines. Las Vegas should have been called Las Uber-Sign.

A few years ago my wife and I went to Las Ubersign on a climbing trip. After a few days in the desert, we decided to walk through the city to see the sights (and look for a free shower). We spent at least 12 hours just looking at things that were supposed to draw us into the casinos: huge fountains, pirate battles, volcanoes exploding. There is a real problem with people being fascinated with your signs. They may be so interesting that they care little for what the signs are point to.

All through John's gospel, Jesus has a Las Vegas problem. People are more interested in his miracles than they are in what his "signs" point to.

Jesus understands this, and so he begins to undermine the people's curiosity. At the end of chapter four, Jesus returns to his hometown. Now, everyone has heard that the local boy is out doing some pretty impressive things. So people are out in the streets waiting for the fireworks to start. They are there to see the signs. They are there to ogle, but Jesus decides to withhold his power for the day. He has no interest in signs for signs sake.

However, there was also a man there who worked for King Herod and had come 17 or so miles to beg for Jesus help. You see, his son is dying of a severe fever and he is desperate.

This man, instead of exercising his power over Jesus and dragging him to his child's bedside in chains (which royal officials could probably do), pleads to Jesus to come and heal his son. In response to his request for help, Jesus simply says, "You may go. Your son will live." No fireworks. No neon lights. No five story TV screen. But the man "believing Jesus bare words" left on the long journey home with only a promise.

The writer and Jesus both desire the sign to recall an important story from Israel's past in which Yahweh comes to a man named Abram and says, "Go to the land I will show you." This is the beginning of God's relationship with the Hebrews. And Abram--who would later be renamed Abraham--"left as the Lord had told him." He believed Yahweh's bare words and went.

Jesus' signs are not arbitrary. They point to something. This is a clue to keep in your mind.

Desperation

2005-09-18T09:35:00.000-06:00

John 5 - Part 3

John then tells us that "some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem." While he was there he goes to a religious landmark. Both Pagans and Jews recognized the Pool of Bethesda as a place of healing. At one point it was dedicated to a pagan healing god, Asclepius (Wright. John for Everybody. Pt. 1. p. 55). The Pool itself was "surrounded by five [luxurious] covered colonnades." So we get the picture of a beautiful resort like place of healing and joy, right?

Well, John goes on to say, "Here a great number of disabled people used to lie--the blind, the lame, the paralyzed." This is a picture of contrast: beautiful place, broken people. John is showing us a unique scene of desperation. So why are all these people hanging around this pool? Well there is a rumor that from time to time an angel would stir up the water, and the first person in would be healed.

Lest we think this is a good thing, imagine what it might look like to see six dozen "blind," "lame," "paralyzed" people pushing each other aside and bounding into a pool all at once? Can you imagine the chaos that would follow as each invalid flopped into the water? Perhaps there was someone who was healed, celebrating their wellness. But imagine the other fifty-plus infirmed left to tred water and try and get back out. Imagine the awkward limbs and scrabbling of the crippled. Imagine the sobbing of those who didn't get the prize. Some perhaps drowning. Many spitting out profanities at their lot and their inability to be first. Imagine. It is a tragic picture at which a devil might smile.

Enter Jesus.

Jesus learns that one man had been sitting at the pool 38 years in his condition. Seeing him there, he asks simply, "Do you want to get well?" It is one of the more intriguing things that Jesus says in the Gospels.

"Do you want to get well?"

It is a sign. The writer again wants us to think back to the stories of Yahweh. Often the God of the Old Testament does not do miracles for the sake of miracles. He acts in order to point out who is and who is not God.

We might think of Elijah confronting the prophets of Bal, or Shadrach, Mashach, and Abednego being saved in the fire. My favorite is the plagues that fall on Egypt when Moses demands the release of the Hebrew slaves. Each plague that Yahweh brings on Egypt targets an Egyptian God. The first is the plague of blood. It targets the Nile and its associated god. Then one after another Yahweh knocks out the main gods of Egypt, climaxing with the plague of darkness which assualts Ra (the Sun God), and the plague of the first born, which targets the pharaoh himself. God on earth. His son--the future god--dies.

In this scene, Jesus strides into a temple to confront gods who have no desire to heal, but only to mock the broken. Jesus steps into the courts of the pagan gods and shows that he is the one who truly possess the power to restore. Again, this is just a sign, just like the healing of the official's son. Just like the five story TV. But what are these signs pointing to?

The Apprentice

2005-09-17T10:27:00.000-06:00

John 5 - Part 4

In a curious move, Jesus not only tells the invalid to "Rise," he also instructs him to pick up his mat. The invalid scampers off, but is confronted by some religious authorities who inform him that it is against the law to carry a mat on the Sabbath. The man is happy to tell them that it was Jesus who instructed him to carry stuff, perhaps they should take it up with him.

Which they do.

Now, when confronted, Jesus begins to unpack the signs. He announces in a controversial setting what his miracles mean. He says to them, "My Father is always at work to this very day, and I too am working" (v.17). These authorities are enraged, and John tells us that they are now bent on killing Jesus. But why? There are numerous references to Yahweh as Father in the Hebrew scriptures. Why would this set off the authorities.

Let's set up what Jesus is doing here by asking a few questions:

"Does God worship idols?"
Probably not.

"Does God misuse the name of God?"
Only when he hits his thumb with a hammer...Nah, he's got restraint.

"Does God covet anyone else's donkey or ox or maidservant?"
Maybe if it was the Ox 3000...well...no, again, probably not.

"Does God work on the Sabbath?"

Um....

Jewish philosophers had actually concluded that God does work on the Sabbath. Life is created on the Sabbath. The natural order is held together on the Sabbath. It's not like every Saturday the second law of thermodynamics fails. So, these philosophers came to the conclusion that there were rules that applied to men and there were other rules that applied to God.

By healing and commanding a man to walk on the Sabbath, Jesus is saying there are rules that apply to you, and then there are rules that apply to Me. I live according to the God-Rules. God is my unique Father and I am the unique Son of God.

Jesus unpacks it a bit more, in case they missed it, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does" (v.19).

Want to know what the miracles I've been doing are about? Want to know what the signs are pointing to? I am an apprentice to my Father. I watch what he does and I do the same. I watch my Father tell men to go, to put faith in his bare words, and I do the same. I watch Him confront gods that are lame and useless through fantastic displays of power, and I do the same. I watch him set men free. "Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it." (v.21 & 24).

John does something here that is wonderful. John is writing his biography of Jesus in Greek, but Jesus originally spoke Aramaic. So, John is translating Jesus words for a new culture, and he inserts a concept that Greek speakers would be familiar with into Jesus mouth. There are two words for "life" in Greek. The first is "Bios." It is where we get our word "biology." It refers to the kind of life found in animals. Our fleshy, bodily life is bios-life. When Jesus says, "No one takes my life, I lay it down of my own accord," he uses the word "bios."

But, the second word for life in Greek is "Zoe." This is a different kind of life. It is the kind of life the gods have. The gods don't have animal bodies. They don't have this fleshy stuff. They have Zoe. They have God-life. John is saying that Jesus is making people Alive in a new way: in the same way God is alive. This theme of life--of everlasting, eternal life--runs through out John's gospel. It also begins the book of Genesis.

Genesis starts with God creating the universe, our world, and us. "The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being...The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die'" (2:7 &15-17).

What happens next? Well, we know the man and his lady friend are rather careless. The two of them go ahead and eat from the tree, and they immediately fall down dead, and God has to create new people.

No! What happens?

God comes and asks if they have eaten from the tree of the knowlegde of good and evil. Of course they have, so he removes them from the garden. Genesis goes on to tell us that Adam lived for 800 more years (5:3-5). He didn't die!

Well... he did, but in a more profound and significant way. He did not die in the Bios way. He died in the Zoe way. He is a being that no longer lives in the way he was meant to. He was meant to be a son of God. He was meant to live in the presence of God. But he abandoned it all.

Fast-forward to the end of John's Gospel. Jesus has been executed, but has risen from the dead. His disciples are confused and gather together, and all of sudden Jesus steps into their midst, and what happens? "Jesus said, 'Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.' And with that he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit'" (20:21).

Bang! "Whatever the Father does the Son also does" (5:19).

What is going on? Jesus is making men alive again! "I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live" (5:25-26).

Paul puts it this way: "If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" God is breathing Zoe-Life into men once again, and John says it over and over again:

"In Jesus was LIFE;" "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal LIFE;" "The Son gives LIFE to whom he is pleased." Jesus says, "I am the way, the Truth, and the LIFE;" "I am the resurrection and the LIFE;" "I am the bread of LIFE...This bread is my flesh which I give for the LIFE of the world;" "I have come that they may have LIFE and have it to the full;" "The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are LIFE;" "I give them LIFE and they shall never perish." And John concludes his book by saying, "These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have LIFE in his name."

Do you want to get well?

Jesus has entered a beautiful world filled with broken people fighting to get the scant, insignificant goodies before them. He calls to broken individuals, and he asks them--in their pain and delusion--do you want LIFE?

"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my words and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to Zoe" (5:24).

Believe.

Swords, Islam, and Reform

2005-09-17T01:30:00.000-06:00

In this article, Salman Rushdie is seeking a better way in a world full of swords for Islam itself. Though Christians may not have a lot of clout in Muslim political/intellectual circles, we still may make every effort to bless those who follow Islam. Jesus loves Muslims and longs to show them what peace is. We are the ambassodors of that peace. We are called to do good in lands where Islam thrives in the name of Jesus, and show a better way, a way that inspires them to see God as he actually is. This may mean seeking out humanitarian groups. This may mean going, as one girl from our community has and is, and being Jesus to them. May God be with Altair.

Reading List - September/October 2005

2005-09-16T14:10:00.000-06:00

Alright, so this hasn't changed much. (The History of Christianity I read last month was a monster text.)

- The Shape of Things to Come: Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch
- Velvet Elvis - Repainting the Christian Faith: Rob Bell
- The Next Reformation: Carl Raschke
- The Meaning of Jesus - Two Visions: NT Wright
- A Primer on Postmodernism: Stanley J. Grenz
- Winning the NFL Way: B. LaMount (Don't laugh. I like football and cheesy leadership books)
- No Holds Barred - Wrestling with God in Prayer: Mark D. Roberts
- The Volunteer Revolution - Unleashing the Power of Everybody: Bill Hybels

Healing after Genocide

2005-09-10T16:26:00.000-06:00

In speaking about Rwanda and what has happened in the last ten years to PBS, journalist Helena Cobban recounted just awful stories of the region, the pain, and the continued obstacles before the people of Rwanda. The final question posed to her was, "What about Rwanda today -- what sort of path is it on? What would you highlight?" And this was here response:

"I would highlight the word precarious, unfortunately. I look at Rwanda today as being very precarious, and needing all the love and care and prayers that we can send its way. It's a beautiful, beautiful country, in a very unstable part of the world. That's the first thing.

"The people there are all traumatized -- people who are survivors of the genocide and people who themselves participated in perpetrating the genocide. Participation in mass violence traumatizes people. Just as we know about soldiers who come back with PTSD -- but those are people who have participated in regular combat -- but people who have participated in those terrible, terrible acts of very up close and personal, direct killing and maiming and raping and looting. That traumatizes people. We have to recognize that.

"I should say, however, that there is one hopeful thing that I noticed in Rwanda -- that I hadn't really been looking for, and I haven't written much about this -- and that is the role of religion. A lot of emphasis has been placed on the involvement of various Christian churches, in particular, the Catholic church, in the genocide.
One of the amazingly hopeful things that has happened in Rwanda since the genocide has been a huge growth of evangelical Christianity. And there in Rwanda, they play a wonderful role.

"I'm a Quaker. There are Quakers in Rwanda and they are evangelical Quakers. And I was staying in an evangelical Anglican mission run by wonderful people. I met a few of these people who were evangelical, either Pentecostals or Anglicans and they were real wonderful social activists.

"In all of these institutions, I found survivors of the genocide and family members of perpetrators of the genocide working and worshipping together. To me, any force, whether it's evangelical Christianity, or any other social force that can bring about that kind of reconciliation, has to be supported and admired. It was quite genuine.

"I talked to a couple of very inspiring evangelical Anglican pastors, who were themselves Tutsi survivors of the genocide. Their testimonies were so moving, about how they had actually stood up to the genocidaires when they came to their door and used a kind of Christian-based reaching out: How could you do this to a fellow Christian? Don't you remember the words of Jesus? And they actually changed the hearts of those killers, who then left their doors.

"That stuff is powerful and it's there in the whole country. To me, that's fabulous because these are people who need all the healing they can get. That was the major institution I saw providing that kind of social healing."

In Rwanda, where much of the killing was actually done with swords, it was inspiring to me to read of the Church stepping into a world of pain to be salt and light. (The note on Catholicism should not be universalized, for there are many spots in the world were protestants are the one's with swords.)

Who are the Heroes

2005-09-03T11:16:00.000-06:00

As the pundits sqabble about who deserves blame for a hurricane hitting a city, it has filled me with joy to know that the good guys of the story are two Christian organizations. The Red Cross and Salvation Army have placed themselves in a position to help broken people. How irrelevant the monday morning quarterbacks will look in five years when a city is completely restored and the lives of hundreds of thousands of families have been held together by Christians giving freely of themselves.

As you know, you can give to the Red Cross here and the Salvation Army here.

Power and the Cross

2005-08-22T08:25:00.000-06:00

Perhaps Dr. Wright knows what this blog is about, for he hit it all in this article. In speaking of the Christian response to postmodernity, he articulates what a world without swords looks like, and what it means. I will not do justice to it, even in commentary. I will instead leave you with a few quotes, and highly recommend you read the article in its entirety.

"The Achilles’ heal of modernity is the actuality of evil ... Under God, the role of postmodernity has been to announce the doctrine of the fall to arrogant modernity, and to say, it’s not that easy, guys, you’ve just been building the tower of Babel, and God is coming down to have a little giggle at it and to confuse your languages. "

"Jesus standing in between cynical Pilate and colluding religion, Jesus goes to the cross ... Jesus’ kingship is all about a different way of power, a different way of life, within this present world. And the evidence he gives, that it’s a different sort of kingdom, is that his servants are not fighting. Isn’t that interesting! If it were from this world, my servants would fight to prevent me being handed over. And Jesus’ kingdom is all about bearing witness to truth. And Pilate says, “What is truth?” Pilate’s categories are too small and flat. The only truth Pilate knows is Caesar’s truth, the empire’s truth, the truth of scourging and nails and crosses. Had he been born a millennium and a half later, he would have said, “The only truth I know comes out of the barrel of a gun.” Same kind of thing. And the person who gets let off at the end of the chapter is Barabbas, the violent revolutionary."

"[James and John] know that Jesus is coming to Jerusalem to become king. And so naturally they want to be sitting at his right hand and at his left. And Jesus says, listen, you don’t know what you’re talking about, actually. And they didn’t, of course, because those who end up at Jesus’ right and his left when he comes in his kingdom in Mark and Matthew and Luke are the two who are crucified alongside him. "

"And what is the price if you say no? Here is the center: The price if you say no is the cross. Romans crucified people who resisted empire. Isn’t that interesting! It took genius to see that this symbol, which already had theological and political meaning, because it meant, “We Romans rule the world and if you get in our way Caesar, who is a god, will get you,” and this is what you do. It took genius to see that that symbol could work the other way and be a symbol of the outpoured love of God, and the very redefinition and reconstitution of what power itself was all about. We need to embrace that as the deep meaning and message of the cross if we are to have the genuine Christian challenge in the postmodern world. "

“What would a Christian worldview look like in here? .... [In the University,] we are not studying facts in the abstract as though we’ve got these facts in a test tube or whatever and we can just do things to them and learn them as though they’re over against us. No, the Christian calling is to know the world with a knowledge that approximates to love, and the point about love and the epistemology which love generates is that love both affirms the otherness of the object while remaining in deep, close, and rich subjective relationship to it. Love transcends the objective-subjective divide ... Our vocation, then, is to be agents of new creation, knowing the world and one another with delight and in love and in respect, celebrating it as God’s good creation, grieving over the places where it has gone wrong, glimpsing new creation, not least through the arts and through beauty, and working to make it happen."

"Worship is not simply Christian entertainment or making a miscellaneous nice party with lots of nice music. Christian worship is humbly adoring the Creator God and thereby being renewed in his image. And image-bearing includes that love of the world which shares the love which was Christ’s, which sent him to die on the cross, renewed in his image and strengthened by his body and blood, into a transformative spirituality which expresses itself naturally and obviously in the work for new creation in the world. "

The Christian Challenge in the Postmodern World

Be Blessed, Jeff

The Evolution Debate is not about Science

2005-08-18T08:23:00.000-06:00

As mainstream publications begin weighing the pros and cons of teaching Intelligent Design, its important to remember one thing: any time the media or apologists for "the scientific community" tell us this is a debate between science and religion, they are lying.

This is a debate about power. Specifically, should the public school system in America tell kids how to view reality: ethics, psychology, religion, human identity and value, sexual behavior, meaning, and on and on?

Isn't that a jump? No, because if one accepts the Neo-Darwinian thesis, conclusions on these and other matters follow almost necessarily. Darwinism is an opinionated fellow, and he cannot help affirming materialist conclusions everywhere he goes. In fact, to not do so is to not understand what he is saying. Darwinism is a theory about life arising without help. It is a statement about the creation of humanity and their purposeless beginnings. That is not a trivial proclamation. It is a statement which, if true, colors everything.

That is why this is not a debate about science. It is a debate about how things are. It is a debate about reality at its most Raw. The use of language in this debate--suggesting that one side is scientific and the other is religion--is ridiculous. This debate is actually about power. It is about whether or not public schools should prescribe ideologies: religious or non-religious. It's about who has the authority to tell our kids what is real. Neo-Darwinism is not so much a fact to be reckoned with. It is much more, a set of glasses through which to see all of reality.

Now on the other hand, neglecting to teach Neo-Darwinism to our youth would be a tragedy. It is very important for this ideology to be understood by young people. But that is just it; it needs to be understood as an ideology. It is a worldview. It needs to be placed in the same realm as all ideologies taught in schools because it is a systematic statement about what reality is like at its most fundamental levels, and as such it is a religiously weighted viewpoint. (Suggesting that Neo-Darwinism makes no religious claims is absurd.)

And this is the crux. Neo-Darwinism is a worthwhile theory about reality, and may in fact be true. But how will we know it is "true"? Well not by crushing all dissenting opinion (as one editorial this morning in the USA Today suggests). How often has indoctrination advanced human thought? It would seem that truth shines brightest when paired against competing alternatives (as the other editorial in USA Today states).

What is the solution? One writer suggests that, "Students should learn the scientific arguments for, and against, contemporary evolutionary theory ... Teaching scientific controversies and arguments helps students understand the nature of science. Contrary to the "men in white coats" stereotype, with scientists as data-collecting automatons, scientists argue about how best to interpret evidence."

Write it on your hand. Tattoo it on your forehead: There are no neutral facts, only interpretations. Forcing kids to bow in school to any ideology is immoral, and runs counter to our separation of church and state. The priests of materialism should stand down.

Postmodernity, the Gospel, and the World

2005-08-12T10:11:00.000-06:00

"While global economies are converging, cultures are diverging, and the widening cultural differences are leading us into a period of conflict, inequality and segmentation." So writes David Brooks in his NY Times editorial this morning.

Part of our postmodern reality is that nation states--a modern phenomenon--will evaporate in significant ways over the coming centuries. Humanity has a tendency to unite--to tribalize--in order to protect itself, but our spheres of safety are continuing to shift from geographical regions to ideological communities. And global conflict, propaganda, and power are shifting accordingly. The most dangerous force aligned against the US today is not Russia and its hundreds of nuclear warheads. It is two dozen ideologs who live in the US, and have the knowledge to make small, deadly weapons. We are living in an era in which the walls of the world are evaporating. I now may have more in common with a 35 year old mother of two in Kenya than I do with my neighbor across the street.

Geography is becoming irrelevant. Ideology is becoming everything.

Philip Jenkins in his incredible book The Next Christendom, notes that Africa, South America, and Asia will begin to see more and more conflicts especially between Muslims and Christians, as tribal religions are abandoned for Monotheism. Secularism requires a certain kind of background to thrive, and this will not be available in such areas. But Monotheism will sweep into these cultures given the evangelical flair of both religions and their desire for worldwide propagation. As these religions enter a highly-populated third world, Islam and Christianity will conflict in bloody ways in small chaotic areas. Because of how African nations are laid out, it is horrifying to note that these conflicts will take place in uncontrollable pockets.

So what does this mean? Christians around the world need to be prepared for a new era of religious wars, and we must do what ever we can to repress it. The world is set to explode, but we must learn to love and teach our new brothers and sisters in the developing world how to love first. We must affirm always, Jesus counter-perspective which says that we are made for each other. All people are made to worship God together through eternity. Differing ideologies must not become an excuse to kill. We must find a better way in a world full of swords.

I did a study on St. Francis of Assisi who also lived at a time of great conflict between Islam and Christianity. During the Fifth Crusade, Francis decided that the best way to gain the Holy Land (if that was important at all to him...doubt it) was to go and speak to the Muslim people and share with them the good news of Christ. Francis was imprisoned and (in serving the battle torn armies) infected with an eye disease he carried for the rest of his life. But Francis had many opportunities to talk with even the highest-ranking sultans about Jesus, displaying the reality of God through his own service and willingness to suffer for the good of others. (Here is a great talk on St. Francis by Brian McLaren--scroll down to talk '1883'.)

How should Christians wage an ideological war? In the way Jesus taught. We will battle through a bold love against the force of hell. We will give when all hell can do is take. We will bless when all hell can do is curse. We will proclaim freedom when hell offers bondage. We will employ the power of God to overcome all that destroys, and in so doing we will partner with Jesus in restoring the world.

As relatively affluent Americans, we should continue to support need-based organizations that go into areas of turmoil with medicines and technology for clean water and sanitation. We should continue to fight, not Muslims, but AIDS, malnutrition, and ignorance. We need to love people where they are, and joyously serve our Muslim friends as readily as our Christian brothers and sisters. Let us love first and speak second, and not think that the good news means that someone hears four spiritual laws. The most effective missionaries in the world to come will not specialize in presenting the Gospel. They will specialize in healing the broken. They will specialize in caring for the dying, and orphans, and refugees. They will enter into the sphere put up by ideologies and show a better way through who they are, not what they say. Consider, again, Mother Teresa.

The Brooks article points out that in our new world people will begin to create bubbles around themselves. They will seek out (on their 500 channel televisions and 5 million website internet) writers and reporters who "Think like them." They will get their information from overtly biased news agencies. They will ingest only those things written or composed or directed by a good Christian/ Hindu/ Muslim/ Libertarian/ Green/ Progressive/ Idaho-ian. (The phenomenon of Fox News and Al Jezerra are perfect examples of this.) The tendency of the common person will be to seclude themselves from other ideologies, unless they need to throw a punch.

How will the gospel break through? It certainly will not come through the debates on MSNBC. It will not come through TBN and their plush golden chairs (or any other possible Christian TV network). It will not even come through on mainstream editorial pages or the university. In a postmodern world, there will be no neutral ground for the debate of ideas before the masses, and only a select few will read the opposition. Everything that is written, filmed, or composed will be biased. Everyone will know it, and they will stay in their safety zone: within their ideological community: their sphere of safety. They will trust the priests of there tribe, and venture no further.

Thus, the Gospel will thrive only when it can enter these bubbles. Jesus will be real to dead people only when we suffer for the sake of the gospel, leaving our own bubbles of comfort and entering foreign lands. The strategy is laid out in 1 Cor. 9:19-23, "Though I am free and a slave to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jew I became like a Jew to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the Gospel, that I may share in its blessings."

With the exception of the strip of land between Libya and China (the 10/40 window), the Gospel is thriving in every geographical area on Earth. It is ideological pockets that are the new frontier for missionaries. Reaching them will entail Christians entering completely foreign worlds right down the street, worlds where Christianity may as well be a country on the other side of the earth. The great commission entails Christ followers entering such worlds as servants to love boldly. It is love, not well composed arguments, which is the only force on earth capable of changing the human heart.

This may even mean doing something odd like going downtown, next to a university, and buying a bowling alley. (May God bless the Atlas project.)

Hell as a Present Condition

2005-08-11T13:13:00.000-06:00

I suggested last Sunday, and in a recent post, that Hell is not simply a future state, but that Jesus often uses the word to describe a condition we experience now. Some of Jesus' words make hell sound like a virus that is thriving inside us. Other times he says that by doing some small (seemingly harmless) things, we are walking on a slippery slope, and may soon be rushing toward fire. Fron these passages, Hell seems to be more than a place. It is better described as a spiritual condition in which our destructive tendencies, pride, and animal-wants overpower our souls, make us into something we are not meant to be, remove us further from the life of God. They do in fact remove some forever.

There are 12 uses of the word "Geenna" GK. (translated 'Hell') in the New Testament. 11 of these are uttered by Jesus; the last by James. "Geenna" refers literally to a place of burning trash in a valley outside of Jerusalem. Now Jesus does use this word to describe a place the wicked go after death, see Luke 16:23 and Matt 10:28. However, it seems to me that Jesus also uses this word to describe what is going on inside someone who is far from God.

Look at Matthew 5:27-30. Hell is used here twice. After commenting on lust, Jesus says, "If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." He repeats the idea and references one's hand as the instrument that should be amputated.

Now, it seems to me that Jesus is talking about a present state here. That staring and lusting, or habitually masturbating (come on--why else would you need to cut off your hand in response to lust?) is self-destructive in deep ways. Might we bring in the idea of "Geenna" and say that lust is not simply a fire; it is a burning trash within you, and Jesus is calling it what it is.

Look above at Mt 5:22, "But I tell you anyone who is angry with his brother ... who says, "you fool!" will be in danger of the fires of hell." Might we also characterize Rage as trash burning within as well? Certainly throwing someone into Hell for eternity for an angry outburst seems a bit overboard (no pun intended). But saying, this is the reality of your rage--you are inviting heaps of burning waste into your soul--this seems to follow better.

Now, look at Matt. 23:13-15: "Woe to you...Pharisees...You travel over sea to win a single convert and when he becomes one you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are." The phrase "son of hell" here is interesting. What would it mean to be born of hell--a hell-spawn--if hell is only a future state? How can you be born of somewhere you may or may not be going? Odd? However, what if you are born of the flaming trash heap inside you, and then in danger (v.33) of being condemned to hell--this time without hope of return. Again, the duel use (present and future) of this term makes more sense to me.

My favorite verse on this is in Matt 16:18, "I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." Hades is the greek word for the place of the dead and is generally equivalent to hell. But note, how can the church overcome hell if it is some future state? How, once we are in heaven, do we lay seige to hell? But if hell is a present condition, if phrases like "hell on earth" are apt, then certainly the church may assualt the gates of hell.

Now, move to the passage in James 3:6, "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire and is itself set on fire by hell." 'Hell' in this instance sure sounds like a present force. So in both the gospels and the lone epistle, we see hell referred to as a present reality.

What strikes me in all these passages is the idea of one's body literally being set on fire by a boastful tongue, a lustful eye, or a rage filled heart. We can all sympathize with what this means: to be overcome by a fire of sorts: a fire which--if we were to step back and smell it--is fowl and repulsive. Yet we know that some live in that state. They are in fact consumed by the flames of their flesh. They live out the flaming trash inside of themselves. This is Hell. There is no better description for bondage of this sort.

Link to Art Work by Cornelis Monsma

Arguing with Love

2005-08-08T18:09:00.000-06:00

Sunday, I referred to Mother Teresa and the manner in which she led her life as reflecting how things really are. That in living as she did, no arguments were advanced, but the revolutionary perspective of Jesus was presented: perhaps as powerfully as it could be.

I didn't put enough meat on this observation, but it's something that I--having got a master's degree in arguing about God--have been thinking about a lot recently, and wondering whether or not the money I sent CU was a waste.

In the documentary made by Malcolm Muggeridge that brought her international fame, Teresa is consistently telling Muggeridge how things are without being argumentative. In one scene, she is holding a small abandoned baby, and says to Muggeridge, "Look, she has life in her eyes; the life of God." "Yes," Muggeridge, a self-confessed atheist, repeatedly says--seemingly convinced.

Later, Muggeridge--Britain's leading journalist--became a Catholic and said it was his experience with Teresa that really moved him to thinking about Jesus. (His book "Jesus Rediscovered" is worth reading. Though it is out of print.)

In Teresa's life, reality--Heaven--was breaking into our world, and the illusion put up by centuries of man's rebellion could not trump it.

Note, in a country that had had a Cast System in place for thousands of years, Teresa didn't come out asking politicians to change their laws, nominate supreme court justices that would do something, get grass root support and all. She simply acted, and started a revolution. The revolution carried through her country where Indian women from across the nation came to help the Sisters of Mercy--many of whom were not Christian when they came. But she became the reason for many to seriously consider Christ's counter-perspective on life.

In a country with a massive Hindu Population, and vocal Muslim minority, a frail Christian woman from Albania often represented India on the global stage. When she spoke all India listened. She gave commencement addresses at Harvard (where she spoke on abstinence of all things). She spoke with any world leader she choose. Her influence was extraordinary, and yet her power came from doing nothing the world actually pursued as valuable. (There aren’t long lines to gain power by starting leprosariums.)

Looking at pictures of the woman, you notice a posture deformed by consistently loving those in beds, gutters, or on the sidewalks. The deformity is beautiful in live films where she moves easily picking up children and cleaning off the desperate.

She backed up her outspoken critique of abortion saying, "A child is a gift of God. If you do not want him, give him to me." She was not playing the game from the bleachers, reading her script in a power suit on CNN and going home to her cozy life. In speaking about such hard issues, she volunteered to be the solution.

We might do better to study how one small woman, in a simple white cotton sari, didn't bother much with arguments; instead, she simply went out into the world and changed the lives of millions.

Positive Trends and America

2005-08-07T10:55:00.000-06:00

I found this article encouraging. It documents a change in American social conditions which we should all be thankful for, such as a huge drop in domestic violence, alcohol related car fatalities, and violence by teens. The author proposes a set of four reasons for the shift:

"The first thing that has happened is that people have stopped believing in stupid ideas: that the traditional family is obsolete, that drugs are liberating, that it is every adolescent's social duty to be a rebel.

The second thing that has happened is that many Americans have become better parents. Time diary studies reveal that parents now spend more time actively engaged with kids, even though both parents are more likely to work outside the home.

Third, many people in the younger generation, under age 30 or so, are reacting against the culture of divorce. They are trying to lead lives that are more stable than the ones their parents led. Post-boomers behave better than the baby boomers did.

Fourth, over the past few decades, neighborhood and charitable groups [Read Churches] have emerged to help people lead more organized lives, even in the absence of cohesive families."

In his book "Theology for the Community of God" Stanley Gretz paints salvation as a communal experience. Our choices are never made in a vacuum; we bring Jesus to one another. God has made our world, not for you and I individually, but for the community of God that will exist forever. The image Jesus often uses of heaven is a banquet or marriage, not a walk alone with God. Some day I will rant about "The Me Generation" and their propensity to make erratic choices at the cost of their neighbors and children (among other shameful things). But for now it is good to focus on news that our world maybe reflecting Heaven a bit more.

Good Things

2005-08-05T20:52:00.000-06:00

Today I'm just thankful.

Found a picture that says it.

Be Blessed.
Jeff

Visit the Artist's Gallery.

Intellectual Status

2005-08-04T20:06:00.000-06:00

Here is an article from the Washington Post on the President's recent remarks that Intelligent Design should be taught along side the theory of Evolution. Set aside the debate, note the tone in this article.

Obviously, Christians can't keep folks from speaking badly about them. This won't change any time soon. But we should not be criticized as irrelevant on fronts where we should be leading.

The authors of this piece obviously have no respect for I.D. because of the community which is promoting it. The skeptical voices can throw out assumptions about the intelligence of religious folk, and have the reader count them as valuable critiques.

If Christians were known leaders in our top universities in areas of science, history, philosophy and the like, the backwater assumption would not stand. It would come across as odd, unlearned, and...well...backwater. For a solid perspective on the road back to intellectual distinction and respect see Moreland's "Love Your God With All Your Mind".

The Next Reformation by Carl Raschke

2005-08-02T13:55:00.000-06:00

Here's our first book review. Intially we'll have a conversation about the book. If you desire to contribute - feel free! Once we're done I'll do a full review here at the top.

Here's a link to the book: The Next Reformation by Carl Raschke

Is Postmodernity a Lame Duck?

2005-08-02T10:59:00.000-06:00

For those interested in the Emergent conversation, I found this article by Sam Blair ('Why be Postmodern' )helpful.

Recently, many thinkers I have listened to have been talking about Postmodernity--not as the world's predetermined course--but as just another step (and most-likely a very short one) in history's march. Reading this article, I was reminded that the deconstructionist perspective (if you can even designate it as such) has brought some needed critiques and perspective to the Church, but we should not give postmodernity more power than it actually possesses. We should remember, PM does not offer anything substantive. Its most important work is as a (necessary) critique of Modernity, and its excesses. The question is: once the criticizing is done, what fills in the void left by a dead modernity?

Instead of this being somehow a rebuke to the Emergent conversation, our questions need to change just a bit. Instead of only asking how we can react to the coming Postmodern wave, we should be asking how we can best create the language/atmosphere/persuppositions assumed by our culture as it moves from modernity into something else. PM will not do the work, and will not be stable enough for any culture to hang its hat on. In short, PM will soon outlive its usefulness be discarded.

So, what does that mean for us as the Church? What would it mean for us to build a new epistemology, a new set of presuppositions that--rightly and restoratively--acknowledges the Lordship of Jesus over thought and experience and knowledge.

Here is an article worth reading on this front by Historian NT Wright. There aren't too many more answers here either, but it may spur on the conversation a bit.

Doing Things Right

2005-08-01T06:36:00.000-06:00

The church I grew up in had been saving for ten years to buy a building. When they finally had the money put aside to build, they invited all the other church pastors in town to pray over them and their new home. Instead of viewing my home church as a threat, the pastors in the Roaring Fork Valley wanted to see them thrive. Is it just me, or does this feel unique?

For all interested, this church's website and the content are wonderful. Visit: www.churchatcarbondale.com . The page of pictures is fun, and the audio/video of sermons are wonderful.

The Power of Changing the Subject

2005-07-30T13:39:00.000-06:00

"The Ann Arbor News crime column reported that a man walked into a Burger King in Ypsilanti, Michigan, at 5 a.m., flashed a gun, and demanded cash. The clerk turned him down because he said he couldn't open the cash register without a food order. When the man ordered onion rings, the clerk said they weren't available for breakfast. The man, frustrated, walked away."

The Power of the Thumb

2005-07-30T12:11:00.000-06:00

So, I'm a fool like everyone else, and would much prefer to read an article on the lives of celebrities and their ridiculous lifestyles, than the ridiculous way lives are being lost in African Nations to disease and genocide.

I am part of the problem when it comes to what news media outlets choose to consider "news." I was awakened to this recently when Condi Rice went to the Sudan and the government guards roughed up some reporters. This was the lead story on CNN and Fox news that day. "CNN, Fox, and NBC camera crew get manhandled in Sudan!"

What was not the focus was the genocide taking place in that nation. That was the after thought: "oh, yeah, this is why Rice is even in the country. Here's some shots of her with women who have been repeatedly raped by soldiers and are now in a camp for protection. BUT did you see the way their guards pushed OUR camera guys out of the office when we started asking questions?!?! Don't the Sudanese know about the First Amendment?"

This is part of the problem for our post-modern culture: what is valuable is determined by us, by our tastes, by our channel changer.

And when we do not have a taste for being informed of the real horrors of Africa--detail by detail--it is no longer "newsworthy." So sad. It is an incredible power that we possess to simply change the channel, and deem such atrocities irrelevant.

Capitalism is based on demand, and unless we long to here raw, awful things from around the world, such events will not be news. Instead, Tom Cruise's opinion of anti-depressants, or Michael Jackson's seduction techniques will capture our headlines.

It blows my mind that talk of reparations for slavery has been covered more extensively by politicians and (especially) by university classes and journal articles than the current slave trade in Asia of little girls. Making the descendents of slave owners pay for things their great, great grandfather did is obviously worth more of our intellectual energy than actually freeing slaves (some of whom make Americans rich through the lavish porn empire and 'hot_asian_hoochies.com' or whatever).

Christ followers need to be at the front of demanding that human pain be front and center from our journalists. It is not pretty, but only by seeing what is tragic can a communal desire for justice arise. When moral issues (like the Terri Schivo circus) grab headlines, things get done. That's how a democracy like ours works: its design makes it reactive. This is why the American Media, not any president or court, hold the most power on earth. They can tell hundreds of millions of people each day what is real, and through there words can determine what our congress and president must react to. We must pray for such folks, and encourage them as Brian McLaren does in This Article.

Case and Point

2005-07-28T16:02:00.000-06:00

On CNN, Larry King recently interviewed five Christians listed in a recent Time magazine article as "the most influential evangelicals" today.

Notice who King feels comfortable arguing with and pushing to extremes. Notice the ideas King is prepared to berate. Note the predictable dose of condescention when certain topics and opinions appear. Note the ignorance of what language the world speaks, which phrases invite ridicule.

But notice how when a generous, healing answer is given, things move on. Notice that when someone articulates a self-sacrifical position and says I'll walk that path with hurting people, how the interlocutor must move on. There' s really no controversy when someone gives an answer that focuses on loving other people. Best for King to find the sword swinger, so he can improve Ted Turner's ratings.

Here's a command that's not found in the 18th chapter of Leviticus, but ought to be forefront on the mind of any Christian stepping in front of a TV camera: "I am sending you out to be sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." (Mt. 10:16)

We need more hissing from those who say they speak for our community.

Kindness and Other People

2005-07-27T17:36:00.000-06:00

"Always be kind, for everyone is involved in a great battle."

This was wisdom past on to me recently which challenged how I was treating some folks in some very difficult discussions. The proverb was reaffirmed when I saw this video today by Seether.

Now you may be a MTV buff, but I don't frequent video channels. In fact, I find 'the painful death of MTV' a worthy prayer request (some corperations are appropriate targets of our swords, and should be hacked to pieces...or can such institutions be redeemed? Maybe I'm too hasty). Thankfully, I really liked this song, could not find it anywhere for 99 cents, and went googling for it.

I found the images in this video powerful. I long for you to see them and comment.

Who's Malchus?

2005-07-26T14:48:00.000-06:00

There's a story told in all four of the Gospels in which a large crowd armed with swords and clubs comes to arrest Jesus. This is a scary situation, and Jesus' followers are obviously anxious and do not know what to do. One of them reacts violently. In order to save his teacher and friend from being arrested, he is willing to draw his own sword and start swinging. He hits a man named Malchus, who is a servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. Malchus obviously approves of arresting Jesus, may even know that Jesus will be killed the next day, and he's there to report to his bosses what happened.

He is one of the many different faces who oppose Jesus in their own way.

In reaction, Jesus stops the violence, picks up Malchus' ear, and heals him. Instead of reacting against Malchus and the others in this crowd with a show of force ("my daddy can beat up your daddy" (Mt. 27:53)), Jesus chooses to restore the world. He chooses to "drink the cup" his father has given him (Jn. 18:11).

The restoration--the breaking in of the Kingdom of God into our world--takes place in a small way here with the healing of Malchus. Instead of reacting against violent men in a violent way, Jesus offers something else. This is a better way in a world full of swords.

What does this mean for us in our world? What swords do we swing when we're scared? How can we, instead, assist God in bringing restoration to our world?

What does it look like for me to heal Malchus?

Welcome

2005-07-25T17:26:00.000-06:00

This is a site built to empower us to bring the healing Jesus offers to our world, instead of bringing reactive words, tension, and divisiveness.

Jesus offers Restoration, but often we choose to react to opposition in the same way we are being opposed. In short, we hit back. We long to defend our territory and our dignity. We hold fast to "Eye for an eye. Tooth for a tooth." Too often Christians feel justified in assaulting the fallen world, for being the fallen world.

But there are rumors that perhaps our territory and dignity do not need to be defended (even with six legions of angels at the ready).

There are rumors of a better way.

Perhaps we can find it together.

Book Reviews

2005-06-21T07:09:00.000-06:00

Mark Driscoll - Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church

Thoughts on Theology

2005-06-12T17:06:00.000-06:00

*Links*

8.12.05 - Hell as a Present Condition

- Thoughts on hell as more than just a future location. It seems the real danger of hell is now.

3.26.26 - Left Behind

-It is an appropriate name for a book with so many bad ideas.

Thoughts on John

2005-06-12T10:36:00.000-06:00

So, I've been putting down some thoughts, and looking to compile a loose commentary which really will be a commentary on a bunch of stuff with John as the backbone. Here are some introductory sketches. Tell me what you think. Also look at the audio downloads. There should be a hand full of talks on John's Gospel there.

John 5 - Part 1. Who's-in and Who's-out

John 5 - Part 2. Signs

John 5 - Part 3. Desperation

John 5 - Part 4. The Apprentice

John 5 - Post Script. The Left Behind Series

John 6 - Part 1. Onions

John 6 - Part 2. The Jewish Story: Exodus

John 13 and 14. Washing Feet and the Real Great Commission

Humor

2005-06-11T19:49:00.000-06:00

*Links*

1.28.06 - Salmon Ad

Simply Hystrerical.

7.30.05 - The Power of Changing the Subject

- What to do when the man before you pulls a gun.

Reading List and Book Reviews

2005-06-11T19:43:00.000-06:00

Reading Lists:

Book Reviews:

The Next Reformation by Carl Raschke

On Culture

2005-06-11T19:39:00.000-06:00

*Links*

5.11.06 - On the Immigration Issue

3.12.06 - On the Gospel of Judas

- On the recent discovery of a Gnostic document.

9.10.05 - Healing After Genocide

- Rwanda and its restoration

9.3.05 - Who are the Heroes

- New Orleans and Katrina

8.19.05 - The Evolution Debate is not about Science

- Find out what it is about then

8.15.05 - Postmodernity, the Gospel, and the World
- In a world without walls, where geography is no longer what unifies, how does the Gospel go forward?

8.7.05 - Positive Trends in America
- Thoughts on a less violent society.

The Emergent Conversation

2005-06-11T09:33:00.000-06:00

*Links*

5.18.06 - Worship as a Means

- How worship may be used to reconcile believers of differing backgrounds.

9.23.05 - Market Share and God's Kingdom

- Commenting on Christianians that seek seperation from one another.

9.2.05 - Power and the Cross

-Links and quotes from an outstanding article by NT wright.

8.15.05 - Postmodernity, the Gospel, and the World

- In a world without walls, where geography is no longer what unifies, how does the Gospel go forward?

8.2.05 - Is Postmodernity a Lame Duck?
- Thoughts on how much staying power PM actually has.

7.30.05 - The Power of the Thumb
-Postmodernity and the Mainstream Media.

Advancing the Gospel

2005-06-11T09:24:00.000-06:00

*Links*

5.26.06 - If I could Make a Movie

-Reflections on the similiarity between the world in Jesus' day and modenr Iraq.

4.13.06 - Toward a Post Modern Response to the Da Vinci Code

3.23.06 - The Great Commission Revised

- Reflections on Jesus strategy for Evangelism

11.9.05 - Peace
- An overview of what the Bible says about the matter.

9.17.05 - Swords, Islam, and Reform
-Reforming Islam through blessing

8.15.05 - Postmodernity, the Gospel, and the World
- In a world without walls, where geography is no longer what unifies, how does the Gospel go forward?

8.8.05 - Arguing with Love
- On loving others as the most powerful apologetic available.

8.4.05 - Intellectual Status
- On the Intelligent Design debate, and the need for Christians to become more reputable in the world of higher thought and academics before pushing an agenda of this sort.

7.28.05 - Case and Point
- On the destructive tendency of many Christians to speak a different language than those who are not Christians.

7.27.05 - Kindness and Other People
-Link and thoughts on a wonderful video by Seether.