Take part in helping with Katrina Relief

I encourage all my fellow bloggers to participate and use their influence to encourage people to participate in helping with the relief effort in AL, LA, and MS. Many of you are pastors, and christian leaders. It is your job to spur your people to come to the aid of those suffering. No matter where you are geographically, you can help. I put a few buttons on the bottom right part of this blog to give you connections about how to help. Lets join together and do what we can...what Jesus would have us do.

What is Really Needed.

I knew this was coming. As soon as I heard that Katrina was going to probably hit New Orleans I could already begin to predict some of the horrible comments that would be made by Christians about it. You know, the comments like, "Well, New Orleans is full of a lot of bad stuff, God just wanted to get their attention and punish them." This statement is akin to Jerry Falwell's unbelievable quote about 9/11 being because of the homosexuals in NYC.

Why do we do this? I say "we", because unfortunately when christians standup and make stupid, insensitive, and judgmental statments like this, they are not only representing themselves, they are misrepresenting the cause of Christ and all who call themselves Christian. It is our charge, I believe, to help correct Christians thinkings on issues like this. It doesn't matter what natural disaster or other catastrophe it is, there have been Christians who use it to say God was trying to punish someone for something. People said the tsunami was a result of the people in southeast asia being Islamic. It makes me sick.

First, these acts are not from God, for he is not the author of evil and pain, rather, they are the result of a world that we live in that is not what it was supposed to be. This world was cursed by our sin, and because of that, it is "groaning to return to its original state". Things like hurricanes, tornadoes, and tsunamis are not God's rod of correction, rather, they are a result of our world being under the cusre of sin and death.

Second, there were too many people who are living in relationship with God that were affected by Katrina, and the other disasters, to say that God was punishing people for their sin. Too many children and innocent bystanders were involved.

Third, it is just not how God works. I know, this might sound arrogant to say that I know how God works. I am not saying that I understand his thoughts and his ways, for I don't, I accept the mystery of him. However, He has revealed himself and part of his character to us through his word and through his Son Jesus Christ. If Jesus is the ultimate revelation of God, what about Jesus and who he is would tell us that God would do something like this? I challenge each of us to read the gospels and see for ourselves what attributes God chose to reveal to us through Jesus, and how they fit with this question. We shouldn't say that God sent a hurricane to New Orleans to punish the city for its sins because it is contrary to what we know of God and his character. Jesus went to the sinners and rather than punishing them, he welcomed them, ate with them, and spoke to them. He stood by the prostitute while the Jewish men had stones to stone her, not defending her in the sense that he was explaining away her sins, but accepting her and helping others to realize their own sins and to no judge.

It totally alludes me how Christians, (especially Christian Leaders), can claim to be a follower of Jesus of Nazareth and make statements like these. THIS IS NOT WHAT IS NEEDED! What is really needed is for us to not use our mouths to condemn, for we ourselves are sinners, but to use our hands to reach out and to comfort the hurting, house the homeless, and feed the hungry. We need to help rebuild the city of New Orleans, not stand over the destruction and say "I told you so". Christ is not in that.

I spent about an hour this morning looking at the videos and the pictures of the devastation in Lousiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. It is unbelievable. Thousands and thousands of people are homeless. I am at a loss for words.

Some pics of our recent camping trip are up on the Pics page...enjoy.

A Few Days in the Woods

My wife and I just got done packing the car for a trip to the Smoky Mnt. National Park. We are going to tent camp for a few days. This will be the first time we have tried tent camping with our son Cole. He is only 8 months old. We'll see how it goes.

I am going to take along with me, Thomas Merton's "The Sign of Jonas". I have been wanting to read more of it, but never have had the time. Merton and the woods, sounds like a good fit.

I have been having some thoughts for the last few weeks about a series of posts I want to write. I haven't finished my thoughts on catechism, but I will come back to that. This new series is on the church and its attempts to be relevant to the culture it is in. To give away my thoughts before I go deeper; I believe that God desires for us first to be authentic, and in authenticity, true relevance comes out. More later.

Off to the woods....

The Absent Pastor

In his book, "The Living Reminder", Henri Nouwen talks of the role of the minister in being used to sustain those in his/her care. In this conversation he makes a point that we have forgotten that it is not only important for a pastor to be present at times, but also absent. As ministers, we must practice purposeful absence from people; an absence that is a presence with God. He tells this story:

" My spiritual director at the abbey of the Genesee spent one day a week in a small hermitage on the property of the abbey. I remeber that his absence had a comforting effect on me. I missed his presence and still I felt grateful that he spent a whole day with God alone. I felt supported and strengthened by the knowledge that God was indeed his only concern, that he brought all the concerns of the people he counseled into his intimate relationship with God, and that while he was absent he was, in fact, closer to me than ever."

I wonder why it is that we pastors don't get this. I believe it is our desire to feel needed, indispensible, and useful to people. We must be at every meeting, at everyone's beckoned call. I know that I feel insecure when I hear that someone is sick, or in need, and I haven't been to see them. My feelings are not a desire to be there for them, but "what are people going to think if I don't go see them?", or "will I be seen as needed if I don't step up here?".

I am beginning to learn that the most important thing I can do for my faith community is to make sure I have times of absence from them and presence with God. I have a long way to go in living this out in my life.

Brother Roger killed

Taize's founder stabbed to death
09:27 AEST Wed Aug 17 2005

Brother Roger, one of the 2Oth century's leading ecumenical figures, was stabbed to death by a woman during a service at the Taize community he founded in eastern France, police said.

TO READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE

Photo Album

To those that are interested, I added a Photo Blog page to this blog. It is to the right, under Photo Album. This will mainly be used for my parents and Tif's parents to see our son Cole. These grandparents have an addiction, and I am their supplier.

Catechism and Church Membership in the Emerging Paradigm

I am presently beginning to prepare for a junior high catechism class beginning in September. Catechism will be something new to this faith community. As a matter of fact, there has been no formal endorsement of any formal catechism in our denomination until recently. I know, I know, this sounds like we are lite on discipleship...well, to my dismay, we have been. There is no excuse for it really. I believe it comes from a misunderstanding of what it means to be a Christian and a part of the church. If all it means to be a Christian is to get a ticket to the gold plated afterlife than there is no need to grow in our understanding of following Christ. Also, if conversion is just a sentence or two that we pray, and not a process, than why would you need to involve yourself in a 6 month period of community learning to accept Jesus Christ and his radical view for your life?

So, anyways, because I have been emersed in this thinking; and because I have been thinking about the future of the emerging church; and because I have been becoming more and more convinced that catechism should not be just for junior highers, but for all ages; I am going to make a suggestion to myself and other emergent folk, that catechism should be embraced as the norm for inviting new members into our churches in this postmodern age.

I don't have time right now to further my reasons, but I will post a series of posts to lay my thinking out. This might be hard to accept for evangelical thinkers, for catechism as the vehicle for all church membership has only gotten lip service, and in reality, has been ignored in many places. So...tell me your initial thoughts...and I will return.

Age and Death.

I have been a lazy blogger the last few days. Ministering to a Parish creates busy times in life, but it is a good business. I have been able to be with a family during the death of one of their members. I know this sounds funny, but It is a pleasure for me to be there during those times. I know that death is painful. However, as a pastor, it is during those times that I might get a chance to show Christ's love most effectively. I grieve with them. I pray with them. I comfort them. It is a pleasure to be there.

It has gotten me thinking about the reality of death. The culture we live in does everything to escape this reality. We are a botox, extreme makeover, fountain of youth type of culture. We might not realize this because we are so immersed in our western mindset, but not all cultures treat aging and death the same way. For example, there are many African cultures that see aging as something to be desired. The oldest members of their society are those most envied and respected. Is this a big change from our culture? On the other hand, we do everything we can to make it look as if we are still in our twenties.

I am not sure where I am going with this, but I wonder where the gospel comes in to transform our cultural misconceptions.

Love as a Commodity or a Magnet?

I read this interview in the newest Leadership magazine. It is an interview of Don Miller, authoro of "Blue Like Jazz". I highly recommend this book to anyone interested.
This is a part of the interview that I can't get out of my head. So tell me what you think.

I - "So, (Don), you've said that the church uses love as a commodity. What does that mean?"

D - "We sometimes take a Darwinian approach with love - if we are gainst somebody's ideas, we starve them out. I fwe disagree with somebody's political ideas, or sexual identity, we just don't pay them. We refuse to "condone the behavior" by offering any love. This approach has created a Christian culture that is completely unaware what the greater culture thinks of us. We don't interact with people who don't validate our ideas. There is nothing revolutionary here. This mindset is hardly a breath of fresh air to a world that uses the exact kinds of techniques. "

I - "So what's the alternative?"

D - "The opposite is Biblical Love, which loves even enemies, loves unconditionally, and loves liberally. Loving selectively is worldly; giving it freely is miraculous."

I - "If love isn't a commodity, then what is it?"

D - "I think of love like a magnent. When people see it given in the name of God, they're drawn to it. If I withold love, then people believe I have met a God that makes me a hateful and vicious person. And they're repelled..."

So what do you think? Is Love a commodity or a magnent?

The example of the Fathers

I found this in the introduction (page 1) of Rowan Greer's "Broken Lights and Mended Lives: Theology and Common Life in the Early Church"

Tell me what you think:

"(In studying the Fathers of the church) what has increasingly impressed itself on me is that a constant dialogue was maintained between theology and the life of the church. Even those who elaborated a technical theology were also preachers in the Church , and their aim was to articulate and to shape the experience of ordinary Christians. In general terms, this dialogue seems to me one that has been lost in the Church and that very much needs to be restored. In the acadamy the seperate disciplines of history, biblical studies, theology, and liturgy have tended to make theology not only a school discipline but one discipline among others. In the parish church what I have found is a broad loss of theological awareness and a tendency to focus upon the moral demands of Christianity rather than upon the promises of the Gospel. What seems to me to have been a unity in the early Church has become fragmented in our own time. The reading and study of Scripture, the liturgy, preaching, and the arts have tended to go seperate ways. Theology and life have been divided from one another. "

Jesus the Leader

In seminary we were required to take a group of classes that were called "servant" classes. For example, "Servant as Preacher", "Servant as Counselor", and "Servant as Leader". All of these classes were good, and most of them met my expectations, except for the "servant as leader" class.

Coming into it, having thought about the title, I was trying to hold in my head the two concepts mentioned there; servant hood and leadership. I was expecting I guess an explanation of how these two concepts come together; how they form a pastor into being a servant leader.
Unfortunately, the majority of what I learned from this class was the basic leadership principles that I believe are being taught in any leadership class, in any university, across this country. It would have been true that I could have left that class feeling as much, or maybe more, prepared to lead a business than a church, and I wondered if I was wrong in feeling this way.

Many of our texts were written by successful business men and women, who through their experience, learned what it meant to lead individuals. And, many of their principles were helpful. However, I never felt comfortable with using corporate America models of leadership to train leaders of faith communities. And I don't know why? I know that there is a business side to a church; i.e. finances, a type of marketing, and so forth, but the church is not a business or a corporation, but a faith community; a family of believers. Should we lead a family the same way we would lead a pharmaceutical company?

In evangelical America and the land of the mega-church, the CEO pastor is the leader selling all the leadership books, holding all the conferences, and spreading the "management magic" to other pastors. Well, I am not comfortable with it. I do not question the intent or the heart of these churches or their pastors. I don't question that they are making an impact for the kingdom of God. Yet, I do question the type of leadership being proposed, whether implicitly or not.

I wonder what kind of leader John Chrysostom was. I wonder if he would have made a good CEO of a major company. I wonder what type of leader St. Ignatius was. Would he have searched the likes of Tom Peters and Zig Ziglar for principles to build his leadership? I think he would have done something different. He would have delved into the leadership of someone else. Jesus.

I have decided in writing these ramblings, that I need to re-read the gospels, and take note what a true "servant leader" is.

Evangelicalism, Enviromentalism, and Eschatology

Wow! Now that is a title. If that doesn't suck you in then nothing will.

We have been going through the Book of Romans in our church. I preach out of the passage on Sunday Mornings, and then our small groups meet and discuss the passage in community, on Sunday nights. I have been pleased with the communal trek through Paul's gospel. We have been led by the Spirit, and he continues to further us in our discipleship.

The passage I am preaching from Sunday, is Romans 8:18-21, which talks of God's plan to not only redeem us, but all of creation. And I find that as I study this passage and others, that we are undoubtedly tied to the redemption of the earth. What I mean is that we are connected, not only to God through Jesus, but to the earth he created for us to dwell on. Yet we don't believe it.

In the church tradition I grew up in, much of the focus of the participants was heaven. The favorite songs to sing were about heaven. The favorite sermons that everyone wanted a copy of were about heaven. And it was an unspoken requirement of every elementary Sunday School teacher that they had to teach on heaven once a month. Heaven was one of, if not the, central topic of the faith.

Of course, this is not all bad. I do believe what Paul said that to be "absent from the body is to be present with Christ". So we must live our lives with our tunics tucked into our belts and our walking sticks ready for Christs return. But what will it look like when he does return? Are we going to float off with angel's wings to a place filled with golden houses, harps, and cream cheese? Or, is God's initial intent his final intent?

It is amazing the simalarities between the Garden of Eden in Genesis 1-2, and John the Revelator's vision of the new Earth in Rev. 21-22. I believe it is clear in reading the redemption story of the Bible, that we will eternally dwell where he first intended us to dwell; here on a redeemed earth. For he created us to be stewards of this earth, and it is our inheritance.

Right before vv.18-21, Paul talks about our positions as co-heirs with Christ. We were created to be stewards of what God had created. We are deeply connected with the earth we live on, and all of its creatures. We are a part of creation, yet we are co-heirs over what God has created for us. Yet, creation itself groans, as if it is pregnant, waiting for the redemption promise to be born out.

N.T. Wright drew this conclusion for our present challenge; "The fact that God's people will inherit the newly liberated creation (someday) ought to energize a proper concern for the created order (now)."

I know, now you are just waiting to see a link to PETA, or Greenpeace. Well, that is not what I am leading too. I am just beginning to believe that we as Christians need to take a look at how we treat the earth and why. Do we believe enviromental issues are useless, because Jesus is returning and we are all going to heaven? If you do believe that our eternal destination will be in a cloud city, than there is no wonder you have no regard for this earth. Why should you. But, if you believe that God's original intent is his final intent, and he made this earth for us, and us for this earth (I am sounding very native American by the way, which is not a bad thing); and you believe that Jesus's life death and resurrection were the culmination and cosmic breakthrough of his kingdom; and you believe that when Jesus prayed "thy kingdom come...on earth as it is in heaven"; and you believe that he wasn't lying when he preached "the kingdom of God is here"; and you believe that the church is the present glimpse of an eschatological reality; and you believe this sentence is way too long; than believe with me the need for us too take the lead on environmental issues. There...I said it.

The Irreplaceable Resource

Time. I don't have much of it. I waste entirely too much of what I have, and yet I continue to pray for more. I am continually fighting against it. Yet, it is what keeps things going in my life. What would it be like to be outside of time? I wonder about what Paul meant when he said "to be absent from the body is to be present with Christ". Does that mean we take a step outside of the time space continuum? Are we able to see time as an object, like I am looking at the box of kleenexes on my desk right now? What would it feel like to be outside of time? We can't imagine it, because we are so wrapped up in it. It directs us, drives us. It tells us when we are supposed to leave the house, eat lunch, come home. It tells us what we are supposed to do and when. I think I need a break from time. Is that what Jesus was doing when he stepped away from the crowds? Taking a break from time? I don't know, but I have to stop typing. I am out of time.

Prayer from Thomas Merton

I saw this prayer on my friends blog, Monastic Mumblings, a friar's journey and thought it was awesome. So, I shamelessly copied it to post it on my blog. Good stuff.

Prayer by Br.Thomas Merton
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart form that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. -- Thoughts in Solitude

Mystery (Part three)

Ok, I know...this is the third post on mystery. Well, nothing like running with a winner. I only continue because maybe I am learning myself. I learn best through writing, interacting, and thinking outside my "noggin". So, I keep forcing you to read my thoughts. Wait...I didn't make you come here, but I am glad you did.

John made a good comment to the first post on the subject of mystery and the faith, reminding us that when mystery is held as the focus, it can become detrimental to our faith. I agree wholeheartedly. Yet, we are all living in a context where mystery has not only not been the focus, it has been forgotten. Coming from the enlightenment, the modern age focused on the ability to "know", making faith a scientific experiment.

For example...throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries we see the training of ministers/priests/clergy as primarily one of academics. I don't have any problem with academics, but why is it the most important, and primarily the sole makeup of clergy training? In contrast, in the first few centuries to become a clergy member meant you would live with and learn under another clergy, or in a community of clergy. You would "experience" the ministry and it would be the main vehicle for which you came to "know" God's call in your life. Why the shift? What happened? I believe the enlightenment, and the raising of the human intellect had a profound effect.

In the first few centuries there was no underlying belief that the most important thing was head knowledge, for I believe they understood that our head knowledge was limited. They understood the mystery of the faith. That one might come closer to feeling the care of God while caring for the needy, rather than studying a book about his care.

This is why the Eucharist is becoming so important to me. I believe that there is something I learn/receive from God in the Eucharist that I can not explain with my brain. I am submitting myself to an act that makes no "logical" sense because I am humbly admitting that I can't understand God, he understands me. And through this action of recognized limitations, I come to know him better.

Am I making any sense here? Or am I way off?

I am stuck on the Mystery...

I am stuck on the mystery of the faith. Not systematic theology, or doctrine, or dogma, but the mystery. What I don't know, and what we will never know.

It could very easily be thought now that I am a deconstructionist; that I take all formal doctrines of the church, and in good postmodern style, deconstruct them so that there is nothing to "know" for sure,(which is a question in and of itself, "what does it mean to "know" something?") and all we are left with is uncertainty. But this is not true. I believe there are things that we can "know" with certainty. However, I also understand our inability to "know" other things. And maybe I am beginning to realize that our inability to "know" is larger than our ability to "know". This is where mystery comes in. Yet, we are not certain about mystery, because it is so "mysterious". And we like to know stuff.

I am picturing the people of Israel at the bottom of the mountain. Moses has been gone for some time now, and there they are, in the wilderness, wondering and wandering. Is it any surprise they asked Aaron to give them something to "know" for certain? Isn't that what they were really asking. I wonder if we would have been any different? We would have asked for Aaron to please give us a sermon on the tenants of faith that we are to follow, which would have been followed by a formal committee to edit this doctrine, as well as add to it, and then it would have been put into some sort of list of membership requirements so as to be able to "know" what it meant to be a part of the group, and a follower of God. It wouldn't have been golden, but it still would have been an idle. But we would have felt more secure, for we had something to "know" for certain; something to hold on to; something void of mystery.

But where is the faith when it is all explained? Where is the humility when we have it all figured out? Where is the dependence on God when we colored his picture in our theology books?

There I go again, sounding like a deconstructionist. I am not. As I write this, I have a shelf full of theology books behind me. I am a pastor of a church with membership requirements. And, I went to seminary to "know" as much stuff as I can. I am not against learning and knowing. I am just beginning to celebrate what I will never know. The Mystery of an Amazing and Unexplainable God.

I have been thinking about the mystery of the faith lately. As most of our churches are still living in a hangover from the enlightenment, we are still enamored with what we can "explain", "categorize", or "systematize". Yet we don't embrace mystery. Why is this? Why do we feel uncomfortable when we don't know why? I think we need to celebrate mystery more. What did Paul say, "We see now through a glass faintly"?

Rearranging

I decided to pick a new Blog template. Blogger only gives you so many to choose from, so I wasn't terribly pleased with my choice, but it is better than the others I guess. I switched not because I didn't like the other, but this one is easier to add links to other blogs and websites. And sometimes you just need change.

I am one of those people who am always looking for the "new", "better", and "rearranged". I am fascinated by those that are out on the edge, flirting with radical. Sometimes this is to my own detriment for everything "edgy" and "new" is not good. Lately, God is showing me the blessing of the historic. Christianity is historic. Like a good Wesleyan, I know the Wesleyan quadrilateral, or the four foundations for our Christian faith, and one of them is tradition. We stand on the shoulders of those that came before us, and their lessons teach us what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
Unfortunately, many of us have a mistaken view of time. We believe that as time "progresses", everything else "progresses" or gets better. Of course our technology has increase, as well as our economies, but this for the most part is a mistake. King Solomon said, "there is nothing new under the sun", and yet many of us believe that we are going through a time when everything is "fresh" and "new" and there is nothing the past can teach us. Of course, this is fictional, and I am beginning to reconnect with the historic. Don't know where I am going with all of this, just letting the brain guide the keys until they have reached their destination. End of post.