What Do You Want To Be?

Been wrestling with the question of what I really want to do. There are lots of changes ahead for us as Janelle finishes med school in the spring, and we will be relocating somewhere as she begins residency. That has given me the opportunity to reconsider what I am doing. My current job is not what I love to do. It has been a great job in the sense that I learned a lot of new things, met some incredible people, and did work that makes a difference for people. It was a job that fell into my lap, and got us through our season of Med school.

But throughout this job I have also realized that I only have a finite interest in the topic of transportation and I have no desire for mastery of this topic. I'm sure to write more about this as I continue to think and pray about next steps.

Quote for the Day

"You must be filled with the Holy Spirit because it is only through Christ in you that you can live the Christian life.

Because the Christian life isn't difficult

it is impossible.

And the sooner I realize that the sooner I can relax and allow Jesus to be in and through me what I know I can never be on my own."

-Richard Dahlstrom

Movement

If you took physics in high school or college or you might remember that the guy who figured out gravity also came up with some insights about movement. He said something like this:

An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

Now, we don't live in friction-less physics theory land, but I wonder if this is true of people as well. It seems to me that when I get into a rhythm of some comfortable spot, my tendency is to stay in that place. And this consistency can be either in movement and trajectory or in a lack of movement.

I have been studying the book of Acts this month, and was encouraged to see that this was also true of the early church. Just before leaving the disciples, Jesus shares his vision for his followers to go out and share the gospel, not just in the relative comfort of the places they knew in the culture they knew, but outwards to new places and people:

Acts 1:7-8 He (Jesus) said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

After this, the disciples do wait and they do get the Holy Spirit, and they do good things and the church is growing and they are resolving problems, but at the same time they are also not moving out as Jesus intended. They are still in Jerusalem, for the most part. Then Stephen infuriates the Jewish religious leaders and is stoned to death. After that this happens:

Acts 8:1b-8
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. ² Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. ³ But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.⁴ Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. ⁵ Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. ⁶ When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. ⁷ For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. ⁸ So there was great joy in that city.

The church is persecuted and that is the spark that causes them to go out, as Jesus intended. 

I have been feeling that I need to pursue something bigger with my life than what I am currently doing, but don't have a solid grasp on what that might be. Fortunately, I am being pushed out from this place i'm in by many factors right now: an impending move, uncertainty at work, and other things. I'm not sure what this all means yet, but i'm trying to be thankful for the challenges that are going to force me to move to where God wants me to be.

Bad Religion - Conclusion

A few weeks ago, we finished Bad Religion in our small group. Around that time, the Olympics were also going on over in London.

A couple of things grabbed my attention during the Olympics that fit right in with the conclusion of the book. For some background, the 10,000m race has been dominated by athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia, and other East African nations for decades. Prior to that it was Europeans. In fact, a US runner hadn't metaled in the 10K since 1964. But this year, a US runner, Galen Rupp, coached by Alberto Salazar, finally made it on the podium.

Some quotes following the race:

For Galen and Alberto, the silver medal was a work in progress that started in 2000 when Galen met Alberto as a freshman at Central Catholic High School in Portland. They have worked together ever since and dreamed of tonight with Alberto planning for it all along. Galen said, "What makes him so great is he is willing to adapt. He never leaves any stone unturned. He is meticulous in his plan. This has been a long buildup. ... I remember talking about this with him in high school. ... He said, 'This is going to take a long time. We're not going to take any shortcuts or do anything to go after short term rewards.' He takes a really long-term gradual approach and I think today he showed that pays off. I'm forever indebted to him. He's like a father figure to me. ... He's an unbelievable man."

On final getting the elusive American medal, Alberto said, "I absolutely believe starting twenty years ago American and Western Europeans had a defeatist attitude. They thought the East Africans were so good and there was just an onslaught of East Africans and they got so much better and for whatever other reasons the Americans and the Brits went through a little bit of a lull. Not only the East Africans running faster than anyone ever before, but now the Americans and Brits and Europeans were running slower, so all of sudden you had this huge gap and there really shouldn't be that gap. Back thirty years ago there weren't as many East Africans, but there still a lot of very good ones and they weren't any better than the best Europeans and Americans. I don't believe all of a sudden they were genetically better. I think a lot was psychological. I think Americans and Europeans just gave up. Another big problem I believe was there's too many people who use the excuse of drugs, that anyone who runs fast is on drugs. The second you start thinking that as a coach or as an athlete you're basically saying you're not good enough to compete with other people unless you cheat. What I've always told our guys is 'Don't believe all that bull. Those are the losers that say that.' Rather than trying to change their own training to get better they use that as excuse and it's a defeatist attitude. A lot of the mind-set for us was 'We can beat these guys. We've just got to train smart.'"

This of course brings to mind the language used by Paul:

 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

 This language is made practical at the end of Douthat's book as well:

To make any difference in our common life, Christianity must be lived - not as a means to social cohesion or national renewal, but as an end unto itself. Anyone who seeks a more perfect union should begin by seeking the perfection of their own soul.

That quest begins with a single step - over the threshold of your local church, back through the confessional door, or simply into an empty room for a moment's silent prayer.

Those simple steps are what make a habit, which in turn is what makes a life.

The future of American religion depends on believers who can demonstrate, in word and deed alike, that the  possibilities of the Christian life are not exhausted by TV preachers and self-help gurus, utopians, and demagogues. It depends on public examples of holiness, and public demonstrations of what the imitation of Christ can mean for a fallen world. We are waiting, not for another political savior or television personality, but of a Dominic or Francis, an Ignatius or a Wesley, a Wilberforce or a Newman, a Bonhoeffer or a Solzhenitsyn. Only sanctity can justify Christianity's existence;  only sanctity and make a case for faith; only sanctity, or the hope thereof, cam ultimately redeem the world.

And I end with this quote:

"Time and time again, Chesterton noted, 'the Faith has to all appearance gone to the dogs.' But each time, 'it was the dog that died.'"

Bad Religion - Ch 7&8

Chapters 7 and 8 talk about two other forms of heresy pervasive in our culture: the "God within" movement and nationalism.

The God within comes in many forms, pulling ideas from Eastern religions, Christianity, and deism to form a nebulous "God is within you" religion. The idea that ultimately, your innermost voice is that of God, because your innermost being is God. 

Douthat does fail to make the distinction between pantheism (God is everything, and that is all that is) and panentheisim (God is within everything but is beyond matter). Panentheism is uncharacteristically undefined, while examples of both types are all lumped together. The point of the chapter remains that while the God within movement borrows from many religions, it does not define itself by any particular religion. It ends up being a nebulous support of self, in which people aren't challenged to change themselves, because that self is actually God. 

The thesis of this religion is that "somewhere within us all, there does exist a supreme Self that is out true identity, universal and devine". (E Gilbert). The key, the proponent say is not in organized region, rather God is beyond that, and therefore, heaven is available to us all here on earth.

The problem is that the God Within movement promises much, but fails to deliver: "... It's striking that the things that therapeutic, God Within religion doesn't seem to have delivered to Americans are the very things that it claims to be best suited to provide-contentment, happiness, well-being, and, above all, the ability to forge successful relationships with fellow human beings. Instead, the solipsism and narcissism that shadow Got Within theology seen to he gradually overwhelming our ability to live in community with one another."

Nationalism is another form of heresy common today in both sides of politics. Douthat states, "the obvious resemblance between America and the Christian Church - both pan-ethnic, universalizing bodies that promise to create a new man out of the old one, and redeem a fallen and corrupted world - has tempted many Americans to regard the United States as a whole as a New Israel, a holy nation, a people set apart." I can completely relate to this. Growing up and attending a Christian school for middle school, high school, and undergrad college, I heard this argument either implicitly or explicitly with surprising frequency.

As our policital parties continue to become more polarized, the effect of this has actually become more dramatic. "Instead of balencing each other out, the two heresies of nationalism have taken turns in the driver's seat of both political coalitions, giving us messianism from the party in power and apocalyptism from the party out of power, regardless of which party is which."

Striving

In our small group discussion on Bad Religion, it was brought up that the author points out many ways that the Christian faith deviated from Orthodoxy, but it didn't offer many solutions to how to become better Christians. It is a good question, worth pondering. I think that the author may have intended to point these things out and not merely offer a solution.

There are two reasons for this: first off, we are all creatures of habits. In fact, around 40% of what we do each day is simply habit. I would say that most of the ways we demonstrate (or not) our faith through actions are also habits. Moreover, the first step in changing a bad habit is the knowledge that it exists and monitoring it. So in pointing out habits that Christianity developed is part of the answer.

The other other key is contained in Philipians 3:

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

The word that is written here as "press on to take hold of" here is also translated strive.

The verb strive (diwkw) is used 24 times in the New Testament. It is used thirteen times in Matthew-Acts, always with the sense of to persecute or hunt down, as, for example, in the case of Israel who always persecuted the prophets sent to her (Matt 23:34; Acts 7:52). Paul uses the term ten times (Romans 9:30; 12:13, 14; 14:19; 1 Cor. 4:12; 14:1; 2 Cor 4:9; Gal 6:12; 1 Thess 5:15; 2 Tim 3:12), both in the sense of “to persecute” (Rom 12:14; 1 Cor 4:12; Gal 6:12; 2 Tim 3:12) and “to ardently pursue” something, i.e., righteousness (Rom 9:30); love (1 Cor 14:1); doing good to others (1 Thess 5:15). Whether Paul is thinking here of the athletic metaphor of running a foot race, as Hendriksen suggests, the point is clear: it is strenuous and requires great effort and focus. 

I think that this is a great word for us. Especially since, as we have seen in this book our tendency towards heresy can be out of wanting to make things easier. Or even to just decide that God wants us to be happy just the way we are. This is human nature. The challenge then is when we receive a word from God that is challenging to the place our hearts are in, either individually or collectively, we need to strive to move from that place. It will take effort and focus, intentionality and vulnerability, it may hurt or be embarrassing; but changing a heart is not easy business. And as Paul says, this is a continual striving. We will consistently be able to move more from our old selves towards Christ.

Bad Religion - Ch 5&6

Section 2 of the book talks about the main ways the American Church has wandered from Orthodoxy. First, Douthat points out that all heresies attempt to remove paradoxes from the gospel by focusing on a few main tenets while minimizing the other details. This results in a "more consistent, streamlined, and non contradictory Jesus." The crux being the following: “Every argument about Christianity is at bottom an argument about the character of Christ himself, and every interpretation of Christian faith begins with an answer to the question Jesus posed to his disciples: ‘Who do you say that I am?’ From Thomas Jefferson and Ralph Waldo Emerson to Joseph Smith and Mary Baker Eddy, America’s famous heretics have always offered their own answers to that question, drawing on a mix of scholarship and supposition to craft alternatives to the Christ of orthodoxy.” Additionally, scholors have suggested that the current iterations of Christianity have won out from older editions of Christianity, and that tomorrows Christianity will be yet another iteration. 


Meanwhile, if we review the texts, there has not been this wild variation. In general, orthodoxy has, in the past help establish tradition within a very narrow road with core ethics and beliefs consistent with the oldest accounts of Christ available (the letters of the Apostle Paul). 

Chapter 5 also introduces three mainstream deviations that are popular today: The prosperity gospel, which associates faith with material blessing; the God within movement, which suggests that God is inside all of us and that our own deepest longings are actually those of God; and Nationalism, which claims America is the second Israel, God's favored land.

Chapter 6 covers the Prosperity Gospel. The face of modern prosperity theology being Joel Osteen. "By linking the spread of the gospel to the habits and mores of entrepreneurial capitalism, and by explicitly baptizing the pursuit of worldly gain, prosperity theology has helped millions of believers reconcile their religious faith with their nation's seemingly unbiblical wealth and un-Christian consumer culture" 


The problem of this is this:

"But like many forms of liberal Christianity, the marriage of God and Mammon half-expects somehow to undo the Fall, through the beneficence of Providence and the magic of the free market. In its emphasis on the virtues of prosperity, it risks losing something essential to Christianity - skipping on to Easter, you might say, without lingering at the foot of the cross.

It's there that you find the pieces of Christian tradition that a gospel of prosperity leaves by the wayside. An understanding that there can be strength in weakness and defeat; an appreciation for the idea that there might be greater virtue in poverty and renunciation, suffering and purgation, than there is in abundance and "delight"; a hard-earned wisdom about the seductions and corruptions associated with worldliness, power, and wealth." (p.205)

Bad Religion - Ch 3&4

Chapters 3 and 4 describe the two ways in which mainstream Christianity responded to finding itself in decline.

The first was to attempt to accommodate culture. In the view of these Christians, the reason Christianity was losing it's appeal was that it was too dogmatic and judgmental, and that by becoming more accepting of people as they were and letting the standards become more lax.

This ended up being a very slippery slope, as some accommodationalists continued to push away from the dogmas of traditional Christianity to the point of denying that Jesus ever claimed to be God.

Interestingly, the net result of becoming accommodating was not to win the culture, but rather to continue to shed membership. The author implies that for most people, if Christianity didn't hold on to at least most of its orthodox standards than there wasn't much point in being a part of the club.

The resistance movement was led mainly by the Evangelical Church and traditional Catholicism. This shared cause actually led the two to work together to emphasis similarities and fight back against the accommodation movements. It was effective in the sense that the Evangelicals became the largest segment of Christianity.

Recent events that have weakened the resistance movement were the Catholic Priest sexual abuse scandal and the Bush administration, which was widely supported by Evangelicals despite its faults. 

Unity

Chapter 3 of Ross Douthat's book "Bad Religion" starts the discussion of how we became a country full of various denominations. According to some sources, there are about 38,000 denominations worldwide. Even though that number double counts for churches that exist in many countries, the number of denominations is mind-boggling. We talked a little in our small group about how this diversity is a good thing, because it allows for everyone to find a place that fits their personality. While this is true to some extent, I'm hesitant to fully agree with that statement.

The culture of the day worships personalization. This is not news. But to the degree that the Church copies culture, this can begin to become a problem. Church becomes not so much a place of community where you are challenged and can grow, but rather a place where everyone else is similar to me, allowing us all to dwell in our collective blind spot(s).

The call of Christianity is convergence on Christ. So the measure of our success, I would say, is how much our churches converging on this goal? See John 17. So if unity is how others see through us Christ, then this needs some serious effort. This is not a call to squash out our uniqueness, of course, but rather one of allowing ourselves to be challenged so that we can be transformed.

Bad Religion - Ch 1&2

Chapter 1 covers the early to mid 1900s, describing how we came to what Douthat calls the golden age of Christianity. He discusses the impact of Reinhold Niebehr, Billy Graham, Martin Luther King Jr., and Fulton Sheen on the resurgence of Christianity in that time. Interestingly, all mainline branches of Christianity seemed to have influential leaders that were well respected in and outside of their respective communities. The confluence of having such leaders all at the same time is very interesting. Perhaps it was only because of the general popularity of the faith, but it is hard to say for sure. In general it was a time where Churches were growing, seminaries were full, and culture at large had a positive view of Christianity.

Chapter 2 talks about what Douthat calls "the locust years". Five factors that swayed the culture away from Christianity: political polarization, the sexual revolution, globalization, growth of wealth, and class. Politics became more polarized as the issues being debated were less about a common enemy (nazis, racism). Instead religion found itself aligning on one or the other side of the fence in gray areas, causing divisions. The sexual revolution came about largely with the advent of the birth control pill, which provided a cheap, convenient way to separate the pleasures of sex from the consequences for the general populous. This caused many to choose between the ethic of the church or the sexual freedom of autonomy. Globalization showed that there were many other cultures that adhered to many other religions. The growth of personal wealth meant that people were able to live comfortably and further away from each other, so they no longer had to rely on others or the church to provide for them in any way. The intellectual elites began to reject Christianity on an academic level, which trickled down to culture at large.

Law

This quote came from a post about cycling, but it got me thinking:

"At least once, and usually more, when I ride the road (US-40 a rural Kansas Highway), some <driver> will pass me, crossing into the opposite lane going up a hill. Inevitably, a car will be coming from the other direction and have to swerve, brake or something. It never ceases to amaze me that the guy in the other lane nearly always honks or flips me off when he comes by.
I just don’t get it. The car that was passing me is nearly always crossing a double yellow line on a blind hill and the other car blames the cyclist. What’s up with that?
It is even worse when I’m riding with someone else. The drivers of the cars think, mistakenly, that we’re breaking the law by riding two abreast. Somehow that mentality gives these people the need to try to enforce their mistaken thoughts by honking or coming by dangerously close, usually passing illegally themselves. It is super weird, like the law should even matter enough to endanger someones life."

I can resonate with this on a couple of levels. Obviously, as a cyclist, I experience the bad side of this mentality. However, I can also relate to this on a more philosophical level. A truth that was exposed be Jesus to the religious leaders of his time is that the church also has the tendency of doing this to our own detriment. We talked a bit last night in our small group that the church has always had these blind spots, where we are threatening people in order to keep "the law". I'm not sure what the best way is to deal with these things, but I know that we are called to keep learning from people different than us, keep looking to Christ as our guide, and being willing to have our worldviews continually be moved, as unsettling as that can be.

Bad Religion - Prologue

Just started the book Bad Religion by Ross Douthat in our small group last week, covering the prologue.The book focuses on Christianity in the US today and how it got to its current state. Douthat's thesis statement is that the interplay of orthodoxy and heresy has been essential to the formation of Christianity, but recently, the heresy has been dominant.

He discusses the value of having a both/and stance, showing the paradoxical causes us to wrestle deeply with issues. The black and whiteness of orthodoxy being challenged by heresy keeps us moving forward in a flexible way, allowing what is considered orthodoxy to shift and fit into cultures.

Our group discussed how this movement bred our many denominations allowing people to find churches that mesh with their personalities and tastes. We also discussed how today's Church goers may be more devout, as a whole. than those past generations, due to the inherent cultural differences between today and our grandparents generations. In the early to mid 1900s, church was an accepted social activity, what most people did simply because that is what everyone else did. Today this is no longer the case. And while there now seem to be so many variates of churches that anyone can find a place that suits them best, the tradeoff of the multi-denomination/many-church model is that in some ways we have lost a bit (or more) of the generational hierarchy that used to exist within the church, where the older generations of Christians are able to mentor and pass along wisdom to the younger generations.

In all, the discussion was interesting and lively. Looking forward for the material to come.

Quote(s) of the day 6/1

From the blog of Pastor Larry Shallenberger:

"Jesus is in the business of this reclaiming us and restoring us into beautiful versions of ourselves. Ortberg uses the analogy of a mechanic restoring an old motorcycle, believing that the old rusted bike has its best years ahead of it:

My friend, Jeff, started a blog  where he writes about buying and restoring old motorcycles. I’ve never seen Jeff as animated as when thumbs through his iPhone and finds pictures of the last old bike he rescued from rust and neglect. His idea of a good afternoon is to drive to an old barn in some forgotten part of Ohio and to sift through mountains of defunct bikes. He’ll find a handful of motorcycles with promise and negotiate with the owner until man is willing to part with his treasures. Jeff, then, spends months nursing the old bikes to their former glory, pouring time, money, and parts into his projects. Once he’s finished, Jeff photographs his prizes, and sells them. Then its back to the junk heap to do it again, simply out of his love for motorcycles.
This is, I think, why God is so committed to our change. It’s easy for us to get frustrated with God tinkering at our lives all the time. Didn’t Jesus or George Beverly Shea sing the words “Just As I Am” at a Billy Graham Crusade? If he loves us so much, why he is discontent with our current condition?
We tend to get insecure and imagine that God is critical and angry at us. Or that his love is somehow conditional, based on our ability to jump through a series of rings aflame with holy fire. The truth is that God is a bit like Jeff, or vice-versa. He loves us and recalls what we looked like before corruption and decay pocked the sheen on our lives. He is committed to changing us because he know who we really are.

We religious people, meanwhile, tend to handle each other like airport luggage handlers. This leads to the false belief that its better to lower our heads and fit in."

Friday Thoughts

“The greatest barrier I have met is the almost total absence from the minds of my audience of any sense of sin... The early Christian preachers could assume in their hearers, whether Jews, Metuentes, or Pagans, a sense of guilt. (That this was common among Pagans is shown by the fact that both Epicureanism and the mystery religions both claimed, though in different ways, to assuage it.) Thus the Christian message was in those days unmistakably the Evangelium, the Good News. It promised healing to those who knew they were sick. We have to convince our hearers of the unwelcome diagnosis before we can expect them to welcome the news of the remedy.

The ancient man approached God (or even the gods) as the accused person approaches his judge. For the modern man, the roles are quite reversed. He is the judge: God is in the dock. He is quite a kindly judge; if God should have a reasonable defense for being the god who permits war, poverty, and disease, he is ready to listen to it. The trial may even end in God’s acquittal. But the important thing is that man is on the bench and God is in the dock.”
― C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics 

Which leads to discussions like this:
 

So very excited to read Bad Religion with our small group this summer.

In This Place

When we first moved to Kansas City about 4 years ago, I struggled with the idea that we were on temporary assignment. In a place that wasn't my first choice on the list of my dream places to settle down, I was hesitant to commit to engaging in Kansas City. Some of this feeling came from just leaving a place that I loved with lots of friends and not being ready to do that again. After some time had past though, I just found myself being complacent. Not engaging just because it was habit. But then I read Jeremiah 29.

The context behind this passage is the Israelites are in captivity in Babylon. They long to return to the promised land, and there are false prophets telling the people what they want to hear, that they will soon return, so don't get too comfortable in Babylon. (My paraphrase). But Jeremiah tells the Israelites that instead of being renters in a distant land, waiting for the day of return, they should instead have an interest in BEING right where they are. Build a house, get married, bless the city! This is what God says, even though the Isrealites are not in a place of their choosing. 

This spoke directly to me. I'm not to be just passively here in this place waiting to go "home". I'm supposed to be here, being in real relationship, investing in others, really being involved in blessing the city where I am. This means taking risks. It involves actually showing up. It will lead to some dead ends. It will mean being genuinely vulnerable, which I think is one of the hardest things for many of us. But it will also lead to paths that are greater than you could ever imagine.

We so often focus on the passage speaking about the fact that God knows our future and get caught up in that future day, but the focus of this passage is not only on hope for the future, but also on really living right where you are. And of course, this is the Christian life. We are to be in the world, but not of the world. Here to be a blessing right now in this imperfect place that is not the promised land.

Quote of the Day 5/1

"God hates sin not just because it violates his law but, more substantially, because it violates shalom, because it breaks peace, because it interferes with the way things are supposed to be." C. Plantinga from, Not the Way It's Supposed to Be

Time and Money

Over the past couple of weeks I've stumbled on these three graphics. I'm always interested in statistics and human behavior, and these tell an interesting story about modern American culture. 


More than 1/3rd of the average persons time is spent at work or in related activities, like commuting. his is a little depressing, especially if you are in a job that doesn't bring you joy. I also wonder what the split of "Leisure and Sports" is for the leisure time and active time. Maybe 90/10? Also, eating and drinking is only 1.1 hours total? I think Janelle and I usually spend that much time cooking dinner every night.

Source: Dec. 2011 Bureau of Labor Statistics

Source: Dec. 2011 Bureau of Labor Statistics

The change between 1949 to 2011 was interesting. Looking at relative spending, we spend almost double on housing and transportation and about 40% as much on food than people used to. Part of this has to do with food costs being cheaper now, (for some things that are factory produced. We could debate whether or not some of these things are actually food, but people eat them...) In general though it seems to infer people have been more interested in stuff than they are about taking care of themselves.

Quote of the Day 4/27

"Psalm 122 reminds me that we’re made for “shalom”.  We translate the word as “peace” in English, but that’s sorely inadequate because our notions of peace have been reduced, largely, to absence of conflict, in the same way that health has been redefined as absence of disease.  I can find mere ‘peace’, at least for the moment, by building big fences, gated communities, and having the biggest military budget on the planet as a means of protecting my stuff.  But let’s not confuse that with ‘shalom’, which envisions a robust wellness, rooted in justice, hospitality, and an ecological interdependency between the earth and all its creatures.  Shalom requires sharing with the poor.  Shalom requires caring for immigrant.  Shalom requires generosity, and recognizing the limits of growth, one of which is embodied in the call to sabbath and jubilee.  When this works properly, everyone has a calling/vocation that contributes to the common good.  People’s lives aren’t enslaved to mind numbing or body destroying work which fills the pockets of the few while the many remain trapped, through debt and poverty." - Richard Dahlstrom

Quote of the Day

"If orthodoxy seems puritanical to you today, maybe it’s less because it’s inherently anti-fun and anti-feelgood than because we live in a society distinguished by such extraordinary excess—gluttonous, libidinous, avaricious—that what a different era might recognize as a healthy balance between asceticism and indulgence looks like hopeless prudishness instead." - Ross Douthat
From this Slate discussion.

Tension

The way that I am wired, I don't feel at rest unless i've gotten something done. Outstanding tasks wear on me. One of the most tiring things I've found at work are soft deadlines, which often means it is unclear when tasks end. This drives me crazy because I want to identify what I have to do, know when it is due, and prioritize it accordingly. I also really like to make lists and check off all the things I have done and have an idea of what is yet to be done.

The problem becomes when I try to apply this approach to life and cultivating faith. I can certainly identify things I need to work on, but it isn't comprehensive. There is also no way of figuring out when I can get over a certain issue or struggle. The problem is that I know where I want to end up, but I really don't know exactly where I am. This makes mapping a solution impossible. It makes prioritizing hard. But living in tension of being someone who has not achieved "the goal" is part of being a Christian. When we look at ourselves with honest eyes, we all realize that we have not yet arrived to where we need to be. This is where I find myself at the end of my own strength.

Yet in this tension is where God meets me and points to the cross showing that my efforts will never be enough, but to keep striving, past my own strength and instead on his strength. 

Irresistible Holiness - Repost

A repost from my Spokane pastor Rob Fairbanks:

Irresistible Holiness

One of the most befuddling (when I say befuddling, I mean I just can’t figure it out) things about Christianity for me is the juxtaposition between Jesus’ holy and our holy.  When Jesus, the most holy and pure person ever, rubbed shoulders with the non-religious (“sinners”) they were amazingly attracted to him, but when most Christians come in contact with the non-religious (“sinners”) there are adverse reactions.  You’ve seen the reactions toward Christians – they are haters, homophobes, judgmental, bound up – all reactions to Christians trying their level best to be…you got it, holy.

There is consistent and strong evidence that suggests that most people still find Jesus incredible attractive, at least intriguing.  The evidence is even stronger that people don’t find Christians that way. Christ followers are to be holy yes, but there must be something different in the balance here.

In 1953, C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter:

“How little people know who think that holiness is dull. When one meets the real thing, it is irresistible.” 

Irresistible?  That might be worth rediscovering.

I believe that there must be a reorientation of our understanding of holiness.  Instead of an externalized “we have to look or act a certain way” type (usually a form created by some ecclesial authority), I really believe that we must look carefully at what our model, Jesus portrayed for us.

Here are a few ideas that might help:

1)    Never react

You have heard the saying, “Never let them see you sweat.” Well, I don’t want to be disingenuous, but it would serve us well to move away from our own reactive posture. One reaction generates another. I have made an internal vow that I will never react to someone else’s behavior, regardless if I am in agreement with it or not. I could be just freaking out inside, but on the outside, I want to behave and act with love and honor toward whomever I run across.  Why? See #2.

2)    Recognize the Imago Dei

Ever person you see, every man or woman you lock eyes with was created uniquely in God’s image. Sin has certainly injured that, but there is still a deeply embedded dignity, ontology worth…even in the worst of the worst (although how does a scale on this stuff really work when each of us have sinned enough to draw the holy Jesus to a cross?). The Imago Dei actually has profound implications if we can live into its truth. We can treat people different, with honor beyond what their behavior might warrant, because of who they are, not what they’ve done or are doing.

3)    Learn about humility

Part of the reaction Christianity gets is because of its desire for control and power. I know, you may not see it this way, but think about this.  Why do people get mad or reactive? Answer: Because something is being taken from them. For many, I might say, most Christians, believe that our country was started as a Christian nation (debatable, but not at this time) and feel like it is being hi-jacked by _________________ (you feel in the blank).  The upshot of this is a reactive posture toward culture.  Need I remind you that our battle isn’t against flesh and blood (Ephes 6)?

4)    Spend time pondering the Gospels

This is really the main reason I think there has been a “red letter” (reading Jesus' words, as opposed to Paul, et al) shift in many people view of Scripture.  We need to read the Gospels slowly, read them often, and read them believing. I read years ago in a Eugene Peterson book (from Eat This Book) that we are to read Scripture meditatively.  He described this notion with an ancient analogy. He said the idea of meditating on Scripture was liken to a dog gnawing in a bone. If you have ever seen that, the visual image lurches out at you. A dog tirelessly grinds on a bone in a hundred different directions, seeking to mine out every possible prospect of meaty goodness (you gotta think like a dog to really get it – ok, just like me eating a T-bone steak). When was the last time you meditated on Jesus’ life found in the Gospels? There is something captivating and reorienting about Jesus…how he lived, what he said, how he responded, how he showed compassion…

and yes, how he was holy.

Question: Have you ever been injured by Christians (or the church) trying to be "holy?"

Good Friday

For those of us in certain places in the Northern Hemisphere, Holy Week happens during springtime. I began to have a real appreciation for the metaphor of nature around me at Whitworth University where the beauty of nature burst forth after a dark and cold winter. It is a picture of how our own hearts are transformed by Christ; slowly, imperceptibly, yet steadily forward becoming something new entirely.

It is not a perfect metaphor though. Unlike the plants and animals, who sit by passively or follow instinct, we humans have work to do. We are the stewards of the earth and fishers of men. Yes, we are saved by grace, but faith without work is dead. This means letting go of our natural insticts. This means dying to ourselves daily. This means carrying our own cross. Thankfully, the power of Good Friday is this: Christ let go of his desires, he carried the cross, he died for all of us. Because of his example, we can faithfully follow through whatever lies ahead.

Community

Authentic community is a scarce commodity these days. Even in the church, where we are called into fellowship with one another, many people are hesitant to get plugged in. Part of this may be a cultural issue; think of what we glorify as a culture: a big house, nice car or two, financial independence. All of this points to a goal of being the masters of our own destiny, unburdened by others to follow the path of  our own choosing. If you have read CS Lewis' The Great Divorce, then you may think of the picture of purgatory or hell that he describes there, where all the inhabitants have everything, materially, the move continually outward of a great grey city, looking for a place where they don't have to be involved with any other person ever.

I am beginning to realize that perhaps being in real community may be one of the better ways to show the world what the love of God is all about. I could talk about lots of theory behind the importance of being in a community, but what has been on my heart recently is the clear realization that Jesus reveals himself to us through his body; which is to say, we see Jesus in one another when we are looking for him.

Life in the Desert

The church we attended in Seattle is doing a sermon series called "Psalms in the Desert". In it, the message has talked about how we can deal with times in life where we are not where we want to be. At that place, we have a choice to turn towards God or away from God. This is an important lesson for all of us because we will all go through events that are difficult.

It has been a really good series and continues until Easter. Follow this link to hear or download the series.

Repost - God's Perfect Will

 This is a well written piece. My guess is that most of my own failure is inactivity rather than doing the wrong thing. The other thought is just because God's will is perfect does not mean that we will perceive events in our lives as perfect. Struggles and hardships are not necessarily indications of the absence of God or his will for us.

God’s Perfect Will

By Jo Hilder

 Right up until just a few years ago, I had no idea what Gods perfect will for my life was. Like most Christians, I prayed about it a lot. I listened to sermons on it in church, and read books about how to find out what it was. One thing I do know, actually trying to do Gods will is really confusing.
It’s the whole waiting on God thing that does my head in. You know what you’d like to do, all indicators point to you needing to do this thing, but everyone says oh, just wait on God. Which is a Christian way of saying don’t rush it. Because you might fail, and then God will get a bad reputation.
Because failing at something is the worst thing a Christian can do.
Hm. I happen to think there’s two kinds of failure. There’s the failure you get when what you tried to do doesn’t work. And then there’s the failure you get when you don’t try in the first place.
I know why Christians say its way better to wait and see what God might do supernaturally than it is to just do something about it themselves. Its because we’ve believed if we rush in to take control, and things go wrong, someone will have to be held responsible for the failure. And God must never be blamed when things go wrong, because God is the God of rightness, perfection and success. Things must always turn out well, because Success = God was in it, Failure = God wasn’t. And getting what you want, albeit by whatever spiritual-passive aggressive methods you prefer, definitely indicates that God was involved in the whole thing from woe to go. Failure means you must have done whatever it was via this weird thing called in your own strength.
I don’t know what that phrase even means anymore. Christians use it a lot, but it’s so ambiguous that it can mean anything from finding a parking space to deciding whether or not to have chemotherapy. Oh, don’t even try to fight cancer/have a baby/enter into ministry/publish your book/find a partner/get a new job/change your abusive husband/give up your addiction in your own strength, just let God do it. Hmmm.
Funny thing is, I have seen God do all these things. And in every instance, He used other people using their own strength helping the first person with the problem when He did them. Sometimes He actually had to, because the person with the problem refused to do anything about it themselves. They were too afraid of being accused of doing it in their own strength.
Is doing something in our own strength really something bad? Is using our own intelligence, physical resources or capacity really the opposite to God using His? What if our intelligence, physical resources and capacity, and Gods, are actually the same thing?
What it all boils down to is the fact that many Christians believe the worst thing that can happen to them is failure. What is failure? Anything you said God told you to do that didn’t happen. It’s better to wait on God to do it supernaturally, and for nothing to ever happen at all, than to try and make something happen only to have it fall apart. Then, if nothing happens, we can attribute that to Gods will, and say He didn’t want it to happen in the first place. It’s not our fault. And we can’t be accused of failing. Phew.
Small print - because we never actually tried.
Look, I’m all for the supernatural, and I believe in miracles. Point in case – a few years ago, my husband’s business failed and we were $20,000 in debt. We both prayed that God would help us, and that was a lot of praying, right there. We worked for a year to satisfy the creditors, in our own strength, and managed to repay half the debt. Then one day, God gave us the other $10,000. Gave it to us. Well, when I say He gave it to us, I had to do something to go get it. Here’s what happened.
One morning I got up and had an urge to take the dog for a walk on the beach. It was raining. Go, said God. OK, I said. I put the dog’s leash on and started walking. Not that way, said God, go the other way. But it’s further. Just go, said God. OK, I said. I got the to beach, in the rain, and started walking in the direction I usually did. Not that way, said God, go the other way. You must be joking, I said. Just do it, said God. As I walked up the beach in the opposite direction to the way I usually went, I looked down and saw something unusual. Unusual, but strangely familiar. Pick that up, said God, pick that up, and take it home. That right there is exactly what you think it is.
What was it? A huge lump of ambergris. It took me a couple of months, but eventually I sold it to the highest bidder – for $10,000.
Hilarious, don’t you think, that God helped us, not by having someone forgive our debt, or write us an anonymous cheque – but by giving us a piece of dried up old vomit? Did we fail, well, yeah. Did He help us? He sure did. Did we wait around sulking until then?Heck no. We paid off $10,000 at $200 a week, which was 20% of our combined income. And we were committed to paying the lot back that way. Did God decide to cut us a break because we were willing to do whatever it took? I have no idea. I do know that when I told the man I sold the ambergris to, that I considered my finding it was a miracle from God, he just kept right on counting out my cash and answered drily, “Yeah, I hear that a lot.”
God lets us do things in our own strength, and He doesn’t get mad when we do. After all, what on earth does He have to lose? Doing things in our own strength makes us strong. God also lets us make mistakes, and doesn’t mind when we fail, because it makes us wise. God also lets us do things that may or may not be His will, because that makes us interesting. God wants us to be strong, wise and interesting, because when you think about it that would mean we are something closer to being in the image of God. And He knows – literally – how much we’re always rabbiting on about that.
When it comes to choices, decisions and consequences, don’t worry so much about this weird, passive-aggressive idea of Gods will. A very wise person once said to me that Gods will isn’t like a cattle chute a cow is forced to shuttle down – it’s like the huge, green paddock that she grazes in. Great advice. Loosen up. Have a go. Two things – just listen, He’s speaking. And stay alive – you’re not much good to anyone dead. Otherwise, go for it. What do you have to lose?
I know what God’s will for my life is now. It’s to fully live. To be fully alive means to sometimes fail, sometimes be hurt and sometimes fall down. Staying safe and getting things right, trying to keep to narrow idea of existential perfection isn’t being alive – it’s something else. Maybe madness. Maybe even death. My advice? Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, to fail, to try things out, because more than he wants you to be safe, perfect or right, God wants you to be strong, smart and infinitely interesting, because funnily enough, that would make you exactly like Him.

January is the new January

Since last year, I have had a saying with my co-workers whenever a month starts to get overloaded with work: "(random month) is the new January". This is because last January was the work month from hell in terms of workload.

In any case, it turns out that 2011 was a busy year all around. The original plan was to write more - but then it turned out that I wanted to write way to much, and consequently, didn't do much at all.

For 2012, i'll try to keep it brief and also interesting.