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. 

Jeremiah and Heat Records.

The book of Jeremiah goes like this:

Jeremiah: Hey Judah, stop worshiping Idols and being evil or bad things will happen!
Judah: Yeah, whatever. Then they get conquered.

Jeremiah: Hey Judah, really, stop worshiping idols!
Judah: yeah, whatever. Then Babylon takes them away in exile.

Remnant: Jeremiah, tell us what God says and we will listen.
Jeremiah: Remnant, don't run to Egypt, bad things will happen!
Remnant: You are lying. I think we are going to Egypt.

Jeremiah: Hey King, Babylon is coming, don't resist and you will be ok.
King: I think we need to fight Babylon.

Over and over again, people refusing to listen to the truth.

Today, we also struggle with idol worship. Our entire economy is dependent on people spending more than they have for stuff they worship but don't need. And this system is causing all sorts of destruction. There is evidence all around us. Look at any aspect of life and see the brokenness. Are we listening though?

For the last 10 years, I've lived in a half dozen cities and visited many more. Everywhere I go, people tell me how weird the weather is. I moved to Spokane and there was record snowfall - 136 straight days.Corvallis had bad flooding. Seattle had wierd amounds of snow. Kansas city has had "weird" weather for 3 straight years culminating in this summer that is setting all kinds of heat records.

There are two ways of looking at this: First, this is just random occurance. Whatever is happening, humans aren't really the cause. Sadly, I think that many Christians are in this camp. Part of this is due to a general
negativity and skepticism towards some science. (That is really another topic entirely)

I'd suggest that climate change is real and man definitly has a hand in it. The scientists are delivering a message they themselves probably don't even realize. Recall in Hosea that the land mourns as a result of human choices. Have you seen the moon rising red in the evening on a smoggy day? Earthquakes? Tsunamis? Lakes drying up and turning opaque red from algae. There is evidence all around. The land mourns, church, and we, collectively, are causing it.

Are we listening? Really listening?

The good news is that there is always an offer of redemption and restoration. God always seeks to restore, no matter how far we have strayed. Are we living in such a way to enable and display that restoration?  Hard work, to be sure, but worth it.