Tag Archives: Christianity
Saturday
Made it to 5 today. Woohoo. More musings then. And, may I warn you now, it is deteriorating, though my mental acuity increasing with each passing moment.
-Every long plane ride, I take my Tolkien – its like travelling with an old friend that you haven’t seen for a while. Didn’t finish Lord of the Rings (book) this time. I usually make it through on the plane trip home, but this time, Casino Royale was calling my name, thereby sabotaging my reading…
-glad we missed the snow last week.
-they’re everywhere. On our flight home from SFO to RNO, 2 German ladies sat across from Joni, coming to visit a relative in the Reno area.
-2 Daylight Savings Time jumps forward in one 3 week period is lame. 4 March in the US, 18 March in the EU. Progressive.
-Pondering & repondering Luke 9:23-25… still. The whole “deny your selfish ambition” makes me have to introspect – What are my selfish ambitions? If I’m going to deny them, I better know what they are or least what they look like… How deep does this rabbit hole go?
On that note, 1John 2:15-17 comes to mind…
“Do not love the world, or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world- the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches – comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world & its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.”
Identifying selfish ambition: the 3 things mentioned in these verses are about me & fulfilling me. Like Indulgence. Accumulation. Self-exaltation. Gaining the whole world, while losing the soul. –> Denying selfish ambition. Its got to be more than mere asceticism, which can be done in the name of God, albeit with a selfish motivation.
Maybe the “denying of selfish ambitions” can’t be separated from the “taking up the cross daily” – simple obedience. Makes me ponder some more –
Has God really called me to do “great things” for Him? The divinely-ordered task of doing “great things” seems to hide in it lots of room for selfish ambition. I can see a trap here. My introspection continues… I can’t recall a time in my life that I have ever had God call me to do something “great”. Usually, for me, God’s call is a point of obedience that no one else finds out about. And it often seems to involve pain. And being misunderstood. And suffering. Standing firm somewhere.
Something that comes to mind is God’s call to the Apostle Paul on the Damascus Road HERE– esp. verse 16 – where God says, “I myself will show him (Paul) how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” Interesting.
Selfish ambition points to me, ultimately, no matter what flowery language or high purpose I declare that I am really pursuing – the taking up of the cross, daily, is a call to obey, but also a call to die. Jesus must have chosen the words carefully, loaded with imagery as they are, esp. in the context of the 1st Century Roman Empire. Lay aside selfishness & obey. It will hurt. We will suffer for obeying. But, we’ll be following in His footsteps.
-time for another cup of joe.
Cheers.
Musings…
Ho there friends.
As usual, the return from Germany is accompanied by a funky-schedule. Up early today (4-ish) which may mean a nap later. Anyhow, I thought I’d take the opportunity to use my time, & process some of my thoughts & observations from the trip.
In many ways Germany seems very familiar re: church culture… in Deutschland, the church culture is a few hundred years older than ours – & it is more obvious there (to me) that churches often take on the expected (but perhaps unspoken) role of “what churches do” & “don’t do”) – (e.g. meaning meeting on Sunday, in a “church” building, the calendaring of events, creation-or lack thereof, of specific programs). Much of what becomes normal seems to be based on what is “successful” – not necessarily a bad thing, but only as long as the definition of success matches Jesus’. Otherwise, success is the number of people at church. It is the lack of conflict. It is reputation. It is sticking to what others are doing – esp. when the other church is experiencing “success…” There’s a thought of “why re-invent the wheel? We’ll just follow what others are doing.”
This shows up in the adoption of models – (not Zoolander silly,) rather, meaning the copying (almost exactly) a particular church/organizations structure/plan – the state church, Hillsong, Willow Creek, Saddleback, Emergent, Church on the Way, etc. These models may “work,” but is it right?
So, I’m pondering conformity & normalization in the context of church, especially the local church – seeing this organization through the lens of another culture has spurred me to comtemplation mode… esp. from asking clarifying questions about things that I’d observed in the church structure – questions like:
-What is “normal” for the local church? What has made this “the norm?” (Think: traditions, identifying something as especially important/sacred, churchy-ness/religiousness etc…)
-What does it look like for the local church to be developing its own unque identity? esp. in the context of “conformity” – where outside pressures/influences (personal aspirations & agendas, denominational forms & norms, city/community ‘standards’, &/or expectations, to name a few) intentionally or not, exert force/pressure to shape the church into something it may/may not supposed to be becoming…
-Are there non-negotiables for every church (behaviors, norms, practices, methods, etc.)? If so, what are they? (beyond a statement of faith &/or an intellectual affirmation of values.) If not, why not?
-How do you determine the methods you will use to get from point A to point B with the people of your church?
More to come… your input is welcome. Probably.
Imaginations…
The Bean & I had some interesting interactions last week, & through some time intentionally carved out for communication have ID’d a monster – the imagination. I’m not talking about creative thinking imagination that Mr. Rogers told us was good to use; its the one-sided conversations that happen in our heads where we ‘imaginarily” interact with another person & come to a conclusion, albeit a faulty or lie-based one, from the imagined interaction.
Taking the time to articulate the imagination & to check in “for realsies” with the other person completely deflated the faulty conclusion.
Somebody’s downstream…
My behavior, thoughts, actions, choices have consequences: not just for me, but downstream – the people who’s lives I directly impact & influence, as well as those that I may not know, but may be equally affected.
My old district Supe, Robby told me a story before I came to Reno to pastor:
The “Keeper of the Spring,” was a quiet forest dweller who lived high above an Austrian village along the eastern slope of the Alps.The old gentleman had been hired many years earlier by a young town councilman to clear away the debris from the pools of water up in the mountain crevices that fed the lovely spring flowing through their town. With faithful, silent regularity, he patrolled the hills, removed the leaves and branches, and wiped away the silt that would otherwise have choked and contaminated the fresh flow of water. The village soon became a popular attraction for vacationers. Graceful swans floated along the crystal clear spring, the mill wheels of various businesses located near the water turned day and night, farmlands were naturally irrigated, and the view from restaurants was picturesque beyond description.
Years passed. One evening the town council met for its semi-annual meeting. As they reviewed the budget, one man’s eye caught the salary figure being paid to the obscure keeper of the spring. Said the keeper of the purse, “Who is the old man? Why do we keep him on year after year? No one ever sees him. For all we know, the strange ranger of the hills is doing us no good. He isn’t necessary any longer.” By an unanimous vote, they dispensed with the old man’s services.
For several weeks, nothing changed. By early autumn, the trees began to shed their leaves. Small branches snapped of and fell into the pools, hindering the rushing flow of sparkling water. One afternoon someone noticed a slight yellowish-brown tint in the spring. A few days later, the water was much darker. Within another week, a slimy film covered sections of the water along the banks, and a foul odor was soon detected. The mill wheels moved more slowly, some finally ground to a halt. Swans left, as did the tourists. Clammy fingers of disease and sickness reached deeply into the village. Quickly, the embarrassed council called a special meeting. Realizing their gross error in judgment, they rehired the old keeper of the spring, and within a few weeks, the veritable river of life began to clear up. The wheels started to turn, and new life returned to the hamlet in the Alps.
Last November, the news of Pastor Ted Haggard’s immorality & drug use became public – it was devastating to him, his wife, his family, & to the church he led. This artcle about LAYOFFS details more of the long term consequences that are happening as a result of his choices.
No finger pointing. No accusations. My heart breaks.
The Jesus Family Tomb & other musings…
The ‘idea’ that has been posited by James Cameron et al isn’t a new one IDEA – many have attempted to discredit Christ & His followers using poorly & selectively researchd “Science, Archaeology, & the thoughts Old Dead Guys.” Its the case of starting with an agenda & creating a case to try & validate it.
The Apostle Paul addressed those that were saying that there was no resurrection of the dead – they had largely based these thoughts on a belief that the physical body was inherently sinful & that only the spirit was pure – Paul points out that the resurrection of Christ is the cornerstone of the Christian faith – without which we “are the most miserable people in the world.” Loons. Delusional. To be pitied.
But that’s not the case.
1Corinthians 15:14-23
14And if Christ was not raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your trust in God is useless. 15And we apostles would all be lying about God, for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave, but that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. 16If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless, and you are still under condemnation for your sins. 18In that case, all who have died believing in Christ have perished! 19And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world. 20But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead. He has become the first of a great harvest of those who will be raised to life again.
21So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man, Christ. 22Everyone dies because all of us are related to Adam, the first man. But all who are related to Christ, the other man, will be given new life. 23But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised first; then when Christ comes back, all his people will be raised..
On that same note – take a look at the following excerpt from an article by philosopher, academic, & deep thinker Ravi Zacharias – it addresses the reality of Christ’s resurrection using the evidence of the lives of the ones who witnessed it:
One thing is historically incontestable: the disciples went to their deaths proclaiming the resurrected Christ. And it is here that it seems we are left with common sense questions. For if the disciples agreed to propagate a story, having even the slightest bit of intelligence, wouldn’t they have thought to conceive something less remarkable–perhaps a story that would accommodate the arguments they would undoubtedly face? Why wouldn’t they have come up with something unfalsifiable? If they would have only claimed that Jesus had spiritually risen again, how would the antagonists have proven them false? And in so doing, they would not have to worry about hiding the body or about what would happen to them if the body was ever discovered. Furthermore, if the disciples agreed to propagate a story, when standing up for these falsified claims became a matter of life and death wouldn’t at least a few of them have buckled?
But the disciples did not say that Jesus spiritually rose from the dead, and nor did they back down when the time came to stake their lives on it. They took the dangerous road–indeed, the inconceivable road–and they not only went to great lengths to proclaim that Jesus bodily rose from the dead, but they went to their deaths proclaiming it was true. Now why would they risk everything proclaiming the actual, physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead if they knew it was a lie?
You can read the entire article at this link:
reading…
I’ve got a stack of books awaiting my attention – last count I had 12 ‘must-reads’ on the shelf behind my desk… this is officially the ‘waiting room’ for my books/next reads.
I’m 2/3 of the way through THEY LIKE JESUS by Dan Kimball – I believe that this book should be required reading for any/all people that are a) Christ-followers & b) have a desire to live in such a way as to reflect Christ to the people that they come in contact with.
Actualy, when they make me King, Emperor, Dominar, or Guy in Charge of Assigning Reading, I would give this book to every pastor (vocational or otherwise) in any & every Christian church – with a mandatory “Response Paper” to be written afterwards. The paper should be 3-5 pages, & would:
-Address Kimball’s thesis: People like Jesus, but they don’t like the church – Why does Kimball say this? What are your observations of pre-Christians? What are your responses to these observations (his & yours)?
-Describe your “philosophy of ministry” – briefly explain the “WHY’s” (reasoning, values, beliefs) behind the “WHAT’s” (actions, behaviors, personal schedules, programs) of the ministry you are involved in.
-What does it mean to be missional? Describe the WHY’s & the WHAT’s of you being missional.
Then, we’d all get together in small groups (5-8 people) & discuss what we wrote & why… with the intent being on taking action towards leading a community in living out Jesus.
For inquiring minds:
Dan Kimball Blog
God’s Gonna Cut You Down…
Feeling a bit introspective – saw this & it got me thinking… what’s it mean “God’s gonna cut you down?” This thought was magnified as I watched the video (embedded, courtesy of YouTube) & saw many, many famous (& famously irreverent &/or non-religious) types mouthing the lyrics…
Run on for a long time, run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down
Well my goodness gracious let me tell you the news
My head’s been wet with the midnight dew
I’ve been down on bended knee talkin’ to the man from Galilee
He spoke to me in the voice so sweet
I thought I heard the shuffle of the angel’s feet
He called my name and my heart stood still
When he said, “John go do My will!”
Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down
You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time, run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Well you may throw your rock and hide your hand
Workin’ in the dark against your fellow man
But as sure as God made black and white
What’s done in the dark will be brought to the light
You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time, run on for a long time
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Sooner or later God’ll cut you down
Go tell that long tongue liar
Go and tell that midnight rider
Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut you down
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut you down
Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut you down
Putting it into practice personally…
Today, it hit me. I normally take Fridays off – it hit me that for the next couple of weeks, my Fridays (& all/most of Saturdays) will be occupied with work…
The processing begins… what about my rest day? what about the Sabbath? What do I do now that I have realized that I’ve scheduled away my day off? I have a problem taking a mulligan on this one – part of it is because I believe that the Sabbath is not just a good idea or a suggestion, but an obedience to a way of life that God has laid out for us. Not just going back to the September-December series on a Revolution of the Soul but because there is a deeper issue here: how will I put into practice this principle of obedience? It’s not negotiable, & yet I find myself struggling internally to find a justification for “just this once.” (Though it’s twice actually.) Don’t know that there is a simple, easy, quick answer to this one.
