Po' Moe

Off the Map - 2009

2009-11-21T06:04:00.000-08:00

I will be posting a couple of things over the next few days. Off the Map 2009 is in full swing. Last night was the first night, and I took some good notes, reconnected with some good friends. I even took some videos that I expect I will edit and post soon.

My current mood

2009-10-02T07:59:00.000-07:00

I woke up with Mac Powell's gravelly voice screaming this inside my head.

Diana Butler Bass on TheOoze.tv

2009-06-12T14:15:00.001-07:00

The _____ Children's Fund

2009-05-27T20:32:00.001-07:00

Okay, been a while since I posted. Here's my latest thought.

Several months ago, upon the death of Gary Gygax, I posted about the Christian Children's Fund not accepting a donation from Gygax's fans. The CCF eventually changed their mind, and accepted the offering.

Now, however, they're back...again...this time, THEY'RE CHANGING THEIR NAME, and dropping "Christian" from their moniker.

If they had just done that earlier, I wouldn't have posted my thoughts after they didn't accept the money. **BRAD ROLLS HIS EYES**

Hyper-Relationality

2009-04-27T08:45:00.001-07:00

As I stood in a dark bar in Kirkland, Washington...extremely glad for the law that keeps people from smoking in such establishments...listening to a handful of local bands, waiting for my friend Len and his band, The Crying Spell, to take the stage, I found myself discussing hyper-relationality. What is hyper-relationality? Simply put, it is the relational aspect of everything that we do. Everything has four relational aspects - to God, to self, to others, and to nature. Everything is connected.

How connected? Well, let's take a walk through the connections here. The producer for The Crying Spell's album is Kelly Gray. Kelly is most commonly associated with the Seattle rock band "Queensryche". However, an older lady in our church knows the "boys" in Queensryche because they went to high school with her son, and she used to feed them baloney sandwiches in her kitchen in Bellevue. Connected.

Scot McKnight in his book "A Community Called Atonement" uses the term "Perichoresis" in reference to the Trinity....Father, Son, Holy Spirit...where Perichoresis is this hyper-relationality amongst the elements of a triune God. He goes on to explain how our hyper-relationality with God, self, others and nature is as equally perichoretical as the Trinity. God calls us into hyper-relationality.

Think about that.

What you do affects your relationship with others. When you buy your groceries, you give money (or perhaps a debit/credit card) in exchange for the goods. That money goes to pay the salary of the checker....you are now relationally connected. That money goes to pay the operational aspects of the store....you are now hyper-relationally connected. You now have food that will, hopefully, sustain you and increase/improve your health...you are now hyper-relationality connected. The money going into the pockets of the checker, or the store, or the other salaried employees may make it into the coffers of a church somewhere....you are hyper-relationally connected.

When you throw away a plastic bottle...no, I'm not getting all environmental on you..but I am....and it doesn't decompose, ever, you are hyper-relationally connected to nature. When the chemicals leech into the water supply, and "poisons" the aquifer, even a trace amount, you are hyper-relationaly connected to all who drink that water, including yourself.

We may say, "What I do only affects myself, or those I am in immediate contact with." We're wrong. We are all connected.

Hyper-relationality.

What do you think?

Microsoft Layoffs and What it Means

2009-01-24T08:03:00.000-08:00

Okay, I'm not going to go into anything that isn't already public knowledge here. But, there have been enough requests for information that I had to address the topic.

I work for Microsoft.

Microsoft did a round of formal layoffs for the first time in the company's history on Thursday.

I was not laid off.

1400 jobs were eliminated. 840 of those jobs were in the greater Puget Sound area. Let's put this in context. 96,000 employees worldwide.....40,000 in Seattle/Redmond....1400 is about 1.5% of the workforce.

All of the employees let go are eligible for rehire, and may be able to find something else inside Microsoft. In fact, I know that our team is picking up a handful of people.

I commend the upper management for an incredible job of cutting expenses BEFORE cutting people....closing down building projects....cutting travel.....and so on.

So, there you go. I'm safe. My job is safe. Please pray for those who did lose their jobs.

Waneta Shawhan (1910-2009)

2009-01-14T15:15:00.000-08:00

Waneta Shawhan was the epitome of a prayer warrior. From the first time I met her at our church in 1993, until her entrance into a hospice in 2008, she was everything you would expect from one who puts ALL of her trust in God.

She used to tell me, "I can't do much anymore. I can't work with my hands. I can't travel very far. But, I can pray." And, she would. Oh how she would. Her knowledge of the Bible, and her insights into God were unimaginable in their depth. She knew how to examine her own experience and say, "This is what God has done."

One of the last things she "did with her hands" was a quilt for my daughter Arwen's birth. The "Waneta Quilt" is and always has been very special. If it is possible for an inanimate object to exude love...pure.....it's that quilt. Hand stitched, hand cut, hand sewn. And done for one specific person who isn't even a relative.

My good friend, Len, the lead singer of a local rock-band, used to come in to the church and he'd sit on one side of Waneta, while his wife Gina would sit on the other side. Len is tall, but he would just tower over the slight, frail lady next to him. Waneta loved everyone, but always glowed when Len and Gina would sit there.

Part of me grieves. That's always the case. I'm selfish that way.

But a major part of me rejoices!!!! Her pain is gone. Her mind is clear. In this continnuum that is eternal life, she has passed a milestone that is NOT THE END, and has rejoined those who have gone before. LET THE CELEBRATION BEGIN!!!!!

I'm crying while I write this. I don't know if it's grief, or joy, or both.

Oh, who am I kidding.....It's both.

Visibility, Influence and Execution

2009-01-12T08:33:00.000-08:00

I was just having a conversation with a friend of mine about my personal goals for 2009. I want everyone who reads my blog to understand a few things about me. I'm involved in a bunch of things...work...family....more work.....hobbies.....religion.....more family....and so on. As I looked at what I want to do that will drive the next stage in my "public" life, I came up with three areas that are top in my mind.

Visibility
Influence
Execution

My business partners are already familiar with these things. The Microsoft in me is a firm believer in SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-oriented, Time-bound).

Visibility:

I have four blog posts that I've written but not posted yet. They are sitting on my cell-phone, ready to be moved to my blog. Anyway, as a part of my visibility goals, I intend to publish more on my blog; Short posts, questions, writings, thoughts, as well as comment on more blogs from friends. I started commenting more and not lurking last year, but this year I intend to become a regular voice. I will also be doing more cross-posting, getting people from my blog to read other blogs as well. (I did that in December with the notice about Home-PDX from Pam's blog.)

I'm also upping my visibility on Facebook....connecting to friends.

I'm also upping my visibility at work. I'm a strategist, and it is important that my strategies be engulfed by the executives or my work will go nowhere.

Influence:

I often worry that I don't have any original thoughts. I read too much. I read things that people have written and often find myself saying, "That's exactly what I've thought for years, but I'm just not eloquent enough to pull that off." Well, apparently, I've been told that I DO have original thoughts. So, I intend to take my thoughts to the next level. I've had 4 people, close friends, say that they've been praying that I'll write more. Maybe I can help others drive original thoughts.

At work, if my strategies are accepted and honed, my influence will grow.

Execution:

Hard work pays off in the long run, but procrastination pays off IMMEDIATELY!!!

I have been a part of this "conversation" online for nearly 2 years, now. However, I have not let people in on the things I am doing to move the conversation out of the online world and into my daily activities. Talking about life and living life are two different things.

These are not resolutions. These are just my standard thinking. It's important to realize that I ALWAYS think things like this. This just happens to be coming at the beginning of the year.

Not Normally a Calorie Counter

2008-12-31T09:30:00.000-08:00

I'm not making any New Years resolutions. I'm not even obsessed with my weight.

My wife and I play racquetball two or three nights a week, depending on our schedule. (At least twice a week)

I'm trying to "cut back" on things just to get my weight down after all of the eating I did over Christmas in Oregon. My mom's love language is cooking. (Conveniently, one of my dad's love languages is eating....it's a match made in Heaven.)

I found on the Starbucks site the nutritional information for their drinks. http://www.starbucks.com/retail/nutrition_beverages.asp

If you are squeamish...please stop reading.

My drink of choice....Double Tall Caramel Machiatto....

180 calories
45g fat
100mg sodium

Oh my goodness, gracious!!!!

Now, "drip" coffee
5 calories
0g fat
10mg sodium

Uh, I guess I'm on the drip for a while. **SIGH**

It's Cold, and There are People Who are Invisible

2008-12-19T02:31:00.000-08:00

This is a duplicated post of a post on Pam Hogeweide's blog. Ken Loyd and I met last November at an event here on Seattle's Eastside. I've blogged about him before. He's the one who said that our homeless friends feel two things, that they are invisible, and that they are defective. Why? That's how we treat them.

That cut me to the heart.

Anyway, here's the post from Pam's blog. There's a link to her blog here on my site as well. All I ask is that, in this Christmas season, you do something...anything.....it's cold out there, and NO ONE should be invisible.

-------------------------------

HOMEpdx: Are We Broke Yet?

Hey all, here is the latest email update from my friend Ken Loyd of HOMEpdx here in Portland, Oregon. Ken and his devoted team of HOMEpdx'ers have been loving on the beautiful, invisible folks who live outside, aka The Homeless. Below is Ken's financial strategy and report for how they meet practical needs of our city's poor.

If you live in Portland, consider making a one-time donation or becoming a regular contributor to this vital community. HOMEpdx is not an outreach or a mission. They are a group of people who both live indoors as well as outdoors. It is a missional church in the rawest sense.

If you don't live in Portland, I urge you to consider what ministries and charities in your area are helping the poorest of your city. Consider sending them a little note and a donation of any amount.

Hope everyone is doing well this holiday season. Portland is having some extraordinary winter weather as is much of the country. We are in the midst of a series of three winter storms in a one week period. My friend Erin blogged about why Portlanders have such a hard time driving when we get ice. Totally crazy!

Stay warm!

Are We Broke? You Bet!
by Ken Loyd

We've figured out how this whole nonprofit deal works: A) get money and, B) spend it as fast as we can on our friends without houses in downtown Portland.

We're good, no, read that, just about the best at doing the "B) thing". Socks, toiletries, bus tickets, cell phones, food, clothes, coffee, burritos, ID, rent,and a dozen other spending opportunities wave frantically for our attention every day.

The A) part, however… we're just about the worst at remembering to ask for money.

Wow! Who Would Have Thought this was a growth industry?

It's only taken me about a year and a half to figure out at least part of the problem: April Fools Day 2007 was our first day under the Hawthorne Bridge. We had ten of our outdoors friends show up. We gave them socks, hoodies, toiletries and whatever else we could dig up. Our food team prepared a banquet. We had a great time!

This October our last Sunday under the bridge (we're indoors for the winter) saw us doing the exact same thing, but this time we served over 200 people! We were averaging 100-200 each week. What fun that is! Our food team, as always, was more than equal to the task. Each food team buys the food, prepares, and serves our meals. We, the HOMEpdx core team do the rest. Our cost per person has increased by more than 50% due to higher prices and the fact that we give away a greater selection of necessary items. A 1500% increase in one and a half years shows our success at the "B" part of the formula— serving our friends who live outdoors. The "A"— getting money— 0% increase in income.

I'm pretty sure our balance sheet is out whack.

Common sense says, "Cut back."

However, increased need does not wait for increased income. We, at HOME will continue to love and serve our friends, no matter what. We must. Common sense, I believe, is overrated, if it turns a blind eye to our society's throwaways. (As I am writing this temperatures are dropping in the 20s. Our core team is larger, more talented and working harder than ever. We are seeing our friends truly helped. Could you just walk away from this if you were me?)

Here's where you can come in.
If you choose. You can send a one-time gift. Or, better yet, you can partner with us and let us know that you will be sending a specified monthly amount. With you as a part of a small but mighty team of partners, who knows—we could go from a daily losing scramble to doing some planning! What a novel idea for us. Our year end goal is to raise $20,000 to give HOMEpdx a strong foundation for 2009, which looks like a year where the needs of our friends will increase dramatically.

It's quite easy...you can even donate via PayPal from our homepdx.net web site.

And pray you ask?
Kathy Escobar, from Denver, who serves people who have next to nothing (one step up the food chain from us), says," Don't pray for us. Our prayer team is full. Send money." She was kidding. I think.

Whether you are able at this time and choose to give to our friends without houses through HOMEpdx or not, we'll still be friends.

Love,

Ken
HOMEpdx (a 501(c)3 nonprofit
3934 N Borthwick Ave.
Portland, OR 97227
http://homepdx.net

PS A FEW RANDOM 2008 NUMBERS:
Volunteers 150-200
Meals served: 5,000-7,500
Pairs of socks given out: 6,000-9,000
Burritos handed out: 2,500
Age of our outdoors friends: 14-65
%who live outdoors year around: 85-90
Value of our friends: Priceless
--------------------------------------

Thanks for listening!

Brad

Projection of self

2008-12-09T14:09:00.000-08:00

My good friend Levi, namesake of my own little boy, just left. I dropped him off at the airport.

One of the things that we talked about in the short time he was in town was the concept of "projection". Scot McKnight in his book, "The Blue Parakeet", describes a survey he gives to his Bible students in which they ascribe characteristics to Jesus. At the end of the exercise, the students can see that what they have done is ascribe their own moral characteristics to the character of Christ.

McKnight goes on to say that is how we often read the Bible....we all want to be right, so we project our own morality into the Bible. Of course, that's dangerous because it really needs to be the other way around. I'm not done with the book yet, but I don't see that he is denying our ability to interpret scripture. Nor does he ever declare that there is a right (or wrong) way to read the Bible. He simply asks that we be aware of projecting ourselves into the reading.

Levi, a former pastor, used various examples from his own ministry and from other writings.....he added more books to my list....that confirm this "projection" fact.

What do you think?

War...what is it good for.....

2008-12-09T12:28:00.000-08:00

Try and read that title without the grunt between “war” and “what”. **GRIN**

Last Friday, I went to lunch with some friends from work. As we drove to the restaurant, one of my workers travelled with me. He looked down and saw a small metal model of a tank; a pencil sharpener, actually. He picked it up and identified it, immediately, as a Patton tank. (M48 for those who are interested in that kind of thing.) He’s Israeli, and little did I know that he served in the Israeli-Lebanon war in the early 1980s….as a tank driver. The rush of memories that overcame him when he saw the pencil sharpener was incredible.

We talked.

I had the tank in my car because I simply hadn’t taken it out. It was my grandfather’s. He drove a tank in Italy in WWII for the Canadian military. His was a Sherman tank, not a Patton, but my aunt has his Sherman model. Grandpa meant a lot to me, and his tales of “The War” were common conversation points. When he died, one of the things he left to me was a copy of the war memoirs of his regiment. Pages after pages of pictures, names, and handwritten notes had me in tears. One, I miss him so much. Two, he had pictures, with faces circled, and comments like, “The first friend I saw die in combat.”

My wife’s uncle was killed in Vietnam. (My father-in-law’s little brother.)

I have friends who are Army Rangers, and have either served in Iraq or are serving. I know others who are just soldiers, but equally important.

I have worked in my career on projects for the U.S. military machine. (One of which I am extremely proud of. Why? It allows the Army to easily determine the location of ANY individual solider in the field within a 3 day period. This may not seem like much, but it’s better than anything they’ve ever had before. It all came about when a U.S. Senator wanted to send a note to all of the troops from his district, and the Army said, “We have no way of knowing where they are.” I am extremely proud that I helped make it possible for families and society to reconnect to individual troops.)

My college roommate is in Iraq right now -- in Baghdad. His wife is left in Maryland to care for their two children, one of whom is borderline Asperger’s syndrome…a form of autism. He’s going to be gone for a year. When he called me at 9:30pm Pacific from an airport in Maine on his way out, I was nearly in tears. He’s almost 40 and is going back to a war zone.

Another college buddy is a helicopter pilot in the Navy.

Another is a pilot in the Marines.

I don’t normally let me feelings be known, but I’ll say it now. I’m not for these stupid wars...Iraq, Afghanistan.

Preemptive strikes are not the right way to solve the problem.

In fact, I don't think there's a human way to solve the problems in the Middle East.

I do know this. I don't care who the politicians are that are in power. I cannot condone war.

Don't get me wrong, I fully support our troops, and will honor them for their service when they return.

I get tired of Christians who are more up in arms over abortion, but turn a blind eye to the murder being done in the name of our beloved country.

Both things break my heart.

I hate war.

CCF made good

2008-12-02T15:13:00.000-08:00

So, my former post about the Christian Children's Fund.....update.

They made good.

Apparently, it was a rogue CCF agent.

GOOD FOR THE CCF!!!!

Election Day - Where are we going? And why are we in this handbasket?

2008-11-04T09:14:00.001-08:00

Don't forget to vote.

Does the church even recognize "redemption" anymore?

2008-11-04T09:07:00.000-08:00

Shame on you, Christian Children's Fund!

Christianity is a story of redemption, isn't it? Throughout the Bible, the stories are about the people of God failing, disobeying, and suffering, only to meet with God's grace...His unmeritied favor...and be redeemed.

Paul, a servant of the Lord, is one of the most famous redemption stories. Saul, a persecutor of Christians, meets Jesus on the road to Damascus, is miraculously blinded, taken to a house, healed miraculously, name changed to Paul. He then runs to the Christian community and says, "Hey, I'm one of you, now! I want to evangelize the Gospel! I have been sent out by our Christ to bring the message of the Kingdom!!!"

What did the community do? First, they were scared spitless. Second, they discussed amongst themselves if this was a trick. Finally, after letting Paul sit for NINE YEARS, they accepted him and he started his missionary journeys as discussed in the book of Acts in the New Testament.

Christian, have you been redeemed? Are you being redeemed? Are you being blessed by God? Awesome, thought, huh?

Now, is it possible to have lived against the will of God and be redeemed? Oh, careful, now. The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Guess who said that? Hee-hee.....Paul.

How should we as Christians manage our relationships with people who have lived, by their own words, outside the will of God, but have turned their lives around? Why is it often hard for us to see redemption in our midst?

So, I got really upset this week by a story I read onilne. Gary Gygax, the creator (co) of the Dungeons and Dragons game, had accepted Christ late in life, had regularly given to the Christian Children's Fund, and then passed away earlier this year. At Gen-Con, the largest gaming convention in the U.S., there was a fundraiser in honor of Mr. Gygax. The money was sent to CCF, and the donation was REJECTED because it was from the gaming community. REJECTED!!! By a community that should be all about redemption! By a community that "sells" redemption for children in poor situations.

I understand their concerns about the values of the people who gave the money, etc. BUT, it was given in honor of a man who believed as they do. A man who had felt the redemptive power of our own CHRIST!!!

By rejecting the money, Christian Children's Fund ostracized, and possibly permanently damaged an opportunity to be Christ to those to whom they would not normally come in contact.

Want to know why people like Jesus, but don't like the church? Yeah, that's why.

TAKE THE MONEY, CONSECRATE IT TO GOD'S WORK, AND WATCH THE BLESSINGS THAT WILL HAPPEN.

Discernment in Community

2008-10-27T04:05:00.001-07:00

I am a fan of the writings of Scot McKnight. I also follow his blog at JesusCreed.org.

Given my ramblings on interpretation, certainty, and the like, I was thrilled to read this paragraph in one of Scot's postings:

"Once we are dealing with something not directly addressed in the Bible, we are driven to make discernments the best that we can. I think our discernments can be confident but they must not be confused with what Scripture says directly (like “be holy”).

That means we don’t have “certainty” in this case but instead we have “discernment” anchored in faith and in the good guidance of God’s Spirit, always in the context of the community of faith. I’m nervous about doing this all alone, and the history of the Church clearly teaches us that discernment works best when we work with other Christians who share our general orientations.
Discernment works in community."

I like that. It keeps the gist of what I was saying, but lays in an important factor. We can interpret, but interpretation BY OURSELVES ALONE can get us into trouble. (Now, understand, I've seen interpretation in community lead to broken families, broken churches, broken hearts. So, there's a dangerous side to that too.)

Anyway, thanks, Scot!

Things They Never Taught Me in College

2008-10-09T14:18:00.000-07:00

When I was in college, I thought about many things.

Who would I marry? Of course, that was pretty well sealed with my High School sweetheart to whom I've now been married 15 years.

What career path would I have? Once again, pretty well sealed as I had been doing computer sciency kinds of things since I was twelve.

I thought about "business" things.

I thought about "family" things.

I thought about "political" things.

I'm going to change the world. I'm going to make a difference. Life is going to be a wild and crazy ride, but I can be in control.

Then, today, I asked my boss a question. And he sent me this....

"I don't know what you're talking about. So, here's a bunny with a pancake on its head."

Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING in college ever prepared me for that.

You can see this for yourself at: http://heresabunnywithapancakeonitshead.com/

Happy National Punctuation Day!!!!

2008-09-24T10:12:00.000-07:00

Celebrate National Punctuation Day®

September 24

http://www.nationalpunctuationday.com/

Now, go forth and read a good book like "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" by Lynn Truss!!!

Inerrant, Infallible: Why We're Not Emergent....

2008-09-15T13:21:00.000-07:00

The scripture is inerrant. The scripture is infallible.

Now comes the controversial part. If you have no interest in maintaining a conversation with me or with my friends, stop reading now. If you are purely "sola scriptura" REALLY stop reading now. In fact, here's a link to take you away from this site.

http://www.cnn.com

DeYoung and Cluck, in "Why We're not Emergent" attack this topic and those in the emergent conversation with a fervor. I am exceptionally impressed with their ability to present the issues without dropping to name-calling. They nailed it with the following statement.

"It is possible for Christians to esteem the Bible wrongly and equate the Bible with God, but it is not possible for Christians to esteem the Bible too highly."

The Bible was written by men. I believe, however, that every word was inspired by God. While I horribly dislike committees (today, they are called V-Teams...but they’re still committees.), I recognize the councils that prepared the canon of our modern Bible as divinely inspired.

I, as an emergent Christian, recognize the bible as inerrant. However, thanks to the protestant reformation, and Mr. Guttenberg, interpretation is not inerrant. But, now, let me explain this....from my perspective....

The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth. I'm following. Wesley described his quadrilateral of spiritual growth as Scripture, Tradition, Experience and Reason. Those of you who read my blog regularly probably tire of me repeating that. So, my experience is that every time I read the Bible, I am given new, fresh, relevant and inspiring insight. My interpretation of scripture is affected by what I read, what I hear, and answers to prayer. I believe that God -- the Holy Spirit -- provides me understanding of scripture based on what I'm ready to understand. Note: Not WHAT I WANT to understand.

I am open to guidance, but I am not open to a piece of doctrinal scripture meaning one and only one thing. There are sections in scripture that are propositional and True. However, there are others that are NOT propositional, but that doesn't mean that they aren't true.

If I told you that the Staples Center is in Los Angeles, that would be a proposition and a truth. If I told you to go there, that would be a command. If that is all I told you, then there has to be some level of interpretation. Do you drive? Take a bus? Plane? Walk? What if you are overseas? Do you need anything before you can follow my command to go? Who defines what those things are? Who defines when you can go? While this is not a Biblical example, it is. Even the "Great Commission" in Matthew requires interpretation. (Oh, by the way, the moniker "Great Commission" isn't actually used by the writers of the Bible, but was added later by men....just thought I'd mention that.) Now, before you all start jumping up and down on me. I believe the GC is very clear about WHAT we are to do...but gives little on HOW. Take baptism...how many controversies are there on whether it has to be full immersion vs. sprinkling...part of the GC, but up for interpretation.

So, if someone tells me they know EXACTLY what a piece of scripture means, I will thank them for their insight. If I disagree, I may enter into conversation with them. If they expect to blindly accept their comments as TRUTH, and will ostracize me if I don't, then they have lost the most valuable thing they can get from me.

Respect.

Now, understand, a disagreement does not mean that I cannot be persuaded. But, persuasion should be gentle, allowing me to ask questions, allowing for Spirit-led compromise. Not, “You’re a heretic, and you’re gonna burn!” That doesn’t persuade me.

So does this make me a relativist. **SIGH** No, it does not. What it makes me is a “Theological Currentist”. My theology matches where I am currently. I am on a journey, and the Spirit has led me to this point on my journey. There are others who are farther along. There are others who are not as far along. The end result, the destination, is an ability to embrace all truth and to share that truth with others to help them along their journey. I am here and Jesus/The Bible is teaching me here. It’s where I’m at.

Am I sincere? Absolutely.

Can I be sincerely wrong? Even more absolutely.

But, I have every belief that if I continue to search, my God will lead me to that place of understanding, and I won’t be wrong. But I have to work out my own salvation with fear and trembling. Is there absolute Truth? You bet there is…and I’m getting there. But, I’m not there, yet. I can’t honestly say that I will ever be there. But there is absolute Truth.

So, what do you think? Those of you who fall into an emergent bucket? Those of you who don’t?

Note, I didn’t put in any examples of propositions I believe to be true. Thus, some will say that I don’t believe any to be true. Let me make this clear. That’s not true. I just didn’t think it added value to this conversation. You want proof-texting? I don’t normally, but I can for what I’ve said. Once again, didn’t think it added value.

The Knowability of God

2008-09-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

Okay folks, sorry that I've been away for a while. The new job was eating up a lot of my time. I am not dead. I am not disgusted with blogging.

Everything is fine. More than fine.....more than bent on getting by.....more than fine....more than just okay.

So, I started a book review a number of months ago, and there is still more to finish. It's taken me awhile, simply because I'm really passionate about the topic. I've actually had this essay on my cell phone for 5 months, and am just getting around to posting it. I do a lot of my blog writing on my cell phone. (AT&T Tilt....full keyboard....) So, back to the review....

DeYoung and Kluck (I have difficulty with who wrote what chapters….so I choose to make them both guilty by association…it seems to be “the way it should be done”) claim that “Emerging leaders equate uncertainty with humility.” Wow, that’s a big accusation. Uncertainty is something you can get over. Humility is something you are. I pray that I NEVER get over my humility. In fact, I pray that my humility will increase!!! AND, AND, AND, I will be proud of that day, when I’m more humble than I am today!!!! Wait, scratch that last statement.

They quote from Steve Chalke about a young man who said to him, “If you academics in your ivory towers have lost Jesus, that’s your problem. I’ve not lost him. I know him. I love him. I don’t need to search for him.” Chalke’s comments on the story are telling.

However, as appealing as this kind of certainty might at first sound, it is in fact rather like the presumed familiarity of which Dallas Willard spoke. To assume that we have got Jesus “pinned down” or “summed up” is not simply arrogant but stupid, and in the end inhibits our ability to communicate his unchanging message to an ever-changing world.

Now, I'm not one to personally say that anyone's views are stupid. They are their views. HOWEVER, I have to agree with the arrogance statement.

I understand their concerns, and share them to a point. Certainty is a valiant goal. I think, however, that when I read the Bible and gain a new insight into a passage of scripture, thanks to an analysis of the context of the times….whether location, political situation, cultural situation, or just a study of the original language itself….I cannot arrogantly say, “Now, I understand what this truly means.” My uncertainty of the Scripture makes it come alive for me. My ability to gain new insight, and even to anticipate what God will teach me, excites me. I hope I never get over looking at scripture with the brilliant eyes of a child! DeYoung and Kluck point to a handful of other quotes from Brian McLaren arguing against clarity, and how reality is “fuzzy and mysterious; not in black and white, but in living color.” That living color is what I’m seeking.

Let me give a brief example. We have a group that meets on Wednesday nights and we were looking at one of Jesus' parables last week. (Wed Sept 3rd...yeah, okay, so I didn't edit all of this on my cell phone) Specifically, the parable of the unrighteous steward in Luke 16. Talk about confusing. Let me paint the picture for you...A steward is reported to the master as "squandering his possessions", to which the master nails him to the wall. The steward realizes he's about to lose his job, so he calls in customers who owe the master, and has them all tweak their bills so they owe less. Are you confused yet? Just wait...it gets better....The master then praises the unrighteous stewared for his shrewdness. To which Jesus says (NIV) "And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much, and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. Therefore, if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?" WHAT? It took 4 people sitting around a table, all looking at multiple versions, translations, and even an inter-linear Bible to try and figure out what that means. We finally landed on Eugene Petersen's "The Message" (which I generally don't like) where Jesus says something to the effect that we are to be shrewd like the unrighteous steward but in ways that are "right". Okay, I'm good with that...but the NIV, RSV, NASB don't make that abundantly clear!!!!! Uncertainty...uncertainty...uncertainty....

There is so much talk about “Mystery” in emergent documentation. And critics treat that as thought it’s a bad thing. It’s not. If we truly seek to understand, we will be given understanding. We may not like it, but we will understand it. (Isn’t that kind of what the scientific method is all about?....oooh…don’t go there, Brad.)

Mysteries can be solved. Someday, we will know what causes cancer. Someday, we will know where socks in the dryer go. (Sock heaven, according to Steve Taylor) If a murder mystery novel told us who the killer was at the very beginning of the book, why would we have any reason to read the rest? Why would we have any desire to put together the clues? Now, before anyone thinks that Brad has gone all Gnostic on us. The knowability of God is not some secret knowledge. God reveals his light to us as we are ready. Did you catch that? As we are ready.

I humbly bow to the one true God of the universe who created all, is in all, above all, who gives me new insight. In humility, I accept Jesus’ words that he has many more things to tell me, but I’m not ready for them. My insights will grow and change. Will I misunderstand things? Absolutely. But, the Holy Spirit is leading me into all truth. All I can do is follow.

An Emergent Review of "Why We're Not Emergent"

2008-05-03T14:40:00.000-07:00

I am a blogger. What exactly does that mean? It means I’m a semi-intelligent, computer savvy, and opinionated. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have anything to say. So, let’s toss more into the mix. I’m a Christian blogger. Uh oh. Now, I’m a semi-intelligent, opinionated blogger who, by his very nature, is supposed to be humble.

Doh.

Can one actually be a blogger and be humble? Isn’t part of blogging to toot one’s own horn? **SIGH**

Many of you know that I have claimed to be Emergent in thought and theology. I still claim that. However, I remain humble and realize that my theology is growing, changing, and until I have an opportunity to really work things through, balancing against Scripture, Tradition, Experience and Reason, I can honestly, sincerely, truthfully be completely and utterly wrong.

But, I don’t think I am.

Emergent is a conversation. Yeah, yeah, yeah…stop that. Well, it is. It’s honest, sincere Christians from all walks of life, and all different communities of Christian faith coming together to talk about what it means to live in the way of Christ. I am proud to say that I have friends who are Catholic, although we disagree on many things. I have many friends who are Episcopalian, although we disagree on many things. I have many friends who are Lutheran, although we disagree on many things. I have many friends who are Baptist, although we disagree on many things. Guess what, if asked, we’d all say that we are emergent. We are a community of people with common interests.

As a part of this worldwide conversation around the Bible and Christian thought, I have to say that there are “voices” in the conversation that I really, really disagree with, and there are others with whom I am greatly intrigued, and would even go so far as to say that I agree with them. So, guess what, it’s okay for me to be a part of this conversation and disagree with others. SHOCKING, isn’t it? Now, are you ready for this next part? I’m not going to tell you who I disagree with!!!! HA!!! Take that!!! It’s up to YOU to talk to me, read what I write, and figure that out for yourself. If you want a vitriolic manifesto of Christian leaders, writers, and philosophies, I can point you to other sites. You won’t get that here.

Many of the critics of the emergent movement and emergent thought fit solidly into that vitriolic bunch that I mentioned previously. In fact, it is rare to find objectivity in the critiques.

Enough preamble? This brings me to the book, “Why We’re Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be)”, the new book by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck. These two gentlemen have written an honest and sincere critique of Emergent. And, based on my previous comments, one can be honestly, sincerely, truthfully and utterly wrong. DeYoung and Kluck are not “utterly” wrong, but I will say that I disagree with a handful of their precepts, notions and conclusions.

First and foremost, I disagree with their claim that “Defining the Emergent church is like nailing Jell-O to the wall.” Jell-O is best applied with double sided tape. (Please tell me that made you at least chuckle. I need to know that people have read this far.) Brad Cecil wrote comments on his blog addressing exactly this point….

I hear comments like: Defining emergent is like “nailing Jell-O to the wall” and “postmodernism means a hundred different things”, I disagree - it isn’t all that hard to describe if you are listening
and reading. Here are the simple basic ideas of what fueled the emergent conversation and friendships:
1. Post modern refers to the period after
modernity. It appears to “us” that a significant epistemological shift is
occurring - the likes of which we haven’t seen in 400 years.
2. Language is limited
3. Human concepts are limited
4. There is no place of irreducible certainty (foundation)
5. Considering the above it would be very difficult to convey absolute meaning using language and human concepts
6. Christian theology has become enslaved to the 1st order assumptions of modernity and is far more Cartesian than Christian and has become ashamed of faith
7. A Reformation of recognition and repentance is needed
8. New theological thought is needed to free Christian theology from the enslavement of modernity and enlightenment assumptions and conversation and friendships would be more productive than
developing imperatives.
9. This is just the beginning of the transition and a great deal of work and theological thought lay ahead for those who desire to join the conversation

Numbers 6, 7 and 8 are questionable in my book. I dislike terms like “enslaved”, and a forced push for Reformation, followed by “New” theological thought. However, I do believe that reformation is happening, theology is changing by embracing pre-enlightenment ideas, and that the modern assumptions are being properly framed. So, I can denounce what he’s saying out of one side of my mouth, and partially agree to it from the other side.

That, my friends, is the sound of Jell-O being nailed to a wall. HA HA HA HA.

DeYoung and Kluck do start out their book by explaining that they recognize the sincerity of those that they say are “leaders” of the Emergent movement, and that not all of their theology is bad. The things they want to point out in the book are the things in those peoples’ writings to which DeYoung and Kluck have great concerns. This is where their objectivity impresses me. Instead of turning vitriolic and developing “Christian Tourette’s Syndrome”, shouting out theological ideas, or negative statements about people in the Christian community with whom they disagree, they actually say, “We love Jesus and love the church. We believe emergent Christians love the same. The shape and substance of that love is what we disagree on.” EXCELLENT!!!! Kudos to the authors. Guys, you get it. Welcome to the emergent conversation.

Doh! Sorry, you said you aren’t emergent, yet you’ve openly allowed yourself into conversation with some who you describe as leaders in the Emergent church. (See Dan Kimball’s blog on his review of the book…here.)

One of the most important statements that the authors make is, “One of the hazards of being part of a movement whose only statement of faith says that you don’t believe in statements of faith is that you are bound to be misread and lumped together with some ideas you don’t like.” This statement is a key to what they “don’t get” about emergent. I know NO ONE in the emergent conversation who eschews statements of faith. The Lutherans claim statements of faith. The Baptists, by their very nature, claim statements of faith. I, while growing up Nazarene, but not really claiming all of Nazarene faith, still cling very much to statements of faith. The authors do get it right, though, that we are all lumped in with ideas and people with whom we disagree.

Question: Have you ever read a movie review that was just scathing against a film, then you saw the film and you thought it was incredible? Have you ever read a movie review that was lauding a film with all sorts of accolades, then saw the movie and thought, “What were they thinking?” So, you saw the movie. Uh oh….who are you associated with? The people who liked the movie? The people who disliked it? If you say you disliked it, what happens to the people who liked it? Sorry, just a gestalt – a thought problem. Think about it.

Next post, a continuation of the review, and “The Knowability of God”.

D.A. Carson and "Blogging" Experiment

2008-04-30T15:04:00.001-07:00

I'm off on my scheduled retreat, and have already consumed 4 books. I will be blogging about them over the next week, but I wanted to try something....

I'm finishing up "Why We're Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be)" by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck. One of them was driving D.A. Carson around and talking about postmodernism. Carson said:

"The feedback on blogs is immediate, " Carson continues. "You have a thought and then three minutes later, it's published for the world to digest. And then in another three minutes you have anonymous folks posting messages about how wonderful you are. It tends to inflate one's sense of importance."

Okay, all you anonymous folks. You have 6 minutes....make me feel important!!!

To Refresh

2008-04-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

Emilie Griffin, in her book "Wilderness Time", writes this about Solitude:

There's more to the discipline of solitude than just spending time by yourself. Wilderness time is your chance to detach from the opinions of others, to forgive some people who have made you angry, to come to grips with the way other people are getting in the way of your relationship with God.

Detach. I have used Emilie's book several times on personal retreats, and detaching is key. When my life gets crazy, I need to detach. Take my current situation, starting a new job that is likely to be high stress. My wife knows that I am better all around when I have a chance to detach. She gets it.

I'm not an introvert. Being around people charges me up. So, solitude is brutal on me. But, over the years, I have learned that I really need it.

It has been a long, long time, more than 4 years, since I last took a personal retreat. We know that I need it. My wife found a handful of Bed and Breakfasts here in the local area, as well as some retreat centers. I have scheduled two nights and a B&B, and will be going off to just detach.

Someday, I would like to do a weekend/week retreat to an actual retreat center somewhere. My friend Natalie has done it, and she swears by it. Maybe next year.

So, what are some of your favorite retreats?

Been anywhere where God could really work on you?

Do you go on a regular basis?

I'm always looking for recommendations.

I will be writing while I'm gone, may even blog about it.

Everything Must Change....and oh, boy, is it changing...

2008-04-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, while most everyone else in the greater Seattle area was paying attention to the visit of the Dalai Lama at the Seeds of Compassion event, Brian McLaren snuck quietly into First Free Methodist church in Seattle to present the Everything Must Change tour, in concert with DeepShift, an organization that provides counseling and coaching for churches. Anyone who is anti-emergent or anti-interfaith gathering would have had a heyday. I’m just waiting for some well-known Evangelical Christian leaders to start questioning why Seattle didn’t burn down (again), or fall into the ocean.

My wonderful wife and I have had tickets to the Everything Must Change tour since right after Off-The-Map in November of last year. I was glad to hear that some of my friends from OTM were able to go to the Seed of Compassion event, but was disappointed that I didn’t get to see any of them at the EMC event.

This Brian McLaren event was excellent. I have heard for years that he will not discuss topics about atonement, or the natural exclusivity of Christianity, and will lean toward Universalism at every bent. Boy, that wasn’t the case this time. He talked about Christ. He talked about the gospel. He talked about what his detractors often say, and gracefully said what he truly believes. These topics, however, were secondary to the EMC tour.
If you’ve read “Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope”, much of this was a reiteration of the content of the book. However, it’s different to hear it spoken, see slides, and hear solid real-life examples that weren’t explored in the book. It’s different to be able to ask questions, and receive answers.

I had an opportunity to talk with Brian on Friday night about some things going on in my life. For instance, my wife and I are starting a community of faith in our home for people who have been “burned” by the church, but still want to talk about faith issues. He was engaging, asked great questions, then said, “This is exactly what I was telling the students at Mars Hill Grad School earlier today that they need to be doing, and you’re doing it, Brad! Can you give me your contact information so I can keep tabs on this, and I’d like to give it to someone at Mars Hill so they can maybe have you come and talk?” WOW, I hadn’t considered going to MHGS to talk about a group that we are starting that doesn’t actually start until NEXT week!!!! Brian immediately “got” what we are trying to do, and said that as long as it leads people to the gospel, even experientially, then it’s right. He and I then got into a conversation about the Saturday morning 7:29am session discussing “new” communities of faith and church plants. We went out of our way to make sure we could attend that on Saturday.

One thing Friday night that had a huge impact on me was a “visit” from an old friend. Attending the event was Heidi, whom I had grown up with. Her dad had been the pastor of the church in which I grew up. I haven’t seen her in 23 years. That’s right. TWENTY-THREE years!!!! I didn’t recognize her. However, her youngest sister was there, and she had been in the college age Sunday School class I was teaching several years ago. She pointed me out and said, “You know that guy.”

Saturday was equally as good as Friday, and the resources we received, and the seminars we attended really did show us that Everything Must Change. Conference successful.

So, what else is changing?

I have accepted an offer from a “large software company on the East side of Lake Washington” (Rhymes with ShmicroShmoft) to take on the position of Sr. Technical Product Manager. This was a difficult decision, but there were some key reasons I took the job. First, they came to me. Second, the hiring manager met with me multiple times to make sure I was the right fit. Third, they offered to make serious changes to my “equity crisis”, my “prosperity crisis” and effectively make me more “secure”. (If you haven’t read Everything Must Change…..you won’t get this…..GO READ THE BOOK!!!!) I am taking some vacation time right now to prepare myself to discuss with my current employer that I’m leaving. I should make it clear that this is not my first time working for the company I’m going to. I spent 5 years of my career there, so I’m going back. It’s weird, exciting, and just an all around good thing.

What I’m learning is that I’m not in charge. God is. Everything must change; and it is. I’m also learning, that for once in my career as I transition, I have the respect of my peers, and a company that doesn’t want to see me go, and another that wants to see me come to work!!!

This blog is not meant to be anything about my job, so don’t expect to read anything about new products, conferences I’m speaking at or attending, technical information, etc. But, when there are things that affect me, I will blog about it. For my technical blog, you will want to look elsewhere….it doesn’t exist, yet. But, I have yet to see a Prod Manager at the Empire who doesn’t have a technical blog.

Someone is wrong!!!

2008-04-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

My wife sent this to me. This hits a little close to home. **GRIN**

I will be posting a review of my weekend with Brian McLaren on the Everything Must Change tour, as well as some "life updates". Let me just say, I am being stretched, blessed, and am excited about where "things" are going.

Brad

Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Dunk....

2008-03-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

No, I didn't misspell that....

"Driver blames speeding on bad Oreo dunk"

http://www.komotv.com/news/offbeat/16941381.html

A friend of mine mentioned that this is the perfect opportunity for Nabisco to jump in with "pre-dunked" Oreos, specifically for drivers! It's all about safety!!!

The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier - REVIEW (part 2)

2008-03-23T20:51:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been struggling with how Christians relate to their community. More importantly, how I relate to my community as a Christian. In fact, I was talking to my wife about how many Christians turn "it" into a sales pitch...and that's not "good news" to most people.

Tony Jones in "The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier" tells the story of Trucker Frank. Frank, a middle aged divorcee, drives a truck between Minneapolis and Kansas City, and spends a lot of time at a Christian book store, becoming one of their best customers. He would often buy multiple copies of books and give them out. However, the new manager of the store basically banned the employees from spending time with Frank at the store...because of his "unconventional views".

In all fairness, as a business owner, I'd likely be concerned about a loiterer. But that's not the point.

Frank is looking for community. When a discussion arose at church about "exclusivity", Frank had a glorious insight that he shared. Specifically, the scripture being discussed was the section in Matthew 18 where Jesus talked about confronting a brother. I had always been taught that this was a key passage for not hanging out with non-Christians, or taking an unrepentant believer and kicking him out of the church community. Frank, also a retired pastor I should add, had a diferent take. Jesus said that these people should be treated like a tax collector or pagan. The way of Jesus is not one of excommunication, but one of forgiveness and reconciliation. He welcomed tax collectors (Matthew was a TC) and pagans.

Perhaps, instead of ostracizing, love really is the answer for getting someone back on track.

So, a step away from Tony for a second. The ministry of reconciliation that we are called to by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians is harder than it would seem. We (my wife and I) have a friend who was raised as a devout Buddhist. Her parents are still devout, even though she has put her faith in Christ. Her parents have been to "Interfaith" prayer meetings and think "We pray to the divine, they pray to the divine...it's al good." When people think that, what is there to reconcile? How, as follower's of Christ, can we..or should we...point that relativism can go too far? How do we promote belief in an all powerful, all knowing, all present, singular God, without turning it into a sales pitch? Now, the next question....Is it up to us to "sell" it? What is the role of God, or the Holy Spirit?

Back to the book....

Theology, discourse about God, is a central pillar of emergent thinking. Tony states that "theology is talk about the nexus of divine and human action." But, it isn't just talk. Any human endeavor about God..poetry, art, songs..is theology. Because it is experiential, theology is fluid. "As a result, emergent Christians often get labeled as "slippery". It is an attitude of reverence and desire to learn, not to argue. However, many Christians argue that the Bible has very plain and simple meanings. It doesn't. The more I read the Bible, the more I am drawn to its unfathomable complexity...the handiwork of God is evident. Jones says as much.

Jones does not spend a lot of time discussing theories of atonement, or even what is true or what isn't. He simply says that emergents are humble about claiming true understanding. This is not a denial of absolute truth, nor an embrace of full relativism, but landing somewhere in between the two poles.

He does deny Legalism....but, so did Jesus.

Tony spends several chapters describing the thrill of interpretation. I resonate with this!!! If the Spirit leads us into all truth, we must accept alternate interpretation at any particular time. Theology is fluid. There are times that I read a Bible verse and it means something totally different than it did last time. That does not decrease the value of my earlier interpretation; it enhances and increases the depth and complexity. I love it.

"Dispatch 13: Emergents believe that truth, like God, cannot be definitively articulated by finite human beings."

A rigid theology puts God in a box.

He closes the book with several chapters of case studies of emergent congregations, including Karen Ward's "Church of the Apostles" here in Seattle.

I really enjoy this book. Obviously, since it took up two full blog posts, it had an impact. Read it! Discuss it!! Let me know what you think.

Questions:

How important is the "sales pitch"?
What excites you about the Bible? Anything?
Any topics here you'd like me to cover more in depth? I've got blogging ammunition for years with some of this.

The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier - REVIEW (part 1)

2008-03-20T08:50:00.000-07:00

I don't normally do book reviews on my blog, but this is SO important, given what I like to think of as the main subject matter of my blog.

For the last eight years, I have been in a radical transformation in my faith, my worldview, and my interpretations of things of which I'd always thought I was certain. My spiritual mentor at the time told me that I was solidly postmodern. So, this transformation has been to learn (or "figure out") what that means.

It was around that time (2000/2001) that I was introduced to something "new", called Emergent. I found myself reading and absorbing theology in ways that made sense to me. Started reading McLaren, Kimball, Pagitt, as well as rereading classic "church fathers", monastics, and seeing things in a new light. Understand, please, that I do NOT agree with everything I read, so, if you disagree with anyone mentioned in this article, don't paint me with a guilty by association brush, okay. But please, respect the conversation, that's all I ask.

So, for the last eight years my spiritual life has been exciting and vibrant again!!! I have made new friends who challenge me all the time to think in new ways. But, I have also run into the dark side of things Emergent. Many who I respect greatly have been labeled as heretics. Most of these so called heretics are not heretics, but questioners of the status quo..not to disprove, but to deconstruct and understand. That's one of the things that excites me so much. That's my kind of intellectual exercise.

One of the voices in the Emergent conversation is Tony Jones. Regular readers of my blog will recognize the name. Others may not know of Tony. Tony is the national coordinator of Emergent Village, a very loose knit organization coordinating events and fundraising around emergent issues. Please note, Emergent is not a denomination or an organized committee making decisions on what is "Orthodox" or even, necessarily, pointing out flaws in other groups. The closest description is a conversation among friends -- a generative friendship, as it were.

Tony's latest book -- The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier -- is an introduction to the history of the emergent movement, a dissection of the characteristics of those of us who consider ourselves to be "emergent" and, without using defensive language, a logical, and even Biblical, explanation of some of the beliefs that are core to emergents. These are not "Articles of Faith" or a "doctrinal statement" that must be signed in order to join. These beliefs and understandings are commonalities that are displaying after 10 years of this Emergent conversation. It struck a chord with me, and I now recommend it to anyone who questions what Emergent is about.

Tony begins with a description of the issues facing churches on the "left" (i.e. Mainline protestantism) and on the "right". (i.e. Evangelical protestantism) Of course, this separation is classically referred to as Liberal and Conservative. "Both are beholden to a scheme that philosophers call foundationalism." (Defined as the "theory that at the bottom of all human knowledge is a set of self-inferential or internally justified beliefs".) Unfortunately, it is becoming clear, through an infinite regression of questions to find the self-evident foundation, that no such "foundation" exists. Note: this isn't about God...everyone on both sides agree that God is an unshakeable foundation. However, when people often start discussing "iron-clad" beliefs, the questions eventually drop to an answer of "Just because it's true, okay?"

Just because. Part of me wants to say, "That's Faith." Another wants to ask, "Why?" That makes me emergent.

Tony also throws out this challenge. "The church that doesn't challenge its members to face the core ethical issues that confront them everyday at work is the church that has abdicated its responsibility. Many evangelical churches have emphasized the vertical, just-me-and-Jesus relationship to the exclusion of the horizontal relationships with other human beings and with all of creation." He goes on to say that this "individualism" precludes many evangelical churches from affecting the very changes that rally its members." He also makes reference to this attitude being responsible for their inability to diagnose and solve systemic social issues.

Brian Mclaren makes similar claims in "Everything Must Change" and I wholeheartedly agree. This lack of a societal heart change, this missional view, is one core difference between "modern" and "postmodern/emergent".

So, who are emergent Christians. Tony identifies 3 characteristics:

People who feel great disappointment with modern American Christianity
A high desire for "inclusion"...openness, non-judgmental..but not necessarily relativistic.
A hope-filled orientation. (page 72)

Throughout the book, Jones has "dispatches", effectively sidebars with key points. In reference to the emergent view of culture, dispatch 6 says "Emergents see God's activity in all aspects of culture and reject the sacred-secular divide. I struggle with this. I agree, but do not completely reject a sacred-secular divide. I do reject that it is as stringent as the moern church has made it, but I do not, out of hand, reject it.

"Everything we do in the emergent church is surrounded by an envelope of friendship that is based on lives of reconciliation.", Tony writes. He continues with another charge, “In fact, I’m not even sure it’s even possible to be an orthodox Christian if you’re not living a life of reconciliation.” I’m still, personally, trying to get my head wrapped around that one. What does a life of reconciliation look like? Do I live it? Guess what….more blog fodder. Anyway, it is these views of reconciliation and openness that allows most emergents to have conversations around spiritual issues (i.e. atonement, baptism, orthodoxy) and secular issues (i.e. abortion, AIDS, politics) and reconcile them back to the truth of the message of Jesus. It paints a framing story for the conversation.

End Part 1.

Questions for reflection:
· What strikes you as interesting in what I’ve written so far?
· What areas do you want me to attempt to expound upon?
· How do you respond to the claims Tony makes about “lives of reconciliation” and “rejecting the sacred-secular divide”?

Looking forward to the conversation!!!! I'll post part two soon.

The Blind Men and the Elephant?

2008-03-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

Alright, I'm working on the blog posting with my review of Tony Jones new book. I'll just say, "It's Excellent" and let you stew on that for awhile.

Meanwhile, I wanted to give everyone an update on my work situation.

It's like the story of the blind men and the elephant. You know, the one where they all feel a different part and have a different perception. Only, this story has a twist.

The elephant left.

So, the blind men are all staggering around, tripping over furniture, and running into each other. They've heard there's an elephant in the room, but no one can seem to find it. Utter chaos.

Welcome to my job. So, what am I in this story? Easy. I'm the fly on the wall watching stunned at the chaos, and shouting with my insignificantly small voice, "The elephant left, Stop, Stop, Stop!!!!" One person heard me, and said, "You're WRONG!!! We were told there's an elephant!! And we will find the elephant!!!" To which I respond, "And what do you intend to do when you FIND the elephant?" The blind man laughs, and says, "We will do what we have always done!"

I really don't know what that means.

Brad

Happy Lunaversary

2008-02-26T19:22:00.000-08:00

Anne and I celebrate our Lunaversaries.

What exactly is a Lunaversary? Simple really, we were married on June 26th, so the 26th of every month is our Lunaversary. Usually, we give each other little gifts. Today, I upgraded the RAM in her laptop to 2GB. ("All the better to run Vista, my dear", said the wolf dressed like a grandmother.) And she bought me Tony Jones new book, "The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier".

I'm stoked. I've been waiting for this book for a long time, and the excerpts on Tony's blog look really good.

I'll post a longer entry this weekend. I have some things to talk about, but work got in the way.

By the way, for those of you who are wondering. This is our 176th Lunaversary!!!!!

My wife rocks.

Brad

The Flood Has Abated

2008-02-08T08:58:00.000-08:00

Okay, Brad, where ya been?

Well, as you’ve been able to extract from my previous two posts, our world at home has been topsy turvy. $3,000 later, our lives have settled again.

When I was growing up, we owned and managed a 27 unit apartment complex across the street from the University of Oregon. My dad and I did most/all of the maintenance. For the most part, I hated it. The apartments were a time sink. When something would break, no matter what I was doing, we had to go and take care of it. I had to cancel dates with my girlfriend (now wife), with zero notice. Often, dad wouldn’t even say, “I’m sorry”, which infuriated me. Well, I was a teenager, everything infuriated me. Once again, when something needed to be done, it needed to be done. What could he be sorry about? I hold very little bitterness toward my dad, because I understand the situation.

I hate toilets. I despise, and abhor their mechanics. Even though I have this deep hatred of Ralph the Porcelain God, I understand how toilets work…..intimately. Dad and I replaced more flappers, towers, tanks, than I think any poor soul should have to do. But, I learned how to do it. I learned a lot about plumbing. I know how washers work, how water pressure actually seals a valve, and how to tell that a valve doesn’t work. (Think of turning the water off under a sink, removing the hot water faucet handle, and having scalding hot water spraying up at the ceiling, removing all the plaster. Dad ended up having to shut off the water at the street.) I have snaked out more drains than I can remember.

Dad and I replaced carpet, not very often, but we did. I learned how to lay down tack strips, stretch carpet, cut to match odd shaped rooms, etc. Which means I also learned about different kinds of carpet padding, and exactly how much water that padding could absorb. Hmmm….water….cat pee….beer…..let me just say “fluids”.

I learned electrical. Switches, outlets, light fixtures, were all common things we replaced. I didn’t mind the electrical work. Electrical is clean. Plumbing is not clean. Plumbing is never clean.

My Junior/Senior year of High-School, dad and I “built” a cabin in Central Oregon. (Silver Lake). We did everything….plumbing, electrical, sheetrock, you name it. It was 70 miles to the nearest hardware store in Bend, so we tried to make as few mistakes as possible. During that time, I spent hours under the house with Grandpa Erion (who died a few months ago) sweating copper pipes. We would lay there on our backs under the house, with six inches between our noses and the floorboards, with a blowtorch on the copper pipes, soldering on t-joints, etc. Hot, sweaty, miserable work. But, I got to be pretty darned good with a blowtorch, flux and tinning solder. I have the experience of busting a hole through a building’s foundation with a sledge-hammer and an old Studebaker tie-rod. (I don’t think that’s a common building activity, but I have that experience.)

So, why the story, Brad?

I know how to do all of these things. If dad hadn’t been right there to show me, and work with me, I wouldn’t. If Grandpa Erion hadn’t been right there with me, I probably wouldn’t know how to sweat pipes as well as I do.

Last week, I did almost all of these things.

I removed carpet. I removed padding. I removed a toilet. I had to turn off the water to the house and drain the lines. I had to auger out a drain. I had to cut off the valve behind the toilet, sweat on a new copper pipe extension (coupled) and put on a new compression valve to fix a leak. I laid down new flooring, laminate. I cut and nailed on new baseboard moulding.. I had to put the toilet back on.

While it was expensive, I can’t imagine how much money I saved. I called a plumber and he said that augering the drain would be a $1,200 job. I bought my own electric 3/8th inch drain auger for $400. Most plumbers charge $55 just to drive out to our place, and then $85 to $98 an hour, with a minimum of an hour of work.

Let me also point out that my father-in-law came up and helped me lay the laminate. I had never put laminate down, but he had. I couldn’t have done it as quickly or with as much quality without him. I’m still learning.

My point in all of this is, I knew what I was doing. I am thankful for my experience. I’m thankful for those who taught me.

I still hate toilets.

Not getting better

2008-01-28T08:35:00.000-08:00

My good friend Jerry has a list of statements that he bases much of his career and life on. I have picked up some of this over the years, and have learned to live by them. Example: People know what they like, and like what they know. In the software industry this is an extremely important axiom. How many of you have played with Microsoft Office 2007? Notice anything different? Like, maybe, NOTHING IS IN THE SAME PLACE IT USED TO BE?!?!?! I hate it. I didn't want it to change. (People know what they like, and like what they know.)

Jerry is also fond of saying, "When it rains, it snows."

So, as I wrote in my last post, we've had a sewage backup at our place. (Although, I'm highly intrigued who decided to call it a backup...it is certainly far closer to a "restore". Sorry.....geeky side of me.) We had the septic tank pumped. I've run an auger through the drain.

Three loads of wash later..........gerblooop.......flood again.

I'm very confused.

So, I pulled up the toilet. (I was going to have to anyway, in order to put down new flooring in the bathroom/laundry room anyway.) I then ran the auger through the 4 inch pipe directly, and pulled a hose in from outside through the window, and ran water as hard as I could into the drain.....no problems.

That was Saturday.

Last night, after some more laundry (hey, folks, it's been nearly a week...we have kids.....yeah, there's always laundry) it flooded again shortly before we went to bed.

Then, it started to snow.

My father in law is supposed to be coming up from Oregon to help out...but they have between 4 and 8 inches of snow. We now have about 4 inches at our place, and it's still coming down.

I'm feeling a little dejected.

It's cold in our house....lack of flooring will do that. There's a 4 inch wide hole leading directly to our septic tank in the bathroom. The valve from the wall to the toilet won't close properly, so I have a makeshift trough set up to drain the slight trickle into the 4 inch hole I mentioned prieviously.

When it rains, it snows.

Eeek......The Flood!!!!!

2008-01-23T16:33:00.000-08:00

"I have walked the edge of the abyss. I have seen your future. And I have learned."

- Cortana

It was a quiet night. The kids were in bed. A load of laundry was in the washer, and we sat on the couch to enjoy a cup of herbal tea and watch a bit of a movie.

The sounds from the laundry room shifted, and suddenly the sound of splashing came echoing from the bathroom/laundry room. "That doesn't sound right, does it?", my wife asked. I jumped up from the couch, and ran to the bathroom.

"It's the toilet! Flood!", I dove across the rising water onto a stepstool in the middle of the room, close enough to the toilet so I could reach the valve without actually stepping on the floor. Anne scrambled for towels, as many as she could get from under the sink without stepping into the murky, dark, water.

I managed to turn the valve and get the water stopped. How odd. Neither of us had used the toilet in the last hour, and it had just been sitting there. However, I turned the valve the wrong way, and when I used the plunger on the toilet and flushed, I heard the running water. Not the sound I wanted to hear. The flood was about to get worse.

EEEEK!!!!!! Gallons and gallons and gallons of water started flowing from the toilet, even after getting the valve turned the right way. We had fully been invaded by "The Flood".

The carpet in the hallway was soaked through. Anne started mopping with the towels. I started pulling up carpet to get to the padding to stop the damage from getting too far. Spot heaters, fans, towels. I had to cut the carpet at the entrance to the family room to pull it up enough to get in there.

I have a plumber/septic tank guy coming on Friday. **SIGH** Not what I needed. However, we got "The Flood" stopped.

Master Chief would have been proud.

I Will Miss Bill

2008-01-14T18:21:00.000-08:00

As an Ex-Microsoftee.....I will miss Bill.

Phronesis

2008-01-08T13:16:00.001-08:00

Phronesis

Yeah, yeah, yeah, gesundheit. Stop that.

Phronesis is a concept coined by Aristotle (the philosopher) which is best translated as "practical wisdom". Effectively, everything one does is a combination of learning and experience.

I'm not the same person I was 10 years ago. I'm much more diplomatic now. (Just ask my loving wife.) In my previous post about what's happening at work, I was relatively diplomatic. 10 years ago, I would have told me boss he was an idiot. I'm far more diplomatic now.

Anyway, learning and experience is also called "growth". The more you experience, the more you learn. The more you learn, the more it changes your experience. I took 12 years of piano. If I had only ever read music, but never sat down in front of a keyboard and diddled, I probably wouldn't have been a real "player".

My dad used to take me duck hunting in Eastern Oregon (well, Central...but who's checking...) and I learned to fire a shotgun, leading the bird, and actually aim to hit a moving target. Reading about hunting doesn't make you a hunter. FIRING THE GUN does. Okay, okay, I confess, my dad was a little peeved when Oregon moved to steel shot from lead shot and I had his semi-automatic 12 guage. All of the hunters around us would fire one shot...pause...another shot...pause. Not me. No way. You would hear - BOOM ..... BOOM ...... BOOM. Then you'd hear BABABOOM, three shots all at once, overlapping. I would drop a duck by blanketing the sky with shot, and the poor bird would fly into the metal wall I'd built. Each shell cost about $1, up from about $.25 a piece. So, when Brad got a duck that was easily $3 worth of shot up in the air. I was an "expensive" hunter.

Wisdom and experience.

Well, my faith is changing, evolving, and growing. Why? I'm learning more, and I'm experiencing things differently, which leads me to a new way of learning, and a new way of experiencing. For Christmas, I bought myself a new "Archaeological Bible" which has great notes about the culture and context of areas of the New and Old Testaments. This type of learning is changing my views on areas of scripture that I'm very familiar with. It's awesome to constantly get new things out of the Bible.

Same is true in my prayer life. Oh, nothing mystical is happening....but I'm growing.

What are some ways that you have changed in the last 10 years?
How are you changing now?
Where do you see yourself going?
Does it excite you like it does me?
Does it scare you like it does me?

Good stuff.

BABABOOM!!!!

Brad

Combat Rock - Revisited

2008-01-03T16:02:00.000-08:00

Ah, The Clash.....come on, you know you roll down your window and start singing along to Rock the Casbah and the completely unintelligible lyrics...about Jet Fighters, and stuff. But the song absolutely ROCKS!!! 25 years ago, Joe Strummer, Mick Jones and crew ruled the airwaves with their politically amped music. Combat Rock is a classic album. **SIGH** Pining for my youth.

Anyway, a Clash song has been running through my head repeatedly over the last few months.

Should I Stay or Should I Go

I've been struggling with a number of things at work, and my wife announced today that I have an "aura of depression". That may be true. But it's not a new thing. It also shouldn't sound like a cry for help. I'm fine. Here's the deal. Short story. Budget cuts, org cuts, my team left out in the cold, Brad left to fend for himself since October, no real sign of caring or loyalty from the company - except for the odd raise that came right before things hit the fan.

Darling, you gotta let me know

Should I stay or should I go?

If you say that you are mine

I'll be here 'til the end of time

So you got to let me know

Should I stay or should I go?

It's been 3 full months since my boss announced that I would not have a job as of the end of the year, and that he was taking early retirement. I promptly got on the horn with everyone I knew within the company about similar jobs to what I "had". Everyone wants me, but no one is willing to cough up the dough to keep me. (Right now, no one can confirm nor deny that there's a position for me after the middle of January.) And no one seems to want to rock the boat with upper management to MAKE a position for me. I see no loyalty, and my loyalty to them has degraded significantly. Since October 4th, I have had no deliverables other than those things I've developed for myself.

It's always tease, tease, tease

You're happy when I'm on my knees

Hey Brad, we have a great position. It'll be two weeks before we know if we have funding. Two more weeks. Meeting postponed, could be another two weeks. "Come on, guys, make a decision.! Do I have a job or not?" We'll let you know in about two weeks.

One day is fine, the next it's black

Things are going great. Well, we don't really know if we got our funding.

So, if you want me off your back

Well, come on and let me know

Should I stay or should I go?

Are you sensing a pattern yet? If they want me to continue working for them, GIVE ME SOMETHING TO DO!!! I hate ultimatums, but I also hate "wishy-washy".

Should I stay or should I go now?

If I go there will be trouble

Uh.....mortgage.....

And if I stay it will be double

I'm costing the company money, but they seem to be willing to pay me, so who am I to complain.

So come on and let me know

This indecision's bugging me

If you don't want me set me free

Exactly who I'm supposed to be

Don't know which clothes will even fit me.

Great, I'm good enough that they want to keep me. Shame that they DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY WANT ME TO DO!!! And, it's a shame that they may put me in a position I don't WANT!!!!!

Come on and let me know

Should I cool it or should I blow?

Been three months. I'm obviously leaning toward BLOWING!!!!

Should I stay or should I go now?

I'll leave it at that. I think you've all got the point.

Hope you all had a great Christmas, and a happy new year!!! Looks like 2008 will start with a bit of turmoil for me. But, hey, I thrive on chaos.

You know, I think I'm going to go, put on a pair of ripped up old blue jeans, wrap a red bandana around my leg, and crank some Joe, Mick, Paul, and Topper.

Imagine at this point a lone armadillo crawling in front of a Texas oil rig. Yeah, brings back memories doesn't it?

One More Thing

2007-12-18T13:17:00.001-08:00

Julie Jones' initial letter/e-mail was heated, but well intentioned. Her followup was far more loving. Please read the entire thread, not just her initial letter.

Brad

Libel, Heresy and Hope....continued

2007-12-18T12:43:00.000-08:00

Wow, my last post was certainly "timely". I had no background in this story prior to writing the last entry, but some of my prayers have been answered...ish....kinda.....

While Tony Jones was in Ireland, his wife Julie found Ken Silva's "Apprising Ministries" blog, and found significantly libelous comments about her husband. She drafted an e-mail to Mr. Silva, as he really doesn't show an interest in conversation and doesn't let people comment on his blog. The complete message can be found here:

http://www.brucegerencser.com/2007/12/13/julie-jones-puts-rev-silva-in-his-place/

This in fact did get a response from Mr. Silva. Not exactly a love-fest, but better than a kick in the head. You can read more about the response on Tony's blog.

http://tonyj.net

And, in honor of my respect for the conversation, and my respect for Tony Jones, I am hereby removing the link to Ken Silva's blog from my site. (So as to not increase his hits in Google.) This doesn't mean that I won't continue to read his "counterpoint to everything", but I will not link to it from my page.

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I'm in the midst of a struggle at work, and I just haven't felt inspired.

For true inspiration, and some great writing, check out Erin Word's "Decompressing Faith" and Pam Hogewide's blog....both linked on the side of my page. Oh, and check out Natalie Johnson's comments on the Advent Season over on Multiply.

Come to think of it, check out Scot McKnight's blog (Jesus Creed) for his comments as well!!!!

I'll try and post again before Christmas, but I can't make any promises.

Brad

Libel, Heresy, and Hope (This one's long)

2007-11-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

I’m noticing a trend.

I work in “big business” and am used to seeing lawsuits come up occasionally for libel. Are you familiar with libel? Digging through my business law books, I find a plethora of definitions for libel, but by far the best is from Arthur Plotnick’s “The Elements of Editing”…a non law book.

“Defamation: An act of communication that causes someone to be shamed, ridiculed, held in contempt, or lowered in the estimation of the community, or to lose employment status or earnings or otherwise suffer a damaged reputation. Such defamation is couched in “defamatory language”…

Libel: Published material…meeting three conditions: (1) the material is “defamatory” either on its face or indirectly; (2) the defamatory statement is about someone who is *identifiable* to one or more persons; and (3) the material must be distributed to someone other than the offended party; i.e., published.”

So, in order for libel to stick in court, there must be evidence of malice. I’m trying to be brief, bear with me. There are several different kinds of malice, Actual, Legal, and Common Law. For the purposes of this conversation, I’m talking strictly “actual” malice. Actual malice with regards to libel means that something was published with distinct knowledge that is was false or “reckless disregard” of whether it was false or not. Legal and Common Law malice are more closely related to ill-will or spite. Wow, makes you think a little differently about what you say and write doesn’t it? You can be legally bound if you say something about someone out of spite.

Excuse me, Professor, but will this be on the final exam? Okay, okay, now I can get to my point.

In the business world, libel is huge. If Steve Ballmer steps forward and says something like, “Steve Jobs sells poison milk to school children” in an open letter to the San Francisco newspaper, that’s libel…and Microsoft would likely have to pay a pretty penny. (Steve Jobs probably wouldn’t let that one go.) And the public wouldn’t think anything different. “Wow, that’s not a very nice thing to say, someone is going to get some money on that one.” We watch politicians every day say things about the initiatives and plans of a competitor. Obama and Edwards, pound on Clinton’s proposed plans, but watch closely, they never say anything directly about Senator Clinton. It’s all carefully measured. Yes, it reflects on the person, but not directly. It’s all about inference.

Yet, in today’s Christianity, apparently it’s perfectly fine to write whatever we want about anyone with whom we disagree. Not only that, it’s perfectly fine to do it with whatever vitriol we can muster.

It is a well known fact that I am NOT a fan of mega-churches, mostly because I find many of the attendees to be shallow spiritually, and they often get lost in the crowd. HOWEVER, the larger a church gets, the harder it is to have an individual relationship with each person. This leads to “programs”, usually small groups or “cell” groups where the fellowship and relationships really happen. Discipleship takes place outside of the main congregational gathering. Normally, I point to Willow Creek and Saddleback when talking about mega-churches. Understand this: Bill Hybels and Rick Warren have their hearts in the right place, a desire to see people experiencing Christ. I disagree with some of their implementations, but I do not disagree with their mission or their calling. On the topic of mega-churches, let me say that nothing draws a crowd like a crowd. Something is happening there that brings people in. How can that be bad for Christianity? Let’s say that people are drawn in, “converted”, and then leave the mega-church to live missionally in the world, and possibly attend another community of faith. That is success, given everything in the Bible that I read.

Yet, there are some who SLAM Hybels and Warren as heretics. Heretic is a big, nasty word. So, let’s see, who else often shows up on the heretic list. (Note, I’m not making any judgement against any of these individuals, I’m trying to make a point. ) Brian McLaren has actually had books written against him….by name. Tony Jones of Emergent Village recently posted on his blog that he had to explain to his 6 yr old daughter what a heretic is, because he was called that during a presentation at a conference where she was with him. Warren and Hybels have been written about. Doug Pagitt, Diana-Butler-Bass, Marcus Borg, the entire Roman Catholic Church, Rob Bell, Joel Olsteen, Robert Schuller, Max Lucado, Chuck Swindoll, Dan Kimball, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Bishop N.T. Wright, John Hagee, Mother Theresa, the list goes on and on and on. Oh, wait, I have a few more.....Luther (remember, he was excommunicated), Calvin, Wesley...anyone else I'm missing?

This name calling, people bashing MUST STOP!!! AND IT MUST STOP NOW!!! It is not Biblical, it is not Christian, and it’s legally a problem . (See the beginning of my rant)

Wait, Brad, how can you say it’s not Biblical? We are called to sound out on false teachers.

Paul wrote in his first letter to Timothy, “I urge you, as I did when I was on my way to Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach any different doctrine, and not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than divine training that is known by faith. But the aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. Some people have deviated from these and turned to meaningless talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make assertions.” (I Tim 1:3-7 RSV, emphasis mine)

The libel I read on various blogs and in the “Christian” press is vitriolic. There is no love. AND, AND, AND, it’s not focused at the individual who is being blasted. It is written for all of the readers, the public, and it is malicious. There are other verses about "gentleness" that I didn't include, but I could. This is alread getting long.

Paul continues in his second letter to Timothy, starting in verse 14, “Remind them of this, and warn them before God that they are to avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.”

BOOM, there’s the rub. “Not to teach any different doctrine”…..hmmm….and who decides that? “Rightly explaining the word of truth”….hmmm…and who decides that? Let’s see, if only we had a large central organization and a single person who could decide that for us. Oh, wait…tried that for 1500 years. I know, let’s break away from that central organizational structure and then interpretation of the scripture can be done by all of the people….oh, wait…that’s a great idea….but then how do we define salvation? Some are chosen, some are not? (Anyone who doesn’t believe that is going to “hell”. Clearly not chosen.) All are chosen, but have to accept the grace? (Anyone who doesn’t accept it is going to “hell”.) It’s what we do? It’s how we live? There is one God in three parts? (Trinity) There is only one God in two parts, with a Spirit that is not God, but a messenger from God? "There is only one God, and anything else is a separate entitiy? (Unitarian) Everyone is saved, and no one has to do anything? (No one is going to “hell”)

All of these things are based on interpretation. ALL OF THEM. And if you prooftext enough, they are all provable ideas. (Yes, incorrectly so, but provable nevertheless.)

I’ll end with this.

Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, part of what I recognize as the Triune God (based on interpretation!!!), said this about his “work” to his disciples. I love this scripture. I embrace this scripture because it gives me great hope. “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth,” (John 16:12-13a RSV, emphasis mine)

I, through prayer, study (scripture and other), tradition, experience and reason (conversation with those I trust and value), am being lead into all truth, but I cannot bear ALL of that truth right now. Why? Jesus said I couldn’t. I am excited by the journey. I am excited to know that my brothers and sisters in Christ are in the same boat!!! As I realize truths and embrace them, my faith gets deeper, more robust. If you seek truth, you will find it. If you seek answers, you will be led further, deeper, into the mystery, and the answer may be bigger than you ever expected. God is huge, and my theology gives such a small glimpse into His vastness.

Before you start painting people with the heretic brush, examine yourself and determine whether you are growing, or whether you’ve stagnated because you think you’ve “arrived”. Guess what….you haven’t arrived.

Sorry this was so long. It’s what has been on my heart. I could have dumped in a lot more scripture, but I just wanted to get this out. If you've read this far, THANK YOU!!! I look forward to your comments.

Brad

Iron Chef Snohomish

2007-11-19T19:07:00.000-08:00

The well dressed Chairman(person) paces back and forth in front of the hidden ingredient, looking over the single chef who has shown up in Snohomish Kitchen Stadium. "Tonight," she says, "You have been chosen to come up with a delicious stir-fry with tonight's secret ingredient."

With a flourish, she removes the kitchen towel, and shouts, "Shredded Beets and Carrots!!!! And Chicken/Apple Sausage!!!!"

My heart sank.

A stir fry? Really? Uh...what?

My mind started working overtime. She had also provided onions and garlic. I grabbed the wok, the soy sauce and fish sauce from the fridge, some Apple Cider vinegar, some thai seasoning, some Brown Sugar, and went to work.

Anne had already started some brown rice on the stove.

Okay, so, it actually came out really good...a little red....but really good.

Iron Chef Brad won the day.

Was this Iron Chef...or Dinner Impossible. Hmnmmmm? Whatever it was...it was Good Eats.

If you're as much of a Food Network geek as you now realize you are, congratulations. Otherwise this went completely over your head.

Dwight Friesen - Friday Afternoon @ Off The Map

2007-11-18T15:47:00.000-08:00

I'm getting there.....I'm getting there. Not very many of these left!!! I hope you are all enjoying them.

One of the most interesting aspects of Christianity is the plethora of voices in the mix of God's family. This mixture consists of "liberal", "conservative" and "non-categorized" voices. As a result, there are some voices at the extremes of the continuum. The emergent conversation is no different. I am proud to be a part of this conversation. It is stretching me, solidifying my faith, and making me think. I pity the Christians who "have it all figured out". It appears to me that they have given up on the glorious education that the Holy Spirit leads us to. Embrace the mystery! There is truth to be found across the continuum of voices.

I was introduced to Dwight Friesen through "An Emergent Manifesto of Hope", the book edited by Tony Jones and Doug Pagitt. This book is the most thorough collection of emergent thought that I have yet found. It covers the complete gamut of the continuum. That means that there are voices from the extremes. Dwight wrote an essay on Orthoparadoxy that really struck a nerve (in a positive way) with me. His session at Off the Map expanded on this concept of Orthoparadoxy.

Okay, Brad, why the preamble about emergent voices? Wouldn't that indicate that you consider Friesen to be at one of the extremes? Certainly not. However, I cannot say that I agree with, nor condone, everything in "An Emergent Manifesto of Hope". That's another blog entry, though.

So, Orthoparadoxy is an understanding that we are blessed by a glorious mystery in the scripture. By embracing the paradoxes and differences of Christ's words, I experience more of the depth of Christ's teachings. I can't do the topic justice...read the book, please!!!

Example: In Luke's coverage of the infamous sermon on the mount, Jesus tells us to love our enemies and not condemn them. Yet he turns around and then tells us to discern "good fruit". Wait. How do we unconditionally love our enemies without judgment, yet then judge their fruit?

Dwight opened his session with the question, "How do you embody grace to those who are 'other'?" We then split into small groups to discuss. First, "other" defines anyone who does not agree with or is different from you in thought or manner. How would you answer this question? Why? Did you really think about it?

Actually, I want to back up a second. Look at the picture of Dwight. See the candle? The first thing he did was to light a candle. Whenever he does a session like this, he lights a candle to symbolize Christ enlightening the conversation and permeating all that happens. I thought it was so simple, but awesome.

He’s a professor here in the Seattle area at Mars Hill Grad School. You can really tell, when you listen to him talk. His session was very participatory, with him sitting on a bench at the front of the class. Dwight was extremely engaging, asking people questions, asking them to “unpack things further”, and then letting their comments be commented on or rebutted by the rest of the audience. Yet, he was clearly in control of the conversation the whole time. I’d love to get to know him better. I love his title: Professor of Practical Theology. I wonder who the poor bloke is who gets to be the Professor of Impractical Theology. HA HA HA

He tied everything with embodying grace back to one thought. The only way we overcome our differences is through the unity of the gospel.

Someone brought up the topic of authenticity, and the question was responded to by another in the audience, “What does it mean to be truly authentic?” Dwight kind of hummed and hawed over this one. I don’t think it was clearly answered by him or anyone in the audience. Someone mentioned sincerity. Well, one can be sincere….and sincerely wrong. Authenticity is a two way street. You can be authentically good or authentically bad. The original question, though, was around how we should be completely authentic in our churches, but that people outside the church don’t recognize Christianity as being authentic. I guess I would have dodged that question a bit, too.

Dwight made me want to study more. I guess a good professor does that. He mentioned Fr. Richard Rohr, whom I’ve read before, but not recently. He said that Rohr said Jesus was asked 183 questions in the gospels, but only answered 3 of them directly. I laughed really hard. I now want to know if that was 183 unique questions, or if it was a set of duplicates in the synoptic gospels, or what. HA HA. So, I guess it’s time to make up a table in Excel and dig into the gospels again. What fun.

Diana Butler Bass and the Thriving Mainline Church

2007-11-17T11:29:00.000-08:00

Okay, two weeks after the fact, I’m getting to blogging about Diana.

I actually got to spend a little time talking to Diana at the conference, and my friend Pam was called up on stage Saturday morning by Diana because Diana wants to grow up and be just like Pam. Diana was saying that Jim Dobson recently declared her to the be "Whore of Babylon". I want to find a reference for that. If you have one, please shoot it to me. Diana is NOT the Whore of Babylon....I don't know who is...but it's not her.

Diana Butler Bass is a church historian, a recovering evangelical, and just an absolute kick to listen to and talk to. If you haven’t yet listened to her podcast on Emergent Village, take 45 minutes and listen to it!!! Her story of “The Frozen Eight” in their little church that doesn’t want to change what they do, or change the people, and want to grow is priceless.

Her session at Off The Map on Friday afternoon was a continuation of her session in the morning, which I unfortunately missed. However, the afternoon session could live “standalone”.

Her focus for the last several years has been research into Mainline liberal churches that are succeeding, and not just succeeding, but thriving. She talked of her time at Trinity in Santa Barbara in the mid ‘90s, and how they nearly died, but then managed to turn things around, and are thriving. The Christian media at the time was regularly saying that liberal Protestantism was dying. Yet, she was seeing something completely different.

Her latest book, Christianity for the Rest of Us, covers some of her research. I wish I could say that’s all it is, but I’m only halfway through with it. (I’m working on it! My stack of books doesn’t feel like it’s getting shorter.)

The churches that are thriving have found themselves re-centering on three basic themes: Christian Practices, Tradition, and the Quest for Wisdom. They also, commonly, asked the same two questions: Who are we in God? What is God calling us to do?

So, what are these “practices” she was talking about? Well, how about meeting the needs of the individuals in the church and in the community for the sake of God in the world. I’m talking about fundamental needs: justice, hospitality, healing, forgiveness, spiritual formation. Notice something? There’s no mention of “financial” needs in this list. Doesn’t mean it’s not important, just that the church as a whole has a greater mission for building community.

The church, according to Diana’s research, goes through reformation and internal reconciliation about every 500 years. Key word…about….these renaissance periods are not sudden flip of a switch deals. They often last for a hundred years or more. So, 500AD….1000AD…..1500AD (Luther)….and now entering the 21st century, we’re hard in it. What’s the new reformation? Well, it’s the rediscovering of what Jesus’s message actually was. Some say it’s postmodern, but it’s more than that. It’s a revamping of how we “do” church; how we “are” the church.

Given the timeline of every 500 years, one can easily see that the church has been around since Christ, and constantly refocus to remain Christ focused. Societal changes, church directions, etc., all need to refocus on Christ. So, the church dawdles along just fine…then changes direction slowly…then returns to “the path”. Since everything is built on everything else, you can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, you have to leverage the traditions in place. That’s the “tradition” of Diana’s triad for thriving churches.

The quest for wisdom is urgently important. The Bible is a scary book. While Diana is solidly Episcopalian/Presbyterian (Presbymergent), she has a background in Methodism. One of the values in Methodism is the Wesleyan Quadrilateral (Scripture, Tradition, Experience and Reason.) As the Holy Spirit leads into all truth, we are led only so far as our divine spirits are ready to go. In other words, mysteries are revealed to us when we can handle them….and it’s a formation process. So, there are a number of churches that are “answering questions that people aren’t really asking”, and eschewing the nature of spiritual formation. I think it was Helen Mildenhall at OTM that said that it seems some churches are “more interested in being right than being kind.” Kindness should allow seekers (old Christians included…we’re all seekers) to wrestle with their spiritual formation. Diana said, “You don’t have to have answers to be wise, just and kind.”

Practice, Tradition and the Quest for Wisdom.

How is your church doing? How are you doing?

Oh, by the way, Diana did say that she left evangelicalism behind and never looked back, and now she is spending a lot of time with evangelicals, rediscovering that they are “okay people”. Then she’d laugh her delightful laugh. I think I fall in there somewhere. ..an okay person.
What Diana has to say, and her research, shouldn’t just be valid for Mainline churches. This is stuff that all churches that call themselves Christian need to assess their actions.

Good stuff.

Check her out at: http://www.dianabutlerbass.com/

Ken Loyd - Starting a church for people with no resources

2007-11-12T13:12:00.000-08:00

Friday Nov 2nd - later that morning....

Ken Loyd led the next session I attended. Ken is not someone that first impressions would lead one to believe that he would be pleasant to meet in a dark alley. He's short, stocky, tattooed, and his hair is currently a gray, spiky, inconsistently sparse mohawk. (His picture on his website shows him billiard ball bald. Not sure which hairstyle is better. **GRIN**)

The session was about how to start a church for people with "nothing". I have to be completely honest. I misread the meaning. Anne and I are interested in starting a community of faith in our home, and WE have no money. Well for those of you reading this who know Ken already know where this is going...

Ken and his beautiful, dreadlocked wife, Deborah, started "The Bridge" in Portland, OR. This is a faith community for the homeless, dinsenfranchised, and marginalized poor in Portland. It sounds very rough around the edges, and absolutely wonderful.

The Bridge wasn't the focus, though. Ken had invited a handful of leaders from other communities to share.

First was Kathy Escobar and Karl Wheeler from "The Refuge" in Denver. They had left a leadership team at "a megachurch" to start this ministry to the marginalized. Why? Carl said, "We were tired of the power." They also inferred that they wanted more "community". Community brings people out of marginalization. I have added a link to "The Refuge" on this page. Please go and see some of the things these people are doing.

Then, Ken's wife Deborah, and Angie from "Agents of Future" (energetic music) talked about The Bridge. Check them out at: http://thebridge-pdx.org/. The most important things I got from their talk were these two things: Everyone has a voice; Everyone is involved in something outisde the church (i.e. a band, a mission, etc.).

The people in the community bring the energy from the community into the church.

WOW. Isn't that the exact reversal of the modern church today. The church today wants to take the energy of the church out into the community. Yes, there is question of what "energy" is right to be brought into the church....but I think God can control that. Don't put God in a box!!!!

Ken then stood again and shared about "Home", his latest outreach to the community of homeless in Portland, a true street ministry. The entire weekend seemed to be about acceptance. Ken pointed out that the homeless feel two things. They feel that they are "invisible" and moreover, they feel they are "defective". This just breaks my heart. All people are of value.

I was intrigued to hear about some of the innovations on the street. For instance, dental floss is the thread of choice for patching things. Also, the usage of Nalgene bottles for “controlled” drinking of really bad wine was interesting. There are some homeless with such an addiction to alcohol that they will die without it. By pouring the really cheap wine into a Nalgene and then sitting around and passing it from person to person talking, no one person takes any more than the others. Yes, they still get a buzz. But, they are controlling their intake. That’s awesome. Also, it keeps their addicted brothers alive one day more.

Next, Jeff Shaeffer from “Uffizi” in Santa Barbara got up to talk. Check them out at: http://www.freewebs.com/syncman/aboutus.htm. I loved his comments on keeping the homeless warm at night in Santa Barbara. Then he chuckled, “Well, it never actually gets cold in Santa Barbara”. There was a book recommended during his session called “Under the Overpass”. I’ve added it to my book list, but haven’t looked it up yet.

Ken made some final comments that meant a lot to me with regards to building community. It’s not a pastor/parishioner relationship. “These are my friends.”

Hmmm. A wise man once said something about nothing greater than laying down your life for your friends.

First Cup

2007-11-09T07:47:00.000-08:00

I'm thinking about my wife right now. (taking a break from thinking about Off the Map....I'll get back to it, I promise.)

Many of you know that I work from home several days a week. For a High-Tech job, that's actually more unusual than it sounds, especially for someone in middle management like myself. This means that I get to be here for my kids when they take a break from school, or when they are having lunch.

The day starts, however, with the coffee pot.

It has taken me a long time and a lot of practice to get the "perfect" cup of coffee brewed. I'm still not quite there, but it's getting close.

Anne likes her coffee "cooler" than most, as I've blogged before. Often, she will let the cup of coffee sit, sometimes several hours, until it's room temperature. Then, she'll down it all in one big gulp. I prefer mine steaming hot. So, I jokingly shake my head when she pours the last dregs of the pot that's been off for over an hour into her coffee mug before I make another pot.

I want everyone who reads this to understand something, though. She gets the first cup. She may not drink it first, but when I make coffee in the morning before she gets up -- She gets the first cup.

Isn't it amazing how somethng as simple as pouring a cup of coffee and letting it sit on the counter can be a daily ritual and act of love.

She gets the first cup.

Me, Music and McClaren - Friday at Off-The-Map

2007-11-07T21:16:00.001-08:00

While I’ve read just about every book that Brian McLaren has ever written, this was my first real opportunity (other than podcasts) to hear him speak. He was originally planning on speaking about his new book Everything Must Change, but ended up switching topics. He said this was a rare opportunity for him to speak second. He had had been preceded by Rose Madrid Swetman of the Vineyard Community Church in Shoreline, WA. (About a half hour away from my house.)

Rose co-pastors with her husband, and seems like an absolute joy to work with. Since they are so close, I fully intend to show up at the Vineyard for a service some morning. **SIGH** Ah, but the best laid plans of mice and men….

Rose discussed some of the struggles she has with “Missional” Christians who do a lot of talking, but not a lot of actual activity to bring the mission of Christ to the people. I was intrigued with a term that she used -- “the new humanity of Christ”. She said it several times, just nonchalantly as though we would all know what it was. Now, let me back up a little. This was simply a term I wasn’t used to, I was not offended at all with how she presented it. I love the term. I asked her what it meant and if she could elaborate on it. From my notes, I have that she said that Jesus was what Israel was supposed to be. (Also an interesting turn of phrase. ) We are born into this new humanity when we are born again in Christ. It’s a new creation thing. I love it. Anyway, it wasn’t her term. She said that it was either Leslie Newbigin or N.T. Wright that had coined the phrase. I’ve read a lot of Newbigin, and very little Wright, so I’m going to make a wild guess that it was Wright. If anyone reading this can dispute that, let me know!!!

Anyway, after Rose spoke, McLaren took the microphone.

It is important at this point to discuss the music. Each breakout session has a different band at OTM. For the Rose Madrid Swetman and Brian McLaren session, the main music was Urban Improv, a local improvisational jazz quartet. Then between Rose and Brian, a lady name Kristy Smith (http://www.kristykarensmith.com/) provided the interim music. Both Urban Improv and Kristy Smith were excellent. Kristy sang a song that she had written for her daughter when they were going through a “tough” time. It was poignant, and wonderful.

Brian changed his mind about talking about Everything Must Change and talked about the music. He said, “I see a lot of similarities between the struggles that are happening in the church and music.” I was on the edge of my seat with that statement. Where was he going to go with this one? I’ll do the best I can to paraphrase.

Classical music is all about the score. The notes are solid. The emotion is written into the notation. The time signature never changes. When someone goes to the symphony to hear Beethoven’s 9th, they expect to hear the 9th symphony with very few changes. The New York Philharmonic would play it nearly identical to how the Seattle Symphony would. (Of course, there was a thing recently on NPR about Bach’s music actually being quite different from what he played. I guess he was quite the improviser….but I digress)

Improvisational Jazz, though, is not about the score. The players are given a chord chart and a time signature, and generally are allowed to play within the notes that chord progression. As a result, they are always thinking several seconds ahead in preparation of the next chord change. Do they shun classical music? Absolutely not. Everything that they do is built on the keys, notes, and structures of classical. Improvisational jazz could not exist without classical music; could not exist without that foundation. (Don’t slap me around for mentioning what sounds like foundationalism….not yet, at least.)

Then, there is the singer/songwriter – the Kristy Smith’s of the world. While the structure is pretty staid at verse : bridge : chorus, she is able to “play” within that structure and come up with something beautiful that no one has ever created before. Elvis Costello once said that he was amazed that with only 13 notes, so much music could be created! (I’m a huge Elvis Costello fan….but have never owned an Elvis Costello album…can you believe it?)

There are some in Christian circles who believe that theology is like classical music. It’s been done. Once it’s there, it never changes. Then you have some that are trying to get their head wrapped around the direction theology is heading, soon the “future” will be the now. Those are the improvisational jazz artists. Then, you have those who are drawing from tradition and still creating new and beautiful things. Classical music is important, but music is always changing. Yet truth (the structure) never changes.

Guess which movements the Emerging Christians fit into? Classical? Jazz? Folk? This is the part I love. ALL OF THE ABOVE!!! Classical has its place in the conversation. I want to embrace that tradition, but I also want to be open to things that God is revealing as I go forward.

I’m still processing this model. It’s so easy to use and explain to people who are musically savvy.

Ha, I keep saying that. I’m processing….I’m getting my head wrapped around….my brain is full.

McLaren was asked about seminaries. It is a well known fact that he did not go to seminary. It is also a well known fact that his writing infers that he’s not a big fan of seminaries. Clarification…he would like to see, say, a Baptist go to a Presbyterian seminary and get a different view than just pure Baptist, Baptist, Baptist throughout their education. His simple answer, was “Seminaries are teaching classical music, and when the new pastors get out into the real world, they discover that everyone is listening to Rap.”

A seminary, in his words, needs to be:
· 1 part monastery
· 1 part mission
· 1 part seminar

I expect that I will break that down further when I have a chance.

Brain Still full. Keep watching.

Coming up next: Ken Loyd, The Refuge, The Bridge and Ufizzi. I’m glad I’ve made some new friends, and only hope that I can do these topics justice.

Thanks for your support!!!

Brad

New Friends

2007-11-05T10:11:00.001-08:00

Hey Everyone,

I've added a bunch of links. Check 'em out. Some of these guys are "real bloggers". I only hope that I can get as deep and relevant as some of these. Check out John Smulo's blog. He "live blogged" the entire OTM event.

Thanx,

Brad

Eeeeurgh....Brain Full.....Off-The-Map

2007-11-05T08:40:00.000-08:00

WHAT A WEEKEND!!!

Anne and I attended Off-The-Map this weekend. (With Natalie Johnson....my co-blog conspirator...who was visiting from Colorado Springs.)

The main speakers were Brian McLaren, Diana Butler Bass, Todd Hunter, Richard Twiss and Jim Henderson. I will be talking about all of these sessions over the next couple of days. As well as some of the breakout workshops. I just need to get my head wrapped around it all.

First thoughts:

Dobson called Diana Butler Bass the "whore of Babylon". Any respect I had for James Dobson has been significantly lessened. I had an opportunity to spend some time with her, and hear her speak. I haven't actually MET the whore of Babylon, but it's NOT Diana Butler Bass.
Brian McLaren made a comparison between the current struggles in the church and music theory. It was brilliant.
Ken and Deborah Loyd of "The Bridge" in Portland really understand what it means to get your hands dirty and live in community.
Jim Henderson managed to draw insight from the audience when Colorado Springs was mentioned as the headquarters of....and someone shouted "Jesus". We laughed hard about that with Natalie all weekend.
Byword....great band.....way too loud for the auditorium they were in....but these guys have a future. Suggestion...GET OUT OF NORTHERN IDAHO....not too many music moguls are looking in Sandpoint or similar areas for new talent.
Richard Twiss, one of our First Nations brothers, was witty and eloquent. I loved what he had to say about how "Stricter immigration laws" would have saved his peoples much pain and agony over the last 3 centuries.

I met so many fantastic people. Karlene and Josh from Oregon...even if they did follow us around. Ken and Deborah Loyd from "The Bridge". Phil Wyman (the witch guy) from Salem Massachussets. Jay Ackermann from Northwest Nazarene Online. Diana Butler Bass. Brian McLaren. Libby, the pastor who needed a ride to Seattle, and we never found out if she got one. Helen Mildenhall, who had to leave early on Saturday to see her daughter play violin in a concert in Chicago.

Everyone of us have lives. Everyone of us is struggling, but excited. What did I get most out of the weekend. After so much time of struggling with not being surrounded by a crowd of people with similar beliefs or even similar questions, it was refreshing to be in a crowd of "instant friends".

If you were there at OTM, please contact me. I'm all about networking, and there was such a feeling of love, community, fun, and intelligence, I want to get to know ALL OF YOU!!!

Keep watching, I'll write more. Unfortunately, I have a real job that gets in the way of my blogging. HA HA HA.

Gen X and Social Justice

2007-10-26T19:58:00.001-07:00

Sorry this has taken so long....life got in the way....

Freezing. Rests his head on a pillow made of concrete. Again.

Oh, Feeling maybe he'll see a little better set a days. Ooh yeah.

Oh, hand out faces that he sees time again ain't that familiar. Ooh yeah.

Oh, dark grin. He can't help when his happy looks insane. Ooh.

Just about once every three months, I find myself in downtown Seattle, walking the streets either along the waterfront by the aquarium, at the base of the stairs up to Pike Place Market, or over in Pioneer Square, or by Safeco Field.

I tell you, I miss the dome, I do. Nothing will ever replace the memories of just the phenomenal amount of noise generated in that concrete bubble.

As I walk, I will often see lonely people laying by the side of the road. Their rags stink. Their teeth are black. Their hands are often wrapped in cloths, either for warmth or as bandages. Some have signs. Some just have a cup. Some, actively ask for money. However, one thing is consistent. The people that pass by never look. The eyes that droop to see the individual are few and far between.

It seems like the musical guru for the Emergent generations is Bono from U2. Don’t get me wrong, I am a U2 fan. However, the voice of Generation X is Pearl Jam. Bono (and the Edge, Adam and Larry….credit where credit is due) makes good music. U2’s music is focused mostly on their home of Ireland, and what they’ve seen in third world countries. Bono, is of course known for his work to eradicate third world debt. I can’t commend him enough for that work.
However, I saw a video of Bono with Bill Hybels from Willow Creek Community church where he said, “You can’t call yourself a Christian if you ignore what’s going on in Africa.” He was referring to debt relief and AIDS. At that point, he lost me. I feel for the people of Africa who are suffering. Let me alter that. I feel for all of my fellow man who is suffering -- disease, famine, relationships, politics. When people suffer; when kids suffer, it breaks my heart.

Even flow. Thoughts arrive like butterflies.

Oh, he don't know so he chases them away-yeah. Ooh.

Oh, someday yet he'll begin his life again.

Life again. Life again.

I’m disconnected from Africa. The closest I’ve been to Africa is my Canadian uncle who is living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, who visited South Africa for several months. That’s hardly a ringing endorsement for my experience with Africa. I am connected to Seattle. I walk the streets. I see the squalor. I see the Seattle city council decide to show mercy for a bunch of migrating starlings, yet bulldoze a “tent city” and do nothing to help the people who were deprived of the only home they had. You want to talk man’s inhumanity to man, just look at things like that. How can I call myself a Christian and not pay attention to my struggling neighbors RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY FACE. By sending money to Africa, I am disconnected from its use. It sure feels good to see it on my tax return, but there aren’t faces to it.

Before anyone chews on me for being heartless, let me summarize the whole gist of this before I get to the end. I have been called to a ministry on U.S. shores. Specifically, I have been called to a ministry in Western Washington, one of the most unchurched, antagonistic to the gospel, least Christian places in the known world. Africa is in Africa. I am here. This is where I’m supposed to be.

Kneeling. Looking through the paper though he doesn't know to read. Ooh yeah.

Oh, praying now to something that has never showed him anything.

Oh, feeling understands the weather knows that winter’s on its way.

Oh, ceilings few and far between all the legal halls of shame. Yeah.

There are more Generation X contributors to charities like United Way than any other demographic? Why do you think that is? That’s a serious question. For the record, I don’t contribute to United Way, and I have my reasons. Mostly, it’s because my donations are “diluted” amongst a bunch of charities, and I like to focus my money based on my beliefs. So, KUDOS to United Way for the good work they do! I just choose to give elsewhere, but that’s a key. I give elsewhere.

Even flow. Thoughts arrive like butterflies.

Oh, he don't know so he chases them away.

Oh, someday yet he'll begin his life again.

Oh, whispering hands gently lead him away.

Him away. Him away.

Yeah.

Shane Claiborne of “The Simple Way” in Philadelphia had the right idea when he and a buddy went out and lived on the street to “connect” with the poor, homeless, disenfranchised people in their community. (If you haven’t read “The Irresistible Revolution” yet, pick it up and read it. It’s a must.) I am limited to the fact that I just can’t do that….yet. I have a family to support, and unfortunately need to be clean tomorrow for work. But, I admire Shane greatly. The whispering, gently hands that lead the homeless away need to be taking them to a place where they can be clean, learn a skill, get a job, begin their lives again.

When Eddie Vedder and Stone Gossard wrote Even Flow (the lyrics which are scattered throughout this post), they were writing of the human condition on which I’ve commented. I see Gen Xers in the street purposely reaching into their pockets to toss a coin. More importantly, I have seen (and done this myself) Gen Xers taking a homeless guy and buying a sandwich that will last him the entire day.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, drugs, alcohol, blah, blah, blah. I don’t remember Christ saying that we are only to help our brother, as long as they aren’t going to go and buy drugs and alcohol. Define “help”? Maybe it’s not money. But there has to be something that any of us can do.

Think about it.

Tell me about your favorite experience helping someone. Any stories are good. Even if it’s making dinner for someone who just had surgery. Any story!!!

Pax,

Brad

I am Generation X

2007-10-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

I am generation X.

My birth date fell dead in the middle of the Generation X “beginnings” and my compatriots in Gen X have gone on to help form society as it sits today. I live in Seattle, and my musical tastes fall directly into the Seattle scene and “grunge” from the late ‘80s, early ‘90s. (i.e. Pearl Jam, SoundGarden, MudHoney, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Screaming Trees, etc.) I don’t do drugs, never did. I don’t condone the use of drugs, as some of the bands mentioned did, but many of these bands embodied the nature of Gen X. Pearl Jam still does.

Wikipedia has the following to say about Gen X:

“As young adults, Generation X drew media attention in the late 1980s and early 1990s, gaining a stereotypical reputation as apathetic, cynical, disaffected, streetwise loners and slackers. As Generation Xers have now become American parents, however, their media persona is gradually becoming more that of protective security moms and dads in a post 9/11 world.

In addition, Generation X is noted as one of the most entrepreneurial and tech-friendly generations in American history, as they've driven a majority of the Internet's growth and ingenuity from day one. Amazon, Google, Yahoo, MySpace, Dell, and countless other billion-dollar tech companies were founded by American Gen Xers. Even Wikipedia itself was founded by Gen Xers”

Gen X consists of the most billionaires per capita of any age group. I’m proud to be Gen X. I’d probably be prouder if I was one of those billionaires. **GRIN**

First, a disclaimer, Wikipedia is a fine way of getting quick information, but since it is “open source” and “open publishing”, generally it should NOT BE USED as a formal reference. Please, please, please, don’t publish this in a book and claim that it is gospel! It’s just something someone anonymous said about a group of people.

So, I want to focus on something in that Wikipedia article. Note the stereotypical reputation….apathetic, cynical, disaffected, streetwise loners and slackers. That is an unfortunate, but enlightening, description. First, it is a cultural perception. And it was consistently pounded in the media of the time. Movies like “Singles” showed the societal perception as though it was a reality.

Let me tell you how I see it.

Gen X is not, and was not, apathetic. In fact, Gen Xers are some of the most passionate people I have ever met.

Gen X is disaffected. The American Heritage dictionary defines disaffected as an adjective meaning resentful and rebellious, especially against authority. Wow, that takes on a negative connotation. Try this one. Disaffected people question thinking to move thought patterns (both personal and corporate) in a new direction or to better understand current situations. THAT is Generation X.

Gen X were not and are not “streetwise loners”. Streetwise, yes. Loners, no. Gen X travels in packs. Note, not gangs. Gen X travels in groups of people with common thought, opinions and ideas, but are always willing to play “Devil’s Advocate”. (See disaffected above)

Gen X are slackers? If one begins to question the government, society, the church, and doesn’t want to be a “team player”, then they are assumed to not be passionate about anything and not want to do anything. Is it possible that they just want to do things different? The important element is “do they actually go on to do anything.”

I am Generation X. I have a voice. I have ideas. I question what I’m told. I argue until the truth is apparent, even in paradox.

I am a Christian. I have a voice. I have ideas. I question what I’m told. I argue until the truth is apparent, even in paradox.

These are just the beginnings of some thoughts that I will be expanding on in my next few posts. I just want to set the tone. I will be making some bold statements about the state of society, about reaching people who are my age, about the way the church got into the state that it is in, and perhaps even some suggestions on how to change. I will be quoting from theologians, “Gen X” musicians, and people my age. Which means that this could get down and dirty. I plan on bringing in what I'm learning in my atonement study, as well as a handful of other things.

Always looking for comments.

Salvation

2007-09-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

Rays of light dance in broken strands through clouds,
Touching points of bustle upon the surface of earth.
People and cars scurrying around,
As if mice in a lab rat’s maze,
Each going to his own corner to conduct life.
Business cuts open the calm of night,
As each “to-do” list gets longer.
Emptiness replaces the fullness of dreams,
Dreaded reality seeps into a warm heart turning colder.
Fantasies give way to haunted nightmares,
As sleep wares off to the awaken stare.
Life fades way to death,
Dancing across vacant stares.
Warmth leaves the soul,
Rendering it to apathy and despair.
The last remnants of hope dissolve as the moon sets.
Humanity gives way to machinery,
Conformity takes over freedom.
Wars resume as battles are fought and lost.
The social machine ensues with torment and deceit.
Scalding the spirit, we reject the truth before us.
The Son of Man sets the captive free,
Though few acknowledge their captivity.
The looking glass reflects inhumanity,
Soaking up injustice and treachery.
But man searches for the unknown,
While not admitting the fault of his own.
How long will greed win out,
The soul waging war against itself?
St. Paul professes the plight of man,
Expressing in words the human contradiction.
Each one desires good while practicing evil,
Putting into action the desires of the sinful self,
The soul is torn in two—
Seeking that from above,
Succumbing to that from below.
The battle of spirit and flesh,
Old as time itself,
Wages war on all that is good,
Destroying all that is right.
The Image within us,
Woos man to the heights of joy,
The flesh seeks all in its path to destroy.
The hope we cling to the Spirit receives,
Producing fruit no man can cultivate.
The Gardener prunes and weeds,
Causing to grow love, joy, patience, kindness,
Goodness, faithfulness, self-control, and peace.
In His loving care, man’s heart conceives,
A glimmer of hope dispelling darkness,
Leaves man with rest most dire.
In the hurts of society, his heart breaks,
In the delight of the Lord his heart sings.
Redemption grasps its hold,
Salvation manifest in rest.
Mourning gives way to gladness,
An unexplainable joy no longer shall recess.
The soul cries out in delight,
As the Christ dissolves the night.

Atonement

2007-09-21T07:29:00.000-07:00

Should I start this with, "I'm sorry"...or should I just move on? Hard call.

I have three previous blog entries that say I will get back to a certain point, but haven't. For instance, I still have to respond to the second half of Natalie's set of questions!!!! I guess I want people to know I haven't forgotten.

I'm starting a personal study on "Atonement". Basically, I'm investigating the 7 different types of atonement that are most often talked about in the church. I'm starting with Scot McKnight's recent book - Community Called Atonement, and working from a number of other resources I have.

Check out Scot's blog, by the way: http://www.jesuscreed.org

And, of course, wouldn't you know, Scot is reading some books himself, and made recommendations in his blog.
- Picturing the Gospel, by Neil Livingstone
- The Justifying Judgement of God, by Justyn Terry

Side note: So, I'm hoping that in this study of atonement, I can find out the true purpose behind Stephen Colbert's "Atone Phone"....1-888-OOPS JEW. Have you seen this? I'm sorry, I should NOT find this as funny as I do. Starting on Rosh Hashanah, he has this white phone with a blue "Star of David" on the front sitting on his desk, and any Jews that have wronged him are to call 1-888-OOPS JEW and apologize before Yom Kippur. When the phone rings, it plays Hava Nagila (sp?). Check your local listings for when the Colbert Report is on Comedy Central in your area.

Theology

2007-09-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

God is big.

God cannot be put in a box. (Physical or otherwise.)

I just looked up the definition of thelogy and got a bit of a chuckle. Dictionary.com defines Theology (from American Heritage) as:

"The study of the nature of God and religious truth; rational inquiry into religious questions."

Since God lives outside of nature (i.e. God is a superset of nature) then can one actually say that God HAS a nature? Or IS God a nature?

And is the nature of God different from religous truth? I should hope not.

Here it comes...the best part....rational inquiry into religous questions!!!!

So, if you have religous questions, and you seek to answer them, you are studying thelogy. If you "rationally" explore religous questions, you are studying theology.

This has been a number of years ago, now, but I was standing in the religion section at Powell's Bookstore in Portland, Oregon. I had a stack of Bonhoeffer books and was looking at something by Henri Nouwen. An older man came up to me and asked me about Bonhoeffer. I had recently read "The Cost of Discipleship" and entered into a discussion with him. We talked about Paul Tillich and Systematic Theology, Luther, Bonhoeffer, Nouwen, Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, and a handful of other authors. He then asked me, "Where do you pastor?" When I told him I was just a layman, I thought he was going to fall over. He was an Episcopalian pastor and said, "If I had parishioners who could be half as well read as you, I'd be a happy man."

Theology is not new to me. I love it as a topic. However, I believe that theology is more than just a study of the nature of God. By learning the nature of God, and learning to interpret His original plan for creation, humanity, nature, etc., I think I learn more about myself and how I am to relate to ALL of these things.

I'm currently reading Chuck Colson's "new" book - God and Government. It's a rewrite/update of "Kingdoms in Conflict" from 20 years ago. I read KiC when I was in College. So, given that the U.S. is currently in a war in Iraq, Israel is attacking Syria without support from the U.S., and Osama Bin Laden is threatening to attack Pakistan, AND next year is an election year, I thought it would be interesting to see what Colson has to say. I wish I had something valuable to say about the book so far. I'm nearly half way through it, and still have yet to get any insight into what God thinks about pre-emptive strikes, and what the role of God in human politics is or should actually be. Oh, I have my own opinions, don't get me wrong. I was just hoping to learn something. I'll keep you all informed. Basically, Colson and I don't see eye to eye (at least from his writings) on some things. However, I respect him enough to read the book. HA HA HA HA.

By studying what I think God's view of human politics is, it helps me better understand how to relate to people, cultures and situations around me. That's theology.

Okay, I can see some of you saying, "Uh, oh. Brad's going to tell us how to vote." or "Brad is about to tell us that the election should be about abortion, gay marriage, or even the war is bad!" Well, you're wrong. I am a firm believer that you cannot legislate morality. Colson even goes so far as to say in his book that the difference between politics and the church is that politics thinks that by changing society the people will change, and the church should believe that by changing the people will change society. It's dichotomous. So, I'm not going to tell you how to vote. I will just say this, "VOTE!!!!" I believe in the democratic process, and the model that is laid out in our constitution, but if you don't vote, you don't get to complain!!!! You can't win if you don't enter! Enough of my rant on politics. (Poly meaning "many" and Ticks" meaning blood-sucking pests) My point is that understanding what we can of God's plan makes the whole political race thing a non-issue. I don't want to change society to change the people. I want to change the hearts of the people, and society will change as a result.

Wait, I said I was done with my rant on politics, didn't I?

Okay, so back to theology. What are some of the theological things you don't understand? What are some of the doctrinal things you struggle with? What do you think about? Iron sharpens iron....let's talk.

Trying to get unburied

2007-09-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

Okay, Sorry...been a week. I've been buried at work. I promise to post something tonight if I can.

I think most of you "get" what my vacation was like. I'll stop with that last post.

Brad

Vacation is Variety (Sept 2nd, 2007)

2007-09-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

We do not take our vacations lightly. The work laptop stays home. (The personal one may come along, like now.) The cell phone stays off. The daily routine goes out the window.

Anne's parents have a time-share condo just outside of Port Townsend here in Washington. When they can’t use the unit, we get it. It’s an important part of our lives. Oh, yeah, and the $55 cost for the entire week is hard to beat too! (We supply the food.) The picture here is a view of PT from the beach by our unit. (well, the beach is a five minute walk...but you get the point.)

I brought a couple of books to read. First, I’m finishing the new William Gibson book – Spook Country – which enhances some of the “universe” from his previous book, Pattern Recognition. Second, I brought a Mother Theresa book. Reading the Shane Claiborne book gave me a desire to read something by Momma T. But, I haven’t done much reading, yet. (Sunday)

When we are here, our church away from church is the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Chimacum. Pastor Don Peiper and his wife Claudia have become friends over the last 14 years, and we look forward to seeing them and their kids. Don even gave Anne a hug this morning. We’ve stopped standing up when they ask guests to introduce themselves because there are enough people who know who we are. It’s our church away from church. So, notice, the title of this entry is “Vacation is Variety”. Here’s a couple of emerging Christians, regularly attending a lame excuse for a hard core Nazarene church, attending a Lutheran church on vacation, where the guest speaker was Anglican by tradition. I LOVE HOW GOD WORKS!!! The experience is always fruitful to our thought. Once, we attended LCR and the worship was led by a bluegrass band from here on the peninsula – The Dukes of Dabob. (Available to serve in your worship service for a small fee! EXCELLENT!!!)

So, church is important when we are on vacation.

We always swing by the game store – Completely Puzzled – on Water Street in Port Townsend on our first or second day here. We went on Saturday and bought a card game -- Killer Bunnies: The Quest for the Magic Carrot. What? Stop looking at me like that!!! I can talk about Mother Theresa in one breath and Killer Bunnies in the next. We brought some games from home, but it’s always fun to learn a new game together.

Our 8 year old daughter is doing most of the dinner cooking this week. Yesterday and today, we had hotdogs wrapped in canned biscuit dough and cheese, then baked. We also had salads with lettuce we brought fresh from our garden. It was her first real time fixing dinner for the entire family. She was excellent!!!

Summary: Port Townsend, Beach Condo, Lutheran, Killer Bunnies, Anglican, Biscuit-wrapped Hot Dogs, Mother Theresa.

Any Questions?

I'm Back

2007-09-09T14:50:00.000-07:00

Back from vacation....I will now be posting a few items I wrote while gone. These will each be about a week after the actual event. So, please, don't get too confused. **GRIN**

Pax,

Brad

Brad is Taking a Break

2007-08-31T06:44:00.000-07:00

I know, it's been a week and a half since my last post, and you are all on pins and needles waiting for the next installment. **GRIN**

After getting back from Canada, I was slammed at work. Then, the following weekend, I took my wife and kids camping up off the North Cascades Highway...gorgeous. Then, I was on a business trip to California. And today, we're leaving on a week of vacation. This is my first "real" vacation since about January.

So, I've got a stack of books that I'm planning on reading while I'm gone. Expect some lengthy posts when I get back.

STOP E-MAILING ME ABOUT WHAT I'M WRITING AND POST COMMENTS!!!! YOU ARE SOME OF THE SMARTEST MOST INSIGHTFUL PEOPLE I'VE EVER KNOWN!!! JOIN THE CONVERSATION!!!!

Some of you have asked me where I get my ideas for what I will read, or where I find links to blogs, interesting sites, etc. Well, on the plane to California on Tuesday morning, I finished Shane Claiborne's "The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical". Just in the footnotes alone were nearly a hundred websites that intrigue me, and he quoted from a broad variety of books including the works of Soren Kierkegaard (Swedish Philosopher), Dorothy Day, and Martin Luther King Jr's speeches/sermons. I haven't read Kierkegaard in YEARS, but I have a hankering to dig out a copy. I'm also interested in reading more about Mother Theresa, as Shane actually travelled to Calcutta to find out first hand what she was experiencing, and got to spend time with her. I have a Word doc on my work laptop containing three pages worth of notes, book lists, and websites to keep me busy.

My wife and I are certified Marriage Enrichment leaders through a national organization. We are called into this ministry, but have been struggling to make it grow. (Like any ministry, I guess. Seems they're all a struggle.) Anyway, recently we generated a lead that could develop into a full blown opportunity with a very large church in our area. Please pray for us that we would follow God's lead on this. It's exciting...and a little scary.

Have a GREAT AND GLORIOUS week!!! I'll post some pictures when I get back.

I also expect that I will write at least one or two full blog postings during the week....but I can't post them until I get back. Ah, the wonders of not having an internet connection.

Thanx,

Brad

How much do you really know?

2007-08-21T11:28:00.000-07:00

Context is what it's all about.

Over the last month or so, the amount of cultural history I don't know has overwhelmed me. Oh, I know LOTS of factual history...what battles took place when, who was President of the U.S.A. in what year, I even know how to look up things on the Internet. After all, you can trust EVERYTHING on the Internet, right?

My wife and I subscribe to Christian History magazine. It has really opened my eyes to some things that I just couldn't really get anywhere else. It's a very broad overview of a lot of topics, and constantly gives me MORE TO READ. Yeah, that's what I need to do...read more. Christian History does a great job of providing multiple sides to a biography. (trying to be journalistically fair) Jan Hus, Thomas Merton, Thomas A'Kempis, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, are just a few of the names of people profiled in the last few years. Lots of times, we will see something we want to explore further, often archaeology based. (i.e. Dead Sea Scrolls, etc.)

Occasionally, we will pick up a copy of Biblical Archaeology Review. There's a part of me that wanted to be Indiana Jones when I was growing up. Well, without all the face melting parts, I guess. In a recent issue of B.A.R. there was an article about the Maccabees. Okay, so I'm writing about context, I guess I need to step away from the B.A.R. conversation, briefly, to bring you all into MY contextual world.

I'm off in my own little world, but that's alright, they know me there.

Judas Maccabee (Judah Maccabeus), was the son of a Jewish priest (Mattathias), and led the revolt against the Seleucid empire. This entire "conflict" is covered completely in scripture....oh, wait, I see a handful of you digging through your Bibles...Brad, I can't find it, and don't remember this story from Sunday School...you're making this up! I'm not. I promise. The story of the Maccabees is recorded in the Book of Maccabeees (I thru IV) in the deuterocanonical books. These books are often referred to as the Apocrypha, but those in the Orthodox traditions (Greek, Easter, Russian) find the term Apocrypha to be offensive. The deuterocanonical (secondary canon) books represent the jewish literature/scripture written in the intertestamental period. Yes, there were actually things written in the 300 years between Malachi's last word, and Matthew's first!!! (Which, actually, Mark was written first....but I digress) The books of the Maccabees is where we get the story of Hannukah. We can discuss the value and purpose of the deuterocanonical books another time. Just so you all know, I believe that even though we are not ACTUALLY Jewish, our ETHNIC and CULTURAL heritage is Jewish by way of Christ. (I remember reading somewhere that He was Jewish....probably on the Internet)

So, B.A.R. had an article on the Maccabees, specifically about Judas Maccabee's tomb. Fascinating. During a roughly 60 year period, Jewish tombs were often HUGE, cathedral like facades....marble, columns, carvings, different architectures. When Jesus was "Woe"ing the Pharisees in Matthew 23, He compared them to whitewashed tombs that on the outside are beautiful, and on the inside are full of rotting corpses. It is generally believed that He was referring to the tombs of this period, because we know that during Jesus's day, tombs were VERY uneventful...an unadorned hole, with a rock as a door.

Rob Bell, in Velvet Elvis, talks about Jesus and the disciples in Cesarea-Phillipi. C-P was the "world-center" of the goat god, Pan. Bell paints a word-picture of the nearby cliff with a giant crack in it, from which the worshippers of Pan believed the spirits of hell would come and go. (Makes hell sound a little like beehive, actually.) Pan's followers built a temple at that spot where the followers could do all sort of things with goats. (All sorts of things = the G rated version of what is effectively NC-17 for mature audiences only. I think you understand.) Guess what the crack was called? -- The Gates of Hell. So, Jesus, as He tells the disciples in Matthew 16, that "on this rock" (Peter) He would build his church, and even the Gates of Hell would not be able to stand against it. He was pulling in a cultural reference that the disciples would immediately recognize. Not just that, He was pointing out that the people, Pan's worshippers, and those like them, would not be able to stand against the onslaught of the Kingdom of God!!! That just amazes me.

So, I'm drawn to the fact that I don't know anything. I don't fully understand the cultural aspects of what Jesus said. If I can understand that, then I can more easily draw the correlation to what it means for us as believers today.

Ugh. Now, I have a lot more reading to do.

Legacy and Remembrance - A Trip to Canada

2007-08-19T19:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, folks, yet another break from the conversation at hand to pass on some things about my life. Yep, yep, yep, sometimes life gets in the way.

I posted about two weeks ago that my grandfather was in the hospital up in Canada. Well, to make a long story short, he died. I heard about it 45 minutes after he passed (Monday morning April 13th), and was informed later that day that the memorial service would be at 1:30 in the afternoon on Wednesday…in Calgary….two days away. It wasn’t rocket science to figure out that if I wanted to be THERE, I’d have to leave on Monday. So, I called my sister who lives here in the Seattle area and we put together the plan for driving to Calgary, Alberta. We left around 2:30pm, Monday afternoon.

My sister, my wife, my eight year old, my two year old, and I piled into my 2005 Honda CR-V, and headed East. Cozy.

Dinnertime rolled around before we got to Spokane. We made it to glorious, Ritzville, Washington. Now, don’t get your hopes up; Ritzville doesn’t exactly live up to its name. We stopped at Jake’s Restaurant. Jake’s…with the “24 hour tire repair” sign in the window. Ah, Jake’s. As far as five star restaurants go, this one didn’t even get off the planet. Think about the greasiest, most questionable, road food, drive in, diner, dive, you’ve ever seen on Feeding on Asphalt, and you are approaching, but not quite there yet for an image. Alton Brown would start first by having dark suited men coming in acting like food inspectors. This place was scary. HOWEVER, the service was not too shabby. The food was decent. The fries were great. And the locals thought that my kids were cute. Our two year old kept standing up and pointing to the pictures (that were for sale) and saying, “hummingbird” or “eagle” depending on the bird of choice. Very Vanna White, and exceptionally cute.

We left Ritzville and headed for Spokane, cut North on 2 and drove to meet up with Hwy 95 at Sandpoint, Idaho. Then, we drove North from Sandpoint to the U.S./Canadian border…at 1:00 in the morning. (I had forgotten about the time-zone change.) I honestly wonder how many ways one can be asked one has fruit in the car.

“Do you have any fruit.”
“No, sir.”
“Weapons?”
“No.”
“More than 10,000 dollars in cash?”
“No.”
“Do you have any fruit?”
“Uh, no.”
“Where you headed?”
“Calgary, for a funeral. Staying the night in Cranbrook.”
“Who all is in the car?”
“My sister, my wife, my daughter, and this is my son.”
“Do you have any fruit?”
“Uh…..no, sir. No fruit.”

He looked over our passports/birth certificates, asked the kids if I was daddy, etc; one more time if we had fruit, and then let us on our way. I appreciate the security of our borders. Terrorists BEWARE, if they even THINK you are bringing fruit into the country…..oh, baby…..it’s all over! (SIDE NOTE: For the record, I know most of the people who read my blog. I don’t think very many of them are terrorists. If you know any terrorists, please tell them to read my blog. Maybe they’ll get something out of it that surprises them, other than my advice on crossing the border with fruit. Just a suggestion)

We arrived at the Super 8 in Cranbrook. Don’t stay there. ‘Nuff said. Okay, one more thing. Eeeeeeeew. There, ‘nuff said.

Tuesday morning, we left Cranbrook around 8:00 and headed north to Radium Hot Springs where I missed my turnoff, and ended up going to connect with the TransCanada highway at the town of Golden. We stopped in Golden for lunch. Our 8 year old saw a Chinese restaurant….”I want Chinese, I want Chinese”. So, we went in. The Red Diamond Chinese restaurant…..see if you can sense a theme…..Eeeeeeeew. ‘Nuff said. We all had burgers. No fries, no sides, no nothing. Burger, bare plate. Well, it was cheap.

We rolled into Cochrane, Alberta (Just Northwest of Calgary) and hit our hotel. HOORAY!!! God is Good. The Travelodge in Cochrane is now one of my top places to stay. Service, facilities, beds, rooms, amenities, all were top notch. It was even across the street from a Tim Horton’s. (If you’re not Canadian, you won’t understand why that’s important. Hmmm….I’m not Canadian. HA HA HA HA. But, for the Canadians that read my blog, they’ll get it.) After dropping off our stuff at the hotel, we drove North a short distance to the RV park where my parents were staying.

Today’s Lesson: Don’t Mess with the Mind of Your Barista

My wife likes her coffee “not too hot”. A friend of ours has a thermometer on his watch. Once, she said, “This is perfect. Dan, how hot is it?” He pointed his watch at it, and informed us that the coffee was one hundred and twenty degrees. It’s important to understand that, because I now order my wife’s coffee at that temperature. The Starbucks in Cochrane is relatively new. I went in, ordered my Grande Caramel Macchiato, and a Double-Tall Latte, 120 degrees. The barista’s eyes went huge! “ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY DEGREES?!?!?!” Then, it hit me. Canada. OH, THOSE CANADIANS. The poor girl was thinking 120 degrees Celsius. (Roughly 248 degrees Fahrenheit) Boy, I’m glad I got that worked out, or my wife would have been in the hospital.

The funeral on Wednesday was exciting! First, I got to see my aunts and uncles from my grandpa’s side of the family. I rarely get to see them, and even more rarely see them together in the same place. One uncle is a missionary in Thailand, one is a an aerospace engineer in Missouri, one aunt and her husband are taking a missionary position in Mexico City, and the other aunt lives in Calgary with her husband. I miss them all terribly, and it’s always great to see them. Now, on to the story…where is the excitement?

The “family” met downstairs in the basement of the church, and prepared to enter the sanctuary as a group. My uncle who lives just North of Calgary had to wait for my aunt (his wife) who has Multiple Sclerosis and is wheelchair bound to arrive from her care facility on a special bus. We all headed upstairs, while he got into the elevator with my aunt. They got stuck in the elevator. We’re all waiting to enter the sanctuary, the music is playing, and there’s all sorts of shouting from inside the elevator. Chaos. Ushers rushing around, looking for someone who knows how the elevator works. My cousins running up and down the stairs, taking “orders” from my uncle. Someone drained all of the oil from the elevator to drop it back down to the bottom floor. My uncle pressed the emergency alarm. Klaxons going off all around. The elevator was rated for 550 lbs. Well, with my aunt’s electric wheelchair, my aunt, my uncle, and two of their grandkids, they exceeded that limit. By dropping them to the bottom floor, and letting everyone off but my aunt and one of the grandkids, made it possible to lift the chair up to the top floor.

The funeral was excellent. My missionary uncle acted as the master of ceremonies and did a phenomenal job. We sang multiple hymns; another uncle and my grandpa’s youngest brother gave eulogies and tributes. Then another of grandpa’s brothers (he only had 16 brothers and sisters) gave another tribute. Then, my dad got up, and I nearly lost it. When my dad gets choked up talking about his kids, I can’t control it. The tears come. He nearly lost his composure as well, but that was partly because my sister was crying right next to me. It was a beautiful service, followed by a reception downstairs.

Thursday was the burial. We stood around the grave, sang a hymn, and talked of memories of grandpa. It was special, and I’m very glad I was there. That afternoon, mom, dad, and my sister drove to Didsbury to see some other relatives, but I took the kids to a historical/amusement park in Calgary. That lightened the mood significantly. It was a wonderful day.

Friday morning, we left Calgary/Cochrane and started for home. (Coming back into the States, we were asked about fruit again. Apparently, it’s a real problem.) We made it to Spokane, but couldn’t find a hotel and ended up driving all the way to Moses Lake. We then left for home Saturday morning and got into Seattle around Noon.

2300 miles. I don’t want to drive anymore for a while.

So, that’s my trip. It was great to see my relatives, and people that I haven’t seen for a lot of years. My family is extremely important to me. It’s a pity that we have to wait for a death to bring us back together in person.

I will respond to the remainder of your original post, Natalie, soon. I will also respond to your response to the original response. The conversation must continue.

The Progression of the Spiritual Life

2007-08-16T23:25:00.000-07:00

(“Salvation and the ‘Sinners Prayer’ Part III”)

Brad—you bring a great element to this discussion, which is along the lines of where I wanted to go with it. I think that we have become accustomed (as I mentioned in my first post) to the “instant gratification” approach to life (which includes faith and love and all that other stuff). We want God to touch us with a magical wand that turns us instantly into the kind of person he wants us to be. Well, at least I do sometimes. It sure would be easier than having to actually work at being holy.

Instead of looking at our spirituality as a one-time event, we need to see it as a road to be traveled, a journey, a progression. The very path (meaning the experiences we go through) are part of what shapes us as a whole being. I was working on an assignment for class the other day and we were contemplating the difference between the instant gratification mentality verses the process mentality of how we grow. It got me thinking about growing up. I don’t know about you, but when I was growing up (meaning my body was changing from a child’s to an adult’s), I experienced growing pains. My bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons were being stretched and building more mass to be able to support me. Sometimes, this hurt. I remember going through periods where my body ached and I was sore all over.

While I do not pretend to be a doctor; I would assume that if we (our bodies) changed from an infants to an adult body over night (in an instant); the growth would be so drastic that it would likely kill us (I believe that there is actually a medical condition where a person’s body can grow so fast that it does kill them). Could we not apply this very concept to our spiritual growth? We want so badly sometimes to just be changed, but what if that change was so drastic that it would literally kill us? Perhaps there is something to this whole progression/process thing after all!

So what is the pilgrimage that we travel? (By the way, I agree that there are not necessarily varying levels of salvation, rather there are varying levels of spirituality.) Many great Church fathers and mothers have presented a four stage process that we go through. The first is awakening. This is the stage that we encounter God and ourselves in a way we have never experienced before. The second is purgation. This is the stage where God brings to light the sin in our lives and we learn to relinquish those things. We make amends for things we have done wrong, we seek to be more Christlike, we are faced with the darkness within us and recognize the need for the Light of Christ to fill us. The third stage is illumination. During this stage, we seek to fully consecrate ourselves to God. We take all of the ugliness and we surrender it to God. We encounter God in such a way that we find he is always there and constantly holding us and transforming us into the likeness of Christ. The last stage is union. It is usually in this stage that people encounter the dark night of the senses and the dark night of the soul. We cannot feel God, we have no emotional security that he is there. But it is in these times that our faith is put the test and we continue to depend on God even though we can’t “feel” him. This is also the stage that many mystics enter into. Finding the complete joy of God and entering into his presence without the pretense of emotional bondage. It is a time of truly mystical union to Christ. See Robert Mulholland’s book Invitation to a Journey.

Here is the interesting part of the discussion. God can be taking us through different stages all at the same time. There may be areas of our life where we have come to full wholeness in Christ while God is just awakening another area that needs to be transformed (Mulholland). This means that we will go through these stages in more of a cyclical than a linear path. The most important thing to remember here is that it is God who is taking us into these stages; he is the one who guides and directs and transforms. We cannot transform ourselves (that would be called conformity and usually it is to our own ideals of who Christ is—in other words, legalism).

Back to the questions at hand. My concern with holiness isn’t so much being able to tell in other people, but that we should be aware of our own Christlikeness. I learned an interesting thing the other day about the “cross” that we must bear in our daily lives. I don’t know about you, but I had always assumed that the “cross” was external. It was the nasty co-worker, the neighbor I didn’t get a long with, the family member who irritated me, or the physical ailments I struggle with. But the shocking truth I’ve come to realize (again, see Mulholland), is that our “cross” consists of the points of unChristlikeness in my life. This (or these) is the cross I must bear. A holiness meter, while interesting in an of itself, is not the point. Understanding where I fail to live as Christ lived is the point.

So, with ALL of this being said. How do we convey the understanding that a one-time prayer does not necessarily constitute salvation? That salvation is something that we must (as you pointed out) work out with “fear and trembling.” That holiness is not something that we do in and of ourselves but it is rather the work of Christ in us, transforming us to his very image. That salvation is not being saved from hell, or from others, or even from Satan, but from ourselves. Why is this message so hard for Western Christians to understand?

I Do Think About Other Things

2007-08-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

Salvation and the "Sinner's Prayer" - Part II

2007-08-03T11:10:00.000-07:00

First things first, everyone reading this blog….let me (Brad) make an introduction. A number of the posts here have been from a very dear friend of mine named Natalie. This blog originated as a joint place for a group that we are a part of that has these kinds of discussions by way of e-mail. We thought moving to a blog would allow us to manage threads better, etc. Well, Nat and I are the only ones who ever posted anything. HA HA. Now, that’s not a slam against our friends!!! The e-mail conversations continue, not as often as we’d like, but we’re still tight. A number of my friends wanted me to make some of my thoughts public, and a decision was made that this blog would become “mine”. HOWEVER, Natalie makes me think, and I want her involved. She has her own blog, but expect to see her as a regular here on mine.

Okay, Introduction over.

Now, Natalie, you wanted a response. Here’s mine. It was long enough, I thought it would be best to create it as its own topic.

What you lay out in the beginning of your post is something that comes straight from your Dad. I miss him. He and I used to talk about this all the time. God is not a vending machine. Faith is not a magic coin. You put the faith coin in the slot, pull the right plunger and **POOF** out comes the blessing candy bar. Even the “Sinner’s Prayer” – Lord, I’m a sinner, come into my heart – is consumer related. With the prayer itself being the magic coin. Now, before anyone comes to lynch me for sounding like personal salvation isn’t important, just hold off a second.

In the great commission, Jesus said that we are to go out and make disciples – learners. He did not say, “Go out and tell people that they have to ask me into their heart, and then they will be Christians.” So, I ask this question….Is it possible that one can become a learner of Christ’s way, and apply those lessons to one’s life without stepping over some magical “line of faith”? So, where does salvation come into it? The scripture tells us that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Great, what are we saved from? Ourselves? Hell? Those who aren’t Christian? The salvation is from our state of being! It is from our fallen separation from God!

So, we are saved by grace through faith from this separation from God. As disciples we will be learners of Christ’s way. Once we learned everything, we’re done, right? That’s called holiness. We never stop learning. Therefore, we are never completely holy. And, my opinion, if anyone says they’re holy, they’re a hypocrite. OW, OW, my Nazarene blood cells are bursting in my veins. OW, OW, OW!!!! So, God says in Leviticus, “Be holy, because I am holy.” I need to do a word search in my Interlinear to find out what the exact form of “be” is there. But, then in Hebrews 12, the writer says, “Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy”. Holy is something we have to make an effort to be.

In reference to questions 2 and 7 in your post, Nat, I’d say: There are not different levels of salvation, and if there are it’s not our concern. There are, however, different levels of holiness. But, just like salvation, it’s not our concern. We should aspire to be holy. Our actions will either be holy, not holy, or somewhere neutral. I would claim that the more we aspire to learn the way of Christ, to become more Christlike, our holiness will increase. I have not yet been fitted with my holiness meter chip, so I can’t tell you how holy I am or not. And because I can’t see your holiness meter, I can’t make a judgment whether I’m holier than thou or not.

So, is there a difference between being saved and being a Christian? Excellent question. If we are living in the way of Christ, and that means obeying his commandments and learning his “style”, and that means we are Christians, then there really isn’t a difference. If being saved means that from some magical point in my life where I said a prayer….then never again considered my actions or considered what the prayer meant…then there is a significant difference. I do not believe that our salvation is a one-time deal. I believe it is something we work out with fear and trembling. The Holy Spirit leading us into truth convinces and convicts us. So, if we have sin(s) in our life…..pick your favorite….and God works on one, bringing us to perfection in that area through our actively seeking to apply his way….but we continue to have another sin that God has not worked on yet, are we still approaching holiness? (and this is not linear…don’t put God in a box.)

BOOM – You get hit by a bus. You find yourself standing in front of Jesus being judged. “You are not completely holy. You still have areas of your life that I haven’t had a chance to work on, yet. There is no place for you here.” What do you think?

Are there dangers with this thought pattern? Sure. Doesn’t this promote sinning because you can deal with it later? ABSOLUTELY….let’s go out and sin more so that God’s grace will abound!!!! (For those of you reading this, who don’t know your Bible…read Romans…this is sarcasm/satire.) I am all for God making miraculous changes in one’s life. In fact, I deeply desire that he will make such changes in mine. However, experience has shown me that even the most broken souls grow over time into the truth that is God. A very good friend of mine, I met nearly 20 years ago. He was very “rough around the edges”, worked in a mill, and has now retired to run a food bank. Over the years, the Holy Spirit has softened those edges, given him a true heart for others, and completely changed him. But it wasn’t immediate. Miraculous….maybe…but not instantaneous.

Okay, I have to stop now….too many things going on. I will hit on some of the other questions later. Especially the topic of grace….one of my favorites. Hopefully, this will be a good teaser to what else I have to say.

Salvation and the “Sinner’s Prayer”

2007-08-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

In our society, we have become prone to an immediate gratification spirit. We want what we want, when we want it, with as little effort and suffering as possible. I took Martial Arts for about 12 years, and in our ceremony for the passing of one belt to another, there was a question that was asked at every belt level and of every individual. The question was “do you believe everything worth having is worth suffering for?” Many Western individuals lack any sense of believing in something enough, wanting something so badly, that they are willing to suffer to have it. The mentality today, at least in Western Civilization, tends to be one where people are only willing to go after something if (1) there is a considerable chance for financial gain, (2) there is little work involved, (3) “it will make me look better,” and/or (4) “I can be elevated in the status I hold from a political or social standpoint.”

Some of you might be thinking, “well, yes, that is the world, they do go after things like that!” However, if you look around the Church today, you find this same attitude infesting the lives of her members. God is a god who is here for our gains, Jesus is the friend we’ve never had, and the Spirit is the one who will make everything better. All we require is that you profess Christ as Lord and repeat a little prayer and then you’re home-free. I am not knocking the sinner's prayer, if it is said with true remorse and longing to seek Jesus Christ in a real and deep experience. But, is it enough?

I believe with all my heart what scripture professes: that we are saved by grace through faith. However, we have slowly done away with any definition of faith that involves the holiness that Christ has called us to. Faith is now the equivalence of belief (or rather, professing formulaic propositions), which is something that is far from biblical. James says “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder” (2:18-19). He clearly believed that belief, just acknowledging that Jesus is God, is not enough.

Our family knew a gentleman who lived a truly worldly life. When he was confronted with this, he would say, “I believe in Jesus, so I am good to go! What else do I need?” Most Christians at this point would say that there are certain patterns of life that we, as followers of Christ, are asked to conform to. Jesus says “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). Again he says, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching” (John 14:23). Christians, by the authority of Scripture, are then justified in saying that there is more to being a Christian than just saying they believe in Jesus.

The most known bible verse of all time, John 3:16, states “For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus is quoted elsewhere as saying "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24). By these verses, the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God, come to save the world, is justified in their belief that belief is enough.

How do we reconcile the two sides of the coin? On the one hand, we have the understanding that God calls us to be holy. He not only calls us, but he transforms us and empowers us to live holy lives (for example: Ex 19:5-7; 22:30-31; 31:12-14; Lev 11:43-46;19:1-3; 20:6-8; 20:7-9; 20:25-27; 21:5-7; 22:8-10; Deut 7:5-7; 14:1-3; 14:20-22; 26:18-19; 28:8-10; Ezra 9:1-3; Job 15:14-16; Ps. 89:4-7; Isa. 4:2-4; 62:11-12; Jer. 2:2-4; Ezek 20:11-13; 36:22-24; 37:27-28; 38:15-17; 39:26-28). On the other hand, we have Jesus telling us that all we need to do is to believe in him and we will be saved; this rightly affirms that our justification is through faith by the grace of God. But if we leave it all to grace, it can become very easy to slip into the heresy of universalism.

Rather than declaring that we have been wrong in our terminology for the last 2,000 years, I think it is more important to regain our understanding of what salvation, grace, and the call to holiness entail. Therefore, I want to propose the following questions for discussions. None of these questions declare my stance on any of this; rather they are questions that I have had popping up in my mind off and on for the last year or so. Some of these have been questions that I have thought of myself, others are questions that have been asked of me by someone else.

1. What is salvation? Is there any suffering on our part for salvation?

2. Are there different “levels” of salvation?

3. Is God’s grace really free?

4. Is there a difference between being saved and being a Christian?

5. If it all comes back to grace, can we really use any sort of test of orthodoxy for one’s beliefs?

6. Again, if it all comes back to grace, why can’t we cross the line to universalism?

7. What does the call to holiness have to do with salvation (if anything)?

8. If holiness, or Christlikeness, is our ultimate calling of God, can someone truly be saved without showing the fruits of this transformation?

9. When James says that we are to “show our faith by what we do” does that mean that if someone doesn’t live out their faith, that they are merely “professing with their mouth,” along with the demons, that there is a God?

10. hould the Church (universal) use a test of orthodoxy to determine if someone is saved? If so, what do you think it should be? If not, then are we giving permission to throw out orthodox doctrine?

Deep thoughts, for a Thursday....

2007-08-02T13:18:00.000-07:00

I was driving in to work yesterday, on a beautifully sunny Pacific Northwest day. As I drove South on Hwy 405 on Seattle’s Eastside my eyes were filled with an incredible sight. Mt. Rainer (all 14,411 feet of her greatness) TOWERED over the landscape. On clear days, she is bigger, stronger, more HDTV than ever. Every glacier on the Northwest side of the mountain stood crisply defined. The sun gave the Eastern slopes a golden coloring.

I was in awe of God’s creation.

It’s been a hard week. My grandpa is in the hospital up in Canada and is not doing well. (Repeated heart attacks, pneumonia, etc.) One of my colleagues at work, my right hand man, just lost his dad last night. (And now, we are trying to reach him in New Mexico on a 65 mile backpacking trip. Not easy.)

Rolling through my head is an old hymn. Oh, how I wish we sang more hymns at church. Sorry, the cheesy choruses that have become common fodder in most churches just don’t have the same impact. (Oh, some do....but not many)

In 1883, Daniel Whittle wrote the hymn "I Know Whom I Have Believed" and those words have been running through my head for the past two days.

I know not why God’s wondrous grace

To me He hath made known,

Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love

Redeemed me for His own.

This Christ. This Jesus. This God in the flesh. He came, unconditionally, to reconcile creation to him. What is grace? It’s unmerited favor. It is so beyond me to even think that he would make such love known to us.

But I know Whom I have believèd,

And am persuaded that He is able

To keep that which I’ve committed

Unto Him against that day.

I can’t put God in a box. His mysteries show themselves in ways I can’t even begin to understand. I just recently finished Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis, someone had actually recommended Bell to me. I hadn’t read any of his stuff, but knew of him. Anyway, his comments in the book about the mysteries of the scripture were exquisite. Every time I open the Bible, even to a passage that I know by heart, I am often struck by something new. If I can be struck by something new, then the value of that passage, the truth of that passage, and my understanding of my own faith is increased. The Holy Spirit works! If we claim one interpretation of one piece of scripture, we have put God in a box. All I know is that by believing in Him, and taking all of the things He teaches me through his Spirit, I can humbly continue learning.

I know not how this saving faith

To me He did impart,

Nor how believing in His Word

Wrought peace within my heart.

Can you understand it? Can anyone?

I know not how the Spirit moves,

Convincing us of sin,

Revealing Jesus through the Word,

Creating faith in Him.

There is no recipe for the perfection of the movement of the Spirit. You can’t map it out. And each is convinced/convicted differently. All I can do is balance it against my experience and reason, and realize that those growth points, those movements, those revelations have made my faith what it is.

But I know Whom I have believèd,

And am persuaded that He is able

To keep that which I’ve committed

Unto Him against that day.

No matter what happens, God is there. I can pray to him where I’m at. I am blessed to have a family that on both sides (mom and dad) had a strong relationship to God. As my Grandpa lays dying, with his family surrounding his bed, I feel the legacy across the family holding us together in unity.

I know not what of good or ill

May be reserved for me,

Of weary ways or golden days,

Before His face I see.

Moses was blessed to see God’s backside. Or more importantly, see “where God had been”. I always say that we are blessed to be a blessing to others. If the only “God” that people see is through me, that’s almost enough. But, what about me? Selfishly, I want to see God in others as well…and learn, adore and be blessed by them.

I know not when my Lord may come,

At night or noonday fair,

Nor if I walk the vale with Him,

Or meet Him in the air.

Father God, may I live my life in a way that is pleasing to you. I praise you for your glory. I praise you for your teachings. I praise you for my family. May this legacy continue to my kids, and their kids, and their kids, and so on.

Amen.

And the first shall be last, and the last shall be first, and if I'm in the middle I don't have to move, right?

2007-07-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

So, last night, I’m driving my 8 year old daughter to the church we are currently attending for their evening “Vacation Bible Camp”. Out of the blue, she asks, “Daddy, can I ask you question about the Bible?”

“Sure, babe, what’s up?”

“Well, I’m not sure I understand something.”

Great, I think, how deep will this get. There is SO MUCH about the Bible that I don’t understand!!! “Okay, what don’t you understand?”

“I don’t understand what it means when it says that the last will be first and the first will be last.”

Heh, that’s a good thing to not understand. I explained to her that when Jesus said that, he was promoting an attitude of humility and talking to the religious leaders of the day. I explained to her that the way we live, in the way of Christ, will be used as evidence in our judgment. (We’ve talked about judgment and what that means many times before.)

GREAT ANSWER, BRAD!!! WHOOHOO!!! Dodged that bullet. Sure, it opens the door for more questions, but she’ll stew on that for a while. Not exactly what I think that verse means, but it was a quick answer without a Bible right in front of me.

“Daddy?”

“Yes?”

“Am I last?”

Oh, boy. How do I answer this one? Think….think…..think…..

“Well, I think that being last is something that you have to work toward, but it’s not even that, being last is just something that you are. You don’t actually work to BECOME last. You work to become what God wants you to be, working to form yourself to be more Christlike. And if you are truly living in the way of Christ, then you will meet whatever God’s requirements are for being ‘last’. But, babe, this isn’t something you need to really worry about.”

She was quiet for a minute or two.

“What if there are a lot of people, all trying to be last? How do I get to be more last than them?”

My first thought was to say, hope that there are only 3 people, and then aim for #2. That way, you won’t have to move. Conveniently, we got to the church before I had much of a chance to answer. I’m still thinking this one through, but it’s a fun conversation.

God Interferes with The World Series of Poker

2007-07-18T15:32:00.001-07:00

Jerry Yang won 8+ Million dollars at the World Series of Poker in Vegas, yesterday. In a quote from him on the Sports Illustrated website, he talks about coming from behind (short stack) and winning the whole tournament.

"I've seen the miracles of God with my own eyes," Yang said. "I did a lot of bluffing, also."

Wow, his winning was a full blown, divine intervention, miracle!!!!

**BRAD FIRMLY PLACES TONGUE IN CHEEK**
I'm sure that the final three players at the final table were all in a battle of Faith! Prayers were flying fast and hard as the turn came down, then the river. And Yang's faith came out on top!!!

Now, I want to go to Vegas for the WSoP because I'm SURE that God would be on my side, wouldn't he?
**BRAD REMOVES TONGUE FROM CHEEK**

Just thought it was funny.

Can I get a little open conversation in here?

2007-07-17T14:58:00.000-07:00

Probably the longest blog of mine to date.

As I stumble along through my faith journey, finding myself more and more drawn into some sort of “emergent” thought pattern, I balance everything I find against the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. (Scripture, Tradition, Experience, and Reason) Yep, that is certainly a human way of looking at things; open to interpretation, open to error, and also open to leading by the Holy Spirit.

To say that one is part of the Emergent conversation is indicative of a number of things. One, one is entering into a gray area of belief sets. So many different questions arise over what does “emergent” mean. What is one “emerging” from? What is one “emerging” to? And the absolute worst question is “What are the articles of faith of the Emergent movement?” The “authorities” in what is considered to be the public face of the Emergent movement are extremely hesitant to lay down a checklist of “we believe this” because it’s not about laying out a new orthodoxy, or even correcting an existing orthodoxy. It’s about conversing about what is already orthodox, and embracing it in a 21st century context.

The greater modern Christian community has some concerns when the words “Emergent Church” are uttered, mostly because they believe (or say they do) that people in the emergent conversation are avoiding the Truth. So, what does that mean? Simple. I perceive that those who are most heavily against the conversation are of the opinion that orthodoxy (right-thinking) is already nailed, and that the Truth is already known. Therefore, anyone who questions anything is immediately labeled a heretic.

(For an interesting read, hit Ken Silva’s blog at http://www.apprising.org/. Just a few examples of those who are being labeled heretical……Rick Warren…..Brian McLaren…..T.D. Jakes…..Joel Olsteen…..Dan Kimball…..Tony Jones….The entire Roman Catholic Church….Erwin McManus….Rob Bell….Doug Pagitt….and the list goes on. Sad thing, really, I used to respect Ken Silva, from my activities with Promise Keepers. Unfortunately, I can’t say that I do anymore. HOWEVER, I do read his blog as a counterpoint to other things that I read. So, there is some element of respect that remains.)

I am actively in conversations with people from all different lines of faith…..Nazarene, Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Christian (Stone-Campbell, but non-denominational) as well as some that are recognized as “leaders” in the movement that is the Emergent conversation - not claiming affiliation with any particular denomination. And I love my conversations. I cherish my conversations. These are my friends, they are intelligent, they are spiritual, they are religious, and they are journeying on the road of faith just like I am.

Dan Kimball, an author, pastor, and recognized name in Emerging church circles wrote this on his blog in December of last year in response to an open letter sent out by a well known radio personality (who he doesn’t name):
“All the emerging churches I know believe in the inspiration of the Bible, the Trinity, the atonement, the bodily resurrection, and salvation in Jesus alone. You go on their web sites and you quite often see the Apostle's Creed or Nicene Creed listed. So to say emerging churches don't have doctrines is very incorrect. There may be an isolated few that don't, but the majority do. Put this to the test and go look on some emerging church web sites, and you will easily see why he is wrong with this. In my experience I don't know of any emerging church who does not believe that God has revealed truth for us to know. I don't know of any emerging church who doesn't teach doctrines in their church. The stereotype that most emerging churches do not believe in truth, or that emerging churches don't hold any doctrinal positions is plainly a myth and an urban legend.”
http://www.dankimball.com/vintage_faith/2006/12/saddened_by_joh.html

So, earlier, I mentioned that there is a belief that Truth (with a capital T) is already known. Some would say this is absolute truth. I honestly can’t argue with that. However, if you ask Christians what absolute truth is, you will often get different answers, with scripture to back it up. For instance, some believe that the initial evidence of the infilling of the Holy Spirit is speaking in tongues. Some believe that the sacrament baptism is a means of salvation. Some believe that during the sacrament of the Eucharist, the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ. Some believe that there are two different crisis times in one’s life, one when they recognize their need for Christ and begin on a path to holiness, only to then have a second crisis at which they truly become holy and unable to sin. Some believe you just have to believe in Christ to be saved. Some believe there are other things you need to do as well. Some believe you are justified through faith, others believe it is through works.

On Friday, July 13th, 2007, Tony Jones, the director of Emergent Village (http://www.emergentvillage.com/) was on the Al Mohler radio show. Mohler is a well known Southern Baptist radio show host. I have never listened to his show, and downloaded this one off the internet. Mohler wasn’t even hosting, it was Russell Moore who had the reins. When asked about the “Emergent” movement’s view on orthodoxy, truth, and reformative thought, Jones mentioned that 50 years ago the Southern Baptist convention believed that interracial marriage was sinful, but then on Wednesday, July 11th, Mohler had said on his show that it was now recognized as being “fine” because all people are created equal, etc., etc. Well, Moore went nuts on this one. Jones’ point was that Biblical interpretation and practice evolves over time as the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth. He was not condemning the Southern Baptist Convention. He was simply making a point. Unfortunately, he did it in a way that was questionably inflammatory. **GRIN**

So, is there absolute truth? ABSOLUTELY!!! And I don’t just say that to be funny. As Kimball mentions in his post I linked above, most churches that claim to be emergent have articles of faith showing beliefs mostly in the Apostles and Nicean creeds. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostles%27_Creed and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicene_Creed respectively.) Even the creation, justification, ratification and context of these well known creeds have subjectively been altered by different groups at different times!!!! But, I think the point still holds true. There is truth that cannot be denied.

I won’t try and get into everything I believe here, simply because I don’t have the time. However, key elements:
- Christ (son of God, existence outside of time – not a created being, fully human, fully divine, died physically, rose again physically, and so on.)
- All mankind are sinners in need of a savior
- Jesus is the only way to God
- Truth is existent throughout God’s creation and should point us to Him. (Yep, science Rocks)
- God gives us grace (unmerited favor) and it is something we have to accept. It is freely given, but must be a willful acceptance on our part.
- Jesus will return
- There will be judgment, and that judgment will lead either to eternal separation (Hell) or eternal communion (Heaven) with God.
- There can be no relativism (what’s true for me is also true for you, and vice-versa)

Okay, I can’t write anymore right now. I’ve already got a headache.

I’ll boil it down…

This is supposed to be a conversation. Both sides need to be open to the other. Both sides need to be able to discuss. What we have now is not a conversation, but a group of people asking questions and giving a viewpoint, and a group of people saying, “You’re wrong”. I see more love and unity coming from the Emergent conversation than I do in the mainstream church. Maybe it’s just me. I want to talk…CONVERSE WITH ME!!!!

[yes, I edited this to correct it....see the comments and you'll understand. BWS 7/18/07]

Brad

Brian McLaren on Power and Justice

2007-06-11T13:22:00.000-07:00

Opinions? Some criticism is that this relates to building the Kingdom of Man instead of the Kingdom of God. Not sure I'd go that far.

Brad

Community

2007-05-27T15:51:00.001-07:00

Okay, time to get this blogging thing started. The conversation must continue....or start...or whatever.

Over the last number of months, my wife and I have been considering the concept of "community" in the church setting. More than that, we've been discussing what draws people TO a community. I've been reading (and re-reading) a number of books on Christian community. Naturally there are the classics (Life Together - Bonhoeffer, etc.), but there are also some new books, like Joe Myer's "Organic Community" (which is a bit extreme in spots, but the points are made well.)

Last week, I spent two days at a conference for work. I serve on a "Partner Advisory Council" meeting (PAC) for Microsoft. For the past three years, I have been on that PAC with the same guys (and one lady who is a sweetheart), and it has become a quarterly meeting that we really look forward to. We have a common goal -- to improve the quality and solution set in a particular collection of Microsoft products. We have a common background -- mostly Enterprise Systems Integrators. We only meet quarterly, but most of the 25 guys on the PAC have become very close friends. We keep in touch via e-mail, and when we are in the same town (whether for an event, a business trip, etc.) we try and gather for a meal. As I was driving home on Wednesday night, it struck me that I am in community with these people. More than that, it is a community in which I can say what is on my mind. I can be me. I can argue without disresepcting. I can laugh. Moreover, I can accept that others in the group have significant things to offer.

So, what are most small group ministries in churches missing? (Including the small groups ministry at my own church) Why do I look forward to meeting with the PAC more than my weekly small group? I don't claim to have an answer to this....I just claim to be thinking about it. **GRIN**

First and foremost, the PAC meeting is not forced intimacy. When I was brought in, I was not told, "These are your family, and you will share intimate thoughts with them because they can be trusted. " (I'm not saying that's how it was in our church small group, but that's sure the intention.) With the PAC, I was placed in an environment that "enabled" intimacy. For two days a quarter, we sit in a locked room (well, not LOCKED locked, but I think the point is made) and discuss our businesses, our experiences, and get some teaching/training/marketing hype along the way. We share meals together. We get various gifts/trinkets for serving on the PAC, usually with an MS logo and the name of our PAC. Bags, backpacks, jackets, etc. We do social events together...like sushi bars, or seeing a show -- something completely unrelated to our businesses or to the PAC itself.

Community happens.

I do not believe that there is a recipe for community. But, I also don't think that getting together once a week, and going through some silly fill-in-the-blank workbook and talking pat answers about life's questions is a way of doing it either. I want meat in my relationships. I want to be able to say, "Hey, this is what I'm learning. This is how I'm growing. This is what I'm really struggling with.", and I want to have people in the group actually DISCUSS it with me. Instead of saying, "Okay, moving on to the next topic."

What are your thoughts? What are the keys to community that you have found?

Liberation Theology: A survey

2006-09-03T00:02:00.000-07:00

Liberation theology is a theology that arose in Latin America as a response to the social and political regimes that are still present today. Its primary task is to do theology and practice its implications through the eyes of the poor. A common phrase that is used in liberation theology: a preferential option for the poor, could be their motto. An analysis of liberation theology can show a wide range of general practices and beliefs that could very well benefit theological study today. In this essay, we will examine the origin, task, and theories of liberation theology to bring new awareness of what it means to be a liberating force to our fellow man.

The struggles that have occurred in Latin America go back as far as the 16th century during the “age of exploration.” The colonization that took place created economic, social, political, and cultural structures that citizens of these countries have been trapped in ever since. What was born in the centuries to follow was an ever increasing oppression of the poor and dramatic distinction between them and the “elite.”

Although formal liberation theology did not emerge until the 1960’s, its roots are said to date back to the Spaniards conquest of the new land, specifically the Dominican activism which called people to treat the Indians as humans instead of as barbaric slaves.

Spain’s first policy toward the Indians, called encomienda, granted the Spanish colonists a number of Indians, who were supposed to toil in the mines and on the plantations of their captors. For their trouble the Indians received protection and instruction in the ‘holy faith.’ Since the Indians were guilty of gross crimes such as human sacrifice and idolatry, the Spanish felt duty-bound to stop these barbarities (Shelly, 284).

Bartholomew de Las Casas, originally one of the conquistadores, had a spiritual experience after reading a passage in Sirach when he was in his mid-thirties that led him to believe that he and the other conquistadores were wrong in their actions. He began to petition the king of Spain for action to be taken against the mistreatment of the Indians. “Thanks in part to his appeals, Charles V, in 1542, issued a series of new laws, The Laws of the Indies, which softened the severity of the encomienda system and established the principle that Indians had human rights too” (Shelly, 285). However, even with the decree issued by Charles, the mistreatment and exploitation continued.

Latin America eventually “broke away from Spain and Portugal. The independence movement was largely the work of the local elites, who were motivated not only by nationalism but by a desire to be free to trade directly with the new center of world power, Great Britain” (Berryman, 11). Though the poor fought in the war for independence, they were not to benefit from its outcome. This struggle had huge ramifications for the Catholic Church which saw a mass departure of clergy from countries within Latin America which led to the dependence from outside resources to try and fill the void.

“The church came to be a bastion of support for the European populations which held and still hold the land and economic power. In some countries two per cent of the people own ninety per cent of the land. The question of social justice was muffled by the cultural captivity of the hierarchy” (Mursell, 324). Between 1900 and 1950, Catholic Action movements supported awareness of the unfair social structure and in 1955 the first plenary meeting of CELAM (Latin American Bishops Conference) bishops from all over Latin America came together to discuss concerns within the institution in addition to recognizing the growing social problems within the country. Some of these bishops along with the local priests and sisters began to work with peasants, some even went as far as practicing solidarity by moving into the rural areas and living their life with the poor. The continual class struggle along with the implications of Vatican II spawned the second council of CELAM in which Gustavo Gutierrez first used the term “theology of liberation” as set forth in the Medellin Document of Peace.

Liberationists practice theology by starting at the view point of the poor. To a liberationist, an aspect of God’s reconciliation of the world through Christ was the liberation of the oppressed. Luke 4:18-19 records the reading of a passage in Isaiah from Jesus in the synagogue at Nazareth near the beginning of his ministry. It says: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Where many theologians will interpret this passage to mean spiritual oppression, blindness, and captivity, liberation theologians interpret it to also include physical oppression, blindness, and captivity.

Liberationists believe that God favors the poor and so we ought to have preferential treatment towards them as well. Within the Catholic church in Latin America, there began a grass roots movement for opting for the poor. This simply means that the clergy and sisters “have made an option to go to the poor and engage them in a reinterpretation of their own religious tradition in a way that is more biblically based and gives them a transformative rather than a fatalistic stance toward the world” (Berryman, 42). The reason this was so radical was that up to this point the church had tended to tailor their services toward the “elite” and inadvertently (or advertently) supported the very system that oppressed the poor.

In liberation theology, “rather than assume a predetermined history…theologians believe that humans abide by free will and are responsible to work with God to create a just and equitable world” (Stenberg). In this light, instead of working towards the kingdom of heaven as though it were only a place to be found in the new or recreated world, they see it as working towards a kingdom that has, at least partially, come; “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” In other words, liberation is not only meant as a reward in heaven, but as a possibility here on earth.

One of the primary tasks of liberation theologians is the evangelization of their nation. For many of the clergy this process of evangelism might mean more of a re-evangelization. This task of evangelism is the means of which to not only seek and save the lost but to bring good news and hope to the Christians. “The good news is that God hears the cry of the poor and is with them in their suffering and struggle” (Berryman, 41).

While the term “preferential option for the poor” and the reasoning that God favors the poor make it seem as though he disfavors the rich, we must understand the biblical principles that allow them to make this claim. In Matthew 25, a parable is found in which Christ speaks of the final judgment where he will sift the sheep from the goats. To those he calls righteous he gives the reason that they had fed him when he was hungry, clothed him when he was naked, gave him drink when he was thirsty, cared for him when he was sick, and visited him while he was imprisoned (vv 37-39). When he was asked when they had done all of these things, Christ responded “Whatever you have done for the least of these, you have done for me” (v 40). It is in this light that they say that God has preference for the poor, meaning that he has called us to care for the “least of these.” In Old Testament passages, God speaks through the prophets of the judgment on those who act unjustly towards others. In Micah, we are told that God requires us “…to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (6:8).

“Liberation theology calls Christians from all social classes to enact the vision of the gospels in order to end oppressive class struggles” (Stenberg). What we must understand about the context of liberation theology that few Westerners understand is the seriousness in which the injustices are inflicted. As theologians rose up in Latin America, they began to ask questions from a Latin American perspective as opposed to a European vantage point. Westerners struggled to defend the relevancy of theology and the credibility of Christianity in light of the Enlightenment, the age of progress, and the age of self and the questions each of these raised. “While Latin Americans can understand such questions, their basic concerns are different. Their question is not so much whether one can believe what Christianity affirms, but rather what relevance Christianity has in the struggle for a more just world. Gutierrez defines theology as ‘critical reflection on praxis in the light of the word of God’” (Berryman, 26).

While there is considerable attention drawn to the freeing of the oppressed, it is important to note that the “liberation” they speak of is two fold. The liberating process is not one of the reversal of roles where the oppressed then become the oppressors (e.g. what happened as a result of the French Revolution). The end goal of liberation theology is to do all that one can to create a just and equitable world; this would be freeing the oppressed from the oppressors and the liberation of the oppressors from their dominating actions thus bringing the whole of the community into closer relations with God and with others.

One of the criticisms likely to be heard from Westerners is that Christ never intended to free the physically oppressed. Much in the gospels denotes instructions on how to persevere in the face of persecution not how to become liberated from oppression. While the claim that Jesus never sought to free the Jews from the oppression of Romans is correct, it is not wrong to speak of God calling men and women in history to stand up against oppression. Examples are found throughout history: slavery, the holocaust, racial prejudice, women’s liberation, etc.

Latino theologians are quick to point out that these structures of injustice are structural or situational sins. Many Westerners, as a result of the philosophical and cultural developments in the last 500 years, have slowly pushed the concept of community out in the margins so that now their faith is a matter a personal choice and does not necessarily affect anyone else. We see this carry over into things such as sin; sin is a transgression of the law that breaks communion between me and God. Though my sin might have been against someone else, the primary offense is to God.

Liberation theologians, though they do not deny the personal element of sin, understand that sin is present in man-made structures and systems. The bishops who met in Pueblo in 1979 said: “‘We see the growing gap between rich and poor as a scandal and contradiction to Christian existence. The luxury of a few becomes an insult to the wretched poverty of the vast masses…’ They spoke of this as a ‘situation of social sinfulness’ and as a ‘grave structural conflict’” (Berryman, 43). To look at sin as only affecting my personal relationship with God is to deny the relational element of sin.

Richard M. Gula, in an essay entitled Understanding Sin Today states:

We all know that we violate the ecological balance of nature when we put toxins into our air and water or throw hamburger foil wrappers out the car window. We violate our moral ecology when we create discord, dissension, fear, mistrust and alienation in the web of life’s relationships…Social sin describes the human-made structures when they offend human dignity by causing people to suffer oppression, exploitation or marginalization. These include educational systems, housing policies, health-care systems, employment policies, and market economy.

What makes social sin so difficult to recognize is the fact that it exists in social and political systems that we assume work together for the good of the community. In light of the abolitionist movements of the United States, (e.g. slavery, racial discrimination, women’s rights, etc) most of us would say that there are “evil” social structures that need to be done away with. Liberation theologians are simply applying this same mentality to the current situation found in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, but approaching the methodology in a way that is relevant to their situation.

Another major criticisms raised against liberation theology is its use of socialism as a solution to the persisting problem of class struggle. However, the understanding that most theologians hold in respect to the use of socialism and Marxist analysis do not necessarily make them socialists or Marxists. Juan Luis Segundo, in an essay written in 1974 states: “By ‘socialism’ I do not mean a complete, long-term social project-hence one that is endowed with a particular ideology or philosophy. I simply mean a political regime in which the ownership of the means of production is taken away from individuals and handed over to higher institutions whose main concern is the common good” (Berryman, 91). Most liberation theologians are not looking at socialism as a permanent means to an end. Instead they are looking at it as a means to liberation from the national dependency on outside capital so that they can redevelop themselves autonomously.

Another criticism heard is that liberation theology is not really theology at all but a set of Christian ethics due to the emphasis placed on praxis. However, there are many protestant and Catholic theologians who are do not necessarily practice liberation theology but will affirm it is theology in that it is a systematic approach to understanding God, creation, Jesus, sin, etc. Where liberation theology differs from others is that it does not necessarily begin with the intellect but with experience. This is different from the more modern understanding of experience theology in that it moves in a circular patter from experience to theology and back to experience. It is “faith seeking understanding” in the cultural experience that persons in the third world find themselves in.

Overall, the aim of liberation theology is placed on looking at the bible, God, and the world through the eyes of the poor. It is a call to people to practice solidarity with the poor and struggle along side them in an attempt to better the situation that they are in. Though some of the proponents of liberation theology have gone to the extreme of taking up arms, most practitioners follow what is called “relentless persistence”, a nonviolent activism in hopes of stopping the oppressive cycles.

What we, as fellow Christians and Westerners, need to see in liberation theology is the praxis of living in solidarity with the poor and the oppressed. Our responsibility as brothers and sisters is to carry each others burdens, to care for those less fortunate, to seek justice for all. Our individualized ideal of Christianity prevents us from seeing the injustices that surround us in our neighboring countries. I believe without a doubt that those who are our geographical neighbors (meaning literally next door and in our communities) should be served as well, but when we speak of the poor we must understand that typically, the poorest of our poor are wealthier than the richest of most of the peasantry found in third world countries and nations like Latin America. Our materialism has blinded us to the need of others and restricted us in our response to their situations. So often today we consider it all good and well to just throw our dollars towards the mission offering once a month and call it good. We need to recapture the understanding of living frugally so that we can give…not only with our money but with our time and our life. We must return to the understanding of what it means to live in solidarity with the poor, to work along side them, and to share our lives with them.

When we become aware of structural evils, we should not be paralyzed by the guilt of self-condemnation, but moved to conversion. Conversion from social sin involves, at one level, changing our own lifestyle in ways that will help reform society…At another level, conversion from social sin involves examining existing regulations and practices, reforming those that offend human dignity (Gula).

Works Cited:

Berryman, Phillip. Liberation Theology: The Essential Facts About the Revolutionary Movement in Latin America and Beyond. (New York: Pantheon Books; 1987)

Shelly, Bruce L. Church History in Plain Language, Updated 2nd Edition. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson; 1995)

Gula, Richard M. “Understanding Sin Today”. Catholic Update (2004). August 25, 2006

Mursell, Gordon gen. ed. The Story of Christian Spirituality. (Minneapolis: First Fortress Press; 2001)

Stenberg, Sheri. “Liberation Theology and Liberatory Pedagogies: Renewing the Dialog” College English; Jan 2006; 68, 3; Wilson Education Abstracts. ProQuest. August 30, 2006

Other Works Consulted:

Ferm, Dean William. Third World Liberation Theologies. (Maryknoll: Orbis Books; 1986)

McManus, Phillip and Gerald Schlabach. Relentless Persistence: Nonviolent Action in Latin America. (Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers; 1991)

The Church of Me

2006-08-21T09:29:00.000-07:00

Absolutely priceless!!!!

Brad

I get the first post

2006-08-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

WHOOHOO!!!! I get the first post.

And this is it.

Brad