Gen X and Social Justice

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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?

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

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

(“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

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

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”

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....

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?

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

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?

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

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