A response. The response of those listening to John the Baptist. Forgive me as I have to have somewhere to get some thoughts out for consideration. This blog is going to be my place for it today.
An interesting question, a response to John's preaching. John is merely doing his job, pronouncing the coming of Jesus. He talks about the obstacles that Jesus is going to overcome. Hill and mountains (depending on the translation) made low. Valleys being lifted up...words describing the leveling of the playing field so to speak.
Repent, the Kingdom of God is near. John uses the imagery of fire and water. "I baptize you with water, but one is coming who will baptize with fire..." Water makes things clean, fire can change the nature of something. It transforms. I've never heard this as an allusion to 'repent or you'll go to hell.' Think about it. When is the last time you heard those words? Probably the last time you saw bullhorn guy (thanks Nooma). I don't think Jesus came to burn us up...he came to change our nature. Good thing too...he showed us what nature to turn into.
There are three major times in the NT when the 'what should we do' comes into play. First, here in Luke 3...I'll get back there in a sec. Next, Acts 2:37, and the listeners are told to repent. Repent=say I'm sorry and work at allowing God to change your nature on _______ issue. Next, Acts 9:6...Saul's conversion to Paul, Saul can't see and is told to go into the city and he'll be told what to do. Jesus doesn't threaten him (never really thought of it this way until now) just asks why he's persecuting him. Paul is not burnt up with 'fire,' the fire of Jesus changes his nature.
Next Acts 16:30, Paul and Silas in jail. Big earthquake, doors opened but nobody leaves. Jailer: 'What must I do...' Paul: believe on Jesus. Jailer gives Paul a meal the next day (and some medical attention). No fires, no hell, just a penitent heart.
Finally, back to Luke. John uses all his repentance stuff. The people respond, 'what should we do?' Answer? Give away your extra clothes, treat people fairly, do your job honorably...someone is coming who can and will change your nature, I mean come with fire. It seems that firey hell wasn't part of the plan, and doesn't sound like Jesus came to send us there. Doesn't even really sound like Jesus came to keep us out of there.
Seems that Jesus wants to change our nature into his. You light something on fire and pretty soon it's all fire and you can't tell the difference between what was and wasn't on fire to begin with.
John? A social activist? No, not John. He uses that fire language...
Hmpf...turns out you can be both, and be better for it...
See, he's crazy, not stupid...
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Saturday, December 23, 2006
it's late...
...after our first family Christmas gather of the season. My Dad got me a wireless router for Christmas, and now I can sit on my comfy couch and blog away. Tonight, I found my way to the God's Politics blog and have done some reading. I wanted to share a little bit; I have thoughts and here they come...
Labels just stink, don't they? The more I think of it, the more it seems like labels emerge because we just don't have the time to get to know a broad base of folks. Some of the labels that have been re-occurring in my path over the past few days:
Christian Right- label given to anyone that voted for Bush based only on issues of abortion, same-sex union, and even Iraq since Hussein was (at least for a period of time) the anti-Christ. If this is you, you tend to think that James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson are the 21st century names of guys like John, Peter, and Phillip. Can't you just hear it in the text? "Simon, who is called Dr. Dobson." You may think that homosexuality is a communicable disease, and of all the stuff God said that God didn't like, this is the worst. Not because that thought ever came out that ever came out of a mouth, it's just the impression that I get.
Progressive Christianity- If you're a coffeehouse jumping, post-modern, almost social activist, than this you. You may or may not like it, but progressive is just another word for liberal and you might feel like the people at church might lynch you for voting for Kerry. After all, if you're not conservative than you must be liberal, right? (see above description) The dualism of the established church just ticks you off--or as I call it either/or-ism; you're more likely to sip your latte and be ticked with your friends than do anything about it.
Red Letter Christian- you're a baptist that might actually talk to someone who's had an abortion or sex with a partner of the same gender. In an effort to distance yourself from an intolerant bunch of folks, you've given yourself a whole new name to be known by. The Jesus Seminar has categorized you folks (basing this next statement on color alone) as the one's who follow what we are most certain Jesus actually said...so good then, I guess.
Homosexual- your life revolves around sex. Your orientation is the sum total of your personality and personhood, so you've got that going for you. The crusade to legalize same sex unions are more about proving a point than love for your 'partner' and to make those crazies on the right squirm. That's precisely why we see footage of two guys getting married and see them SWAK the marriage with a little tongue. You hate Eminem, are more likely to be a member of PETA and are a better dancer than me.
And the list could go on and on...
Ticked off yet? Labels suck, don't they?
Anyone besides me ready to stop using them to refer to people?
John Burke, in his book, No Perfect People Allowed, says that we must all live in the tension of the Scriptures...that there are things in the bible that don't add up in our minds. The only way to live 'in the tension' is to create an atmosphere of dialogue and be ready to admit your own struggles and shortcomings and that you may have to say 'I don't know' in a conversation about Jesus.
I am committing to try to eliminate the labels from my lexicon and enter into relationship and conversation with people...
...who's in with me...
Oh, yeah...Merry Christmas, friends...
Labels just stink, don't they? The more I think of it, the more it seems like labels emerge because we just don't have the time to get to know a broad base of folks. Some of the labels that have been re-occurring in my path over the past few days:
Christian Right- label given to anyone that voted for Bush based only on issues of abortion, same-sex union, and even Iraq since Hussein was (at least for a period of time) the anti-Christ. If this is you, you tend to think that James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson are the 21st century names of guys like John, Peter, and Phillip. Can't you just hear it in the text? "Simon, who is called Dr. Dobson." You may think that homosexuality is a communicable disease, and of all the stuff God said that God didn't like, this is the worst. Not because that thought ever came out that ever came out of a mouth, it's just the impression that I get.
Progressive Christianity- If you're a coffeehouse jumping, post-modern, almost social activist, than this you. You may or may not like it, but progressive is just another word for liberal and you might feel like the people at church might lynch you for voting for Kerry. After all, if you're not conservative than you must be liberal, right? (see above description) The dualism of the established church just ticks you off--or as I call it either/or-ism; you're more likely to sip your latte and be ticked with your friends than do anything about it.
Red Letter Christian- you're a baptist that might actually talk to someone who's had an abortion or sex with a partner of the same gender. In an effort to distance yourself from an intolerant bunch of folks, you've given yourself a whole new name to be known by. The Jesus Seminar has categorized you folks (basing this next statement on color alone) as the one's who follow what we are most certain Jesus actually said...so good then, I guess.
Homosexual- your life revolves around sex. Your orientation is the sum total of your personality and personhood, so you've got that going for you. The crusade to legalize same sex unions are more about proving a point than love for your 'partner' and to make those crazies on the right squirm. That's precisely why we see footage of two guys getting married and see them SWAK the marriage with a little tongue. You hate Eminem, are more likely to be a member of PETA and are a better dancer than me.
And the list could go on and on...
Ticked off yet? Labels suck, don't they?
Anyone besides me ready to stop using them to refer to people?
John Burke, in his book, No Perfect People Allowed, says that we must all live in the tension of the Scriptures...that there are things in the bible that don't add up in our minds. The only way to live 'in the tension' is to create an atmosphere of dialogue and be ready to admit your own struggles and shortcomings and that you may have to say 'I don't know' in a conversation about Jesus.
I am committing to try to eliminate the labels from my lexicon and enter into relationship and conversation with people...
...who's in with me...
Oh, yeah...Merry Christmas, friends...
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Interesting discussion
Jim Wallis- one of this days most prophetic progressive Christian voices has one of the more interesting blogs I've run across. This video is on it:
Love to hear your thoughts on it...
Love to hear your thoughts on it...
Sunday, December 17, 2006
today...
Yeah, so not really in a good mood. Just finished teaching Sunday school, and I am finding myself having less and less patience. And, no, I'm not losing patience with the kids...it's their parents. Actually it's really not the parents either. I think it's the bubble of mediocrity that people have pitched their tents in.
I just finshed up spending an hour with kids...didn't mention Jesus. Not that one has to mention Jesus to have a good experience, but I don't know how much longer I can go on feeling no support from several of the families here. Don't get me wrong, there are some great things and great people here, but when it comes to values expressed in words and values expressed in actions (as in what the people value in a youth ministry)...yeah, so not quite equal.
I really feel like I'm doing all that I can, and I don't want to blame stuff on other people because I know what that looks like and sounds like. Like I DO NOT want to come off as 'I could do better if the rest of you gave me a little help here.' But that's how I feel. Like I feel the words, but not the arrogance that statement portrays.
Is this what youth ministry really feels like? Was I on some utopian youth ministry planet until we moved here?
I will persevere. We have a white elephant Christmas thing this afternoon. Doesn't sound like anyone's coming, but we'll see.
We'll see...
I just finshed up spending an hour with kids...didn't mention Jesus. Not that one has to mention Jesus to have a good experience, but I don't know how much longer I can go on feeling no support from several of the families here. Don't get me wrong, there are some great things and great people here, but when it comes to values expressed in words and values expressed in actions (as in what the people value in a youth ministry)...yeah, so not quite equal.
I really feel like I'm doing all that I can, and I don't want to blame stuff on other people because I know what that looks like and sounds like. Like I DO NOT want to come off as 'I could do better if the rest of you gave me a little help here.' But that's how I feel. Like I feel the words, but not the arrogance that statement portrays.
Is this what youth ministry really feels like? Was I on some utopian youth ministry planet until we moved here?
I will persevere. We have a white elephant Christmas thing this afternoon. Doesn't sound like anyone's coming, but we'll see.
We'll see...
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
hee hee hee
made me smile. there are several of these on youtube (thanks DG) I shall post some more at a later time...
-rc
Monday, December 11, 2006
Warm and Fuzzy
All of your well wishes as I step in Mac world are much appreciated. I LOVE that thing already. I will never go back...unless I win some sweepstakes, but you've got to play to win, right?
Now that everything is official, I'd like to be less cryptic about my life over the past couple of months. God has been doing some mighty crazy stuff and there have been a few of us that have been privileged to be part of what God's doing here in this community. Two churches, mine and one from down the street (literally!) have put their trust in God and their young, dare I say, post-modern leaders. If you read my blog with regularity, you may have noticed the links on the right. Two such links are Five02 and Journey. Five02 being the 'post-modern' (dang it I hate labels!!) community effort of St. Marks UMC and Journey, the 'post-modern' (did I mention I can't stand labels) effort of St. Paul's UMC have co-op'ed into a new relationship.
It's still called Journey and their link remains the same. Five02 has merged into Journey...which is in the form of a church plant. The cool thing is that...
(it should be said that I just took at 10 minute break to read the boy books and put him to bed. tonight's selection? Walter the Farting Dog goes on a Cruise)
...there are several other of these communities springing up in town. Some have spaces, some are meeting in homes, and for the most part many of us are keenly aware that there is something much bigger going on than any of us have ever been a part of. It's a very exciting time.
Now, over the past few weeks, you have read some of my laments about the ways that some aspects of church get it wrong. Conversations happened that I would've much rather never have been a part of. In the midst of prfound peace I experienced moments of despair--thinking that it MIGHT be possible for something to go nuts and have bunches of people collectively turn their backs on God and stick a fork in the whole idea. But they didn't.
For my wife and I, these are very exciting times. Even the boy, now nearly two, can distinguish between 'church' and 'new church' as I straddle the line as youth director in place and worship leader in another. I have went to bat for God, God's vision, and for my Mac (which is a deeper seeded issue than one might think). I am at the same time exhausted and energized.
My partner, Journey's founding pastor, is in Europe right now and will be there for the next several weeks going thru an adoption process. Pray for him, his wife, and his kids...one he's met and is now 4 and one they'll meet there and bring home. I have never felt so comfortably polarized.
So, if you want to, visit us online by clicking here
-rc
Now that everything is official, I'd like to be less cryptic about my life over the past couple of months. God has been doing some mighty crazy stuff and there have been a few of us that have been privileged to be part of what God's doing here in this community. Two churches, mine and one from down the street (literally!) have put their trust in God and their young, dare I say, post-modern leaders. If you read my blog with regularity, you may have noticed the links on the right. Two such links are Five02 and Journey. Five02 being the 'post-modern' (dang it I hate labels!!) community effort of St. Marks UMC and Journey, the 'post-modern' (did I mention I can't stand labels) effort of St. Paul's UMC have co-op'ed into a new relationship.
It's still called Journey and their link remains the same. Five02 has merged into Journey...which is in the form of a church plant. The cool thing is that...
(it should be said that I just took at 10 minute break to read the boy books and put him to bed. tonight's selection? Walter the Farting Dog goes on a Cruise)
...there are several other of these communities springing up in town. Some have spaces, some are meeting in homes, and for the most part many of us are keenly aware that there is something much bigger going on than any of us have ever been a part of. It's a very exciting time.
Now, over the past few weeks, you have read some of my laments about the ways that some aspects of church get it wrong. Conversations happened that I would've much rather never have been a part of. In the midst of prfound peace I experienced moments of despair--thinking that it MIGHT be possible for something to go nuts and have bunches of people collectively turn their backs on God and stick a fork in the whole idea. But they didn't.
For my wife and I, these are very exciting times. Even the boy, now nearly two, can distinguish between 'church' and 'new church' as I straddle the line as youth director in place and worship leader in another. I have went to bat for God, God's vision, and for my Mac (which is a deeper seeded issue than one might think). I am at the same time exhausted and energized.
My partner, Journey's founding pastor, is in Europe right now and will be there for the next several weeks going thru an adoption process. Pray for him, his wife, and his kids...one he's met and is now 4 and one they'll meet there and bring home. I have never felt so comfortably polarized.
So, if you want to, visit us online by clicking here
-rc
Friday, December 08, 2006
Oh...my...WORD
Someone got their MacBook a couple days early!!
While I am still adjusting to the mac life, I couldn't be more excited about actually having the thing in front of me.
Yeah, so I'm not sure if I can convey the sheer, pure, excitement I'm feeling...
Yay for my mighty mouse too...
Rock on!!
While I am still adjusting to the mac life, I couldn't be more excited about actually having the thing in front of me.
Yeah, so I'm not sure if I can convey the sheer, pure, excitement I'm feeling...
Yay for my mighty mouse too...
Rock on!!
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Mac Watch: Day 3
The Mighty mouse has indeed arrived...woo hoo!
Backpack: en route...should see it tomorrow...
The MacBook...has shipped FINALLY!! ETA? Monday...grrr
This is why you listen to the wisdom of the the guy that says 'it'll will be fine and if we wait much past Thanksgiving, all the shoppers will be buying stuff and our precious 1-3 day shipping becomes precaiously 5-7 day shipping'
BUT...it is coming, and I'll be waiting with open arms...
Backpack: en route...should see it tomorrow...
The MacBook...has shipped FINALLY!! ETA? Monday...grrr
This is why you listen to the wisdom of the the guy that says 'it'll will be fine and if we wait much past Thanksgiving, all the shoppers will be buying stuff and our precious 1-3 day shipping becomes precaiously 5-7 day shipping'
BUT...it is coming, and I'll be waiting with open arms...
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Mac Watch: Day 2
The mighty mouse and the back pack have shipped. Mighty Mouse may be here today. The Applecare Plan is to be here already though I've not heard anything about it.
The MacBook hasn't shipped yet though...argh!
My frustration runs deep on this one...
..deeper than FedEx anyway...
The MacBook hasn't shipped yet though...argh!
My frustration runs deep on this one...
..deeper than FedEx anyway...
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Mac watch
Day 1...nothing...
My mighty mouse shipped, but no word on the mac...
That thing needs to get here today
For real
My mighty mouse shipped, but no word on the mac...
That thing needs to get here today
For real
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Quaker's Meeting
While most of the snow either isn't here yet or is heading north of us, we got hit with some very, very high winds. I actually heard the house make some noises that I'm not sure that any structure should ever make. Nonetheless, me and the boy had much fun on our Daddy and Boy Friday. Friday's are my day off and the best time for me to bond with kiddo. As we were reading books before nap time, the wind whistled through the teenie tiny cracks of the window in his room. Didn't seem to bother him much...he went straight to sleep.
While on the phone, I hear a minor explosive boom outside. Sounded kinda like a transformer. Not Optimus Prime...the kind on the poles outside. We instantly lost power. Thus losing my connections with the outside world. Of course, I still had my trusty Razr, but A. and have been treading a little to close to major minute overages, so that was no use. Besides, A. was cleaning for the day, so it was just me. No power, no nothing. My feeble home computer (unlike the Mac on the way for my job...woo frickin hoo) is about 5 1/2 years old now so any thought of the elderly battery inside lasting for more than 12 minutes was a wasted one. No power, no nothing.
But wait...there was hope. My new SanDisk Sansa m240 had arrived in the mail a day previous. I had had some time to put some music on it (Starfield-Everything's Beautiful...great album), so I had some back up. Cabin fever had struck. What do I do? Eat! Yeah, that's it. Pretzels and pistachios. Snacks though, not meant for the long haul. So I poured a bowl of raisin bran, but the fever had set in and I paced around the house with cereal in hand...I'm not sure if I sat at all for a good hour. I just paced.
I FELT like I should've taken the time to decompress. Obviously, I was wound tighter than all get out. It felt like I was being asked to. I remember the thoughts in my mind. Ryan, dude, this would be a good time to sit and chat with God. I didn't. I couldn't quiet myself enough to do it. So, I bided my time. I passively listened to music...dozed off hoping that I wouldn't miss the power company's visit. Soon it was 5pm. Wife home. Power, nope. Light...losing it. Boy, awake. So, we packed up and headed to the in-laws. A truly life giving place, honestly.
Their plans? Go to a book sale at their church. Hmmm, books. That idea sucked earlier in the day, but now...not so bad. So I went. Bought 5. The one the screamed at my soul? Holy Silence: The Gift of Quaker Spirituality I couldn't get that one back to read fast enough. It wasn't until later that I caught the irony of my crazy quiet and the strong feeling to read about Quaker spirituality--a spiritual perspective strongly rooted in active silence; clearly, God was going to get me one way or another on this one.
So many of the words that I've read over the past 20 hours have resonated with my soul. An excerpt:
"Spiriual silence...is a scalpel. It slices our souls open. It cuts through the layers of our fears and insecurities and our reliance on others instead of God...Just as surgery can be scary, so can silence. Especially at first. Silence leads us to self-discovery of any sin hidden deep within us. I'm not talking about big sins. I'm talking about the little sins that hold us back from being the people that, deep in our souls, we know God wants us to be.
I just wasn't prepped for surgery...yet...
...but I'm closer...
While on the phone, I hear a minor explosive boom outside. Sounded kinda like a transformer. Not Optimus Prime...the kind on the poles outside. We instantly lost power. Thus losing my connections with the outside world. Of course, I still had my trusty Razr, but A. and have been treading a little to close to major minute overages, so that was no use. Besides, A. was cleaning for the day, so it was just me. No power, no nothing. My feeble home computer (unlike the Mac on the way for my job...woo frickin hoo) is about 5 1/2 years old now so any thought of the elderly battery inside lasting for more than 12 minutes was a wasted one. No power, no nothing.
But wait...there was hope. My new SanDisk Sansa m240 had arrived in the mail a day previous. I had had some time to put some music on it (Starfield-Everything's Beautiful...great album), so I had some back up. Cabin fever had struck. What do I do? Eat! Yeah, that's it. Pretzels and pistachios. Snacks though, not meant for the long haul. So I poured a bowl of raisin bran, but the fever had set in and I paced around the house with cereal in hand...I'm not sure if I sat at all for a good hour. I just paced.
I FELT like I should've taken the time to decompress. Obviously, I was wound tighter than all get out. It felt like I was being asked to. I remember the thoughts in my mind. Ryan, dude, this would be a good time to sit and chat with God. I didn't. I couldn't quiet myself enough to do it. So, I bided my time. I passively listened to music...dozed off hoping that I wouldn't miss the power company's visit. Soon it was 5pm. Wife home. Power, nope. Light...losing it. Boy, awake. So, we packed up and headed to the in-laws. A truly life giving place, honestly.
Their plans? Go to a book sale at their church. Hmmm, books. That idea sucked earlier in the day, but now...not so bad. So I went. Bought 5. The one the screamed at my soul? Holy Silence: The Gift of Quaker Spirituality I couldn't get that one back to read fast enough. It wasn't until later that I caught the irony of my crazy quiet and the strong feeling to read about Quaker spirituality--a spiritual perspective strongly rooted in active silence; clearly, God was going to get me one way or another on this one.
So many of the words that I've read over the past 20 hours have resonated with my soul. An excerpt:
"Spiriual silence...is a scalpel. It slices our souls open. It cuts through the layers of our fears and insecurities and our reliance on others instead of God...Just as surgery can be scary, so can silence. Especially at first. Silence leads us to self-discovery of any sin hidden deep within us. I'm not talking about big sins. I'm talking about the little sins that hold us back from being the people that, deep in our souls, we know God wants us to be.
I just wasn't prepped for surgery...yet...
...but I'm closer...
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