The Shack, William Young

I recently finished reading what has become a sort of Christian pop culture phenomenon, the Shack.
I'd rather not give a lengthy review of my own since reviews are numerous and widespread on this internet thing. Actually, Andy Rowell has compiled a good list of reviews if you're interested.

A few things that I would say:

• Those who've denounced this novel have really missed the point. It's quite obvious as in any fiction that this book is not meant to be a theological treatise. The book has a good storyline about healing and the power of relationship with God. I'm not as huge a fan of the book as some who have praised it highly (E. Peterson claims this book to be the next Pilgrim's Progress. I highly doubt it). I enjoyed the imaginative writing and dialog with God. Overrall I thought the book was worth the read, but I would not say I loved it.

• There were some places I felt like it lacked:
  
• Young is creative in his approach to the Trinity (which some have claimed to be modalistic, which is a case in missing the point), but often the dialog is uncreative, slow, and full of cheesy Christian quotes.
  
• Also, I think Young stepped out in allowing Papa, the "head" of the Trinity to actually be God the mother, a large African American woman. I appreciated that he first tried to defy the male-centered lens of the church, but in the end he fails by allowing God to resemble the form that the main character presumed God would be in the first place, a Gandalf-like old man.
  
• I do like that Jesus resembles a middle eastern man, but Young fails in his presentation of Jesus. There are two things that I didn't like. One was that Jesus seemed to be against the institutional church or religion in any sense. Not that I don't think the institutional church or religion doesn't need critiquing, but Jesus came across more as the "my buddy" or "homeboy" Jesus who has been created by our consumer culture. Jesus as anti-religion and best buddy were weak representations.

• Other then these critiques, Young delivers a book that I would recommend to anyone that has suffered lost and is struggling with questions of faith, doubt, love, life, and God. Furthermore, Trinitarian theology has become quite popular as of late and this work witnesses to the beauty, complexity, and creativity bound up with this important doctrine. Check it out, read it, mull it over.
  

Go figure...

I'm tired of this guy.

House of Cards by Radiohead

Brilliant Quotes or What a Genius Says vol. iii

"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

The Real Work is Humbling

God sets out upon the humiliating path of reconciliation and thereby pronounces the world free. God wills to be guilty of our sin, and takes over the punishment and suffering sin has brought upon us. God answers for godlessness, love for hatred, the saint for the sinner. Now there is no godlessness, no hatred, no sin which God has not carried, suffered, and atoned. Now there is no reality, no world that is not reconciled and in peace with God. God did this in the beloved son Jesus Christ.

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Meditations on the Cross via

Just in Case You Missed it the 1st Time

The Farting Preacher

Setting Limits, Fighting Heresy

Although I finished this post a few weeks ago, I've had a hard time posting it. I'll give the reason's afterwards, but here's the post in full:

"In discussing the historical Jesus, Bonhoeffer explains why critical christology is important. Not everything about Christ is comprehensible, but the work of critical christology is to limit the incomprehensible, thus it determines the boundaries of "what may not be said about Christ."

It certainly is important to figure out what we should not say about Christ, otherwise our faith truly is nothing. This does not mean of course that we must completely understand the questions of "who" or "how" Jesus, but it does give us categories for comprehending the God-man, incarnate one.

In our pluralistic society one of the dirty words has become heresy, which Bonhoeffer links to critical christology. "If critical christology is concerned with fixing limits, that means it is concerned with the concept of heresy."

Bonhoeffer's notes on heresy are helpful for understanding its role and why there is a need to point it out. I do recognize that heresy often arises from power struggles and can lead to paternalism, but there is still a need to recognize what cannot be said about Christ, the limits. Heresy thus "emerges from the fellowship of the Church and not from an absence of love." To love someone in a brotherly or sisterly way means to speak the truth in love, and "if I do not speak the truth, then I treat him like a heathen."

Here's the reasons I had a hard time posting:
1) Heresy can often and is often what the "winners" say it is, thus the history and theology written by the western church does not mean its the only correct theology. Our own neo-colonial attitude toward theology in the global South and East (read nonWestern) is that we have to guide and protect "them" from heresy. We must speak the truth in love, when in actuality we are speaking are perspective on truth. In actuality, the more loving thing to do is to allow them to have their heresies.
2) We have our own heresies, so we should let others have them too. If I recall, most Christians that I know would be called a heretic by someone (i.e. Joseph Ratzinger).
3) The idea I found most resonating with me from Bonhoeffer's thought is that heresy arises from the fellowship of the church. This is what we need, for the church global and local to be connected and united in its diversity. We must have boundaries, but boundaries do not exist for the sake of judgment but rather for love. Boundaries help us know as much what we are for as what we are against.

Brilliant Quotes or What a Genius Says vol. ii

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."

Moltmann meet _______?

or Which Theologian are You? I'm mostly Moltmann, which I can understand, but Schleiermacher at 67%? I have to go back and think through the questions differently. I thought I did a good job of recognizing which theologian would go alongside which questions. Anyways, click on it and take the quiz, let me know who you come out to be.

You scored as a Jürgen Moltmann

The problem of evil is central to your thought, and only a crucified God can show that God is not indifferent to human suffering. Christian discipleship means identifying with suffering but also anticipating the new creation of all things that God will bring about.

Jürgen Moltmann 87% Friedrich Schleiermacher 67% Anselm 67% John Calvin 60% Charles Finney 60% Karl Barth 53% Paul Tillich 53% Augustine 40% Martin Luther 40% Jonathan Edwards 20%

Top 10 LifeHakcer Vid's

Learn how to buy a car, suck less at photoshop, get cheap batteries, make an awesome flashlight among other things here.

Bonhoeffer on the Sermon & Truth

Continuing in my reading with Bonhoeffer I enjoyed his short exposition on preaching. The person of Christ exists in preaching. Humans words don't cloak the Word of God, "rather, God's Word has really entered into the humiliation of the words of men. Man's sermon is the Word of God, because God has freely bound himself and is bound to the words of men."

The role of the sermon as the Word of God is an idea that can be disconcerting. I often feel our churches often allow the preacher to become an authoritative figure towering over the congregation, thus disembodying the body of Christ. But to understand Bonhoeffer means that the sermon never stands over the body, but rather is shared within the body.

Truth is non-objectivistic for Bonhoeffer, which I was glad to read:

Truth is not something in itself, which rests for itself, but something that happens between two. Truth happens in community.

I have struggled with the task of preaching in our culture. A culture that doesn't trust authoritative figures that pull objective truth from the sky (read: their ass), a participatory culture, and an entertained culture. But I was reminded this week about the power and reality of the spoken word, especially when it is the Word as Bonhoeffer would argue.

Because of the many facets of preaching, I like that Bonhoeffer calls the sermon "both the riches and the poverty of the church." Our broken, frail human words become the Word and "what is impossible for man and what God promises are the same."

I think I believe in preaching if the sermon is formed by the community, for that is where truth happens. The sermon must be a shared act of the church. I'm not sure what this means exactly in my context, but I think it means intertwining the people's narratives with God's, forming and informing the Scripture with the people and forming and informing the people with the Scripture.

Maybe preaching is the task of asking better questions. Maybe preaching is learning to have fluid conversations about faith and Jesus over shared food, a camp ground, and a car ride.

Do you think that preaching is a necessary tool for the church's proclamation of the gospel? What does the task of preaching look like in our culture?

I'd pay money to see this

A Bad End?

From David Howard the naked pastor, "an artist trapped inside a pastor's body."

Torn Curtain

Torn Curtain

by

John Frye

The sword cuts a deep gash in bloody flesh,

The holy curtain from top to bottom

on the Temple mount

rips, separates.

Two temples purposely damaged,

A Roman cross and the Holy of Holies change places

as God startles the planet.

Last deep breath of the Nazareth teacher

from a criminal’s planks

breathes life to the world.

A seasoned soldier, wearied by death,

sees, hears a human’s cry like no other,

declaring on the spot his disloyalty

to Caesar.

What a dangerous world with God roaming free!

via

Pilabolus

What I am and What I am Not

Here's a short and helpful history of the emerging church by Alan Creech. I liked this paragraph:

"There is a good deal of good deep theological thought going on in this stream of the whole business. How these churches are "constructed" are flowing from deeper waters, I think. The rethinking of pulpit-pew preaching is not just about people being bored by that, but more about this being a very limited view of how the church functions as she meets together. There is more of a holistic view. In other words, there's not just Martin Luther and Zwingli to take into consideration, but also, and perhaps more, there is St. Ignatius of Antioch, Origen, Tertullian and Basil. There are the many monastic renewal movements starting in the 6th century and on through the middle ages. There is the deep and ancient tradition of Christian Mysticism which has been handed down and which still exists today in many Catholic monasteries. Perhaps St. Patrick and many of the Celtic missional monastic tradition could be mentioned as highly influential of this stream."

Or check out this article on why "Christians s*ck" by Tom Davis, where he says things such as:

We might as well give God the middle finger. Outside of a tiny minority of Christians, we have become a self-centered group of priggish snobs.

In short, we s**k.

Silence & Confession, A Reflection on Bonhoeffer

To kick off my study of Bonhoeffer, I've begun with Christ the Center. Already he has laid out some powerful ideas in just the introduction. The hinge of scholarship revolves around Christ for Bonhoeffer because Christ is the Word. But the study of christology does not revolve around the "how" question such as how is Christ God and man, but rather the "who?" questions.

So the very beginning of any scholarship begins not with what, why, or how, but "who?". The beauty in his existential thought reveals itself when he says that Christ is not known through his works as Schleiermacher proposes, but his works are known through the very person of Christ. Christ is known when he reveals himself in the noncompulsive silence of prayer.

In Life Together by Bonhoeffer, one of the most important aspects of community is confession; but I didn't quite understand why a Protestant theologian would emphasize confession so strongly until I read his analogy that in confessing our sins to one another we are authentically revealing ourselves. We cannot be forced to reveal ourselves, and neither can Christ.

As Filipina theologian Melba Maggay says:

Prayer is not a pious instrument by which we move God to baptize our enterprises; it is entering the strength of him who moves history and binds the powers that be. via

Prayer is not the place where we come to control Christ, but where Christ can if he wills to reveal himself and answer the question of "who?". The encounter with Christ is unavoidable since, as Bonhoeffer says, Christ is alive therefore "there are only two ways possible of encountering Jesus; man must die or he must put Jesus to death." Unfortunately, I believe the natural reaction of most of us is to put Christ to death.

I also wonder if Bonhoeffer isn't helping the church to understand how to be the listener when the other confesses their sins. Too often we act as if we are the forgivers or if our wise words can fix the person opening themselves to us, but maybe the most appropriate response is silence for in silence between two people Christ can speak or we can hear the words to repeat from the very source that defeats the powers that be.

We gain access to Christ in the "attempt to be in the place where the Person reveals himself in his own being, without any compulsion. That is the place of prayer to Christ. Only by the Word freely revealing himself is the Person of Christ available and with that also his work."

Arbuckle= Social Angst/ Depression/Loneliness Commentary

Something I discovered a few months ago that I've been meaning to share is this brilliant blog that takes Garfield out of the Garfield comics. Here's what the site says about itself:

Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb.

Check it out!

This is GE Performance Television.

Anyone in the market for a new TV?



via

A Protestant Saint?

Since leaving seminary and beginning my work as a pastoral resident I've been asking myself the question of how I'm going to engage theology while remaining faithful to the task at hand, my job. My fear is that I'll leave behind something I love (theology) in the midst of the craziness of life OR that trying to engage in a continual study of some kind will distract me from my work.

To experiment I thought I would study Bonhoeffer's works and thought. I figured of all the choices out there, Bonhoeffer would be a strong friend in my ministry setting. I'm not sure how this will work since I'm also coupling my mentoring to finish my M.Div. this fall to graduate in December with my residency. With mentoring I'll be reading 6 or so books this fall, which isn't alot except that I'm also trying to figure out work.

I've already read a few books on or by Bonhoeffer: The Cost of Discipleship, Life Together, & Psalms by Bonhoeffer and The Bonhoeffer Phenomenon by Stephen R. Haynes. Inspired by a few friends who have recently read or are reading Bonhoeffer I'l be picking up Ethics, Sanctorum Communio, Letters and Papers from Prison, Bethge's timeless biography and I'm currently reading Christ the Center. I'll probably return to The Cost of Discipleship a few times, since I haven't read it since college.

There are many reasons why to choose Bonhoeffer, but his context and death in a Nazi concentration camp, his life, and his Christocentric theology that pushes for church reform are just a few.

Picking up where we (I) left off...

Well, the time has come to finally blow the dust off my keyboard and get back to blogging. Okay, maybe the dust hasn't collected on my laptop, but it was nice taking a break from blogging especially because since coming back from India this summer has been a bit crazy. I realized that I picked up some readers during my India trip, but probably lost them all so to my two faithful readers I'm back!

I'm not sure where to take this blog now that I'm entering a new season in life. I'll probably be posting more on my failure and the messiness of life transition for a while, until I can - if I can- get a hold on things post-seminary. For sure I'll be posting thoughts on what I'm reading, giving some reviews, and talking through my context here at FBC Austin as the Pastoral Resident.

It's good to find some routine again, especially since I feel like I'm coming out of reverse culture shock. I'm finding being an American Christian, or better Christ follower, an interesting enterprise again. Hopefully I'll be able to post up a few things on what I'm reading, watching, and what has been going since I got back.

Out of the Blur...

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. We didn't have any good internet spots for the last week in India, plus I flew into Texas and went straight to youth camp. From camp I had a weekend, and this week we're doing VBS. So with no internet at the apartment I haven't had the time or care to post. There is so much I missed the last week in India so here's a brief and short recap. To conclude the class I have to write a reflection paper, so hopefully in the weeks to come I'll get some thoughts on India and my experience posted.

Notables:

• I mentioned this last post but we met a Hindu Christ follower (HCF). I'll post more on this phenomena later, but it's an extremely intriguing movement of Hindu's remaining with Hinduism but turning to Jesus as their guru, leader, lord, then God.
  
• Meeting the HCF was a rare and great experience. The HCF is probably one of the important voices in theology today in that he is a contextualized and living Indian bowl, doing theology in the South...the future (as in tomorrow) home of Christianity. The tone and theology of this Indian Christianity was beautiful and did not reflect Christendom, but the Kingdom of God.
• The following night in Varanasi we witnessed a Puja or Pooja to the Ganges river. Every night in Varanasi hundreds, if not thousands, of men, women, and children gather to offer up worship to the god or river. The city at any given moment has 1 million pilgrims in it either to puja to the river or to die at the river.
  
• Having these two very contrasting pictures of worship and God/god has been very good, challenging, and provoked many good conversations.
• We shopped some in Varanasi and in one of the back alleys some random Indian guy tried to sell me India's finest marijuana.
• We took another 12 hour train ride from Varanasi to Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal.
• The hotel, Taj View Hotel was beautiful. The city was okay, but a tourist trap...way to expensive.
• We went to the Taj Mahal...yes, I've seen one of the 7 wonders of the world. The Taj is an amazing and beautiful structure.
• One of the most amazing parts of this trip was spending a month with 12 friends and Truett companions. One night in Agra we had a pizza party and spent that night encouraging and showing love to one another. The air was full of grace and love, full of cherished memories and truly meaningful words. I grew to love all 12 of my friends and miss them.
• From Agra we rode a bus for about 8 hours to Delhi. Delhi is the capital and most Western city of India. This may have been one of my favorite cities, because we were able to meet and spent some good time with some missionaries in the city who are working with the Hindu Christ follower movement. Also, they cooked us Mexican food, mango salsa, and cake.
  
• At the missionaries home, other students who are spending their entire summer in India and we held out own contextual Satsong and Puja to Jesus. It consisted of India songs, learning the story in Luke about Jesus crossing over to Legion in the land of the Gerasene, questions, rehashing the story ourselves as a group, praying, praying, and praying more, and the Lord's supper done with coconut. It was a good experience, because in Minneapolis we began with a satsong and I felt it was more of a spectator event for myself, but in Delhi I was able to worship.
• We flew out of Delhi and since then everything has been a blur. The flight from Delhi to Hong was 6 hours I think, then a lay over for 4 hours, then we flew to San Fran in 12 hours and missed our connecting flight so I flew to lil' John Wayne Airport in Orange County, CA then I flew into DFW. I landed about midnight and was so excited to see my wife.
• CHARLOTTE! She was at the airport waiting, it was a glorious reunion.
  
• The next day I went to camp, which was great. I enjoy the youth at FBC Austin, they are fantastic. This week we are doing VBS. I really I'm not clear about my job still, but orientation through camp and VBS don't quite show normal, daily routine.
• I'm excited to be home. I missed Char so much and have enjoyed getting to tell her about the trip. I miss India, especially my friends. The trip was excellent and more then worth it.
  
• Thanks to everyone that supported me, no matter how much or manner.
  

Day 26- Varanasi

After riding the train for about 11 hours from Calcutta, we arrived yesterday in the oldest and holiest city in India, Varanasi, home of the Ganges river. The frustrating thing has been that it is very difficult to appreciate the culture, rituals, or religion because it often seems that we are walking dollar marks. It's hard not to want to withdraw and get jaded, but at the same time this is just one of the ways these people who are poor make money. The questions about taking up my own cross and allowing myself to get cheated and what does it mean to love these people who are so different continue to sound in my ear.
Notables:

• Slept well on the train.
• Varanasi, probably because of the river, has a repugnant and strong smell. Plus the city all around has a different feel, animals fill the streets, especially cows.
• We were able to view part of a funeral ceremony yesterday. Traditionally, Hindu's want to be burned and spread or floated along the river.
• Last night we met a Hindu Christ follower. We talked with him for about 5 hours. I feel like we've been waiting to meet him since Minneapolis. We had really good conversation and many questions were answered.
• It's strange knowing that I only have 6 or 7 days left until I'm home. I missing Charlotte more, so pray that I'll be able to be here and remain engaged. Also, please pray for camp stuff. Youth leave this Sunday for camp and I fly in on Wednesday and will probably go to camp either that night or Thursday.

Day 23- Calcutta & Mother's House

It's been a while so I'm not sure what all to include. My health has returned, which I'm really grateful for because it was getting really hard to not focus on myself and my own suffering to see all the suffering around me. This last part of the trip for myself seems to have taken a turn from a more tourist type feel to being here to act, love, and be transformed.

Highlights:

• Saturday we saw Indiana Jones in an Indian theater...not that good of a movie.
• Sunday we attended Mass at the Mother's Home, Mother Teresa's home. I had the honor of reading scripture in the service. Looking out into a crowd of sisters while reading Hos. 6:3-6 was very humbling.
• Then we attended a Baptist church founded in 1811, it was very different then the Mass. The most suprising thing was the larger number of young people at the Baptist church.
• On Monday and Tuesday one part of our group worked at an orphanage, while the other part that I was a part of worked at the House of the Dying. There is so much to be said about this place. I really liked getting to meet volunteers from around the world. Also, there is so much to be said about creating an environment of dignity. The Hous of the Dying is a place of life. Furthermore, after meeting a few men in the house that spoke English, I was reminded how nothing is promised in life.
• Later today we leave Calcutta on train. Hopefully it will only take the projected 11 hours, not the 25 hours that it took someone else we spoke to.
• General health for the group is well, except for w few. Continue to pray for us, that we'd seek to learn how to be open and what it means to follow Christ more deeply.

Day 17- Cochin, Cherai Beach Resort

This morning we are about to leave to Jaipur, but the last few days have been about slowing down and learning about ancient Hinduism while sleeping in some pretty plush places. This, our second resort, is located right off the Arabian Sea. We went body surfing a few days ago in it.
We've visited alot of historically important places in Cochin and Mamallapuram. In the latter we saw five different ancient Hindu temples. In Cochin we visited the oldest church built by the Portuguese in 1503 in India.
Although it has been nice to slow down and learn about Hinduism, I think the entire group is ready to move on. The next two weeks are going to be much more hands on, engaging, and about meeting Indias. This also means that the next two weeks are going to get much harder.
I'm not sure where we are staying, so I don't know when I'll get to post again.
Notables:

• I'm struggling with identifying myself as an outsider in relationship to the "other," that being the Hindu, Muslim, Idian etc.
• The resorts have been nice, which is good because several of us got sick. Pray for health because it's going to be much harder to be sick in some of th eplaces we're going to.
• I've learned enough about Hinduism and Indian culture that I'm really confused.
• Sometimes ministry is about taking a stab and working from there.
• The novelty of India has worn off, thus culture shock is settling in. I'm much more calloused toward the shopkeepers, vendors, and beggars then I was before.
• Last night we had a variety show. The guys sang a song and the girls had a melody of songs. All of them were rewritten to include funny and memorable experiences from the trip thus far. I'm really enjoyng my traveling friends.

Day 13- Mamallapuram, Ideal Beach Resort

Sometimes it could to break in a hard trip, thus we have officially landed in the nicest place I've ever stayed, besides the cruiseship for my honeymoon. This place is amazing, located off the Bengali Bay in the India Ocean.

We arrived yesterday and are leaving tomorrow morning for Cochin. Most of today we spent touring ancient Hindu statues and monuments. I would love to share more, but the internet here is extremely slow so I need to go...to the beach!

Day 11- Hyderabad

Today ends our journey here on our first leg in India. We mostly took the time to tour the city and spend some time shopping. We were able to see the man made lake that separates the twin cities and then go into the heart of the Muslim part of the city. We visited a Mosque that experienced a terrorist bomb last summer. They were gracious enough to allow the men in our team into the Mosque, it was really good and I was able to pray for peace in that place. Next to the Mosque was Charminar, an old, old structure. You should google it. The last site we saw was the 7 tombs, that were very large and amazing structures outside the city. Apparently I'm popular among the youth guys of Hyderabad, several groups came up to me and wanted to take pictures. It was fun.

The best part of today was meeting a Muslim Christ follower who is working for among the Muslim middle class for house church planting. Please pray for Shake.

Tomorrow we fly out to Chennai, then the next day we get on a train to Cochin. I'm really excited to Cochin, the seat of a successful socialist/communist state in India. Also, this is the purported place of Thomist Christianity in India. India Christianity has the possibility of being as old as the Apostle Thomas, yes doubting Thomas from the Bible.

Continue to pray for Jeff's foot, it is rather swollen.

Day 10- Hyderabad

Today we volunteered and served at a local HIV/AIDS clinic. There is so much that I could talk about, so I'll limit it to a few things. First, this is my first encounter and interaction with HIV, and I was able to pray for and be prayed for by Opang, an HIV+ counselor at the clinic. Having a face and story to put with something that is so demonized in our culture sometimes really is breaking. I really appreciated his story.

Also, I met a volunteer, Daniel who got my email. We discussed postmodernism and Christianity, it was really neat. Finally, the most humbling experience is to see these people's faith. Many of the Indians that we've had conversations with or who are ministering to India absolutely love Jesus and rely desperately on their faith. I'm so humbled to pray for and be around these Christians, it has challenged my faith.

Oh, one last note, theology is messy when it hits the ground. I think one of the biggest ways of bridging the gap between high theology and praxis is giving ourselves permission to fail. We need to give our space to experiment and to simply do something, to love people and trust in God to be faithful.

Day 9: Hyderabad, India

Yesterday we arrived in India after a long flight. We all lost sleep since our flight departed Hong Kong and we arrived in Delhi at 230am, then from Delhi to Hyderabad at 630am, I think. This place is signifigantly different then Hong Kong, much more foreign and poor. I think there have been two key adjectives in describing India thus far: the land of contradictions and struggling. Although India is growing economically, the cities are still smattered with broken buildings, atructures, and people. Two former missionaries to India have really helped guide us here in Hyderabad, Robbie and James (Pancho), who I found out go to the same church that I just got a job at.

Notables in Hyderabad:

1. Mango Season! Fresh mangos as well as bananas have been really, really good.
2. Beggars- I'm still not sure what I have to offer or what the proper response should be, the situation is complex
3. Theology is messy on the ground. With a growing middle class in Hyderabad because of the developing IT market, the church we attended this morning was very, very Western. It was like they were taking Bill Hybels and directly applying that methodology here.
4. Please pray for me, I got a sinus headache today which almost put me out of commission. I hope that doesn't occur very often.
5. We met and had lunch and tea with a wonderful Indian Christian family that ministers to a certain people group. It was great to spend time with them and see how this culture talks about Jesus and what God does in their lives. Pray for Lazarus (Sing Saey) and his wife and family.
6. Traffic here is unbelievable and crazy. Where there is a void, a car, person, taxi, motorcycle or goat fills the gap. Plus, we've had some crazy drivers.
7. Tomorrow we are going to work at an AIDS clinic all day.
8. We've eaten India food as well as pastries from a bakery, KFC, Pizza Hut, and lots of water. So far no one has gotten sick, except for my headache. The India food is good, I like the different dishes and spices. Yogurt is my best friend, because you mixed it in with the spicy food and it helps control the temp in your mouth as well as your stomach.

Day 7- Hong Kong to India

Today, we've spent the majority of the morning and afternoon in HK with a businessman who is developing a coffee company in SE Asia. I really respect and enjoy the man. Overall, the morning was good and lunch was very tasty. We ate authentic Hong Kong (Chinese in essence) food called Dim Sum(n?). They bring out the portions as they are made, so I ended up eating way to much. I do really enjoy this culture, food, and city. Hong Kong is one of my favorite cities now for sure.

After a short rest here at the palce we're staying, Tao Fong Shun retreat center, we'll head to the airport and fly out to Delhi at 10pm. In Delhi, we'll stay for several hours, go to the domestic terminal then travel to Hyderabad. Sometime in there I present on Hyderabad, which I should be an expert on by now since I met a man from there on my 14 hour flight to China and he told me all things good about the city.

So far the trip has not been overly difficult or challenging, but that will all change once we hit the ground in India. It seems so strang that we've been gone for near a week, but we still are not in India. Yet, I find myself less and less ready, because the difference, culture, and people will be extremely different.

I'm not sure when I'll be able, if at all to post pic's.

Pray for our group. Jeff scraped his knee yesterday, so we don't want that to get infected. Groups dynamics are playing out and people are growing together. There has been no conflicts, but it is only inevitable. Continue to pray fo rour safety and groups relations, communications, openness, and honesty.

Hong Kong 6

Yesterday after our 14 hour flight we landed in Hng Kong at 630 am, and spend literally the entire day marching throughout the city. My first impressions of Hong Kong was that it was beautiful, green, and very Western. The islands is tropical with low mountains, thus making for beautiful backdrops to the seemingly endless skyscrapers. Our second day in Hong Kong, we again marched throughout the city on the infamous Dr. Stroope March. Even though I'm still jet lagged, I'm feeling really good. THe trip has been and is getting better the more I'm getting to know my team mates and get back to normal.

Notables:

• The Hong Kong subway is very efficient, very.
• I could like in this city.
• The city has lots of color and is tropical.
• We visited a Buddhist garden and Temple where we saw people practice Taoist rituals.
• I'm asking questions about myself personally, what I believe and what are my passions.
• It is interesting to take the many conversations and ideals that have evolved in seminary and see how the reality of life and the world makes distinctions, classifications, and high ideals so messy.
• I like my team...so far!

Future:

Tomorrow we will be in the city until 10 pm then we fly out to India. We fly into Delhi then go straight for Hyderabad. I present on Hyderabad tomorrow. Dr. Stroope said that things change after about two weeks into the trip. I'm both looking forward but anxious about this time. I wonder what it will look like when all of our personalities are more open and are being made vulnerable.

Day 2- ReThinking Forum

A few notables from today's (our last day) from the forum:

1. We were lead in "contextual" Indian style worship by Arandha, an incredibly talented group, Berkley trained, and yes the lead man plays the guitar. 
2. Dr. Stroope gave a paper today on the identity of the outsider.  It was really good.  The insider (the local, indigenous people) need to be local, and outsider's must recognize that they can never be an insider because of enculturation.  Thus, instead of vocation we must focus on formation.  Not what do I do, but who am I becoming.
3. EGG story!  Today for breakfast I went downstairs for the continental breakfast at the Inn.  In the fridge there were hard boiled eggs, which sounded good.  So I pulled one out and thought there is no way I'm eating a cold, hard boiled egg.  Along with my pancake, sausage dog I placed the egg in the microwave.  After about 30 seconds, I pulled out the egg and pancake dog and took about 4 steps toward my table, then BOOM!  Apparently hard boiled eggs, and there was no shell mind you, do not go into the microwave.  The thing exploded everything:  the wall, the window, curtains, floor, the side of Jeff's face, Sarah and Mary Beth's hair, and ALL over me.  My face, beard, shirt were covered in egg and everyone was looking at me.  What do you do when a room full of strangers are staring at you.  All I could get was, "I'm okay!" while covered in eggs.  It was great!
4. Tomorrow, we fly out and it'll take a while to get where we're going.  So along the way, there will be plenty of time for conversation and being together in a group.

Love of my life!

Today begins one of the longest periods my wife Charlotte and I have ever spent apart.  A few weeks ago we moved into our new apartment into a new city.  The last two weeks have been rather crazy, getting reading to go, packing, finishing the semester, etc.  

Fortunately, in the midst of it all we were able to spend some good, quality time together.  This morning our goodbye was somewhat hurried I felt like, but the last few days was excellent.

I'm not sure how to say goodbye to the person I love the most and wish more then anything she could be here.

In some sense I need to lean in and make sure I engage in this trip with this group of people, while never letting go of Charlotte.

So, I love you babe and miss you much already.  You are strong and I really love spending my life with you.  

Day 1- Rethinking Forum

Well, it's nice to finally be on the trip.  We've been building up for months, preparing, reading, packing, and meeting and finally we are on our way.

Today began our first day.  This first leg began with  two hour flight from DFW to Minneapolis for a two day hiatus, also known as the Rethinking Forum.  Basically practitioners, scholars, and people interested in the conversation about mission to Hindu's have gathered for a few days to talk about contextualization.  

My first impression has been very different from most conferences I have attended.  This forum is very intimate.  I feel like this is a conversation among peers, partners, and friends.  This is a very important conversation, but like most conversations that push beyond the veneer and surface level of what we often call "conversation" the discussion can become frustrating and difficult to maintain.  So like this conference, this is trip is about a difficult and sometimes frustrating conversation.

Not that I think this trip will be bad or even overly hard, but to fully engage and get everything out of this conversation it will take effort and be hard at times.  

Tomorrow we go back to the conference and Dr. Stroope will be presenting a paper.  Monday, we take the morning to rest, fly to DFW with a layover, then to San Francisco with a layover, then we fly out to Hong Kong for the long 13 hour...23 hours with time changes ;) 

Journey Begins Tomorrow...

Today I'm putting the final touches on packing, chapstick, toilet paper (for roadside toilets in India), jacket, malaria meds bought in Mexico. Everything fits quite snug inside my pack, which I'm hoping to take as my carry-on.

Tomorrow we fly out at 8:00am to Minneapolis for a Rethinking Forum on Mission to Hindu's until Sunday. Then we fly to Hong Kong for a few days to get out feet underneath us. When we're used to the time change, we'll fly to Delhi and start our time in India where we'll be for the majority of our time.

I plan on updating on this blog to let all my faithful readers, all two of you, to know where I'm at, what, we're doing, and all that good stuff. So, check back every once in a while. I'm not sure how often I'll update, but hopefully more often then not.

Packing for 37 days

Total of 37 days, mostly in India:

• 1 Gregory Palisade 80 Backpack
• 3 T-Shirts- 1 Exofficio & 2 cotton/poly blends
• 3 Pants- 1 Convertibles, 1 Cargo, 1 Linen & Cotton blend
• 4 underwear- 2 exofficio, 2 cotton
• 3 pair socks- ankle hiking
• 1 pair Chaco's
• 1 Pair of running shoes
• 1 Marmot Light Jackot
• 2 Shorts- 1 swimming, 1 athletic, 1 pair normal shorts (possibly)
• 1 Polo
• 1 hat
• 1 MSR Towel
• 3 Books, 2 Journals- Bible, Kierkegarrd's Fear & Trembling (to read & give away), Peterson's Christ Plays in 10,000 Places, 1 Travel Journal, 1 non-ruled journal
• 1 Under clothes passport & money holder
• 1 pair of Pepper's sunglasses
• 1 Watch
  
• 1 Dry Sack- for dirty clothes, 1 compression sack
• 1 Nokia NV10 Camera, 3 batteries, 2 1 gig cars, charger, adapter & case
  
• Lots of pills, med's, toiletries, baby wipes, TP, glasses & contacts, bug spray, ear plugs
• Misc papers for insurance, check card, flight receipts, etc
  
• Most importantly- MYSELF, packed & ready to go!
  

Sad Day...

I'm sitting here in my last class ever in seminary. Although I don't graduate until December and still have mentoring for the Fall, this will be my last semester of class. Yes, I'm really excited about continuing on this journey and of course I'm excited that I have a job and a place to live. I have to admit though, that I will miss this place a lot, as well as the academic setting.

This time in seminary has been really good, but also really hard. I 've experienced everyday the deconstruction process, while being pushed toward healthy reconstruction. I had someone ask me today would I do seminary again and I said, "Yes, absolutely!" I'm not certain I'm in the place I wanted to be in leaving school, but maybe that's best. I don't have answers, but lots of questions and I'm okay with that. I'm just not sure how that will pan out in a concrete, church setting where everyone is looking for answers.

In my last class today, we read a story that almost providentially tells my story: the Blind Men and the Elephant. I thought this story was the perfect way to end my seminary experience and begin the next chapter in life. As I'm preparing to leave and enter the "real" world, I'm still struggling how to structure and talk about what I believe and have experienced. How do I talk about being a Christian in Austin?

Sex education and youth

Preparing to leave seminary and enter the "real" world as if there is such a thing, I've constantly been contemplating how to put my beliefs into practice, hell, I'm still trying to figure out how to put together what I believe. Because I think differently, I am afraid that stepping into a church job will one either usurp control over my thoughts and I'll lose it all or its going to be a pretty painful experience of trying to gain words and actions to line up with what's going on in my head.

One of the things I've been struggling with is teaching sex, because the church has so badly screwed this one up at times especially with youth. What we're teaching now is so shame based that it is not healthy, nor realistic. As if we can shame youth into not having sex, yeah right. If youth get emotionally involved in relationships than what's to stop them from having sex? Opportunity, nothing else.

Here's a link to an excellent post worth the entire read about sex education for youth, read it. I'm not sure I totally agree, but I really like her thoughts on the subject such as

-Your body is amazing. You can trust it to tell you what you are physically ready to do.

-Your heart is your guide –you can trust the wisdom of your own intuition in making choices.

-Sex is something you move into one step at a time. Each step is good. Each step is appropriate. You– and only you–get to choose when you are ready for that step.

-As a romantic relationship grows deeper emotionally, it’s natural for it to grow deeper physically.

-Planning for sex and being prepared to protect yourself and your partner is smart, responsible, and essential.

-You have the right to say NO. And conversely, you have the right to say YES.

Rather than telling my kids “Sex is a terrible, awful, shameful thing you save for the one you love.” I want the messages I give them to be able to be boiled down to this:

“You are capable of building a relational history you can look back on without regret.”

Emerging Church Language

No this isn't a post on why its cool to cuss, or to cuss makes you postmodern or something. This is a post on all this confusing language around the movement of churches engaging emerging culture. As of late terms like "postmodern" and "emerging church" have become akin to "conservative" and "liberal," by that I mean they're quite meaningless other than what we fill them with to derogate others by.

Tony Jones argues that emerging and Emergent are basically memes with no real difference other than what we attach to them. I'm not so sure Jones' fighting against categories is true to reality though.

First, Jonny Baker illuminates that there is a difference between emerging and Emergent, one is a movement the other an organisation. This is the reality, and the distinction is important.

Second, it's important because the language of "emerging church" is losing its meaning, if it really had any. I think "emerging church" is an umbrella term that incorporates many bodies (including Emergent), congregations, voices, and such of churches that are engaging the emerging culture (the culture in continuity with deconstruction, but seeking reformulation and reconstruction).

Also, I'm afraid "emerging church" has been pigeon-holed into one defined culture that wears torn jeans, speak certain ways, and uses Macs. Not true. A church of "gray heads" can be emerging if its trying to engage the emerging culture, that's why I stick with this definition for understand the emerging church movement-"churches that are engaging the emerging culture."

Do you think its important to distinguish between emerging and Emergent?

Sensative Subversive...

Being subversive does not mean being "anti" but being resensatived.

Finding a "Home"

Saturday my wife and I went to Austin to find a place to live. Unfortunately we cannot simply live and have what we'd like. East Austin is the side of the town rich folks don't go into, but we'd like to live there as a presence of Christ. So, this coming week, we're moving to N. Austin to a pretty nice apartment complex. Not that this place won't be filled with people and opportunities for relationships, but I feel like a sell out.

The main reason we chose the place is location and we were getting desperate. For a month until summer, Charlotte my wife will drive to Killeen which is northwest of Austin everyday. We chose a short, 6 month lease because we don't know where she'll be working come fall and we're not sure about buying a home. Also, did I say that we're moving next week!

All that to say, we are excited to have found a place (even if its on the 3rd floor). Also, it seems that things don't quite work out the way we always want them to. The thing I fear is that trying to do something like incarnational, lifestyle ministry is not highly encouraged simply because its not natural to our culture or even in our churches. So I'm afraid that it won't happen, because life will just usurp our dream. Of course, I'm also afraid that I'm more in love with the idea of love than actual doing it. Time will tell, only God knows.

(un)Critical Contextualization and Mark Driscoll

I'm going to step out on a limb here and assume that Mark Driscoll, pastor of all things dude and masculine, reads and probably likes folks like John Piper, John MacArthur, and Phil Johnson. Reformed folks gots to stick together right?

The reason I want to make this link is because of two conversations. First, one of the most important voices in the emerging culture and mission movement, Andrew Jones has been talking about the importance of contextualization over at his blog. Prompted by MacArthur and Johnson's ridiculing of all things contextual, Andrew argues well that "context matters." I especially like this:

WE WERE BLIND TO OUR COLONIAL ABUSE BECAUSE WE WERE BLIND TO THE IMPACT OF OUR OWN CULTURE ON THE GOSPEL WE CARRIED.

The second conversation is over at Out of Ur. Bouncing off of an article from Christianity Today called "A Jesus for Real Men," Out of Ur asks if this approach is encouraging or insulting. Here's a verse from GodMen, Brad Stine's forum where "men can be men; raw and uninhibited; completely free to express themselves in the uniquely male way that only men understand."

We've been beaten down
Feminized by the culture crowd
No more nice guy, timid and ashamed …
Grab a sword, don't be scared
Be a man, grow a pair!

These two conversations collide with the quote above from Andrew in that today we still cannot see the impact of our own culture. I refer to Mark Driscoll of course because he seems to be leading this movement that has been hijacked by our misgonistic, sexist culture! Why transform culture, why not embrace it uncritically?

Driscoll is an example of why critical contextualization is so important, because when approached uncritically the gospel suffers. Living in the Kingdom means living in a world where this is no male or female, or so I thought. I realize that Driscoll is in Seattle trying to reach people that are unreached, but to what end is he going to allow the means to get in the way. Sure, he wants to reach men, but why allow yourself to be controlled by the culture of those men? Sometimes we cannot see how our culture affects us, even if the gospel has to suffer for it.

Mark Driscoll meet Jurgen Moltmann:

In sexism male characteristics are used for self-justification and for the legitimation of privileges. But as long as 'being human' is primarily identified with 'being a man', the man does not arrive at human identity. As long as social roles and economic privileges are justified by sexual differences, it is impossible to talk about a 'human' society. As in racialism, sexism breeds feelings of superiority among men and feelings of inferiority among women; and this hinders the 'human' development of both. Sexism has two sides as well: it is as emotional mechanism of self-justification, and an ideological mechanism of subjection."- Moltmann, CPS, 184-5.

This movement is offensive, both because it uncritically swallows a culture of superiority and because it continues one of the longest human states of oppression: men over women. I believe that this "Jesus for Real Men" movement is a promotion of the brokenness of our culture in the church by uncritically contextualizing the gospel to "reach men and subject women."

Get in Line Jesus...

PETER: Eh… Jesus…

JESUS: Yes, Peter…?

PETER: I’ve been thinking.

JESUS: Start the day with a miracle, is it?

PETER: No, seriously, Jesus, I’ve been thinking…

JESUS: What about, Peter?

PETER: About mission – and about the future.

JESUS: Into eschatology now, are we?

PETER: Escha … escha … escha-what-ogy?

JESUS: “Eschatology”, Peter. The “last things” – death, judgement, heaven, hell – the end of the world. You said you were thinking about the future.

PETER: Not that far into the future. I was thinking more about the immediate future.

JESUS: What about it?

PETER: Precisely Jesus – what about it? We can’t go on living like this.

JESUS: Like what, Peter?

PETER: Like “lilies of the field”. You say that they don’t worry about the future, so why should we? Come on, Jesus, get real! Ours is a field for mission, not flowers. If we’re going to go out proclaiming the kingdom of God, we’ve got to plan ahead. “Lambs among wolves” indeed! We’ll get eaten alive.

JESUS: What if I tell you to take some mint sauce along?

PETER: Come on, Jesus, I’m serious.

JESUS: Okay, Peter, tell me about these plans of yours.

PETER: Management theory.

JESUS: Pardon?

PETER: Management theory, Jesus. Haven’t you read the latest pack from Jerusalem? It’s all there. We need a system.

JESUS: A system?

PETER: Yes, a system. We’ve got a product, and we’ve got to sell it – we’ve got to be productive – and to be productive we need a system. It’s all about efficiency.

JESUS: I see.

PETER: We need to establish goals and set targets, and we need to prioritise.

JESUS: “Prioritise”?

PETER: Yes, I mean tax collectors and sinners? It’s a disgrace.

JESUS: I don’t do diss, Peter. But go on.

PETER: Where was I…? Yes, and we need to monitor, evaluate, assess.

JESUS: Of course.

PETER: I was thinking of a market research unit and a performance review team. And we’ll need a director of finance.

JESUS: But I’ve already appointed Judas as treasurer.

PETER: Bad choice according to the Micah-Baruch type test I ran him through, which was confirmed by the little focus group Jim and I set up.

JESUS: Who do you have in mind?

PETER: I’m drawing up a shortlist. And, of course, you’ll need a personal private consultant. And my first job will be to come up with a mission statement.

JESUS: Absolutely.

PETER: You know we don’t even have a mobile phone or a laptop. And we’ll have to have a blog.

JESUS: Is that “blog” as in Gog and Magog?

PETER: This isn’t a joke, Jesus. With that attitude no wonder we’re in such a state. But no more. From now on we’re going to be organised, with nothing left to chance, all the “i”s dotted and “t”s crossed. The future will be secure.

JESUS: So we’ll be profitable?

PETER: Yes.

JESUS: And successful?
`
PETER: Yes.

JESUS: And respected, admired, extolled?

PETER: I can see your picture now on the cover of Chronos: “Jesus of Nazareth: Man of the Year”!

JESUS: [Starts laughing.]

PETER: What’s so funny, Jesus?

JESUS: [Laughter increases.]

PETER: Why are you laughing?

JESUS: [Now in stitches.]

PETER: [Testily] Jesus!

JESUS: Peter, you’ve forgotten something absolutely crucial to good practice.

PETER: [Arrogantly] And what’s that?

JESUS: The No Asshole Rule.

via.

Onward to Austin

We're heading this morning to meet with a Realtor from our new church home to help find us a place to live. What we will probably do, since everything is happening so fast, is just rent for the summer in a place near the church then decide what to do after that. Although everyone says that the best time to buy is now, we're not sure if that's best for us right now. So, out of the hundreds of choices in Austin, pray that we'll find a place to call home.

On another note, last night I met with my group of India travelers for our orientation meeting. We leave on May 17. I've realized that I need to take some time to reflect on the trip, expectations, conversations, attitude, relationships, sights, food, and the opening of myself to a completely new and strange place.

I'm so excited, but have to make it through the next two weeks of papers and finals as well as moving to Austin.

So I got a J-O-B!

It seems that after seminary I won't have to Barista or work for nothing, oh wait, that's called volunteering. That's right, I found a job, sure it's only a two year commitment, but we're really excited. Next weekend I will be announced at FBC Austin as the CBF Resident and upon my return from this India this June I'll start my first full time work.

My wife and I are incredibly excited about this opportunity. Some of you that know me may be wondering why I would choose another FBC/big church. First, we wanted to move to Austin and finding work in any field much less ministry is very difficult, because, c'mon who doesn't want to live in Austin?

Second, the CBF residency program is a really good opportunity to network, learn, and get paid to basically get a good mentoring experience. Not only will the residency program fulfill my requirement to graduate from Truett Seminary, but this will be my vocation. The program is unique, so that it's a little hard to explain, I mean, it's not like saying I'm a youth pastor, or associate pastor even. The CBF Residency affords me the opportunity to work in all the areas of the church even the one's I'm not interested in all that much.

Third, the church is a really cool faith community. Not only is there deep history, but as a self-described "cathedral church- a gathering place for all the people in the heart of the city," FBC is rich in diversity. My emphasis while at FBC will be in the youth (the youth minister and his wife are about to have twins), yet I'll get to preach, do children's ministry, college, administration, etc...everything. Also, I'm excited about being at a place where I'll fit in (more so) theologically and get an opportunity to explore my passion. It's only a two year commitment, which I good for my fourth reason.

Fourth, I'm still praying about and trying to figure out getting a terminal degree. If I do pursue something in academia I want it to be relevant for the church so that's another reason I'm excited about doing ministry in a healthy church focusing on many facets.

Fourth (and a half) reason, because as I'm thinking about long term future plans, which are exactly stable anyways we're also praying about the possibility of church planting. This has been one of my interests for while and I think instead of randomly choosing a city like Austin, we want to see if we fall in love with the city and this is where God wants us. I would like to be planted if I do church planting, if that's God's way anyways.

Fifth, living in Austin, being a part of FBC, and being given the freedom to pursue something that I would like within or for the church will give me the opportunity to figure out to move a church like this toward solidarity and social justice or community development.

As you can tell, we are pumped about this next move. We can't wait to move to Austin and get connected and sharing our lives. With the many possibilities ahead, as much as the future is open to us we are open to the future, the future hope of God's renewing Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Great Commandment

So I committed myself to using the Missio Dei Breviary for my morning and evening prayers. This little 4 week prayer book comes highly recommended by me, since it grows out of a Neo-Monastic community, focuses on Jesus' life, and has a strong social justice perspective. You can buy it, view the daily prayers online; or my favorite, flip through the entire book in issuu.

Now to move beyond the plug, seriously, check it out. I haven't done well, no really, I've sucked at using the breviary. Today though while I was meditating on the prayer, which begins with the Great Commandment. Now I know this commandment has been reinterpreted to help bring out the significance of the second command, yet I think it still gets tread under foot in light of the first.

The problem? Well, I don't think that Jesus in anyway meant to separate these two commands and place primacy or even priority of one over the other. Yet, we in our modern ways like to split atoms about everything then place those atoms in categories where certain preferences take precedence over others. This is what happens to these two commands. We read them, and see in verse 38 that the first command to "Love God" is the first and greatest, while the second is only like it. Therefore, we place the first over and even against the second as if we accomplish them in steps.

I think that Jesus summed the Law and Prophets using these two commands in reciprocal relationship to one to the other so that one cannot love God without loving one's neighbor, and one cannot love their neighbor without loving God. Thus, I reimagine the great commandment like this:

"Love God with all you have, and love your neighbor as if they are all you have."

What do you think of my rewording? Would you reword these verses and how?

I AM Liminal

First, click here.

Well, life around my house has been a little disturbed, frazzled maybe. In some sense, I feel like Murphy's Law has taken advantage of us. Charlotte's coworker has been out for 3 months on maternity leave and has had the worst substitutes, plus she's trying to prepare my month long hiatus to India coming up in May. We're both prepping ourselves for the news we'll receive tomorrow or Thursday...whether or not I have a job/mentoring in Austin. It's been a long wait full of anticipation and anxiety, so we'll let you know when we know. If I get the job, which I would really love to be there, I'll fill you in on what it is.

Beyond that, for a few weeks my car broke down and my father drove down 5 hours to help get it running, so that's why I want you to click here to drive up hits on his web business. It's the least I can do, and all you have to do is click. Also, Charlotte's phone broke, our printer broke, we had our electricity cut off for 24 hours (to not fault of our own), my dog ran away but was found, and I kind of fell behind in school.

This last part is the worst part for me. This is my last semester of classes for my MDiv, and am really excited about my classes. I want to finish strong and I have 6 papers in about 3 weeks and then I'll be leaving for India. If I do get this job in Austin (which I want), then I'll hint the ground running and I'm wanting to make sure I prepare for India correctly.

So to finish up, click here. Oh, and thanks for the prayer...as you can tell from this rambling of a post, I'll need it to get through the semester.

Praying Bitterness Out

Prayer is participation in willing God's will.
-Marjorie J. Thompson

To pray is to change. Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us.
-Richard Foster

And I had a third quote, but I lost it so here's a paraphrase (if someone can correct and point me in the direction of the author, I'd appreciate it):

Religion is knowing that there is more than just the facts that we see.

I thought these quotes were appropriate in the face of my last post. Sometimes in the face of jaded and embittering situations, all we can do is pray. Prayer though is so much more than all we can do.

In Bitter Protest Against Embitterment

So one of my friends is going through some crap right now with his church and he shared it in class. In the end it could be very easy for him to get bitter about the whole situation, hell, with church in general. Then on of my professor's offered some words of advise, I'm not so sure they were encouragement, but he said that life is basically full of disappointments. This principle is especially true in ministry and churches, because there exists different expectations for "God's" people, right?

Well, this got me thinking about my experience in seminary. Sometimes I feel like the three to four years we devote to theological study and training is in preparation for ministry by way of learning to deal with being jaded, burned, and embittered. One of the things I've come to realize is that when we take something we love and place it in a microscope all the time, all of its faults, and deformations come to bear. We're allowed to vocalize all that we think is wrong with the church, ministries, hermeneutics, homiletics, etc. In this setting of constantly and almost overwhelmingly studying God, ministry, and the church it is very easy to get a sense that everything is not "alright."

Life, especially in the ministry, is full of broken relationships that can easily lead to bitterness and mistrust. I think sometimes seminary trains us deal with those feelings, because the real question is how are you going to stop from getting so bitter, frustrated, and jaded that you lose sight of what is really important. Failure is inevitable. The possibility for bitterness is inevitable, no, bitterness is inevitable.

So, the real question is what are you going to do with it?

I ask myself this everyday as I think about theology and my life. I ask myself this every Sunday I drive to our church. I ask this daily in the seminary classroom. What are you going to do with it? What are you going to do when the people you love fail you? When it feels like God is failing you? When you are failing you?

Sometimes it's best to remember that where bitterness may justify our feelings, mistrust can mark our lives, and we can become so jaded to lose touch with our faith, we should always count on love.

In the end, love wins...and sometimes grace pokes its ugly head in the most peculiar of situations.