Revelation and Over the Rhine

A friend and I have the opportunity to teach a class on the book of Revelation for a few weeks at our Church. To be honest this is a daunting task. If one breaks down the numbers, we have 6 weeks, forty minutes per week to go over twenty-two chapters. And since it’s Revelation, the need for time is all the more apparent, especially since we are not approach it according to current Left Behind standards. But we don’t have talk to really compare different ways of interpretation. I think you get my drift.

We have decided to approach the class according five “visions” of God, world, evil, church, and new creation. And our theological guide/assumption to whole class comes from Matthew 6:10, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Basically we are trying to approach more a theology of revelation as opposed to a verse-by-verse interpretation.

In our preparation, Jodi drew my attention to a song by Over the Rhine called The Trumpet Child. I have to say that this song is brilliant! For the sake of space, here is a link to the lyrics. This is a song that you have to listen to many times. The title comes from Revelation 10:7, when the seventh angel is about to blow the trumpet. This is one of the images of new creation in Revelation, when it will be on earth as it is in heaven. Notice the way Over the Rhine thinks about God as a person involved in re-creation and not as some cosmic clock waiting for things to wind down according to a set schedule, as one “improvising a kingdom come” and “riffing off love.” Like many people today, Over the Rhine is thinking about God in terms of music, particularly Jazz, as they make reference to the manner of God’s playing new creation into reality as Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong and Thelonious Monk, the beauty of Jazz being improvisation, originality, and surprise. So here’s the song.

"If I wanted to go that route I could just walk around the mall and think about Jesus"

During my Sociology of American Evangelicalism class I was reminded of the accuracy and sheer awesomeness of this King of the Hill clip.

Church Hopping

"at ease, at home in air and light"

The frog with lichened back and golden thigh
Sits still, almost invisible
On leafed and lichened stem,
Invisibility
Its sign of being at home
There in its given place, and well.

The warbler with its quivering striped throat
Would live almost beyond my sight,
Almost beyond belief,
But for its double note-
Among the high leaves a leaf,
At east, at home in the air and light.

And I, through woods and fields, through fallen days
Am passing to where I belong:
At home, at ease, and well,
In Sabbaths of this place
Almost invisible,
Toward which I go from song to song.

-Wendell Berry

I often kid that my goal as a pastor is to just get lost in the city among the people, walking about as I meet whoever comes my way. Of course I wouldn't be simply wandering around. Some intentionality would be good, right? Perhaps something along the lines of the works piety and mercy.

When I read this poem I am invited to get lost in peace and rest. I am invited to be at home, my true home. Sabbath. I thought about Paul's words Romans, "from faith to faith" when I read "from song to song." For Berry I think we are invited to see that Sabbath, although the place where we ultimately belong is a reality of some kind, almost invisible, here and now.

This is inviting for one who often feels overwhelmed by the immensity of such a task and pastor, let alone Christian.

"with the possibility of being"

THIS IS THE CREATURE

This is the creature there has never been.
They never knew it, and yet, none the less,
they loved the way it moved, its suppleness,
its neck, its very gaze, mild and serene.

Not there, because they loved it, it behaved
as though it were. They always left some space.
And in that clear unpeopled space they saved
it lightly reared its head, with scarce a trace

of not being there. They fed it, not with corn,
but only with the possibility
of being. And that was able to confer

such strength, its brow put forth a horn. One horn.
Whitely it stole up to a maid - to be
within the silver mirror and in her.

-Rainer Maria Rilke

Wainwright on liturgy

"Into the liturgy the people bring their entire existence so that it may be gathered up in praise. From the liturgy the people depart with a renewed vision of the value-patterns of God's kingdom, by the more effective practice of which they intend to glorify God in their whole life." -Geoffrey Wainwright, Doxology, 8

"and wounded patience sucks them dry"

Only retrieve them from the cities' guilt,
where everything for them is anger and confusion,
and wounded patience sucks them dry.

Has the earth, then, no room for them?
Whom does the wind seek? For whom
is the wet glistening of streams?

Is there by the banks
of the pond's deep dreaming
nowhere they can see their faces reflected?

They need only, as a tree does,
a little space in which to grow.

-Rainer Maria Rilke

Radiohead

I went to my first Radiohead concert yesterday. They played at the Verizon Wireless Music Center in Noblesville, Indiana. It was Fantastic! Dark! Mesmerizing! I really really enjoyed watching Everything In Its Right Place unfold electronically before my eyes/ears, plus this was the first Radiohead song I every heard (nostalgic). Bodysnatchers and Idioteque were fun to move to. I totally felt like I was in a dream when I heard How To Disappear Completely. You can’t imagine how loud the crowd roared “you do it to yourself” when they played Just. And National Anthem (my favorite song to blare in the car) followed by Street Spirit (one of my favorites on The Bends) ended the show perfectly. Here’s the set list. And some video.

15 Step
Bodysnatchers
There There
All I Need
Pyramid Song
Nude
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi
The Gloaming
Climbing The Walls
Faust Arp
Videotape
Morning Bell
Idioteque
Reckoner
Everything In Its Right Place
Just
How To Disappear Completely

-Encore 1-
You and Whose Army
Bangers and Mash
Exit Music
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
Karma Police

-Encore 2-
House Of Cards
National Anthem
Street Spirit (Fade Out)

"Everything I Expected"

My beautiful and fantastically talented wife has an article published in Credo! This is the first of many. She also has a forthcoming article on a satirical look at corny worship songs.

corny worship songs

So I'm curious . . . what would you consider to be the corniest line in a worship song you have ever heard? You can choose a line, verse, chorus, or even a whole song.

Actually, my lovely wife is going to be writing an article about corny worship songs. It's a satirical article meant to offer some exposure on the matter.

I'll offer my two-cents. It's the chorus from "On the Jericho Road." It goes like this:

"On the Jericho road there's room for just two
No more or no less just Jesus and you
Each burden he'll bear each sorrow he'll share
There's never a care when Jesus is there."

I mostly have a theological beef with this song. It seems that there is only room for two people on the Jericho road and the one singing the song is not one of them. It reminds me of the old riddle where two American coins add up to thirty cents but one of them is not a nickel. What are to two coins? (answer: a quarter and a nickel). Thus, two folks are traveling on the Jericho road and one of them is not you. Who's traveling with Jesus? And you get the point.

So, what do you got?

Another from Cavanaugh on the Eucharist

“Each Eucharist performed in the local community makes present not part of Christ but the whole Christ, and the eschatological unity of all in Christ. For this same reasons, however, there can be no mutual exclusion between local Eucharistic communities. From the early centuries this principle was represented by the necessity for two or three bishops from other communities to participate in the ordination of any bishop. The Eucharist made it necessary to see the whole Christ in each local community, which at the same time unite the communities, not through a single external centre or structure superimposed on the local, but through the presence of the whole Christ in each. The one Christ, then, is the centre of each Eucharistic community, yet the centre appears in many different places. Here we might apply Alan of Lille’s comment about absolute Being to the Body of Christ: it is an ‘intelligible sphere whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.’”

Two from Cavanaugh on the nation-state and the Eucharist

"Politics is a practice of the imagination. Sometimes politics is the 'art of the impossible,' but it is always an art, and engages the imagination just as art does. We are often fooled by the seeming solidarity of the materials of politics, its armies and offices, into forgetting that these materials are marshalled by acts of imagination. How does the provincial far boy become persuaded that he must travel as a soldier to another part of the world and kill people he knows nothing about? He must be convinced of the reality of borders, and imagine himself deeply, mystically, united to a wider national community that stops abruptly at those borders. The nation-state is, as Benedict Anderson has shown, one important and historically contingent type of 'imagined community' around which our conceptions of politics tend to gather."

"The Eucharist defuses both the false theology and false anthropology of will and right by the stunning 'public' leitourgia in which humans are made members of God's very Body. 'Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me' (john 6:57). Augustine envisions Jesus saying, 'I am the food of the fully grown; grow and you will feed on me. And you will not change me into you life the food your flesh eats, but you will be changed into me.' the contrast with Locke's explanation of property - that through labour one assimilates things from the state of nature to the property in one's person - is extremely suggestive. Indeed, in the Eucharist the foundational distinction between mine and thine is radically effaced (cf. Acts 2:44-47). Christ's restoration of the imago dei in humanity is consummated in individuals in the Eucharist, in which our separateness is overcome precisely by participation in Christ's body."

searching tactics

At first I thought it might be fun to post a list of the various things I search for. Then I got to thinking about different techniques used to search for things on the internet, such "quotations to search for a specific order of words" and plus signs (+) to connect two words in a search, e.g. LOST + John Locke + philosophy. Things like that. I wonder what tactics ya'll use when surfing the net? In any case here is a list my searched a's, including spelling errors and bad grammar because I know that google will kindly offer me an alternative spelling option. Which brings up another question, which search engine do you prefer and why?

A might wind + chords
A thief in the night
Abalone
About Bob Dylan
About Bob dylan + “the times they are a-changin”
Absolution
Absolutism
Absolutizing
Acculturated
Acculturated
Achmed + youtube
Acme
Acme definition
Ad hc
Ad hoc
Advent
Advent + music
Advent + rolling stone
Advent themes + music
Agrarianism
Aim instant messenger
Alan Hirsch
Album + serve somebody
Allergies
Alright
America’s next top model
Amy grant
Analysis
Ancient near east mythology
And you will heap burning coals on their head
Anne
Anthropomorphism
Anthropopathis
Antm
Aporia
Apple products
Apprehendable
Arrabon
Array
Articles + spirit Christology
Asphyixiation
Assonance
Atimes.com
Atonement
Atonement + mechanic
Atonement + mechanics
Atonement + psalms
Atonement + theology
Atonement and violence
Audio book + the late great planet earth
Audiobooks + left behind
Augustine + on the trinity + perichoresis

Newbigin on Evangelism

“How can this strange story of God made flesh, of a crucified Savior, or resurrection and new creation become credible for those whose entire mental training has conditioned them to believe that the real world is the world which can be satisfactorily explained and managed without the hypothesis of God? I know of only one clue to the answering of that question, only one real hermeneutic of the gospel: a congregation which believes it.

Does that sound too simplistic? I don’t believe it is. Evangelism is not some kind of technique by means of which people are persuaded to change their minds and think like us. Evangelism is the telling of good news, but what changes people’s minds and converts their wills is always a mysterious work of the sovereign holy Spirit, and we are not permitted to know more than a little of his secret working. But – and this is the point – the holy Spirit is present in the believing congregation both gathered for praise and the offering up of a spiritual sacrifice, and scattered throughout the community to bear the love of God into every secular happening and meeting. It is they who scatter the seeds of hope around, and even if the greater part falls on barren ground, there will be a few that being to germinate, to create at least a questioning and a seeking, and perhaps to lead someone to inquire about the source form which these germs of hope came. Although it may seem simplistic, I most deeply believe that it is fundamental to recognize that what brings men and women and children to know Jesus as Lord and Savior is always the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit, always beyond our understanding or control, always the result of a presence, a reality which both draws and challenges – the reality who is in fact the living God himself. And God’s presence is promised and granted in the midst of the believing, worshipping, celebrating, caring congregation. There is no other hermeneutic of the gospel.”

Friends

My friend, Brian Day, has just published an article in Credo Magazine. You should check it out.

On the Eucharist

“So we approach to the mystical gifts and are sanctified, becoming partakers of the holy flesh and the honorable blood of Christ the Saviour of us all, not receiving it as ordinary flesh – God forbid – nor as that of a man sanctified and conjoined with the Word by unity of honor, or as one who had received a divine indwelling, but as truly life-giving and the Word’s own flesh. For being by nature, as God, life, when he had become one with his own flesh, he made it life-giving” (Cyril of Alexandria, The Third Letter of Cyril of Nestorius).

“Even as an act of the Church, therefore, the Eucharist is not to be regarded as independent act on our part in response to what God has already done for us in Christ . . . but as acts towards the Father already fulfilled in the humanity of Christ in our place and on our behalf, to which our acts in his name are assimilated and identified through the Spirit” (T.F. Torrance, Theology in Reconciliation).

“Author of life Divine, who hast a table spread,
Furnish’d with mystic wine and everlasting bread,
Preserve the life thyself hast given,
And feed and train us up for heaven” (John Wesley, Hymns on the Lords Supper of 1745)

“Come, Holy Ghost, thine influence shed, and realize the sign;
Thy life infused into the bread, Thy power into the wine.
Effectual let the tokens prove, and made, by heavenly art,
Fit channels to convey thy love to every faithful heart” (John Wesley, Hymns on the Lords Supper of 1745)

“In the Eucharist the church is always called to become what it eschatologically is” (William Cavanaugh, Torture and Eucharist).

“We know that real life is 'eucharist,' a movement of love and adoration toward God, the movement in which alone the meaning and the value of all that exists can be revealed and fulfilled. We know that we have lost this eucharistic life, and finally we know that in Christ, the new Adam, the perfect man, this eucharistic life was restored to man. For He Himself was the perfect Eucharist; He offered Himself in total obedience, love, and thanksgiving to God. God was His very life. And He gave this perfect eucharist life to us. In Him God became our life” (Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World).

Virtual Communion

About a week ago I received word about an online bible college class who decided to take communion online as a way of concluding their class time. I took this article and presented into the Missional Theology class that I have been in for a few weeks in hopes of raising conversations about the implications of having virtual communion and the discussion has been fruitful.

We talked about a lot of things. We talked about the Gnostic aspects of a disembodied Eucharist, and the individualism of taking the elements yourself and not receiving them from another person. We talked about the efficacy of the event, whether or not they actually had the Lord’s Supper. We asked whether or not we might call this missional even if it is not the sacrament of communion. And we talked about Baudrillard’s notion of hyper-reality, which is where I find the most helpful critique of virtual communion.

I am no Baudrillard scholar so I welcome (plead) for correction if I misunderstand him. In short, his notion of hyper-reality is when illusion becomes reality. So, when our current Eucharistic practices fail (and note that they fail because of the Church) to be sign, symbol, foretaste, and instrument (a la Lesslie Newbigin) of the Kingdom of God then the church will turn to virtual reality (hyper-reality) for meaning and for “the real.”

At best what online communion offers is a mirror in which we look at our own inability to truly (really) take the Lord’s Supper. We cannot embrace the practice of online communion. It reveals the error of our ways, where we need to make correction in reality because their only reality. The turn to hyper-reality is a turn away from the real.

context is freedom

"All the activity of the disciples is subject to the clear precept of their Lord. They are not left free to choose their own methods or adopt their own conception of their task. Their work is to be Christ-work, and therefore they are absolutely dependent on the will of Jesus. Happy are they whose duty is fixed by such a precept, and who are therefore free from the tyranny of their own ideas and calculations" (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship)

Email, the last hope

Do you know what will happen to your non-Christian friends when you get raptured? If you’re not certain, then why not have peace of mind with this new form of evangelism. It lets you reach out from beyond the heavens back into this stink-hole of a planet by way of technology, probably the same technology that will be used by the anti-Christ to manipulate most of human race that has been left behind, which is a sort of poetic justice in that Christians can use the very tool of the enemy towards his (because the anti-Christ in never a woman in the movies or the books) demise.

Don’t dilly-dally around! Pay the money for peace of mind. Surely the Kingdom of God is worth thirty pieces of . . . I mean $40. (Okay, that's a bit harsh on my part, I admit).

CAUTON: In case of rapture, this blog will remain unmoderated.

"How does it look from where you stand?"

“If the hermeneutics of conviction declares, ‘Here I stand,’ the hermeneutics of humility asks, ‘How does it look from where you stand?’ The false humility of deconstruction degenerates into a despair of language and of our ability to interpret. True hermeneutic humility, on the other hand, is willing to receive something from the other, from the text, and from other interpreters. Does humility before the test rule out a critical moment in which the reader assesses its context? Am I advocating hermeneutic fideism: ‘Love God, and read as you please’? No, for understanding must be tested. Christian interpreters must endure every test that critics care to throw at them. Testing and enduring: these are signs of rationality and humility alike. Interpreters should never idolize their interpretations. I am seeking a degree of interpretive confidence somewhere between pride and sloth – the humble conviction that stands firm, even while acknowledging that it is rooted on earth rather than looking down from heaven. We do not yet have absolute knowledge. Yet we do have adequate knowledge, enough to respond to the overtures of the Word. Our first reflex upon being addressed should be one of trust. We must at least be willing to hear the other rather than drown out its voice, even when its message is a potential threat to our way of being in the world” (Kevin Vanhoozer in Disciplining Hermeneutics, 159).

who ya gonna vote for?

My Dad is asking for folks to post who they are going to vote for in November and five reasons why. If you got a few moments, head over their and offer your thoughts.

missional theology, deconstruction, and paul

This is the epistle reading from lectionary this week.

“(1) Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. (2) Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. (3) But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. (4) I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. (5) Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God” (1 Corinthians 4:1-5).

It is becoming overwhelmingly apparent to me that the church just needs to not take itself so seriously. In other words, we make it harder on ourselves than it has to be. I am thinking about the marks of the church (one, holy, catholic, and apostolic), particularly the call to unity, or oneness. Could it be that the church has been trying to secure unity in the wrong way? Could it be that the church has been trying to come together on issues that were never meant to be agreed upon across the board? I am thinking particularly about structural patterns in local churches, but I am sure there are a variety of things one could discuss. In other words (with Paul) our unity lies in the gospel and the transforming call for responsibility. Our task is not about imposing our own culturally conditioned assumptions about the way things are in the world on other people, as true as they may be. Rather, as we the church face the freshness and challenge of each new day we are called to hold up our assumption with open hands to God and one another and ask (plea) for guidance and direction.

“The calling of the church to be missional – to be a sent community – leads the church to step beyond the given cultural forms that carry dubious assumptions about what the church is, what its public role should be, and what its voice should sound like. Testing and receiving our assumptions and practices against a vision of the reign of God promises the deep renewal of the missional soul of the church that we need. By daily receiving and entering the reign of God, through corporate praying for its coming, and longing for its appearance, and in public living under its mantle, this missional character of the church will be nourished and revived” (Darrel Guder, Missional Church, 109).

I am not necessarily trying to advance the cause of a Missional Theology. That leads us down the very road of absolutism and institutionalism that Missional Theology is hoping to steer the church away from. However, the basic premise (of this quote) indicates something that should always remain true: the gospel perpetually challenges all our assumptions until it is on earth as it is in heaven.

coulrophobia

I received an interesting forward today in my email. I am not sure if the person who sent it was supporting the content of the forward or if they were just passing it on to everyone. I suspect the person does support the emails content. In any case it got me thinking about a few things.

The content of the email was about Barak Obama refusing to solute the flag (you can find a ton of stuff on youtube regarding this matter). The email quotes Obama saying,

“As I've said about the flag pin, I don't want to be perceived as taking sides . . . There are a lot of people in the world to whom the American flag is a symbol of oppression. And the anthem itself conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and all. It should be swapped for something less parochial and less bellicose. I like the song 'I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing.' If that were our anthem, then I might salute it.”

To begin, I was given no indication as to where and when Obama said this. The quote has no source.

In any case, I want to consider this quote based solely on its own terms (words): (1) What if a Christian president took office not based on sides (America vs. the world)? (2) What if it’s true that the American flag is a symbol of oppression? We might about this in terms of war or global capitalism, if not just the shear ability to waste all our resources with a thought. (2) What if Obama wants to move America beyond its identity as a war-driven nation? Is he not aloud to critique or even protest and still be nationalistic? (3) Would it not be refreshing to see the president of the United States be driven by world peace through a common song/harmony?

To top is off this is what the person followed up with in their own words after this quote in the email:

“Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this could possibly be our next president!! I, for once, am speechless. He has absolutely NO pride in this country!!!!! This is outrageous!!!! He doesn't deserve to be [a] dogcatcher!!! (Oh, sorry dogcatchers, I mean you no disrespect.) LET'S SEND THIS CLOWN DOWN THE ROAD KICKING ROCKS!!!! Forward this to EVERYONE YOU KNOW.”

I suppose I am doing exactly what he wants. However, if someone comes across this on this blog I would hope that they might explore some of the other posts and consider the person (me) who wrote them as nonsupporting and that they might think critically about the content (of the email and my blog).

To clarify, I am not arguing in favor of Barak Obama. I am not in agreement with the content of his defense regarding this matter for a variety of theological reasons that I won’t go into now. I only offer this post as an attempt to expose some of the ignorance (with all due respect) of the church (and yes the email provider is a Christian) to think critically about these matters. To think about them in light of the gospel that challenges every assumption about the way things are in the world, even the Church. We all stand under the (loving) judgment of Jesus Christ who never wants to silence the other. Both Obama and his email opponent stand to be called into question by the gospel. Let’s see more of those emails flying around that speak with love and humility and respect to those who disagree in hopes that both sides might be called into question by the gospel because the Kingdom belongs to God, not His church.

"and it leads some people to ask the sort of questions that lead further"

“No sharing of the good news takes place except in the context of a shared human life, and that means in part, the context of shared conversation. In such conversation we talk about real things and we try both to communicate what we know and to learn what we do not know. The sharing of the good news about the kingdom is part of that conversation and cannot happen without it … It is the kind of conversation which is not an alternative to but the occasion for sharing our hope, and it leads some people to ask the sort of questions that lead further.

Some, but not many. I certainty cannot tell any story of ‘success’ in terms of numbers. I guess that is the experience of many working in such areas. The church remains small and vulnerable. I do not find in this ground for discouragement. The kingdom is not ours. The times and seasons are not in our management. It is enough to know that Jesus reigns and shall reign, and to be privileged to share this assurance with our neighbors and to be able to do and say the small deeds and words that make it possible for others to believe.” (Lesslie Newbigin)

(dis)unity and the common good

I noticed something interesting in John Hagee’s apology to Roman Catholic Church (you can look up the controversy on the internet, I’m not up to finding links today). He says this in his apology.

“Out of a desire to advance a greater unity among Catholics and evangelicals in promoting the common good, I want to express my deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful.”

What caught my attention is his implying that unity between Catholics and Evangelicals lies in “promoting the common good” (my italics). Instead, I might ask about Jesus Christ and the mission of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church? The fact that his apology revolves around promoting the common good without saying anything about the disunity of the Church in and of itself is problematic. I am not saying that the Church shouldn’t have anything to say about the common good. I only wanted to point out that I thought it interesting that for Hagee in this situation the disunity of the Church was not so much a problem as that of promoting the common good. Whereas for me I might say that the Church struggles to witness (or, promote the common good, i.e. be a blessing to the nations) when she is divided. Anyways, I just thought this little snippet in the paper was interesting.

movie meme

The meme madness is back! Thank you to the kind folk over at Faith and Theology.


Scott's meme

1. One movie that made you laugh
Dumb and Dumber

2. One movie that made you cry
Homeward Bound (every time that stinking dog comes over hill … )

3. One movie you loved when you were a child
The Natural

4. One movie you’ve seen more than once
Garden State

5. One movie you loved, but were embarrassed to admit it
Selena

6. One movie you hated
The Quiet Earth (although I was just a kid when I saw it)

7. One movie that scared you
28 Days Later

8. One movie that bored you
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (I don’t really get bored at movies, but I do remember fall in and out of awareness during this film.)

9. One movie that made you happy
Little Miss Sunshine

10. One movie that made you miserable
The House of Sand of Fog

11. One movie you weren’t brave enough to see
Shindler’s List

12. One movie character you’ve fallen in love with
Ahh, I can’t think of one. I buckled under the pressure.

13. The last movie you saw
Ironman

14. The next movie you hope to see
Fargo, or the Hudsucker Proxy

15. Your favorite movie (I added this one)
The Shawshank Redemption




Katie's meme (my wife)

1. One movie that made you laugh
Billy Madison

2. One movie that made you cry
Hotel Rwanda

3. One movie you loved when you were a child
Sleeping Beauty

4. One movie you’ve seen more than once
Love Actually

5. One movie you loved, but were embarrassed to admit it
Step Up

6. One movie you hated
Eye of the Beholder, or Lonestar State of Mind

7. One movie that scared you
The Ring

8. One movie that bored you
All the Star Wars films

9. One movie that made you happy
Big Fish

10. One movie that made you miserable
The House of Sand and Fog

11. One movie you weren’t brave enough to see
Shindler’s List

12. One movie character you’ve fallen in love with
George Clooney in One Fine Day

13. The last movie you saw
No Country for Old Men

14. The next movie you hope to see
Made of Honor

15. Your favorite movie (I added this one)
Unsure.


Now tag five people!!!!! I tag Wil, J.R., Tim, Mindy, and Dave

pentecost reflection

"If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained" (John 20:23).

Perhaps an underlying assumption in this text is that should we ever retain the Sins of any we ourselves have retained our own Sins. In other words, when we do not forgive we ourselves remain unforgiven.

I often find that I have been formed to think of texts like this in terms of my responsibility to decipher which sins people commit ought to be forgiven and when. That’s just silly. Sin is bigger than that. Consider the full reality of Sin as that of a complex network of bad fellowship (physiological, emotional, physical) in which we are both victim and perpetrator of Sin in both intentional and unintentional ways. In this verse the risen Lord standing in the midst of His people breathing the Holy Spirit on them, the same Holy Spirit the empowered Jesus to fulfill all righteousness, or covenant faithfulness (both from God to humanity and from humanity to God), through whom we have the forgiveness of Sins, that is, through whom we have been redeemed, brought out, liberated from the power of Sin through this One who both effects and demonstrates our salvation.

To retain the Sins of others is to leave them still within this complex network of bad fellowship. It seems that Jesus is warning His people of the responsibility they now have to be a people of atonement, a people who forgive the Sins of many just like Jesus. Our responsibility is not to decipher when to retain forgiveness. Rather it is to be a people who live according to the rule and reign of God (good fellowship) in such a way that other can become incorporated into the body of Christ where there is forgiveness and redemption.

John Dunham - Achmed the Dead Terrorist

your TV queue

So, in the recent years I have found myself watching a variety of TV shows such as Scrubs, The Office, LOST, Alias, Entourage, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Heres, and Millennium. Lately, however, I have been wondering what shows people have in their "queue," so to speak. It's like your Netflix que but for TV shows that you have yet to watch. For me these shows would be Deadwood, The Wire, X-Files, Dexter (maybe), Firefly, and Eli Stone. What about you?

On the flip side, list a bunch of shows that you wish never existed. This sounds like fun! For me, right now, it's October Road. Cool premise, but it's painfully verbose.

update

It's f***ing snowing in Kansas City in April! Don't they know it's baseball season!!

(Sorry for bleeping out the word up there. My mom would flip if she knew I used the word "freak" in my everyday vocabulary.)

Maundy Thursday

Peter or Judas?

My Friend Russell Easterwood

I just discovered the my friend Russell Easterwood has a new website. I know Russell through the Church and I very excited about this. I strongly urge you to check it out and possible buy some form of his art! I think at the moment he only has the cards he makes available. Check it out!

a philosophy of The Terminator

Since the end of January, I have been an ardent watcher of the new television show, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. So far this is really a decent show! I have to admit that I was a fan of all things “Terminator” because of the movies, so I am not convinced that the show will convert anyone necessarily. I agree that there is an inherent problem that arises when a TV show or film is based around some sort of time travel concept. Plus, they can be pretty cheesy! Nonetheless such problems should not detract what he overall depth of a story (just ask any LOSTies after last Thursday time travel episode, which was phenomenal).

Something struck me in last week’s episode of Terminator. In the closing monologue, Sarah Connor narrates these words.

“Science now performs miracles like the god’s of old. Creating life from blood cells or bacteria or a spark of metal. But they are perfect creatures, and in that way they couldn’t be less human. There are things machines will never do. They cannot possess faith. They cannot commune with God. They cannot appreciate beauty. They cannot create art. If they ever learn these things, they won’t have to destroy us. They’ll be us.”

Don’t assume right off the bat that I am making any one-to-one correlations between this narration and the Christian faith. Nonetheless, what I find most interesting about these words is the concept of humanity. This narration seems to suggest that faith/communing with God and the ability to create art are the primary characteristics of what makes one human. These words take on much more depth and significance when heard while watching the scene unfold. In the show Sarah narrates the last part of these words over a scene where Thomas, a human from the future, is watching Cameron, the terminator sent back in time to project John Connor, performing ballet. Thus, one understands the perplexity revealed in his face when he sees a machine, artificial intelligence doing that which most characterizes humanity, performing art; something beautiful. A friend of mine raised a very poignant question about whether or not Cameron was just repeating what she saw in her ballet class. As a machine/articificial intelligence, she has the ability to repeat anything she sees or hears.

Another interesting point to consider is the perplexity of Thomas’s face. Consider how the roles reverse when human’s become so bent on their own survival that they neglect to do the very things that make them human (as revealed in the quote). Perhaps in trying to survive against the machines/artificial intelligence, humanity has turned into them: cold, ruthless, and narrow-minded.

Rubik's Cube

I learned how to solve a Rubik's cube! Now it's a matter of speed. So far 3 minutes, 18.53 seconds is my personal best. Fascinating.

what do you think?

If you occasionally scroll my blog role and are particularly intuitive, you might have made the connection that my dad blogs! He is a pastor in Pasadena, CA at Bresee Church of the Nazarene. He has posted something over at his blog that is a particularly hot issue for a few people on the district with whom he is in conversation. He is asking for some comments regarding a quote that is of particular importance. So, head on over his way and help a pastor out! I have posted his post here, but comments there will ensure that he sees them in his email. It's real issues like these that make blogging particularly helpful. Thanks!

Wondering if anyone might respond to the following statement:

"A social justice that does not call forth repentance in persons is not the social
justice revealed in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ."

Any feedback (pro or con) will be appreciated, as I am in an ongoing discussion with several people who wonder about the way the church is choosing to address issues that come under the umbrella of Social Justice. This quote came up the other day, and I really would like some feedback.

Thanks,
Rick

musica

What do you listen to when you study?

World?

I have been thinking about humanities relationship to sin as both victim and perpetrator. In my New Testament theology class we watch House of Sand and Fog, which was to serve as a way to see just how intertwined we all really are in this organic complex we call sin. The point of watching this movie was also to understand that sin as pride, or intentionally disobeying God, doesn’t come close to grasping the dynamics of sin in this world. I might post on the movie later, for now you just need to go watch. Ask yourself when the movie ends, “who sinned, this man or his parents?” You’ll understand when you get there.

Now, back to what I was saying about being a victim and a perpetrator. I just received an email from Nazarene Compassionate Ministries. It’s one they send out to everyone who is interested. This email stated the good news that the Church of the Nazarene has surpassed one million members in world mission’s areas. It’s good news the many are becoming followers of Jesus. However, I am concerned about the disunity inherent in the language. The “world” of “world missions” completely excludes the United States! I am not really going to go into this. I just wanted to point out that when we create statistic like this we further fuel our participation in this organic complex of sin. We create opportunities to be the victims of sins ripple effects. Likewise, we become the perpetrators that oppress those who are forced to identify themselves as the “world” of “world missions” by placing our selves (the U.S. Nazarenes) at the top as the ones who have all the answers, thus the one’s who can be missional.

I will hold my comments about the decline in U.S. Nazarene membership for another day.

The First Day of Spring

Today's poem is brought to you by my friend John Swanton. John has been a faithful part of Trinity Church of the Nazarene for a few years now. His faithfulness to God and the Church challenges me every time I think about him. I am grateful for his friendship. While he is a baseball fan, his desire to serve God much exceeds his love for the game. And he's from Boston! Note, this poem was penned yesterday, which applies to the context.

Todays the day, so splendid in deed.
The first day of spring, so to me heed.
Though snow may fly and cold be bitter,
so do report pitcher, catcher, and hitter.
It comes upon us quickly and did sneak
our calender so useless and oblique.
What say you all? It's February still?
I hear your doubts and pray that you will
Regard not that weekly ledger you keep,
but look towards the ballpark, what fortune it shall bring
For today is surely the first day of spring.

Indeed, John. Indeed.

non-profit's

As my last post indicated, I am taking a class on non-profit management. I thought it might be helpful/interesting to find what all my readers (ha ha) think in general about non-profits. So, what are the pros and cons of non-profit organizations? How do they inform our ecclesiology? How does our ecclesiology inform them? Are there underlying assumptions about participation in the state that is problemactic for the Church? Can non-profits become that which transcends state participation, thus becoming a witness to the state by subverting it's "power?" These are just some thoughts. Feel free to post another good question if you don't have any answers. I love me some good questions!

insomnia

I was in a class tonight on non-profit management where we were discussing Nehemiah 2:1-5, particularly that part about Nehemiah being sad in his heart. Our topic for the evening was on being passionate and purposeful. We considered a working definition of love as insight, or perception of the situation, anger/outrage at the injustice, and identification with those oppressed and marginalized. Our teacher asked us a question that I will now ask here.

"When have you ever had a sleepless night? When were you so angry/outraged that your whole being was affected?

So...

Big LOST Questions

LOST kicked off its fourth season on Thursday. I, however, decided that I had better not watch the first episode and attend the last day of class for my Spring module. Big decisions have to be made! So, I watch the episode today at a friends house which sparked a conversation about some of the questions that we had about the show and what we thought might happen in the end. The conversation made me wonder about the bigger, overarching questions that we all have about the show. I got to wondering just what are the questions people are asking that would need answering if the show was going to provide some sort of closure. Here are a few we came up with. Did I miss any? I'm sure I did.

What is the Island?
How do you get to the Island?
Who is Jacob?
What does 4 8 15 16 23 42 mean?

There are of course more poignant questions so feel free to ask those as well.

Who is Penny?
Did Desmond travel in time?
What does Lock really know?
Who is Ben?

What are we going to do today, Scott? Try and subvert the empire!

In light of a class I am taking on Colossians, I thought it might be fun to offer various ways one might subvert the empire. I am open to any and all suggestions. And please, be creative.

oh wait, you're sad again

So I have been thinking a lot about deconstruction in the past month or so. I got a wild hair (that’s for you Brandon) to read a book summarizing the life and thought of Jacques Derrida. After my brain finished imploding, I was ready to entertain John Caputo’s What Would Jesus Deconstruct? I really enjoyed this book! All of this leads me to what I have been reading in the book of Philippians.

“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

OMG! (That’s, “oh my God!” for all you non IMing, Google-chatting folk). Paul, you’re so crazy! As if we could ever be so presumptuous to not fear and tremble before God. But then again, it is God who is at work. And perhaps we are a bit presumptuous, or smug in our perceptions about the world. And because we can’t box God in a corner (God is unboxable; He can’t be boxed), we have to allow Him to roam free a bit. Therefore, our salvation must be worked out with fear and trembling because it God, the unboxable, who works it in us. Our presumptions must be constantly challenged (deconstructed, if you will). And for what? To enable us to will (desire) and work (perform) for His (God’s) good pleasure. God works salvation in our lives for his own happiness! But God, "if it makes you happy then why the hell are you so sad?" Oh yeah, the whole fear and trembling thing. But in all reality, the whole fear and trembling thing really isn’t cool these days for us postmodern - folk - who - want - to - be - on - an - aimless - journey - with - no - absolutes - who - still - talk - way - too - much - as - if - they - have - something - to - say. Wait, that's not fair to Christian postmoderns (who still talk way too much!) Oh wait, your sad again.

I suppose you might say that if you want to see deconstruction applied to the Christian life (can deconstruction really be applied at all) find the one who fears and trembles before God.

re-imagine

The good news of the gospel is that we can re-imagine the world. We can see things the way they are; the way God sees them. It’s difficult to re-imagine the world when your next-door neighbor had their car stolen right out of their driveway not one hour after she had arrived home. Why do the folks who can’t afford to buy a new car have to be the one’s who have their car stolen in the first place? The older cars are easier to break into, I suppose. However, the reason she is driving a 1990 Buick in the first place is because she can’t afford to buy a “better” car because they cost too much. And so it goes. I’m trying to re-imagine the world right now. All I can think about is what I would have done if I had shown up in the middle of the act. I can’t seem to re-imagine the situation as God might see it. I can't seem to re-imagine the world.

Any thoughts?

I read this today in a commentary on the book of Philippians by Stephen Fowl. I suppose, in light of his statement, my perception of "the result of ecumenism" is that it is a positive thing. But, it is likely that I am missing an aspect of ecumenism that influences his thoughts. Note his use of "Catholic." I assume that by capitalizing the word he means to imply Roman Catholics and, thus, non-Roman Catholics. If Fowl is a Roman Catholic then his statement makes sense according to his tradition (he teaches at Loyola College in Maryland so there is a good chance he is Roman Catholic). To be non-Catholic, thus non-Roman Catholic, is to be outside the church. I believe, however, this point is debated in Roman Catholicism. If that is what Fowl implies, then as a member of the non-Catholic category I would disagree with this statement. I tend to think under the assumption that to be Roman Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant, especially Nazarene, is to be catholic (small "c"), as in universal. If, however, my general assumptions are what Fowl means to imply, then I would agree with his statement because if ecumenism results in the fact that catholics and non-catholics are true Christians then the end result would be universalism. Anyways. Any comments?

"The problems of a divided church as we know it today are really the result of ecumenism. The more Catholics and non-Catholics, for example, recognize each other as true Christians, the greater the problem of their division, the sharper the pain of this fracture" (74).

The Golden Compass

[SPOILER ALERT: Don’t even think about reading beyond this point if you don’t want to know anything about the books or film.]

I went and watched The Golden Compass last night. If you don’t know anything about this movie, it is based on the first book in a series by Philip Pullman called His Dark Materials (which I mentioned in my last post). I really don’t feel like rehearsing the whole tension surrounding Pullman’s atheism and how he is going to bring Christianity to its demise . . . blah, blah, blah. You can Google all that, or check out a conversation over at Faith and Theology (scroll down, the conversation took place on December 4, 2007). If Pullman was going to do that he would have done so eleven or so years ago when the first book came out, not last week through a movie!

Having read the first two books and being almost half way through the third, I found the movie lacking in a lot of ways (surprise) in terms of a what makes a good movie (granted I’m not specialist). Movies tend to lack when they try to stay close to the text, but maybe not. I’m sure there are examples of successful interpretations from book to movie (anybody got one?) The movie forced the relationships and moved too quickly through some of the character development in order to get to the next action scene. To be fair, I really enjoyed watching the action scenes and comparing them to how I saw them in my mind when I read the book. This allowed me to enjoy the film only because I already knew what was going on, as if I had an insider view. But movies shouldn’t work that way. The movie critic’s were right, though. Nicole Kidman did a spectacular job playing Ms. Coulter. While, the screenplay writers didn’t quite capture the whole character Pullman created in Ms. Coulter, Kidman did a remarkable job displaying the tension between a mom torn between the Magisterium (the bad guys whom she works for) and her daughter. The very first scene in which Ms. Coulter is introduced is a dinner scene at Jordan College where Lyra (Coulter’s daughter) lives. Mind you, she is only twelve. It captures Coulter’s captivating presence among the Jordan scholars as well as how she dazzles Lyra into her confidence. I was particularly impressed with how the background music just draw’s you into the tension. This was a remarkable scene! Also, Iorek Byrnison, King of the ice bears, and the witch, Serafina Pekala, rocked! They will be fun to watch later.

In the end, however, I would save your money till the movie hits the redbox. Read the books, they're way better.

Plus, I have a feeling you won’t get the full affect of the controversy surrounding Pullman’s “agenda” unless you read the books. I just don’t think the movies will have the juevos to say what Pullman said. I might post on Pullmans ideas later, but not now.

boycotting and the bottom line

I guess it was about a month ago when I first received an email from, for the sake of broad generalizations, a concerned conservative evangelical regarding The Golden Compass, newly released in the theaters today. This movie is based on the first book in a series called His Dark Materials by author Philip Pullman. Since then I have being trying to pay attention to how this will unfold. What has sparked my interest in all of this is really nothing new and that is the reality of boycotting. Does boycotting really do anything? I wonder how much one buys into a culture that determines value based on the bottom line (i.e. money) when one boycotts? In other words, if the Church basis its witnesses in boycotting are we not affirming a worldview that determines worth based on monetary value? Think about it this ways: should one ever come across a restaurant that publicly embraces some sort of racist exclusion, perhaps a boycott would be appropriate. On the other hand, if one finds themselves on the inclusive side one might want to stop by from time to time in hopes of persuading the restaurant owner to a different perspective. If the world determines worth based on monetary value then perhaps the only language the Church has to communicate the gospel is in boycotting. If this is true, however, then boycotting is never the bottom line because it is too negative, too destructive. If the Church feels that it has actually overcome the beast based on what it boycotts then we are truly deficient in our witness. True?

they run for the sake of running

"It takes an adult to be immature. Children are new and full of energy. With the freshness of the renewed earth, their innocence is explosive. they know no doubt. In the gratuity of their being, they run for the sake of running, and not for the sake of arriving somewhere. They are pure elan. That is why they are irresistible."

Wyclef Jean, Nazarenes, and Amy Grant

I read this in the current Rolling Stone magazine.

Rolling Stone: As a hip-hop kid from Haiti, how did you get into rock music?"

Wyclef Jean: My father was a Nazarene preacher, and his English wasn't too good. He went all over America as a missionary, and one day he comes back with a cassette by a rock band called Petra, this Christian rock band. I'll never forget it. We started listening to Christian rock: Petra, Stryper.

RS: Stryper? Really?

WJ: Yeah, of course! I also had, like, Amy Grant. That was part of our church culture. Then I was like, "You, man, we got to start listening to some other shit." So we started listening to Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Pink Floyd. And my dad would accept it because he couldn't speak English. If I was listening to Metallica, he would say "What's that?" And I would say, "It's Christian rock!"

My Daemon

"The Office" quote of the week

"You expect to get screwed by your company. You never expect to get screwed by your girlfriend." -Michael Scott (yesh).

Regina Spektor

Katie and I went to a Regina Spektor concert this past Sunday at the Uptown theatre here in Kansas City. I bought these tickets as a gift for Katie’s birthday. At the time I was mildly interested in her, but after this show I am a full-fledged fan. What an awesome show! I heard a few of the songs I was familiar with: “Fidelity,” “Better,” “Sampson,” and “On The Radio.” We were most amazed at her ability to be a fantastic songwriter, a gifted musician, and creative performer all at the same time. Check out these music videos here, here, here, and here.

Hauerwas podcast

Thanks to Wired Parish Blog for posting these Hauerwas podcast's.

"The Office" quote of the week

"The eyes are the groin of the head." - Dwight K. Schrute

"The Office" quote of the week ... belated

Michael: "I declare BANKRUPTCY!"

Oscar: "Hey, I just wanted you to know that you can't just say the word bankruptcy and expect anything to happen."

Michael: "I didn't say it, I declared it."

even for the brevity of a smile

If Only for Once it were Still
By Rainer Maria Rilke
from Rilke's Book of Hours

If only for once it were still.
If the not quite right and the why this
could be muted, and the neighbor’s laughter,
and the static my senses make –
if all of it didn’t keep me from coming awake –

Then in one vast thousandfold thought
I could think you up to where thinking ends.

I could possess you,
even for the brevity of a smile,
to offer you
to all that lives,
in gladness.

"I wear the facade of pseudo peace"

Our Church went on its bi-annual Church retreat this weekend. This year we stayed overnight at a monastery in Atchison, Kansas. What a beautiful time. Our treat was centered around a Henri Nouwen artice. During this weekend I came across a publication the Benedictine Sisters put, which is where I came across this poem that I wanted to share. I am drawn particularly to the part that says, "I wear the facade of pseudo peace, unaware of burgeoning new life pushing through worn-out securities." Anyways, check out the links and enjoy the poem.

Befriending Chaos
By Barbara Mayer, OSB
Atchison, Kansas

I hide chaos in the closets of
my mind,
fearing to reveal my inner
turmoil,
my lack of order, my inability
to control
the frayed edges of my
anxieties.
When confusion and
turbulence
upset the smooth tempo of my
life
I wear the facade of pseudo
peace,
unaware of burgeoning new
life
pushing through worn-out securities

Just as the universe evolves
with both
order and turbulence, I too
must embrace
the tsunamic upheavals of my
life,
knowing they contain
unlimited
opportunities for transformation.

"The Office" quote of the week

"It appears that the website has become alive. This happens to computers and robots sometimes. Am I scared of a stupid computer? Please! The computer should be scared of me. I have been salesman of the month for thirteen of the last twelve months. You head me right. I did so well last February corporate gave me two plaques in lieu of a pay raise." - Dwight K. Schrute

"When the rich wage war it's the poor who die"

Here's a new Linkin Park song. Pretty good social critique at some points.

Linkin Park
“Hands Held High”

Turn my mike up louder I got to say something
Light weights step to the side when we come in
Feel it in your chest the syllables get pumping
People on the street they panic and start running
Words on loose leaf sheet complete coming
I jump in my mind and summon the rhyme, I'm dumping
Healing the blind I promise to let the sun in
Sick of the dark ways we march to the drum and
Jump when they tell us that they wanna see jumping
Fuck that I wanna see some fists pumping
Risk something, take back what's yours
Say something that you know they might attack you for
Cause I'm sick of being treated like I have before
Like it's stupid standing for what I'm standing for
Like this war's really just a different brand of war
Like it doesn't cater the rich and abandon poor
Like they understand you in the back of the jet
When you can't put gas in your tank
These fuckers are laughing their way to the bank and cashing the check
Asking you to have compassion and have some respect
For a leader so nervous in an obvious way
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
In their living room laughing like "what did he say?"

Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen

In my living room watching but I am not laughing
Cause when it gets tense I know what might happen
World is cold the bold men take action
Have to react or get blown into fractions
Ten years old it's something to see
Another kid my age drugged under a jeep
Taken and bound and found later under a tree
I wonder if he had thought the next one could be me
Do you see the soldiers they're out today
They brush the dust from bullet proof vests away
It's ironic at times like this you pray
But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday
There's bombs in the buses, bikes, roads
Inside your market, your shops, your clothes
My dad he's got a lot of fear I know
But enough pride inside not to let that show
My brother had a book he would hold with pride
A little red cover with a broken spine
On the back, he hand-wrote a quote inside
When the rich wage war it's the poor who die
Meanwhile, the leader just talks away
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
both scared and angry like "what did he say?"

Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen

With hands held high into a sky so blue
as the ocean opens up to swallow you.

holiness: habit and attitude

It’s a rare occasion (I suppose unfortunately) when work, church, discipleship, school, and outside reading all come together in the form of common theme. I call it the perfect storm. I suppose it would be most helpful if I began with a story about something that happened to me at work as a sort of catalyst.

Mr. Jones rolled up onto the valet ramp to check into the hotel. As a very large man, he was unable to walk on his own, thus requiring the assistance of a wheel chair. He is also one of those people who have become very comfortable with asking for help when he needs it, which was quite often as many things about coming to a hotel were difficult for him (elevators, etc). After about fifteen minutes, and with the help of myself and his two friends, we were able to get his luggage onto a bell cart and Mr. Jones into a wheel chair. We proceeded into the lobby to get him checked in. I was then instructed that I would have to assist him up to the room first and then come back down and take up his luggage, an unusual two step process. When I got to the room I had to adjust some of the furniture so that he could maneuver his wheel chair. At one point he asked if I might untie his shoes. When I left he took about five minutes to commend to hotel regarding its handicap accessibility. He wanted a manager to call up to his room so that he could personally say how happy he was. All of this took about a half hour.

Let me shift gears. I seem to always come back to G. Simon Harak’s Virtuous Passions. Harak’s argument is that we are morally responsibility for our passions (how we feel; our affections; our desires). He says that many often neglect to consider that an aspect of virtue ethics is the formation of our desires. In as much as we are to act rightly, we are to desire rightly.

Back to my story, and you might intuit where I am going with all this. As far as my actions go, I did everything Mr. Jones asked. Thus, I acted rightly in assisting him. However, as far as my passions, my desires went, I did all of his requests with the wrong attitude. I didn’t want to help him and, in fact, became quite frustrated with the whole scenario. Of course, realizing this about myself, I then became frustrated with how I was feeling; angry that I would ever not want to help someone who needed it, particularly one such as Mr. Jones. To top the whole situation off, he tipped me two dollars. So, now I am frustrated about receiving such a small tip, to which, of course, I am then more frustrated with myself about feeling that way about a tip. Do you see where I am going with this?

All of this happened the day before our pastor preached a sermon on entire sanctification, which has everything to do with habit and attitude. Entire Sanctification or Christian perfection, is about having our habits and attitudes rightly ordered toward our good and true end in God (Revelation 4). Also interesting was that in our discipleship hour in Church we talked about James 4. Read it for yourself.

In the end, I was reminded through Mr. Jones that holiness has everything to do with habit and attitude; a good reminder that I am indeed a long way off but steadily moving toward to a good and true end in God.

'The Office' quote of the night

“Everyone always wants new things. Everybody likes new inventions, new technology. People will never be replaced by machines. In the end, life and business are about human connections and computers are about trying to murder you in a lake. And to me the choice is easy.” - Michael Scott

"I hate so much about the things you choose to be"

I was commenting to someone just a few days ago that working at a hotel has made me a bit more cynical and definitely more sarcastic. (Don’t worry; I’m not going off the deep end). However, I have realized that there are a few things the people say and do that drives me absolutely insane.

First, when someone walks up to me when I am a bellman/valet and addresses me as “buddy.” Just don’t! I’m not your buddy, especially when it is quite obvious that you have ulterior motives.

Second, when someone throws their keys at me as they walk inside saying that they’ll be right back. Don’t throw your keys at me; I just might throw them back!

Third, and this is a co-worker issue. When someone leaves a note for the whole staff and signs it “thanks kids.” Serious!? All you’re doing is trying to over compensate for the fact that you’re the oldest worker on staff by being subversively condescending. No one buys it and no one likes it!

So there are just a few of the things that I have realized drive me absolutely insane. I hope you enjoyed our time together. Feel free to leave a few of your own in the comment section.

Peace,
Scott

Office quote of the night

"I'm petrified of nipple chaffing." - Andy

wonder at your ignorance

"If you wish to be a person of understanding and moderation, and not to be slave to the passion of conceit, continually search among the created things for what is hidden from your knowledge. When you find that there are vast numbers of different things that escape your notice, you will wonder at your ignorance and abase your presumption. And when you have come to know yourself, you will understand many great and wonderful things; for to think that one knows prevents one from advancing in knowledge."

St Maximos the Confessor, Third Century on Love, 81, in the Philokalia

The Believers Heaven

What not to believe.

personality test

recommended reading meme

There is another meme floating around. This one has to do with books you find yourself recommending to people more than others. Oddly, one can participate in this meme not by way of being tagged but out one's own free will to participate. So I am. And you should to.

Here goes:

Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon, Resident Aliens – I would recommend anyone in pastoral ministry to return to this book every three years for a refresher.

Church Fathers and Mothers – I’m with Thomas. These people are beautiful.

John Wright, Telling God’s Story – This is essentially a book on preaching. However, Wrights argument for how and why we preach tackles the importance of understanding homiletics and hermeneutics. With this comes a fine critique of North American Christianity and the importance of the sermon for re-narrating our existence into the story of God.

Alexander Schmemann, For the Life of the World – I usually find myself recommending this book when people are talking about the Eucharist. Go figure.

Paul Jewett, Man as Male and Female – A really good book on male and female partnership in God.

Nathan Hatch, The Democratization of American Christianity – This is a fantastic history of how America has evolved thus far in its life, particularly as to how rooted our current culture is in American Christianity in terms of where it came from. I wrote a paper on the influence of mass media to mobilize a religious movement. Of course now we might say the media is used to promote anyone’s interests, thus the rise of advertising as a profession. Related to this Hatch draws very insightful conclusions.

Lewis Smedes, Sex for Christians – One of my friends asked me, “well is it really that different for Christians?” I laughed and said no. It’s a great book to spark conversation. Smedes is very honest and direct about topics often neglected in the church (erotic fantasies, petting, the single life, etc). He is not justifying a sexual liberalism (although he is pretty liberal), but rather a more faithful way to talk about sex. One not rooted in the sexual guilt so prevalent in Western cultures.

G. Simon Harak, Virtuous Passions­ – Harak discusses the possibility of being morally responsible for our passions. In other words, being rightly moved with compassion (Mark 1:41). I usually find myself recommending this book in conversations where Hauerwas comes up. And in fact, Hauerwas’ talk about bodily formation is coupled nicely with Harak’s talk about our passions, which Harak mentions.

Peace ya'll,
Scott

A Nietzsche kick

So, it has been a while since I posted.

Anyways, I still have one post to catch up on. Eric tagged tagged a while back to post personal facts and habits. Stay tuned for that.

For now, I need some book help. I am taking an interest in Nietzsche as of late and wanted to see you all might suggest a good book or two or five critiquing Nietzsche's philosophy.

I know, I return to the blogosphere only to make demands. But don't worry. If Nietzsche has taught me anything thus far it is that I can only seek to add postively to your life.

Peace out,
Scott

SNL - Sofa King

Jake Brown Fall from at least 40 feet at 2007 X Games 13

umm, ouch.

do the shuffle

Brian has tagged me for the latest in blogger games: ipod shuffle. So, here are the first ten songs the played when I shuffled my ipod. And, like Brian, I had to go five more. You'll understand when you try it.

1. Bright Side of the Road – van Morrison
2. That I Would Be Good – Alanis Morissette
3. Gotta Serve Somebody – Bob Dylan
4. It Takes a lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry – Bob Dylan
5. I’m in the Mood – John Lee Hooker
6. Where It’s At – Beck
7. Graze – Live
8. To Ramona – Bob Dylan
9. Foot of Pride – Bob Dylan
10. Devil’s Haircut – Beck

11. Can’t Complain – Nickel Creek
12. Twilight Zone – van Morrison
13. Rock House Boogie – John Lee Hooker
14. Sunset Soon Forgotten – Iron and Wine
15. Nothin' but the Blues - Ellis Marsalis


I now pass on this madness to ... Kallie Markle, Jeff Hall, and Eric Lee.

with tears and sighs

Oh the irony! Last Sunday in our discipleship hour, which is basically Sunday school on steroids, we were looking at Acts 10. Our pastor commented on how God sometimes works unexpectedly and in very real and obvious ways. We were then asked to mention a time when God spoke to us in a very real, obvious, and unexpected way. I had nothing. Those questions always clear my mind.

This morning, however, was a different story. I don’t want to get into all the knitty gritty details about the stuff of my life, and so I won’t. I will say that I prayed for God to make Himself known to me today because I really needed to know that He was there. I think I used words about feeling God’s glory (density, thickness, weightiness), which in Kansas City right now would be a nice change from the humidity. I prayed that in all things I would know that the lamb has overcome the world (much thanks to the John’s apocalypse). And then I read this in the Philokalia:

“‘God does not want us to be lying idly on our backs; therefore he does not effect everything for Himself. Nor does He want us to be boastful; therefore He does not give us everything. But having taken away from each of the two alternatives which is harmful, He has left us what is for our own good.’ Truly does the Psalmist say: ‘Unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain that build it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain’ (Ps. 127:1). For it is impossible to ‘tread on the asp of basilisk and trample on the lion and the dragon’ (Ps. 91:13. LXX), unless you have first cleansed yourself as far as you can, and have been strengthened by Him who said to the apostles: ‘See, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and on the enemy’s power’ (Luke 10:19). It is on this account that we have been commanded to entreat the master not to ‘lead us into temptation, but to deliver us from the evil one’ (Matt. 6:13). For if we are not delivered from ‘the fiery arrows of the evil one’ (Eph. 6:16) through the power and help of Christ, and found worthy of attaining dispassion, we are labouring in vain, thinking that through our own powers or efforts we shall accomplish something. Therefore, he who wishes to ‘to stand against the wiles of the devil’ (Eph. 6:11) and render them ineffectual, and share in the divine glory, ought day and night to seek God’s help and divine succour with tears and sighs, with insatiable longing and fire in his soul. He who wishes to share in this glory purges his soul of all worldly pleasure and hostile passions and desires. It is of such souls that God speaks when He says: ‘I will dwell in them and walk with them’ (2 Cor. 6:16). And the Lord said to His disciples: ‘If a man loves me, he will keep my commandments; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and take up Our abode with him’ (John 14:23).”

St. Theodoros The Great Ascetic, A Century of Spiritual Texts

Of particular note, consider this again: “Therefore, he who wishes to ‘to stand against the wiles of the devil’ (Eph. 6:11) and render them ineffectual, and share in the divine glory, ought day and night to seek God’s help and divine succour with tears and sighs, with insatiable longing and fire in his soul. He who wishes to share in this glory purges his soul of all worldly pleasure and hostile passions and desires.”

Did I forget to mention that I had not read the Philokalia in months and that this was the first passage I read this morning? Needless to say, I did not need to read on.

I think I sometimes rely too much on coffee to be found a faithful disciple. Nonetheless, hostile passions creep in more than I would care for, but God has overcome the world! And so I will toil on.

postures (1)

I think I will meander a bit in a sort of a reoccurring blog series called “postures” in which I will view different postures people assume in their everyday lives. To start off, I want to view the posture of one’s hands during prayer.

I wonder why when I was a child I was taught to fold my hands. I suppose it was so that I would not be distracted by objects with which to fiddle. On the one hand, this is a good thing as ought to teach children to focus on what they are doing, i.e. praying to God, not wondering what toys are near by or who is sitting next to me or even what sort of noise might come out if I pull the hair of the person next to me. We fold our hands so remain undistracted and focused.

But is this sort of a negative approach to what we are doing when we pray? Can we really remain focused when we are concerned with what not to do? It’s like telling someone standing in line not to think about the time. I wonder if a better practice might be to open our hands in a posture more symbolic of receiving and offering, which seems to be more specific to we are doing when we pray anyways. Can a posture of open hands help with the distractions as well as have a more positive formation on our lives?

I think so. At this point I might refer you to the quote in my profile as well as the name of my blog: Two Empty Hands. Torrance reminds us that our act of worship is not to first offer but to first receive. We must first receive the gift of Christ and His worship to the Father so that we might be found in Christ by the Holy Spirit and worship in the same faithfulness. Cyril of Alexandria often views the atonement as the Son’s offering the perfect human worship to the Father.

It might be time that we move away from “close your eyes and cross your hands” to something more intentionally formational.

Peace,
Scott

Evan Almighty

Okay … I hate to do it. I really hate to do it! In fact … No! I won’t want to. But I have to. I have to be “that guy,” whoever he is. I know, okay! I know. Even Almighty, while displaying bits and pieces of truth, is merely a humanistic/Protestant liberal/social gospel interpretation of the biblical story of Noah, which ultimately distorts its interpretation at the most fundamental levels.

Okay … phew! Glad that’s done … But it is true.

Some thoughts:

[spoiler alert!! I might give some things away]

1. God: God is a completely transcendent, non-Trinitarian being, although He show’s up looking like a human every now and then.
2. Teleology: God seems to make it up as he goes. He comes across as a guy who has it all figured out but there really is no end in sight. He seems providential, but for what? This has huge effects on the movies anthropology.
3. Anthropology: Three words: “Random Acts of Kindness,” or, ARK. That’s all God wants from His children. Oh, and more personal time with one’s family. We all have it in us to be a little bit better, although there is no standard or formation required to be better. It’s as if everyone just knows what it means to be kind.
4. Sin: I am not quite sure what sin is in this world. While it seems that no one is really outside God’s saving grace, there is still some sort of evil reality. In this movie, John Goodman’s character personifies evil. I suppose this fits right along with a standardless understanding of what is good. Since we don’t know what is good we are free to decide on our own what is bad. But, doesn’t that make everyone wrong and everyone right?
5. Christology: Ironic in all this is that God’s chosen pick for Noah is a politician who ran on the campaign slogan “change the world.” This blatantly undermines any understanding that the world changed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Lest I dwell solely in the realm of deconstruction, I offer these bits and pieces of truth that the movie rips from more secure theological foundations. Thus, here are some well-intentioned themes the movie offers:

1. Who are God’s people? Everyone! God has over 6 billion kids.
2. ARK, or Random Acts of Kindness implies a very watered down and more vague notion of the historic understanding of the works of mercy. In other words, love one other. Be “charitable” to one another.
3. God laughs and enjoys His creation. We see this in a scene where God shows up to see an old friend, which is a tree. Of course the implication of this is that God was for not with this tree, which is just not true. This is not to say that God communes with trees like he does with people, but at least the God of Even Almighty is not Pantheistic!
4. More importantly, God wants to dance with us and enjoy our enjoyment of Him.

Why say all this? Because a short while ago the world picked up on the fact that it can make money off Christians. Over the next umpteen years we are going to see more surges in movies displaying obvious Christian themes. I am concerned that the Church might be to ignorant (please know that I say that as kind I possibly can) to call out those who make films like Even Almighty and offer critique on where they far and where they are near. Refer to my previous blog post and the play between analogy and parody.

Peace,
Scott

humbled and baffled

I came to this conclusion today as I skimmed through a book review on Graham Wards, Cultural Transformation and Religious Practice by Randi Rashkover. The review appears in the latest issue of Modern Theology.

Rashkover comments,

“Both Cities of God and Ward's more recent Cultural Transformation and Religious Practice, offer a Christian apologetics in which Christianity is both part of contemporary culture, committed to reading the signs of the times, and also outside that culture, committed to reading those signs through the lens of its own calculus of desire. Ward's apologetics arises from Augustine's analysis of the relationship between the city of man and the city of God. The encounter between the two cities is governed by two different logics, that of analogy and that of parody. On the one hand, the two cities share the same language and can provide occasions for mutual interpretation. On the other hand, the city of man is a parody of the city of God and can be read as a perverted imitation that is therefore subject to Christian critique. For the city of God, as the representative of eschatological reality, contextualizes and corrects the meaning and use of the city of man and its language; indeed, the intelligibility of the city of man is inextricable from its need for correction through the city of God.”

Talk about walking the line! Or maybe it’s not about walking the line. There is a crafty weaving of the wheat and the tares that somehow the Church must embrace. I am humbled by our task and confess my utter ignorance.

Peace,
Scott

Anti-Gang czar for L.A. is chosen

"Jeff Carr, a minister with a liberal evangelical group, will oversee Villaraigosa's strategy of targeting eight zones across the city.

By Duke Helfand, Times Staff Writer
June 20, 2007

An ordained minister who has spent much of his career developing social service and youth programs in some of Los Angeles' poorest neighborhoods will be named today as the city's new gang czar, officials said.

Jeff Carr, chief operating officer for Sojourners/Call to Renewal, a liberal evangelical group based in Washington, D.C., will work directly for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as director of gang reduction and youth development programs.

Carr will coordinate an anti-gang strategy that Villaraigosa unveiled in April. The approach calls for police and social service agencies to target eight "gang reduction zones" in South Los Angeles, the Eastside, the northeast San Fernando Valley and other areas.



The new director of anti-gang efforts will oversee an evaluation of the city's existing 23 gang prevention and intervention programs and recommend which should continue.

Villaraigosa's office said the mayor picked Carr because of his ability to develop successful youth programs and his expertise at running nonprofit organizations. Officials said they thought his work in the faith-based sector would be an asset in his new public role, which will carry the title of deputy mayor.

"Jeff Carr has the perfect blend of organizational, financial and community-based experience to successfully quarterback the mayor's gang-reduction strategy," said Matt Szabo, a mayoral spokesman.

Villaraigosa has scheduled a news conference for this morning to introduce Carr at the California Endowment near downtown.

While at Sojourners/Call to Renewal during the last two years, Carr oversaw finances, personnel and marketing functions.

Before that, he spent 17 years at the Bresee Foundation, a faith-based Los Angeles organization whose programs provide more than 3,000 people annually with access to healthcare, education, technology, job skills and recreation activities.

Bresee focuses its programs in Koreatown, South Los Angeles and the Pico-Union and Westlake districts.

As the foundation's executive director, Carr oversaw overall development and direction. He established a pediatric medical clinic — negotiating a contract with a community healthcare provider for services for young people up to age 18, according to the mayor's office.

Carr also developed a first-time offender program to provide assistance to juvenile offenders, and he was responsible for development of the Bresee Youth Program, which serves people ages 11 to 21 with recreation activities, tutoring, job training, college scholarships and spiritual development.

Carr could not be reached for comment, but a Sojourners/Call to Renewal representative said he would be missed.

"Our loss is a real gain for the citizens of Los Angeles," said Jack Pannell, a spokesman for the group, which describes itself as a Christian ministry dedicated to social justice issues on national and international levels.

"Jeff is a creative visionary when it comes to real programs that affect people and communities."

Carr was raised in the Church of the Nazarene and followed his father by becoming an ordained minister in the church. He is married, with two young children."

Thoughts on Aesthetics

So, I finally order a copy of David Bently Hart's, The Beauty of the Infinite. Even after the first fifteeen pages I am beginning to understand why it is so praised. I found these thoughts to be particularly interesting

"What Christian thought offer's the world is not a set of 'rational' arguments that (supressing certain of their premises) force assent from others by leavening them, like the interlocturs of Socrates, as a loss for words; rather, it stands before the world principally with the story it tells concerning God and creation, the form of Christ, the lovliness of the practice of Christian charity - and the rhetorical richness of its idiom. Making its appeal first to the eye and heart, as the only way it many 'command' assent, the church cannot separate truth from rhetoric, or from beauty" (4).

They shall know we are Christians by our love? Interesting.

Paedophilia, the unforgivable sin

When is caution taken too far? I have asked myself this question on many occasions since, oh, I guess it would have to be September 11, 2001 when as a rather ignorant and naïve college student I was forced to start paying attention. In recent years immigration has brought this question to mind, particularly in a post-9/11 world where safety and security by means of national defense is a way of life. But always lurking in the back of my mind is the Christian response to paedophilia.

A Guardian Unlimited article this week talks about “chemical castration” as means of control over sexual predators. In some cases they are talking about using satellites in order to monitor these people. I am convinced, as most everyone else is (hopefully), that “There are very few crimes more horrific than sex offences against children.” My concerns today, however, lie in what a Christian response might be.

I am not sure that I have any answers. But David Wilson's comments are interesting. He writes, “So too have I worked with those who have been chemically castrated - metaphorically had "their balls cut off" - but who still harbour desires to do awful things to children, because ultimately what motivates them has much more to do with psychology than physiology, and therefore what they can't achieve physically they can none the less achieve with …” Well, you can use your imagination as to what might be used.

This is an issue of privacy and information. I think the intentions of law’s like Megan’s law or Sarah’s law are attempting to do something good. But what are the implications? What are the implications of forcing someone out into the public without giving them a place to go? The problem lies deeper than physics, deeper than law. It is a moral issue that the current culture is not equipped to handle. I am convinced that this problem will increase if the Church does not create space in their communities for these people.

Of course the next question is one of space-making.

Wisdom from a master

"For, though it is not an easy thing for a soul under the influence of error to repent, yet, on the other hand, it is not altogether impossible to escape from error when the truth is brought alongside it" (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, III.2.iii).