I moved my blog over to WordPress, you can still access my blog from www.chapin.com. You can also view it at chickchaotic.wordpress.com.
Happy reading ;-)
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Did I miss my calling?
This past week I had the amazingly fun time being in a play of Prince Caspian at my local church. We had about 1200 people come to see it over the 5 shows. I had a very small part, actually two small parts, but my favorite part was the part of the hag. I was the hag in one scene, with two lines. But, it was SO much fun - and lots of people told me I was a great hag. I'm not sure if that was a compliment...
Anyway, drama and theater have always been an interest of mine. My sister is a drama queen - she got her undergrad degree in theater and her master's degree in education. She is a high school teacher, teaching Social Studies and Drama. Interestingly, she showed signs of her calling as a teacher and director from a very young age. She is three years older than me and taught me whatever she was learning in school when she came home from school almost every day. Playing school was our favorite game when we were young. We also lived near our cousins and whenever we would all get together at our grandparent's, she would organize us into putting on a show for the adults - it was quite fun.
I took some drama classes when I was a kid and in high school, but never pursued theater in college. Since then, I have auditioned mostly for church plays and usually only cast as an extra. Until the last few years. Even though I have only been cast in small roles, I have gotten lots of positive comments. So, I wonder, did I miss my calling? Should I have been an actress? Is it too late?
Well, I get to act in KIDstuf next week - our weekly show at church where kids and parents come together, so the drama continues. Maybe I'll audition for some community theater around here. One thing I've learned in my over forty years of life so far, it's never too late.
Anyway, drama and theater have always been an interest of mine. My sister is a drama queen - she got her undergrad degree in theater and her master's degree in education. She is a high school teacher, teaching Social Studies and Drama. Interestingly, she showed signs of her calling as a teacher and director from a very young age. She is three years older than me and taught me whatever she was learning in school when she came home from school almost every day. Playing school was our favorite game when we were young. We also lived near our cousins and whenever we would all get together at our grandparent's, she would organize us into putting on a show for the adults - it was quite fun.
I took some drama classes when I was a kid and in high school, but never pursued theater in college. Since then, I have auditioned mostly for church plays and usually only cast as an extra. Until the last few years. Even though I have only been cast in small roles, I have gotten lots of positive comments. So, I wonder, did I miss my calling? Should I have been an actress? Is it too late?
Well, I get to act in KIDstuf next week - our weekly show at church where kids and parents come together, so the drama continues. Maybe I'll audition for some community theater around here. One thing I've learned in my over forty years of life so far, it's never too late.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Image Problem or Integrity Problem?
I just finished reading unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity ... and Why it Matters, by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons.
Dan Kimball writes in the Afterword of unChristian, that he has “great optimism about the reputation of Christianity in the future.” Dan Kimball wrote, They Like Jesus but not the Church, which was published six months prior to unChristian. Kinnaman and Lyons back up with statistics what Kimball discovered in conversations across the country. I also noticed another book out on this subject, I'm Fine with God...It's Christians I Can't Stand, by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz, published in January of 2008 – just months after unChristian. According to these authors, Church, Christianity, and Christians have an image problem.
An image is a representation of something, sometimes visible and reproducible, other times, a mental representation. In this context, image is the general impression that a person, organization, or product presents to the public or that is perceived by the public. An image problem often exists when a person, organization or product presents an image to the public that is not an accurate representation of the real thing. Kinnaman suggests that the image problem we have as Christians is possibly an accurate representation of the way many of us truly are - and in this sense, we have more than an image problem, we have an integrity problem - we are not consistently representing Christ as he truly is. Another criticism of Christianity is that we try to project an image that is not real, and the public is just not buying it.
What image should we be presenting to the public and how can we help present it in a clear manner, so misperceptions are minimized? Kinnaman does not thoroughly address these questions in his book, but I do believe these questions are a worthy response to Kinnaman’s research. Most Christians have some familiarity with the concept that we are supposed to be representing Christ and are in some way personally being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). But the research reveals that many of us are sorely missing the mark. One of the saddest comments I encountered in unChristian was on the first page of the first chapter, “many of those outside of Christianity, especially younger adults,… reject Jesus because they feel rejected by Christians.” The Jesus that I know and read about in the Bible came to love and serve and bring peace to all people and desires that none should be left out of his kingdom. That sounds a lot more like accepting than rejecting to me. I agree with Kinnaman, “Christianity has an image problem.” If we are projecting an image of Christ that is not a faithful representation of who Christ is to the world, then we need to change it.
Kinnaman reminds that “as we work to change the negative perceptions of outsiders, we need to avoid an opposite and equally dangerous extreme. Some Christians respond to outsiders’ negativity by promoting a less offensive faith.” But then he goes on to say, “Softening or reshaping the gospel is an utterly wrong response to the objections people raise.” While I agree we need to offer a faithful representation of the gospel, I do believe we may need to do some reshaping of the gospel if we have distorted it and deformed it so it is no longer recognizable as Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom. “Like a corrupted computer file or a bad photocopy, Christianity, they say, is no longer in pure form, and so they reject it. One quarter of outsiders say that their foremost perception of Christianity is that the faith has changed for the worse. It has gotten off track and is not what Christ intended. Modern day Christianity no longer seems Christian.” The question for Christians here is: what did Christ have in mind when he thought up the church? If Jesus wanted us to mimic his every action and copy his every word, perhaps he would have waited until the advent of YouTube to appear. Peter says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:3-4) I believe returning to a pure form of Christianity will not only require a change in what we say and do, but a recognition of the source of our life and a renewal of the transforming power of Christ within us that alone can reshape and reform us into a holy people who reflect Christ more authentically to a world in need. As we seek to change perceptions, we must be careful to seek those changes from within. “The reputation of the Christian faith should never be managed or spin-doctored, but we can change how we’re known by becoming more Christlike.”
Kinnaman covers six broad themes in unChristian, exposing the most common points of skepticism and objections raised by outsiders. First, outsiders consider Christians hypocritical. They also consider us too focused on getting converts as if we don’t really care about them. Not surprisingly, outsiders view Christians as bigoted people who show disdain for gays and lesbians. They think we are out of touch with reality and do not respond to reality in appropriately complex ways. We are too political and finally, we are judgmental. They doubt whether we really love people as we say we do. I have experienced some of this kind of criticism personally. An extended family member thought I was being unloving because I did not love her in the way she expected. I struggled with this for quite some time, because my love for her is real and yet it wasn’t being perceived as real. I asked God to show me ways that I had been unloving so I could make it right with her and also to show me how to love to her in meaningful ways. God revealed that I was harboring some unChristian attitudes toward her that I needed to confess and change. He also inspired creative ways for me to communicate my love to her. There are still days when I am misunderstood and by no means am I loving her in the way she expects most of the time, but through Christ and my willingness to change, she has become more secure in my love and my love for her has grown. In response to these criticisms, I don’t believe we need to do what outsiders think Jesus would do in order to change the perceptions, but we do need to respond in humility seeking God’s perspective and asking God how we need to change individually and corporately to accurately portray Christ in the world.
Kinnaman concludes his book with some thoughts on how we can move from being unChristian to Christian – how we can change these perceptions. “The goal of overcoming their negative baggage is not just to make outsiders think pleasant things about us, but to point them to life in Christ. We do not “spin” the Christian message; we live it. We do not need to exaggerate or hype faith; we embrace and describe all the potency, depth, complexity, and realism of following Christ.” When we think about changing perceptions, we must remember that it’s not going to happen through some new marketing campaign, or by forming some new institute for real Christian living, but through relationship. “Jesus laid the foundation for the church through relationships. His influence was (and is) indelible because he changed people.” I pray Jesus changes me as a result of reading this book so when people see me, they will get a clearer picture of who Christ is and who he wants to be for them.
Dan Kimball writes in the Afterword of unChristian, that he has “great optimism about the reputation of Christianity in the future.” Dan Kimball wrote, They Like Jesus but not the Church, which was published six months prior to unChristian. Kinnaman and Lyons back up with statistics what Kimball discovered in conversations across the country. I also noticed another book out on this subject, I'm Fine with God...It's Christians I Can't Stand, by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz, published in January of 2008 – just months after unChristian. According to these authors, Church, Christianity, and Christians have an image problem.
An image is a representation of something, sometimes visible and reproducible, other times, a mental representation. In this context, image is the general impression that a person, organization, or product presents to the public or that is perceived by the public. An image problem often exists when a person, organization or product presents an image to the public that is not an accurate representation of the real thing. Kinnaman suggests that the image problem we have as Christians is possibly an accurate representation of the way many of us truly are - and in this sense, we have more than an image problem, we have an integrity problem - we are not consistently representing Christ as he truly is. Another criticism of Christianity is that we try to project an image that is not real, and the public is just not buying it.
What image should we be presenting to the public and how can we help present it in a clear manner, so misperceptions are minimized? Kinnaman does not thoroughly address these questions in his book, but I do believe these questions are a worthy response to Kinnaman’s research. Most Christians have some familiarity with the concept that we are supposed to be representing Christ and are in some way personally being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). But the research reveals that many of us are sorely missing the mark. One of the saddest comments I encountered in unChristian was on the first page of the first chapter, “many of those outside of Christianity, especially younger adults,… reject Jesus because they feel rejected by Christians.” The Jesus that I know and read about in the Bible came to love and serve and bring peace to all people and desires that none should be left out of his kingdom. That sounds a lot more like accepting than rejecting to me. I agree with Kinnaman, “Christianity has an image problem.” If we are projecting an image of Christ that is not a faithful representation of who Christ is to the world, then we need to change it.
Kinnaman reminds that “as we work to change the negative perceptions of outsiders, we need to avoid an opposite and equally dangerous extreme. Some Christians respond to outsiders’ negativity by promoting a less offensive faith.” But then he goes on to say, “Softening or reshaping the gospel is an utterly wrong response to the objections people raise.” While I agree we need to offer a faithful representation of the gospel, I do believe we may need to do some reshaping of the gospel if we have distorted it and deformed it so it is no longer recognizable as Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom. “Like a corrupted computer file or a bad photocopy, Christianity, they say, is no longer in pure form, and so they reject it. One quarter of outsiders say that their foremost perception of Christianity is that the faith has changed for the worse. It has gotten off track and is not what Christ intended. Modern day Christianity no longer seems Christian.” The question for Christians here is: what did Christ have in mind when he thought up the church? If Jesus wanted us to mimic his every action and copy his every word, perhaps he would have waited until the advent of YouTube to appear. Peter says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:3-4) I believe returning to a pure form of Christianity will not only require a change in what we say and do, but a recognition of the source of our life and a renewal of the transforming power of Christ within us that alone can reshape and reform us into a holy people who reflect Christ more authentically to a world in need. As we seek to change perceptions, we must be careful to seek those changes from within. “The reputation of the Christian faith should never be managed or spin-doctored, but we can change how we’re known by becoming more Christlike.”
Kinnaman covers six broad themes in unChristian, exposing the most common points of skepticism and objections raised by outsiders. First, outsiders consider Christians hypocritical. They also consider us too focused on getting converts as if we don’t really care about them. Not surprisingly, outsiders view Christians as bigoted people who show disdain for gays and lesbians. They think we are out of touch with reality and do not respond to reality in appropriately complex ways. We are too political and finally, we are judgmental. They doubt whether we really love people as we say we do. I have experienced some of this kind of criticism personally. An extended family member thought I was being unloving because I did not love her in the way she expected. I struggled with this for quite some time, because my love for her is real and yet it wasn’t being perceived as real. I asked God to show me ways that I had been unloving so I could make it right with her and also to show me how to love to her in meaningful ways. God revealed that I was harboring some unChristian attitudes toward her that I needed to confess and change. He also inspired creative ways for me to communicate my love to her. There are still days when I am misunderstood and by no means am I loving her in the way she expects most of the time, but through Christ and my willingness to change, she has become more secure in my love and my love for her has grown. In response to these criticisms, I don’t believe we need to do what outsiders think Jesus would do in order to change the perceptions, but we do need to respond in humility seeking God’s perspective and asking God how we need to change individually and corporately to accurately portray Christ in the world.
Kinnaman concludes his book with some thoughts on how we can move from being unChristian to Christian – how we can change these perceptions. “The goal of overcoming their negative baggage is not just to make outsiders think pleasant things about us, but to point them to life in Christ. We do not “spin” the Christian message; we live it. We do not need to exaggerate or hype faith; we embrace and describe all the potency, depth, complexity, and realism of following Christ.” When we think about changing perceptions, we must remember that it’s not going to happen through some new marketing campaign, or by forming some new institute for real Christian living, but through relationship. “Jesus laid the foundation for the church through relationships. His influence was (and is) indelible because he changed people.” I pray Jesus changes me as a result of reading this book so when people see me, they will get a clearer picture of who Christ is and who he wants to be for them.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Act of God or Natural Disaster
I am troubled by a book I am reading called, unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity... and Why It Matters by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. One issue, among many, that troubles me is this idea that acts of God - like earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. are God's way of judging wrong doers on the earth today. Kinnaman and Lyons bring this up in their book, but I have heard this from pulpits, in articles on the internet, and even from the mouths of some Christians I know (though I will not use any names here). To be honest, I have been tempted to think this way myself. Now I am asking myself why?
Many of us have heard the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, and interestingly this story is referenced by the Old Testament Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and Zephaniah and then in the New Testament by Jesus, Paul, Peter, Jude and John. But, in none of these references do we see threats that God is going to do what he did to Sodom and Gomorrah in our day and age. So, why are we tempted to think God is acting this way?
Jesus warns us not to judge others and when we pronounce that some tragedy in another person's life is God's judgment upon them, we are treading in dangerous territory. As a friend of mine once said, "whatever happened to mercy?" Do we really want to experience God's judgment?
Do you judge another people? You yourselves have done wrong things. So when you judge others, you judge yourselves, because you do the same things. You judge them and yet you do the same things. We know that God judges people who do such things. And he judges them by what is true. Man, you judge people who do such things and yet you do them yourself. Do you think that God will not judge you? Or do you not respect him for being kind, very patient, and for waiting a long time? Do you not know that God is kind, and he wants to lead you away from doing wrong things? But your hearts are hard. You will not stop. That is why God will be angry with you. He will be angry on the day when people will see that he judges in the right way. - Romans 2:1-5 (WE)
As I continue to ask myself why I am tempted to think in this way at all - I must ask - is my heart hard? Oh, Lord, please soften my heart! Am I trying to minimize my own wrong doing, by making other's wrong doing seem worse than mine? I love the way the question is asked in this translation of the New Testament, "Do you not know that God is kind, and he wants to lead you away from doing wrong things?"
Have I experienced God's kindness? To what degree? Can I offer that kindness to others? Do I really think that harsh, judgmental words will lead others away from doing wrong? I don't know whether the latest earthquake or hurricane was some expression of God's judgment on mankind or not, but as far I understand the New Testament, Jesus came to offer mercy. I have chosen to follow Jesus, and so I choose to offer mercy and grace and help in time of need. When my daughter asks, "Mom, can I borrow the wheel barrow for our youth group to help clean up people's homes from the damaging floods?" My answer is not, "Let those sinners clean up after themselves, they brought this flood upon themselves by their evil doing," but rather, "Here, let me help you load that in the car." And then I look at the dark gray sky moving overhead, with the bright sun at my back and I see a rainbow, God's promise that he will never again flood the earth. Yes, my God has the right to judge and the power to do it, but my God has also chosen to offer mercy to all. My God loves, heals, and forgives and my God is not slow about his promises but is patient toward us desiring that none should perish.
You may have heard it said that an earthquake is an act of God judging the earth, but I say to you natural disasters give us opportunity to show God's love and mercy and to help those who are in need.
Many of us have heard the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, and interestingly this story is referenced by the Old Testament Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, and Zephaniah and then in the New Testament by Jesus, Paul, Peter, Jude and John. But, in none of these references do we see threats that God is going to do what he did to Sodom and Gomorrah in our day and age. So, why are we tempted to think God is acting this way?
Jesus warns us not to judge others and when we pronounce that some tragedy in another person's life is God's judgment upon them, we are treading in dangerous territory. As a friend of mine once said, "whatever happened to mercy?" Do we really want to experience God's judgment?
Do you judge another people? You yourselves have done wrong things. So when you judge others, you judge yourselves, because you do the same things. You judge them and yet you do the same things. We know that God judges people who do such things. And he judges them by what is true. Man, you judge people who do such things and yet you do them yourself. Do you think that God will not judge you? Or do you not respect him for being kind, very patient, and for waiting a long time? Do you not know that God is kind, and he wants to lead you away from doing wrong things? But your hearts are hard. You will not stop. That is why God will be angry with you. He will be angry on the day when people will see that he judges in the right way. - Romans 2:1-5 (WE)
As I continue to ask myself why I am tempted to think in this way at all - I must ask - is my heart hard? Oh, Lord, please soften my heart! Am I trying to minimize my own wrong doing, by making other's wrong doing seem worse than mine? I love the way the question is asked in this translation of the New Testament, "Do you not know that God is kind, and he wants to lead you away from doing wrong things?"
Have I experienced God's kindness? To what degree? Can I offer that kindness to others? Do I really think that harsh, judgmental words will lead others away from doing wrong? I don't know whether the latest earthquake or hurricane was some expression of God's judgment on mankind or not, but as far I understand the New Testament, Jesus came to offer mercy. I have chosen to follow Jesus, and so I choose to offer mercy and grace and help in time of need. When my daughter asks, "Mom, can I borrow the wheel barrow for our youth group to help clean up people's homes from the damaging floods?" My answer is not, "Let those sinners clean up after themselves, they brought this flood upon themselves by their evil doing," but rather, "Here, let me help you load that in the car." And then I look at the dark gray sky moving overhead, with the bright sun at my back and I see a rainbow, God's promise that he will never again flood the earth. Yes, my God has the right to judge and the power to do it, but my God has also chosen to offer mercy to all. My God loves, heals, and forgives and my God is not slow about his promises but is patient toward us desiring that none should perish.
You may have heard it said that an earthquake is an act of God judging the earth, but I say to you natural disasters give us opportunity to show God's love and mercy and to help those who are in need.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Holy Human Hybrid - Mystery
This concept of Christ living his life in and through me is such a mystery. In this series of blogs on the Holy Human Hybrid, I am attempting to make some sense of this mystery, but the reality is that in some respects it will remain a mystery - and I like it that way. I'm afraid if I were to figure it all out, then I would no longer need God.
Today I am thinking again about the nature of our relationship with the indwelling Spirit. Watchman Nee puts it this way, We think of the Christian life as a "changed life" but it is not that. What God offers us is an "exchanged life," a "substituted life" and Christ is our Substitute within. "I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me." This life is not something which we ourselves have to produce. It is Christ's own life reproduced in us. How many Christians believe in "reproduction" in this sense, as something more than regeneration? Regeneration means that the life of Christ is planted in us by the Holy Spirit at our new birth. Reproduction" goes further: it means that that new life grows and becomes manifest progressively in us, until the very likeness of Christ begins to be reproduced in our lives. (The Normal Christian Life, by Watchman Nee, pg. 180)
I'm not sure I buy into this idea of the substitute or exchanged life - the seeming eradication of the self (I) with some replacement of Christ instead. In Galatians 2:20 referenced above Paul makes it clear that "I live." He goes on to say, "yet not I, but Christ." I wonder if his "yet not I" refers to some sort of transformation of the self, rather than the eradication of the self. In Romans Paul declares that if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. This "shall live with him" is not a reference to some future event after our physical body dies, but a union with the life essence of Christ on a daily basis. We also see references to this union with Christ, instead of a substitution by Christ, in 2 Peter 1:3-4, where Peter reminds us that we have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was all given to us by God's own power, when we learned that he had invited us to share in his wonderful goodness. God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.
I suggest that rather than an exchanged life as Watchman Nee proposes, the idea of a Holy Human Hybrid may be a better way to view our new nature. Rather than thinking in terms of regeneration or reproduction - as in an exact copy, perhaps we can think in terms hybridization - the fusion of the holy spirit with our human spirit, a new spiritual birth springing forth from the union of our essence with the essence of Christ. So, what do you think - when you choose to follow Christ, does the Spirit come to indwell you and take your place or does the Spirit of Christ somehow co-mingle with you and begin a process of transformation to restore you to the image of the One in whose image you were created?
Today I am thinking again about the nature of our relationship with the indwelling Spirit. Watchman Nee puts it this way, We think of the Christian life as a "changed life" but it is not that. What God offers us is an "exchanged life," a "substituted life" and Christ is our Substitute within. "I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me." This life is not something which we ourselves have to produce. It is Christ's own life reproduced in us. How many Christians believe in "reproduction" in this sense, as something more than regeneration? Regeneration means that the life of Christ is planted in us by the Holy Spirit at our new birth. Reproduction" goes further: it means that that new life grows and becomes manifest progressively in us, until the very likeness of Christ begins to be reproduced in our lives. (The Normal Christian Life, by Watchman Nee, pg. 180)
I'm not sure I buy into this idea of the substitute or exchanged life - the seeming eradication of the self (I) with some replacement of Christ instead. In Galatians 2:20 referenced above Paul makes it clear that "I live." He goes on to say, "yet not I, but Christ." I wonder if his "yet not I" refers to some sort of transformation of the self, rather than the eradication of the self. In Romans Paul declares that if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. This "shall live with him" is not a reference to some future event after our physical body dies, but a union with the life essence of Christ on a daily basis. We also see references to this union with Christ, instead of a substitution by Christ, in 2 Peter 1:3-4, where Peter reminds us that we have everything we need to live a life that pleases God. It was all given to us by God's own power, when we learned that he had invited us to share in his wonderful goodness. God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us. Then we could escape our evil desires and the corrupt influences of this world.
I suggest that rather than an exchanged life as Watchman Nee proposes, the idea of a Holy Human Hybrid may be a better way to view our new nature. Rather than thinking in terms of regeneration or reproduction - as in an exact copy, perhaps we can think in terms hybridization - the fusion of the holy spirit with our human spirit, a new spiritual birth springing forth from the union of our essence with the essence of Christ. So, what do you think - when you choose to follow Christ, does the Spirit come to indwell you and take your place or does the Spirit of Christ somehow co-mingle with you and begin a process of transformation to restore you to the image of the One in whose image you were created?
Saturday, March 15, 2008
What's the Difference?
Recently Dan Kimball blogged about some conversations surrounding the varying views concerning the emerging church. I was recently asked, "What's the difference between emerging and emergent?" I find it interesting that we are concerned with the differences within the church conversation. What about being concerned with the difference between the church and the world? Statistics show that when measuring certain behaviors, there is really not much of a difference between those who proclaim to be followers of Jesus and those who are not. Why is there so little difference? What kind of difference may we expect to find between followers of Christ and others who are not following Christ?
Leonard Sweet comments on Jesus prayer in John 17:11, 13-15 that we are called to be in the world, not of it, but not out of it either. Leonard Sweet, futurist, author, university professor and husband and father of three, is one of the first voices in the dialog concerning post-modernism and the cultural shift that we see contributing to the emerging church. Yet, Leonard Sweet is different. What's the difference? Well, for one thing, Leonard Sweet is off the charts. When you view the charts Dan Kimball references you won't find Leonard Sweet listed. Len Sweet is different.
I believe we are called to be different. We find quite a bit of variety within the church - different communities of faith living out their calling to follow Jesus within their unique contexts, but are our only differences within or are we different from the world? Paul asks in Philippians 2, Does Christ speak to you? Does love call to you? Do you have a part in the Holy Spirit? Do you have any love and care for others? Then make me very, very happy. Live in happiness with one another. Have the same love for each other. Think the same way. Agree together about things. All have one purpose in mind. Do not try to prove you are better than others. Do not be proud of yourselves, but be humble. Think of other people as being better than yourselves. Each one of you should not think only about himself, but about other people also. When Paul says, think the same way, does this mean we no longer have varying views within the larger body of Christ? I don't think so, but I do think we need to agree to be thinking about the same Way (Jesus is the Way) and as followers of Christ, our differences should be most pronounced in regard to our different kind of love, our different kind of hope, our different kind of life in relation to the world. A difference that is in the world, not of the world, not out of it, but a difference that is for the world - so they will see Christ in us.
Leonard Sweet comments on Jesus prayer in John 17:11, 13-15 that we are called to be in the world, not of it, but not out of it either. Leonard Sweet, futurist, author, university professor and husband and father of three, is one of the first voices in the dialog concerning post-modernism and the cultural shift that we see contributing to the emerging church. Yet, Leonard Sweet is different. What's the difference? Well, for one thing, Leonard Sweet is off the charts. When you view the charts Dan Kimball references you won't find Leonard Sweet listed. Len Sweet is different.
I believe we are called to be different. We find quite a bit of variety within the church - different communities of faith living out their calling to follow Jesus within their unique contexts, but are our only differences within or are we different from the world? Paul asks in Philippians 2, Does Christ speak to you? Does love call to you? Do you have a part in the Holy Spirit? Do you have any love and care for others? Then make me very, very happy. Live in happiness with one another. Have the same love for each other. Think the same way. Agree together about things. All have one purpose in mind. Do not try to prove you are better than others. Do not be proud of yourselves, but be humble. Think of other people as being better than yourselves. Each one of you should not think only about himself, but about other people also. When Paul says, think the same way, does this mean we no longer have varying views within the larger body of Christ? I don't think so, but I do think we need to agree to be thinking about the same Way (Jesus is the Way) and as followers of Christ, our differences should be most pronounced in regard to our different kind of love, our different kind of hope, our different kind of life in relation to the world. A difference that is in the world, not of the world, not out of it, but a difference that is for the world - so they will see Christ in us.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Evangelism is...
As a graduate student at George Fox Evangelical Seminary, I have the privilege of doing some really heavy reading - some of which is more rewarding and engaging than others. Among my heavy readers, Bryan Stone stands tall as offering depth and breadth in his treatment of Evangelism while keeping me engaged in the subject and rewarding me with new hope for the church and its witness in the world. The following is just a brief foretaste of what you might get out reading his book, Evangelism after Christendom: The Theology and Practice of Christian Witness.
If someone were to create a cartoon called “Evangelism is…” in the fashion of Kim Grove’s iconic “Love is…” cartoon from the ‘60s, Bryan Stone’s Evangelism after Christendom: The Theology and Practice of Christian Witness would be a definitive guide for such a creation. If I were such a cartoonist, I would draw 12 images representing what Stone says evangelism needs to be today to be a credible and faithful witness to the world.
Image 1: Evangelism is… the church being present in the world. “Evangelism […] is not primarily a matter of translating our beliefs about the world into categories that others will find acceptable. It is a matter of being present in the world in a distinctive way such that the alluring and ‘useless’ beauty of holiness can be touched, tasted, and tried.”
Image 2: Evangelism is… essentially embodied in everything we do. “…evangelism is not so much a practice as an intrinsic characteristic of every Christian practice and of the comprehensive praxis of Christian faith itself.”
Image 3: Evangelism is… living God’s story in the world and inviting others to join in. “If Christian evangelism is the activity of proclaiming a story, it is also the activity of inviting others to make that story their own. This activity is performed by telling the story and also by living out that story imaginatively and openly in the world.”
Image 4: Evangelism is… announcing the reign of God here and now. “Jesus appeared announcing the reign of God as an actual state of affairs that was now breaking into history. For Jesus, God’s reign does not merely show up at the end of history. Rather, the end of history is itself now irrupting into the present, and Jesus’ evangelism both heralds and embodies the signs of that irruption.”
Image 5: Evangelism is… a social reformation. “Because of the new order present in Jesus and because of the social, political and subversive dimensions of that new order, ‘believing in Jesus’ is not a private mental assent to a set of propositions about his nature, an individual experience of his person, or a legalistic performance of his teachings. Apostolic evangelism is an invitation to be formed socially by the Holy Spirit into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus through incorporation into his body. Anything less can never be a full ‘offer’ of Christ.”
Image 6: Evangelism is… revolutionary love. “A postmodern and postliberal church may yet recover an evangelical and uncivil resistance to capitalism that originates in it’s worship and following of a crucified and risen Lord; is sustained by disciplines and practices such as breaking of bread, the revolutionary love of enemies, and the welcoming of strangers; and is energized by the transforming, egalitarian, and reconciling power of the Holy Spirit.”
Image 7: Evangelism is… a heart of acceptance and inclusion. “At the heart of the church’s identity, practice and outreach is a politics of gender, racial, and interethnic acceptance and inclusion.”
Image 8: Evangelism is… making room for skeptics and doubters. “The good news must always be expressed in such a way that its being understood by hearers is balanced with the possibility of its rejections. Weakness, vulnerability, incarnation, and refusability are all markers of faithful Christian witness.”
Image 9: Evangelism is… a Holy Spirit happening. “Evangelism is a participation in the work of the Holy Spirit, for it is only through the Spirit that Christ is made present and available in the world.”
Image 10: Evangelism is… a place prepared for all to come experience the reign of God. “If evangelism can be ‘measured’ at all, perhaps it can best be measured by how well a community prepares a place at its table for those who are not there yet, for those who have not even heard, much less heeded, its invitation.”
Image 11: Evangelism is… hope for the future. “Evangelism takes time. But for a people of hope, it is precisely time that we have been given. That is why hope is subversive in a world that is cynical and stoic about the way things are. That is also why an evangelism formed by hope will always stand fundamentally counter to an evangelism formed by that great impostor of hope, despair.”
Image 12: Evangelism is… a church that is shaped like Jesus in a world with a God shaped whole. “The very shape of the church in the form of its ordinary practices and patterns of social process constitute its witness in the world by providing a visible and material foretaste of God’s rule.”
My focus in this summary has been on the hope for the future of Christian witness, but Bryan Stone also deals with the realities of how we have not been faithful in our witness throughout some of our history. My view of evangelism has primarily been shaped by my training to be a foreign missionary and fits very well with Stone’s view of evangelism. Yet, for the last 20 years in American, I have struggled and often despaired in my local evangelistic efforts. My experience has been that the church in America has largely been shaped subtly and historically by Constantinianism and more profoundly and tragically by modernity. Though I may be tempted to despair as authors like Stone affirm and explain what I have experienced of the “dark side” of Christianity, I choose to have hope. Even though, like many in our culture, there are times when I have liked Jesus but not the church (Dan Kimball wrote a great book on this subject) and have been ashamed to invite friends to church, I continue hoping they will see Jesus in me and my family in spite of the distorted images presented by some American churches today.
You may have heard it said that three things remain - faith, hope and love, and so I say to you, I have faith in the global body of Christ to become a faithful witness to the world of the peaceable reign of God, I hope in the future Dan Kimball will be able to write a book about how the church has become so like Jesus that there is no discrepancy between the two, and I love the church - the visible body of Christ to and for the world.
If someone were to create a cartoon called “Evangelism is…” in the fashion of Kim Grove’s iconic “Love is…” cartoon from the ‘60s, Bryan Stone’s Evangelism after Christendom: The Theology and Practice of Christian Witness would be a definitive guide for such a creation. If I were such a cartoonist, I would draw 12 images representing what Stone says evangelism needs to be today to be a credible and faithful witness to the world.
Image 1: Evangelism is… the church being present in the world. “Evangelism […] is not primarily a matter of translating our beliefs about the world into categories that others will find acceptable. It is a matter of being present in the world in a distinctive way such that the alluring and ‘useless’ beauty of holiness can be touched, tasted, and tried.”
Image 2: Evangelism is… essentially embodied in everything we do. “…evangelism is not so much a practice as an intrinsic characteristic of every Christian practice and of the comprehensive praxis of Christian faith itself.”
Image 3: Evangelism is… living God’s story in the world and inviting others to join in. “If Christian evangelism is the activity of proclaiming a story, it is also the activity of inviting others to make that story their own. This activity is performed by telling the story and also by living out that story imaginatively and openly in the world.”
Image 4: Evangelism is… announcing the reign of God here and now. “Jesus appeared announcing the reign of God as an actual state of affairs that was now breaking into history. For Jesus, God’s reign does not merely show up at the end of history. Rather, the end of history is itself now irrupting into the present, and Jesus’ evangelism both heralds and embodies the signs of that irruption.”
Image 5: Evangelism is… a social reformation. “Because of the new order present in Jesus and because of the social, political and subversive dimensions of that new order, ‘believing in Jesus’ is not a private mental assent to a set of propositions about his nature, an individual experience of his person, or a legalistic performance of his teachings. Apostolic evangelism is an invitation to be formed socially by the Holy Spirit into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus through incorporation into his body. Anything less can never be a full ‘offer’ of Christ.”
Image 6: Evangelism is… revolutionary love. “A postmodern and postliberal church may yet recover an evangelical and uncivil resistance to capitalism that originates in it’s worship and following of a crucified and risen Lord; is sustained by disciplines and practices such as breaking of bread, the revolutionary love of enemies, and the welcoming of strangers; and is energized by the transforming, egalitarian, and reconciling power of the Holy Spirit.”
Image 7: Evangelism is… a heart of acceptance and inclusion. “At the heart of the church’s identity, practice and outreach is a politics of gender, racial, and interethnic acceptance and inclusion.”
Image 8: Evangelism is… making room for skeptics and doubters. “The good news must always be expressed in such a way that its being understood by hearers is balanced with the possibility of its rejections. Weakness, vulnerability, incarnation, and refusability are all markers of faithful Christian witness.”
Image 9: Evangelism is… a Holy Spirit happening. “Evangelism is a participation in the work of the Holy Spirit, for it is only through the Spirit that Christ is made present and available in the world.”
Image 10: Evangelism is… a place prepared for all to come experience the reign of God. “If evangelism can be ‘measured’ at all, perhaps it can best be measured by how well a community prepares a place at its table for those who are not there yet, for those who have not even heard, much less heeded, its invitation.”
Image 11: Evangelism is… hope for the future. “Evangelism takes time. But for a people of hope, it is precisely time that we have been given. That is why hope is subversive in a world that is cynical and stoic about the way things are. That is also why an evangelism formed by hope will always stand fundamentally counter to an evangelism formed by that great impostor of hope, despair.”
Image 12: Evangelism is… a church that is shaped like Jesus in a world with a God shaped whole. “The very shape of the church in the form of its ordinary practices and patterns of social process constitute its witness in the world by providing a visible and material foretaste of God’s rule.”
My focus in this summary has been on the hope for the future of Christian witness, but Bryan Stone also deals with the realities of how we have not been faithful in our witness throughout some of our history. My view of evangelism has primarily been shaped by my training to be a foreign missionary and fits very well with Stone’s view of evangelism. Yet, for the last 20 years in American, I have struggled and often despaired in my local evangelistic efforts. My experience has been that the church in America has largely been shaped subtly and historically by Constantinianism and more profoundly and tragically by modernity. Though I may be tempted to despair as authors like Stone affirm and explain what I have experienced of the “dark side” of Christianity, I choose to have hope. Even though, like many in our culture, there are times when I have liked Jesus but not the church (Dan Kimball wrote a great book on this subject) and have been ashamed to invite friends to church, I continue hoping they will see Jesus in me and my family in spite of the distorted images presented by some American churches today.
You may have heard it said that three things remain - faith, hope and love, and so I say to you, I have faith in the global body of Christ to become a faithful witness to the world of the peaceable reign of God, I hope in the future Dan Kimball will be able to write a book about how the church has become so like Jesus that there is no discrepancy between the two, and I love the church - the visible body of Christ to and for the world.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Can Christians and Atheists Co-exist?
Recently, an old friend commented on my blog - we haven't been in touch for years, but I am thankful for the reconnect. He commented that "Ken and I were always so kind and gracious, even to an unrepentant atheist like me." I haven't seen Jim in years, but my memory of him is as one of the nicest guys on the planet - I can't imagine anyone not wanting to be kind and gracious to him. So, this brings me to the topic of this post. Is it possible for Atheists and Christians to be friends, I mean REALLY be friends? No hidden agenda, no critical spirit (on either side), and no forced relationship in the hopes of conversion.
I've had some mixed experiences - one Atheist friend from college was very anti-Christian and condescending toward me. He really enjoyed arguing with me and other Christians and tried hard to show me the error of my ways. We remained friends for a while, after all I was living with his best friend, but before long our differences strained the relationship. Though we shared a friend, we didn't share much else.
Then there's my friend Matt, I met him at work a few years back. He's a really fun guy to hang out with, super smart, and genuinely funny. We occasionally have conversations about our different beliefs about God, but there is never this sense that he is trying to convince me and I hope he doesn't feel as if I am trying to convince him. Surely, I have a hope that God will reveal Himself to my friend, but that is not the basis of our relationship. My friend, who believes I am deluded since he has no evidence for the existence of God, surely hopes that someday I will think as he does - but this too is not the basis or goal of our relationship.
I have also made a new friend through a website called, Conversation at the Edge. I am currently enrolled in Seminary at George Fox in Portland and am required to talk about my faith with a not-Christian conversation partner for the duration of the class. And, yes, I will be graded on this. I have plenty of not-Christian friends whom I could have chosen as conversation partners, but some of my classmates posted their need for conversation partners and were overwhelmed with the response. So, I agreed to start conversing with one of the respondents and it has been delightful. I always enjoy making new friends - and I really like my new friend. We have already discovered we have a few things in common and she is a great conversationalist. You can read about our conversations on her blog. You can also read more about this idea of Christians and Atheists conversing at Off the Map's eBay Atheist site.
In light of all these relationships, I am wondering if there is some way we can learn to co-exist with our fellow human beings without worrying about what they believe about the nature of the universe. I'm not sure we can totally remove this from our thinking, but perhaps we can stop trying to prove ourselves right about this one thing within our relationships and allow the realities of the universe to make themselves manifest to all.
What do you think?
I've had some mixed experiences - one Atheist friend from college was very anti-Christian and condescending toward me. He really enjoyed arguing with me and other Christians and tried hard to show me the error of my ways. We remained friends for a while, after all I was living with his best friend, but before long our differences strained the relationship. Though we shared a friend, we didn't share much else.
Then there's my friend Matt, I met him at work a few years back. He's a really fun guy to hang out with, super smart, and genuinely funny. We occasionally have conversations about our different beliefs about God, but there is never this sense that he is trying to convince me and I hope he doesn't feel as if I am trying to convince him. Surely, I have a hope that God will reveal Himself to my friend, but that is not the basis of our relationship. My friend, who believes I am deluded since he has no evidence for the existence of God, surely hopes that someday I will think as he does - but this too is not the basis or goal of our relationship.
I have also made a new friend through a website called, Conversation at the Edge. I am currently enrolled in Seminary at George Fox in Portland and am required to talk about my faith with a not-Christian conversation partner for the duration of the class. And, yes, I will be graded on this. I have plenty of not-Christian friends whom I could have chosen as conversation partners, but some of my classmates posted their need for conversation partners and were overwhelmed with the response. So, I agreed to start conversing with one of the respondents and it has been delightful. I always enjoy making new friends - and I really like my new friend. We have already discovered we have a few things in common and she is a great conversationalist. You can read about our conversations on her blog. You can also read more about this idea of Christians and Atheists conversing at Off the Map's eBay Atheist site.
In light of all these relationships, I am wondering if there is some way we can learn to co-exist with our fellow human beings without worrying about what they believe about the nature of the universe. I'm not sure we can totally remove this from our thinking, but perhaps we can stop trying to prove ourselves right about this one thing within our relationships and allow the realities of the universe to make themselves manifest to all.
What do you think?
Friday, February 1, 2008
Book Review - Simply Christian, by N. T. Wright
N. T. Wright, considered one of the top theologians of our day, offers the book, Simply Christian, to help us all understand why Christianity makes sense today. As with many persuasive works, Wright sets forth in the first section of the book to illustrate the need – why humanity longs for what Christianity has to offer. He does this in a way that is less propositional and more observational – drawing the reader into the grand narrative as part of the story. When Wright says, “Our passion for justice,” “we yearn for spirituality,” “We are made for each other,” and “Our puzzlement about what beauty is,” he constructively includes the reader and sets the stage for the story of God to make sense of all these voices we hear echoing in the distance – a sort of groaning like in Romans 8 when Paul says the whole creation groans and we ourselves groan – in expectation, in hope of God’s glory revealed and redemption complete.
In the second section of Simply Christian, Wright exposes the readers to the prevailing philosophies of the day in regards to God’s realm and how the echoes we hear are the sounds of the intersections of God’s realm with the realm in which we have been born. He offers an excellent overview of a Christian or Biblical world view, and demonstrates the permanent nature of this intersection in Jesus Christ, saying, “in Jesus of Nazareth heaven and earth have come together once and for all.” Wright then leads the reader into the centrality of the kingdom of God - this intersection of heaven and earth - in Jesus public message. Wright calls this idea of heaven and earth overlapping and intersecting the philosophical Option Three.
I find chapter 9, God’s Breath of Life, an interesting chapter as Wright proposes “the point of the Spirit is to enable those who follow Jesus to take into all the world the news that he is Lord, that he has won the victory over the forces of evil, that a new world has opened up, and that we are to help make it happen.” I find this proposition confusing, as the “it” seems to be a little nebulous. Later Wright goes on to say “the Spirit is also the one who joins heaven and earth together.” Perhaps the “it” is the exposing of these intersections and living in the openings to this new world – God’s Kingdom here and now so we can experience the reality of God’s kingdom come, God’s will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Wright also emphasizes the conjoining of the Spirit and the Church, we cannot separate the two and the activity of the one is intimately and inseparably intertwined with the other.
Part Three of Simply Christian is where the rubber meets the road. Wright covers some of the practical aspects of the life of the church, illustrating how Option Three is the only explanation for Christianity and the activity of the church here and now. Wright explains that Jesus is “not offering a new way of getting into heaven hereafter, but announcing that the rule of heaven, the very life of heaven, is now overlapping with earth in a new way,… Heaven and earth have overlapped permanently where he (Jesus) stands, where he hung, where he rises, wherever the fresh wind of his Spirit now blows. Living as a Christian means living in the world as it’s been reshaped by and around Jesus and his Spirit.”
I love what Wright says about the new creation in Chapter 15 – Believing and Belonging. It’s not just about some future new creation, but new life now. “But the new creation has already begin with the resurrection of Jesus, and God wants us to wake up now, in the present time, to the new reality. We are to come through death and out the other side into a new sort of life; to become daylight people, even though the rest of the world isn’t awake. We are to live in the present darkness by the light of Christ, so that when the sun comes up at last we will be ready for it.” This imagery is beautiful and Biblical.
Wright concludes Simply Christian hearkening back to the echoes of voices in the early chapters, drawing us into the great truth that the echoes “have indeed turned into a voice. It is, of course, the voice of Jesus, calling us to follow him into God’ new world – the world in which the hints, signposts, and echoes of the present world turn into the reality of the next one.” Wright does not simply set this forth as a good idea, but rather as a voice calling and expecting a response and inviting dialogue for life. “We are called to be part of God’s new creation, called to be agents of that new creation here and now. We are called to model and display that new creation in symphonies and family life, in restorative justice and poetry, in holiness and service to the poor, in politics and in painting.”
After reading and reflecting on Simply Christian, I agree with Anne Rice who endorsed the book saying, “This will become a classic.” Wright puts into words many thoughts I have had after reading the whole of scripture, walking in intimacy with God and other Christ followers, and living in the world. I have experienced the overlap of heaven and earth and heralded in many intersections of God’s Kingdom with my everyday world. I long to live in the overlap, but unless I step into the present darkness at times I cannot expand this overlap bringing the light of Christ into the realm of the world. Simply Christian is not only inspirational, it is motivational calling us all “in the power of the Spirit, to take up our proper role, our fully human role, as agents, heralds, and stewards… to follow Jesus Christ into the new world, God’s new world, which he has thrown open before us.”
In the second section of Simply Christian, Wright exposes the readers to the prevailing philosophies of the day in regards to God’s realm and how the echoes we hear are the sounds of the intersections of God’s realm with the realm in which we have been born. He offers an excellent overview of a Christian or Biblical world view, and demonstrates the permanent nature of this intersection in Jesus Christ, saying, “in Jesus of Nazareth heaven and earth have come together once and for all.” Wright then leads the reader into the centrality of the kingdom of God - this intersection of heaven and earth - in Jesus public message. Wright calls this idea of heaven and earth overlapping and intersecting the philosophical Option Three.
I find chapter 9, God’s Breath of Life, an interesting chapter as Wright proposes “the point of the Spirit is to enable those who follow Jesus to take into all the world the news that he is Lord, that he has won the victory over the forces of evil, that a new world has opened up, and that we are to help make it happen.” I find this proposition confusing, as the “it” seems to be a little nebulous. Later Wright goes on to say “the Spirit is also the one who joins heaven and earth together.” Perhaps the “it” is the exposing of these intersections and living in the openings to this new world – God’s Kingdom here and now so we can experience the reality of God’s kingdom come, God’s will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Wright also emphasizes the conjoining of the Spirit and the Church, we cannot separate the two and the activity of the one is intimately and inseparably intertwined with the other.
Part Three of Simply Christian is where the rubber meets the road. Wright covers some of the practical aspects of the life of the church, illustrating how Option Three is the only explanation for Christianity and the activity of the church here and now. Wright explains that Jesus is “not offering a new way of getting into heaven hereafter, but announcing that the rule of heaven, the very life of heaven, is now overlapping with earth in a new way,… Heaven and earth have overlapped permanently where he (Jesus) stands, where he hung, where he rises, wherever the fresh wind of his Spirit now blows. Living as a Christian means living in the world as it’s been reshaped by and around Jesus and his Spirit.”
I love what Wright says about the new creation in Chapter 15 – Believing and Belonging. It’s not just about some future new creation, but new life now. “But the new creation has already begin with the resurrection of Jesus, and God wants us to wake up now, in the present time, to the new reality. We are to come through death and out the other side into a new sort of life; to become daylight people, even though the rest of the world isn’t awake. We are to live in the present darkness by the light of Christ, so that when the sun comes up at last we will be ready for it.” This imagery is beautiful and Biblical.
Wright concludes Simply Christian hearkening back to the echoes of voices in the early chapters, drawing us into the great truth that the echoes “have indeed turned into a voice. It is, of course, the voice of Jesus, calling us to follow him into God’ new world – the world in which the hints, signposts, and echoes of the present world turn into the reality of the next one.” Wright does not simply set this forth as a good idea, but rather as a voice calling and expecting a response and inviting dialogue for life. “We are called to be part of God’s new creation, called to be agents of that new creation here and now. We are called to model and display that new creation in symphonies and family life, in restorative justice and poetry, in holiness and service to the poor, in politics and in painting.”
After reading and reflecting on Simply Christian, I agree with Anne Rice who endorsed the book saying, “This will become a classic.” Wright puts into words many thoughts I have had after reading the whole of scripture, walking in intimacy with God and other Christ followers, and living in the world. I have experienced the overlap of heaven and earth and heralded in many intersections of God’s Kingdom with my everyday world. I long to live in the overlap, but unless I step into the present darkness at times I cannot expand this overlap bringing the light of Christ into the realm of the world. Simply Christian is not only inspirational, it is motivational calling us all “in the power of the Spirit, to take up our proper role, our fully human role, as agents, heralds, and stewards… to follow Jesus Christ into the new world, God’s new world, which he has thrown open before us.”
Friday, January 18, 2008
I suck at keeping resolutions...
It's already been more than two weeks since my last blog, and I proposed to blog weekly. In such a short time I have already failed. So, here I am choosing failure as the route to success - at least that's a paradox that Len Sweet proposes in the cover story of the January 2008 Next-Wave eZine. Paradox #3) Learn to fail so you can succeed. I think I'm getting the failure thing down, and the cool thing about it is that failing at something doesn't get me down like it used to.
So, this paradox of learning to fail so you can succeed - does that mean I fail on purpose? Is that really failing if I don't try to succeed? Guess that's why it's a paradox. According to the dictionary, paradox means: a statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory; a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.
I think I can live with the paradox. If at first I don't succeed, I will try, try again.
See you next week...
So, this paradox of learning to fail so you can succeed - does that mean I fail on purpose? Is that really failing if I don't try to succeed? Guess that's why it's a paradox. According to the dictionary, paradox means: a statement or proposition that, despite sound (or apparently sound) reasoning from acceptable premises, leads to a conclusion that seems senseless, logically unacceptable, or self-contradictory; a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.
I think I can live with the paradox. If at first I don't succeed, I will try, try again.
See you next week...
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Resolutions and Propositions
For the last few years I have avoided making resolutions and planning for the New Year - too many past failures, too much pain. Though the fear of failure remains a reality, I am healed enough to make an attempt at some new things this year. I looked up the word resolution in the dictionary and thesaurus to see if I could re-frame it with a new word, but resolution is a really good word and many of the alternatives are lacking in one respect or another. Even so, I choose proposition for my plans this year - I propose to do some new things. Hopefully, my propositions will become resolutions at some point and not remain in the realm of suggestion or theory, but rather through intention, determination and Holy Spirit affirmation become a reality. If you are reading this and you are my friend, please pray for me. ;-)
1. Write on my blog weekly.
2. Play my instrument daily.
3. Cut one TV show out of my schedule.
4. Pray for my husband regularly, not just when I think he needs it ;-)
5. Laugh with my kids more often.
6. Sing a song of praise every morning.
7. Read through the Bible with my family.
We humans make plans, but the LORD has the final word. We may think we know what is right, but the LORD is the judge of our motives. Share your plans with the LORD, and you will succeed. - Proverbs 16:1-3
1. Write on my blog weekly.
2. Play my instrument daily.
3. Cut one TV show out of my schedule.
4. Pray for my husband regularly, not just when I think he needs it ;-)
5. Laugh with my kids more often.
6. Sing a song of praise every morning.
7. Read through the Bible with my family.
We humans make plans, but the LORD has the final word. We may think we know what is right, but the LORD is the judge of our motives. Share your plans with the LORD, and you will succeed. - Proverbs 16:1-3
Monday, December 24, 2007
Holiday Hostilities
The holidays are supposed to be happy, but for many it's a time of sorrow and strife. Unseen forces who seek to control this world have hijacked the holiday spirit and are turning it into a living hell for as many people as possible. Now is the time, not the only time, but a good time to remember the epic battle we are engaged in and to take up arms in the spiritual realm and fight for our loved ones.
Holiday Hostilities have begun and while we are tempted to focus on fun, the enemy schemes to ruin us all - one by one.
Heartache and strife - setting husband against wife, father against daughter, death against life.
We are aware of his schemes, he uses the same themes, dashing our hopes and destroying our dreams.
Some cower in fear, or pretend not to hear, the battle is raging, the battle is near.
Others rise to the fight, trusting God's might, fighting to set things right, while others sleep in the light.
Arise, O sleeper, awake from the dead, take up your battle shield - forge on ahead.
Draw sword and knife, fight for your life, fight for your family, husband, children, parents, wife.
The battle is epic, the battle is real, the enemy is trying to kill, destroy and steal.
Let's join together and raise our shields high, lets blow the horn, shout the battle cry.
All hands on deck, flash the red alert, danger, warning, someone may get hurt.
The enemy has weapons that cripple and maim, but greater is our God and His Holy Name.
Satan prowls like a lion, seeking to destroy every man, woman, girl and boy.
Jesus, we call you to come to our aid, help us not be afraid, we're the people you have made.
For the sake of your name, you've taken all the blame, you've accepted our shame, we'll never be the same.
Lead us to win, help us overcome sin, fill us within, we are your kin.
Holiday Hostilities have begun and while we are tempted to focus on fun, the enemy schemes to ruin us all - one by one.
Heartache and strife - setting husband against wife, father against daughter, death against life.
We are aware of his schemes, he uses the same themes, dashing our hopes and destroying our dreams.
Some cower in fear, or pretend not to hear, the battle is raging, the battle is near.
Others rise to the fight, trusting God's might, fighting to set things right, while others sleep in the light.
Arise, O sleeper, awake from the dead, take up your battle shield - forge on ahead.
Draw sword and knife, fight for your life, fight for your family, husband, children, parents, wife.
The battle is epic, the battle is real, the enemy is trying to kill, destroy and steal.
Let's join together and raise our shields high, lets blow the horn, shout the battle cry.
All hands on deck, flash the red alert, danger, warning, someone may get hurt.
The enemy has weapons that cripple and maim, but greater is our God and His Holy Name.
Satan prowls like a lion, seeking to destroy every man, woman, girl and boy.
Jesus, we call you to come to our aid, help us not be afraid, we're the people you have made.
For the sake of your name, you've taken all the blame, you've accepted our shame, we'll never be the same.
Lead us to win, help us overcome sin, fill us within, we are your kin.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Acrostic Poems
My 6th grade daughter has been having fun writing acrostic poems with holiday themes lately and I'm really proud of her work, so I thought I'd share one here.
Mistletoe, by Kelly Chapin
Mysterious mistletoe, where are you?
Indoors or outdoors, where are you?
Still out of my sight.
Tall or small what do you look like?
Long or short, I'm still wondering...
Elegant or simple
Tangled or neat?
Oh, I found you!
Err, what was I going to do...
Mistletoe, by Kelly Chapin
Mysterious mistletoe, where are you?
Indoors or outdoors, where are you?
Still out of my sight.
Tall or small what do you look like?
Long or short, I'm still wondering...
Elegant or simple
Tangled or neat?
Oh, I found you!
Err, what was I going to do...
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Ode to Art
Where is art in the Christian heart,
Is there only faith or is science a part?
Why discrete spaces inside our being,
Why separate our ways of thinking and seeing?
God’s people have feared what art can do
Thinking a picture, a sculpture – taboo!
Some even will go so far as to say:
All your instruments, put them away!
Somehow we believed that reason is king
No more sensing, perceiving, or even feeling
Keep your feet on the ground, is said to the young man
Whose imagination is dying to give voice to his pain
In the realms of the unseen we find healing and hope
We find kindred spirits to help us cope
The Word made flesh still dwells among us
To create, restore, inspire and release us.
When the Spirit of God unites with a soul
We become free - our inner being made whole
But what of this freedom, is it only in our minds?
Or are we free to create and express the divine?
Christians imagination should fly beyond the stars
Says Francis Schaeffer when speaking of art.
From Austin, imagination’s not just make-believe
But the tool of understanding to help us receive
Truth that comes not by reason or argument
But by intuition and perceiving not logic or judgment.
Can we open our spirit, our body, our soul
And allow the Spirit of Jesus to make us whole –
Whole in our thinking of God and of art,
Whole in our acting like God’s people with heart.
Oh God, restore unto us all that You have given
May we think about art here on earth as in heaven.
Is there only faith or is science a part?
Why discrete spaces inside our being,
Why separate our ways of thinking and seeing?
God’s people have feared what art can do
Thinking a picture, a sculpture – taboo!
Some even will go so far as to say:
All your instruments, put them away!
Somehow we believed that reason is king
No more sensing, perceiving, or even feeling
Keep your feet on the ground, is said to the young man
Whose imagination is dying to give voice to his pain
In the realms of the unseen we find healing and hope
We find kindred spirits to help us cope
The Word made flesh still dwells among us
To create, restore, inspire and release us.
When the Spirit of God unites with a soul
We become free - our inner being made whole
But what of this freedom, is it only in our minds?
Or are we free to create and express the divine?
Christians imagination should fly beyond the stars
Says Francis Schaeffer when speaking of art.
From Austin, imagination’s not just make-believe
But the tool of understanding to help us receive
Truth that comes not by reason or argument
But by intuition and perceiving not logic or judgment.
Can we open our spirit, our body, our soul
And allow the Spirit of Jesus to make us whole –
Whole in our thinking of God and of art,
Whole in our acting like God’s people with heart.
Oh God, restore unto us all that You have given
May we think about art here on earth as in heaven.
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