Tag: faith

faith

How did I miss this?

jesushippy.jpgA months back I read about some controversy surrounding Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church.  Nothing surprising there, the dude gets himself in trouble constantly around the blogosphere.  The controversy I read about this time was a video that he made about church planting that he (and the guys from the ACTS 29 network) made in lieu of him personally speaking at this year's National New Church Conference.  I watched the beginning of the video, but due to it's 8 minute length I decided to read more about the controversy rather than watch the whole controversial video for myself.  From my reading, the response on the blogosphere seemed minor when compared to some of Driscoll's other foot-in-mouth episodes of recent.  So I didn't pay much attention to it.

That was until today when I read this post from Pete Rollins. Pete tells it like it is and shares his European perspective on Driscoll.  For a while I have wondered why we continue to put up with Driscoll's antics, why we continue to give him a voice in the American emerging church. Rollins seems to wonder the same thing.  In any case, today I watched the entire 8 minute clip and I am amazed this didn't get more outlash from bloggers.  Maybe it did and I missed it.  I followed the story mainly via Andrew Jones, who consistently tends to apply more grace to situations like these than I do.  If you haven't watched this video clip, you have to check it out (make sure to watch it all).

Here's some of things I am still in disbelief that Driscoll seems to insinuate:

– Only men can be effective church planters. (this is not so surprising from Driscoll's mouth)

– women play no significant role in the church 

– Church planting is comparable to war (you can take that one pretty far)

– the world sees Jesus as a gay hippy in a dress?

– all 20yr-30yr old men are "banging their girlfriends", spending all their money, staying up all night playing World of Warcraft, looking for free porn on the internet, and trying to figure out how to get a bigger subwoofer for their "retarded" car 

– the church needs men to teach the men how to make money, buy a house, and have sex with their wives at least once a day (daily sex quota is a big priority of Jesus no doubt)

Is he trying to piss people off?  Please someone explain this to me.

Here's the video: link 

 

dirt:exploring the boundaries that separate us

dirtweb.jpgWe're exploring concepts of dirt this weekend at Symbol. We all have our own ideas of what/who is "dirty" and what/who is "clean" and we begin to create boundaries that separate that which is clean (we like to think we fit in the category)from that which is clean.  The interesting thing is that while these boundaries were common in Jesus time, he seems to cross these boundaries consistently.  He touched the untouchable, he spoke with the unspeakable, he broke cultural taboos, and challenged dirt boundaries at every turn.

This is not an easy subject and Saturday will include both a time to become aware of these boundaries we've created and a time of confession.  And as usual….there will be some time to wrestle and process with it all collectively in dialogue.

If this interests you, you are welcome to join in.  You'll find the details on the Symbol Communities site.  If you decide to "get dirty" with us, we'll see you there.

The Secret Message of Jesus

secretmessage.jpgI acknowledge that the blogging here has been pathetic lately.  I have been busy and conflicted with the realities of both dreaming and exploring various Kingdom projects and paying the bills – two things which are two very different aspects of life at the moment.

Anyway, to alleviate my guilt, I will continue to post small nuggets of wisdom that have been affecting me from books I am reading.  These are far short from reviews, but if you're anything like me, the simplicity of a few brilliant words alone in a post (or alone on a page) can be as affecting as the entire work itself.  I will try to post such brilliance I run across.

I recently started "The Secret Message of Jesus" by Brian MacLaren, a book that has sat on my shelf since it's release last year. I finally am finding time to pour through it.  Here's a bit I want to share here from Chapter 6: The Medium of the Message.

Human kingdoms advance by force and violence with falling bombs and flying bullets, but God's kingdom advances by stories, fictions, tales that are easily ignored and easily misunderstood.  Perhaps that's the only way it can be. 

Reading these words, I am reminded of Kester's call to "evolutionary" change as opposed to "revolutionary" change in the church from Signs of Emergence.  And I am rebuked as I think of how often I get frustrated as those around me don't seem to get the idea(s) of the Kingdom. For indeed it is radically different.

AA and the evangelical discipleship meeting

I spent this morning in a coffee shop that isn't my usual coffee shop. For some reason, in this coffee shop I seem to always overhear some sort of "discipleship" conversation.  I will admit, I feel it the moment I walk through the doors: a small group huddled around a table, bibles poised to lookup a common passage screams evangelical Christianity.  I know it well.

Today's group seem to be some sort of leadership team from a local church – probably the youth ministry leadership.  Again, something I know well.  T thing thst struck me during my eavesdropping, was how much the conversation resembled an AA meeting.  One by one they went around sharing their recent failures and asking one another to pray for these weaknesses.  Little focus is put on the successes and the joys of following Jesus.  I have been to enough AA meetings with to see a similarity. 

Living Symbolic

"By their example of a truly Christian understanding of the world, expressed in a living and active application of the Christian faith to the human problems of our own time, Christians manifest the love of Christ for men, and by that fact make him visibly present in the world."  

Thomas Merton in "Passion for Peace"

Mixed Emotions

Not to sure how to feel about this. I feel for those who lost a friend, a dad, a husband, a pastor, and a friend, and yet part of me is relieved that an era that arguably did more harm than good is over.  Nash has said it much better here.

May events I’m supporting…

I probably won't be blogging much this month. May is shaping up to be a busy and exciting month in the East Valley.  I figured I'd take a moment and plug some of the things coming up this month that I'm am excited about:

Sat. May 12thTaco Day Dos (the annual eat-all-the-tacos-you-can-eat event at the Newsome house) more info at http://www.tacodayaz.com

Thurs. May 17thSound in the Ground @ Mesa Arts Center (Foundarts is playing a role in this regular MAC event showcasing some local visual and performing artists) more info at http://www.myspace.com/soundintheground

Fri.May 18thWindUp Gallery Opening Reception (Windup is a new gallery opening in downtown Mesa that defies the traditional, conservative art scene currently found in the Mesa arts district – I am stoked about their presence in the city and to support them as much as possible.) find out more at http://www.windupgallery.com

Sat. May 26thMay Symbol Collective (a gathering of east valley locals living collectively in the ways of Jesus, of community, of compassion, and of creativity) more info at http://www.symbolcommunities.org

Wed. May 30thCommunitas Network Event (a relational & conversational network of dreamers, thinkers, and cultural creatives centered around the future of the church, faith, and of justice in the Phoenix area – the theme for this event is "the gospel and social justice") more info at http://www.communitas.us/network

Following Jesus in Death & Resurrection (Part 3)

deathresurrectionsm.jpg"For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows." 1 Corinthians 1:5

In the last post, I focused on the reality that those who follow Jesus must follow him in suffering as well as in fortunate times. Today I want to dig a bit deeper into the question of "how?".  How do we follow Jesus in suffering? And if we do experience symbolic deaths (aspects of life coming to an end) regularly in life, how do we follow the example of Jesus into these trying times?

As we look at Jesus approaching the cross, it is clear that he's aware of what he's in for.  If not, he wouldn't have pleaded in the garden for God to spare him the cross.  As I mentioned in the previous post, Jesus' humanity was evident here (as much through his prayer as through the blood seeping through his pores).  And if these deparating words on the cross, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" (My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?) were also a cry from the humanity of Jesus as he probed the depth of human experience, we see the humanity of Jesus most clearly on the cross.  Again, to me this makes sense since God's redemptive plan required a death that would substitute for all of humanity – thus a human death was needed (albeit a perfect human death only accomplished by a divine Jesus).  But, if we see the humanity of Jesus most on the cross and we have vowed to follow this Jesus, maybe we should takes more thorough notes on how he endured this death.  For we too experience symbolic deaths all the time.

What's most interesting about Jesus' awareness of the cross as he prayed in the garden was that although he prayed for an escape (most likely knowing there wasn't one!), he accepted the death that lied ahead.  The wrestling of humanity and divinity within Jesus, both desired another way and embraced the path ahead – all in the same Jesus.  I think this is remarkable.  As we anticipate dark times in our lives, we typically run from them. But Jesus willingly stares into the darkness and walks into it.  It is clear he wanted a different route, but he went through with a horrific and tortuous death.  As we follow Jesus into dark and trying times in our own lives, maybe we should learn to follow Jesus' example of accepting (even embracing) what lies ahead.  Instead of running, we should accept that God's plan for our journey also involves suffering and these symbolic deaths.  And as hard and as painful as it is, we too should accept and embrace these times.

So it seems as though following Jesus in death involves accepting suffering and death as a part of the Christian experience and following through the darkness into the light of resurrection.  Clearly this was Jesus' example for us. Barclay writes of this sort of following of Jesus in death, "If we too cling to God, even when there seems to be no God, desperately and invincibly clutching the remnants of our faith, quite certainly the dawn will break and we will win through." 

Tomorrow I will finish this series of posts off with the final question, "What might it look like to follow Jesus in resurrection?"  

 

 

 

Following Jesus in Death & Resurrection (Part 2)

deathresurrectionsm.jpgYesterday, I began a series of posts about what it might look like to follow Jesus into death and resurrection.  I mentioned that I think we go through symbolic deaths and resurrections all the time and when we go through these troubling times, we must remember both that death must precede resurrection, and that the hope of resurrection should carry us through the darkness we experience. 

I read something interesting a few days ago about the words Jesus spoke on the cross just before his death, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani" (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?). William Barclay, a Jewish Historian and Bible Commentator, proposes that Jesus' humanity was at it's most evident in this moment. When Jesus yelled these words, it was the human side of him feeling as if and questioning if he had been forgotten by God. In his pain, utter exhaustion, and on the brink of death he did what most of us do when we experience difficult times – we wonder if God has forgotten us.

I have to admit that this understanding of Jesus' words stretches me and stretches my understanding of Jesus. As a youth pastor I would teach Jesus as 100% man AND 100% God. After making a joke about being bad at math, I would admit that I had no idea what this actually looks like. But maybe, what it looks like is an internal wrestling, conflict even, between God and man inside Jesus. And if it is, maybe Barclay is on to something. Maybe Jesus was so deep in pain that we see his humanity speak louder than his divinity. After all, wasn't it these moments where his humanity was most necessary to his purpose. For God to die a substitutionary death for mankind, wouldn't it have had to be a human death? In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed from his humanity as he sweat blood, asked to be spared the cross, and wondered if there was another way to redeem creation. I, along with Barclay, wonder if Jesus was at a similar moment during those last minutes on the cross.

Either way, as we follow Jesus into death and resurrection this Easter, we must acknowledge that the path of following Jesus involves suffering. If we are to follow Jesus, we must follow the Jesus of suffering and death along with the Jesus of laughter, of joy, and of hope. Often we find ourselves asking God similar questions when in the midst of intense pain and anguish, "God, where are you?" and "God, why are you so far away?" It is in the moments of extreme pain and suffering that we follow Jesus to the honest place of loneliness as we feel from from God.

I wonder if we followed Jesus expecting that human existence will bring us tough times, maybe we could be more aware of where we are in the death/resurrection process while in it. And if we must follow Jesus also to death and resurrection, not just through joyous and exciting times, what does it look like to follow Jesus into these dark places of our own lives? What does it look like to follow Jesus into these symbolic deaths that life takes us through from time to time? I will explore that question in the next post.

See also: Following Jesus in Death & Resurrection (Part 1)

 

Following Jesus in Death & Resurrection (Part 1)

deathresurrectionsm.jpgThroughout this Lenten season, as I've anticipated the coming of Easter, I have been thinking much about death & resurrection. I have been thinking about how the death and resurrection of Jesus are a symbolic example for us to follow and how it relates to community life within the "The Symbol Communities".

What I am realizing is that death is all around us. I am not trying to be morbid on this one, but it's true. Things are coming to an end all around us. People die. Pets die. Jobs die. Plants in our gardens die. Phases of life die. Businesses die. Dreams die. Our favorite restaurants eventually die. Churches die. Great friendships die. All this happens everyday of our lives. We think of death as a morbid event that we avoid talking or thinking about. But we can't escape it.

With this in mind, what does the Easter story, the narrative of Jesus beating death to live again, have to do with our experience? I think that as those who follow Jesus, we must consider a few things:

1.) For there to be resurrection, there must first be death. Death prepares the way for change and it always leaves us different people. A young couple who has their first child both mourns a quiet and simple existence of just the two of them and simultaneously celebrates a new "family" life of three. A professional who gets laid off mourns the loss of job and financial security, but also finally finds space to pursue dreams of his own business or a new, better job. It is the pain of death that prepares us to see the beauty of resurrection.

2.) In light of the complete story (death AND resurrection), there's much to hope for. As followers of Jesus, we know how the story ends. Those who journeyed alongside of Jesus, his family and his friends, didn't have this luxury. We know his death through the light of his resurrection. In his death, we see his purpose and intention. We realize the necessity of it all. But in those moments of his death, those at the foot of the cross had to be confused and deeply pained. They had to be experiencing both a confidence that Jesus knew what he was doing, as well as a worry that something was wrong in the whole scene. Doesn't that describe us as we travel through the depths and darkness of death in our lives. We wrestle with faith and doubt, confidence and insecurity. But we know how the story ends. Jesus' tomb after three days was indeed empty. And as his life on Earth ended, a new life began. He was alive. As we pass through symbolic deaths in our lives, in the midst of the pain, we need to remember that a resurrection is just around the corner and we need to wait and watch for it.

I recently mentioned to a friend who is expecting his first child that if we recognized these deaths and resurrections we experience throughout life, maybe we could follow Jesus more closely within them. We could appreciate the future despite the pain of the past. We could worship and thank God for the "resurrection" he has waiting for us, even though the darkness we feel is great.

I want to explore the idea of following Jesus in death and resurrection in a series of posts. I would love your comments along the way to help shape the exploration. From here, I want to explore the humanity of Jesus in his last few days (which I will tackle in the next post), what it means for us to follow Jesus into death, and what it means for us to follow Jesus into resurrection – all with this post in mind – that we go through deaths and resurrections all the time.

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