Okay, let's just call things as they are today. I'm in no mood to beat around the bush or paint a smiley face on things that bring no joy at all. Let's see what's going on in the world:
1. Our GOP friends are working on passing a new budget, which will work extremely well in their continued effort to make the American dream possible for the wealthy citizens of the United States. Who cares about seniors anyway? Or the poor? Or education? Actually, the whole thing works quite well for Republicans: the US will now have even more poor people with even less options because they have no education, so they can all go to war for American oil and keep the rich, well, rich. Since we aren't cutting any money from the military, what better place would they have to go than where the money is?
2. Does anybody else think something strange is going on when Exxon Mobile makes a 36 billion dollar profit in one year? Where are these profits coming from? Besides the obvious way the American driver is continually challenged to either pay more or get on a bycicle, there is the exploitation of the poor in countries like Equatorial Guinea or Angola, for instance. Keep corrupt regimes in control in both the US and in its allied, oil producing countries, and you've got a recipe for success. Do they teach this in business schools, or is it just something you learn in the field?
3. Last night, as a painful reminder that good people who work against the corrupt powers of the world are few and far between, we sadly lost Coretta Scott King.
4. Oh, and don't forget that Samuel Alito will probably be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice today or soon after, which likely will mean more executive power for the chump running the White House. Look forward to the loss of more freedom in order to protect freedom. Oh, and more violence in order to stop those who wish to act violently. Not to mention the occasional evil action in order to stop evildoers. Welcome to the fray Mr. Alito.
Very soon I will hear the words of George W. Bush in his state of the union address. I will likely fight back the urge to vomit in my own mouth as I think about the poor, the widows, and the orphans who will continue to be exploited, forgotten, or blatantly robbed in a nation that claims to lie upon the foundations of the gospel. How far will we let greed, arrogance, and ignorance propel us? How long will we look at corruption within the political ranks and shrug it off as something that just happens on capital hill? Will we ignore forever Jesus' commands to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us, turn the other cheek and counter hate with love? Our nation stands at a dangerous crossroads where it must decide if it cares for life in the fullest sense of the word, or if it only values the life of the individual who was born in the right place, with the right color skin, with the right beliefs, and the right parenting.
We have indeed become an evil empire.
Peace,
Matt
Currently Reading: The Eucharist by Karl Rahner.
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Bits & Pieces
Just went on a retreat with the pastoral staff of my church. Luckily I've put myself on an attitude check as of late, so I attempted humility and had a few good discussions. Unfortunately I threw my back out 2 weeks ago, and all my healing went downhill and I am once again bent-over and sufferring from some pretty severe pain. It absolutely sucks in a way I cannot even describe.
In other news, I started a second blog for my youth ministry volunteers. It's for comments/questions as we continue reading through the Biblical narrative. Our students are doing it as well, so I may or may not tell them about it too.
Peace,
Matt
Currently Reading: Suffering Divine Things: Theology As Church Practice by Reinhard Hutter. Tough stuff. Maybe I'll say more later, as I just started it 15 minutes ago. Oh, and I still want to say something about the Freud book I read. I also read another short Karl Rahner book called The Eternal Yes while I was gone.
In other news, I started a second blog for my youth ministry volunteers. It's for comments/questions as we continue reading through the Biblical narrative. Our students are doing it as well, so I may or may not tell them about it too.
Peace,
Matt
Currently Reading: Suffering Divine Things: Theology As Church Practice by Reinhard Hutter. Tough stuff. Maybe I'll say more later, as I just started it 15 minutes ago. Oh, and I still want to say something about the Freud book I read. I also read another short Karl Rahner book called The Eternal Yes while I was gone.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Iran
Here's some interesting quotes from Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The understanding most news agencies give of him is obviously not complete. Even the quote about the holocaust doesn't seem to be denying the event, as much as challenging what the nation of Israel thinks it can do because of the attrocities it sufferred.
By the way, I'm proud to point out my first in-text link ever. Welcome to the 21st century.
Peace,
Matt
Currently Reading: Moses and Monotheism by Sigmund Freud. It's odd and I'll need to spend some time blogging about it later.
By the way, I'm proud to point out my first in-text link ever. Welcome to the 21st century.
Peace,
Matt
Currently Reading: Moses and Monotheism by Sigmund Freud. It's odd and I'll need to spend some time blogging about it later.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Goodbye to a Good Man
At 11:30 last night cancer claimed yet another victory with the life of John Hall. He will be remembered as a talented jazz drummer, loving husband, and father of two wonderful sons.
Paul confidently declared "Death, where is your sting?" I lack that confidence these days. The gospel brings life, but I've begun to think that death is all the more painful because we believe in the Gospel of Life. Jesus declared that we can find life through him, so to see death seems like such a perversion of the world we should see.
How can we not pray every moment for God's Kingdom come?
John, may you find new life now. Life abundant. And full Kingdom citizenship. I'm sorry you had to face so much pain to find freedom, but pray that you are now comforted by another who sufferred equally. Until we meet again...
Paul confidently declared "Death, where is your sting?" I lack that confidence these days. The gospel brings life, but I've begun to think that death is all the more painful because we believe in the Gospel of Life. Jesus declared that we can find life through him, so to see death seems like such a perversion of the world we should see.
How can we not pray every moment for God's Kingdom come?
John, may you find new life now. Life abundant. And full Kingdom citizenship. I'm sorry you had to face so much pain to find freedom, but pray that you are now comforted by another who sufferred equally. Until we meet again...
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
What I've Been Up To
I've taken quite a break from the ol' blog lately. Honestly I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with it. There's been a lot of stuff going on in my life, but I just haven't wanted to write about it. On top of that, I've realized how cynical I have become about ministry, people and life and am trying to not focus on that as much. So what does that leave me to talk about? Maybe some reconstruction rather than deconstruction. Anyways, I thought for now I could mention some books I recently got into.
*Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. If you've ever wondered why some societies became so powerful while others did not, but didn't want to take on some racist assumptions as to superiority, this is the book for you. The scholarship was amazing, going from linguistics to archeology to animal domestication to native plant-life, it was able to cover an amazingly broad sweep of history and geography in a way that made sense.
*The Next Reformation: Why Evangelicals Must Embrace Postmodernity by Carl Raschke. I was once able to take a week long philosophy class from Raschke, who I quickly discovered can probably walk into any room at any party and be confident that he is the smartest man in the room. This book only helps to prove my point. Raschke summarizes the thought of men like Derrida, Nietzsche, Levinas, etc, as if he were just playing around. He is an amazing scholar who surpasses all the hype in the church about postmodernism and explains what is truly happening. The second-to-last chapter about the Charismatic church's role in the postmodern church was a bit from left field, but other than that I found it to be a good, challenging, read.
*Inside Out: A Personal History Of Pink Floyd by Nick Mason. What can I say? I love the Floyd and just had to read this. It's full of great old pics and is an important read for any fan.
*Experiencing God Through Prayer by Madame Guyon. This was an interesting book and brought up some interesting points, especially important for the current struggles I am having over prayer. The problem: sometimes I feel like I am just reading the same book over and over again when I read about prayer. Still, it was a good book.
*To Be Told : Know Your Story, Shape Your Future by Dan Allender. After studying at Dan's school I seem to have no choice but to read every book he writes. All I can say is that this is a man who knows what it means to look deeply into your own story and discover true pain, as well as the face of God. This is a very important book for where I am in life right now and I would highly suggest reading it to anybody interested in doing some soul work.
*Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. A great book to read after reading The Poisonwood Bible as well as Guns, Germs and Steel. What a painful reminder of what our missionary efforts have often left in their wake. Not to mention a tough challenge (and a good piece of literature).
*Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard. If you've never read a book by Dillard, you are missing out on the best living author. She is amazing. Even better, she wrote this one within a few miles of me.
*I also finished Moltmann's The Crucified God, which is not surprisingly brilliant. Highlights: his claim that God is not a person but a trinitarian event (the cross) that consists of three persons. Also, that God does not remain constant but in fact changes. Wrap your mind around all that. Read a book on priesthood from the catholic theologian Karl Rahner, some issues of Time magazine (my wife bought me a subscription), and listened to some of the profound lectures Walter Brueggemann gave at the Emergent Conference two years ago.
That's all I can remember right now...
Peace,
Matt
*Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. If you've ever wondered why some societies became so powerful while others did not, but didn't want to take on some racist assumptions as to superiority, this is the book for you. The scholarship was amazing, going from linguistics to archeology to animal domestication to native plant-life, it was able to cover an amazingly broad sweep of history and geography in a way that made sense.
*The Next Reformation: Why Evangelicals Must Embrace Postmodernity by Carl Raschke. I was once able to take a week long philosophy class from Raschke, who I quickly discovered can probably walk into any room at any party and be confident that he is the smartest man in the room. This book only helps to prove my point. Raschke summarizes the thought of men like Derrida, Nietzsche, Levinas, etc, as if he were just playing around. He is an amazing scholar who surpasses all the hype in the church about postmodernism and explains what is truly happening. The second-to-last chapter about the Charismatic church's role in the postmodern church was a bit from left field, but other than that I found it to be a good, challenging, read.
*Inside Out: A Personal History Of Pink Floyd by Nick Mason. What can I say? I love the Floyd and just had to read this. It's full of great old pics and is an important read for any fan.
*Experiencing God Through Prayer by Madame Guyon. This was an interesting book and brought up some interesting points, especially important for the current struggles I am having over prayer. The problem: sometimes I feel like I am just reading the same book over and over again when I read about prayer. Still, it was a good book.
*To Be Told : Know Your Story, Shape Your Future by Dan Allender. After studying at Dan's school I seem to have no choice but to read every book he writes. All I can say is that this is a man who knows what it means to look deeply into your own story and discover true pain, as well as the face of God. This is a very important book for where I am in life right now and I would highly suggest reading it to anybody interested in doing some soul work.
*Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. A great book to read after reading The Poisonwood Bible as well as Guns, Germs and Steel. What a painful reminder of what our missionary efforts have often left in their wake. Not to mention a tough challenge (and a good piece of literature).
*Holy the Firm by Annie Dillard. If you've never read a book by Dillard, you are missing out on the best living author. She is amazing. Even better, she wrote this one within a few miles of me.
*I also finished Moltmann's The Crucified God, which is not surprisingly brilliant. Highlights: his claim that God is not a person but a trinitarian event (the cross) that consists of three persons. Also, that God does not remain constant but in fact changes. Wrap your mind around all that. Read a book on priesthood from the catholic theologian Karl Rahner, some issues of Time magazine (my wife bought me a subscription), and listened to some of the profound lectures Walter Brueggemann gave at the Emergent Conference two years ago.
That's all I can remember right now...
Peace,
Matt
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Dang-it!
Congress just passed a budget that will blatantly help the rich and hurt the poor. It's so bad that many republicans even objected to it! But the neo-cons had their antichrist-like friend Dick Cheney to make it happen, and our nation is now free to continue exploiting the least of these.
In other news, check out the Andrew Jones link on this site to see how Joel Osteen's wife helped her husband in their desperate quest to make all Christians look like complete a-holes. And here I thought only our "religious" politicians were going to do it all on their own.
What a start to the day...
Peace,
Matt
In other news, check out the Andrew Jones link on this site to see how Joel Osteen's wife helped her husband in their desperate quest to make all Christians look like complete a-holes. And here I thought only our "religious" politicians were going to do it all on their own.
What a start to the day...
Peace,
Matt
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Costly Hope
During advent, we talk about peace, joy, love, and hope. Hope is on my mind today, so I thought I would dwell on it for a few minutes.
In The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer distinguished between cheap grace and costly grace, noting that cheap grace seems to be far too prevalent in the church (also, check out Jones' Embodying Forgiveness for a very in depth look at Bonhoeffer's view of grace). I think the same could be said for hope; we seem to look all too often for a hope that is cheap, rather than a costly hope. A costly hope is richer, deeper, but more painful to come to, so we opt for cheap hope. Let's look at this closer...
Cheap hope is an all-smiles form of faith that forces us to become shiny happy people holding hands all the time. We become people who speak of God's will and glory in ways that make the Lord look sick and/or cruel. We accept pain, suffering and death passively. We give up with large grins and wait patiently for heaven while the world around us crumbles. And when it really hits the fan and we are completely broken, we punish ourselves for not having enough faith, or give up completely on God because our poor theology has completely failed us.
We need to discover and grab hold of costly hope. It is hope for the realist, who sees and comprehends the dismal state of affairs around him or her, is absolutely broken by it, yet strives to press on and work towards the distant kingdom which is but a hope. It's a Hebrews 11 kind of hoping in which the end is often left unrealized and the one who had hoped is forced to come to terms with the fact that things just aren't going to be fair in this life when we try to gauge it on our measure of fairness. Costly hope wrestles with God over this. It is not passive in its hoping, as much as it is stubborn, striving for the good in the face of insurmountable evil, praying for the kingdom even as the fallenness of our world becomes overwhelming, screaming at our Father to take action and working towards what is right, all the while realizing that he is choosing to work through us. Costly hope mirrors the work of Christ, who willingly laid down his life on the cross, yet even on the cross wrestled with God. He wanted the kingdom to come, but did not like how it had to happen.
Life comes through death. We put our hope in a crucified God. Yet we continue to long for a world in which death's power is taken away and the spirit of life rules all things. We fight for life and have a hope that costs more than any form of cheap hope the world can offer.
Peace,
Matt
Currently Reading: Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses by Bruce Feiler, and Help! I'm a Student Leader by Doug Fields. Oh, and I'm also reading The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.
Currently Listening To: A live performance CD I recently found of famous people reading passages of Howard Zinn's The People's History of the United States. Certain parts of it bring tears to my eyes.
In The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer distinguished between cheap grace and costly grace, noting that cheap grace seems to be far too prevalent in the church (also, check out Jones' Embodying Forgiveness for a very in depth look at Bonhoeffer's view of grace). I think the same could be said for hope; we seem to look all too often for a hope that is cheap, rather than a costly hope. A costly hope is richer, deeper, but more painful to come to, so we opt for cheap hope. Let's look at this closer...
Cheap hope is an all-smiles form of faith that forces us to become shiny happy people holding hands all the time. We become people who speak of God's will and glory in ways that make the Lord look sick and/or cruel. We accept pain, suffering and death passively. We give up with large grins and wait patiently for heaven while the world around us crumbles. And when it really hits the fan and we are completely broken, we punish ourselves for not having enough faith, or give up completely on God because our poor theology has completely failed us.
We need to discover and grab hold of costly hope. It is hope for the realist, who sees and comprehends the dismal state of affairs around him or her, is absolutely broken by it, yet strives to press on and work towards the distant kingdom which is but a hope. It's a Hebrews 11 kind of hoping in which the end is often left unrealized and the one who had hoped is forced to come to terms with the fact that things just aren't going to be fair in this life when we try to gauge it on our measure of fairness. Costly hope wrestles with God over this. It is not passive in its hoping, as much as it is stubborn, striving for the good in the face of insurmountable evil, praying for the kingdom even as the fallenness of our world becomes overwhelming, screaming at our Father to take action and working towards what is right, all the while realizing that he is choosing to work through us. Costly hope mirrors the work of Christ, who willingly laid down his life on the cross, yet even on the cross wrestled with God. He wanted the kingdom to come, but did not like how it had to happen.
Life comes through death. We put our hope in a crucified God. Yet we continue to long for a world in which death's power is taken away and the spirit of life rules all things. We fight for life and have a hope that costs more than any form of cheap hope the world can offer.
Peace,
Matt
Currently Reading: Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses by Bruce Feiler, and Help! I'm a Student Leader by Doug Fields. Oh, and I'm also reading The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.
Currently Listening To: A live performance CD I recently found of famous people reading passages of Howard Zinn's The People's History of the United States. Certain parts of it bring tears to my eyes.
Friday, December 16, 2005
Tons o' Links
I've begun adding oodles of links to this blog. I'm planning on adding a lot more, so that by the end you should have a good idea of Matt in all of his Matt-ness by looking at the links. Let me know if any don't work, or if you find them at all interesting. And keep watching as the list grows.
Peace,
Matt
Peace,
Matt
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