Here's a cool interview with Henri Nouwen and Richard Foster:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/bcl/areas/spiritualgrowth/articles/le-7l1-7l112a.html
Enjoy!
Thursday, June 09, 2005
A Community in the Spirit
For the past two weeks I have been seeing what happens when a youth ministry is based on communal faith. I am considering it an "experiment" and so far the results are mind-blowing.
Before the night began a freshman girl decided she wanted to start living this lifestyle and I was able to "say the prayer" with her (I'll write about that whole "say the prayer" thing another day). She wanted to be a Christ-follower after being lovingly welcomed into our group and hearing multiple student testimonies last week. Another student wanted prayer for an extremely dangerous surgery he is having, so 30 high school students gathered around him and prayed over him for nearly thirty minutes! That's not normal!
We aren't growing huge numerically. It is very slow, as is the spiritual growth. But both seem to be consistent. What more could I ask for?
Peace,
Matt
Before the night began a freshman girl decided she wanted to start living this lifestyle and I was able to "say the prayer" with her (I'll write about that whole "say the prayer" thing another day). She wanted to be a Christ-follower after being lovingly welcomed into our group and hearing multiple student testimonies last week. Another student wanted prayer for an extremely dangerous surgery he is having, so 30 high school students gathered around him and prayed over him for nearly thirty minutes! That's not normal!
We aren't growing huge numerically. It is very slow, as is the spiritual growth. But both seem to be consistent. What more could I ask for?
Peace,
Matt
Bibliolotry
A few years ago a friend made a joke to me about the Holy Trinity that I don't remember, except that the punch line had something to do with "the Father, the Son and the Holy Bible." Is it just me, or have we elevated the Bible to the status of God, or even above God? I believe the Bible has become an idol in many peoples lives, specifically in the lives of most "good ol' fashioned, Bible believin' American Protestants."
I have heard sermons, with the emphasis on why the audience members need to come to Christ, that have went off-track for 20 minutes on why the Bible is infallible, inerent, 100% true, the written word of God, etc... "Believe the Bible and be saved" we preach! "Let God's word speak into your life!" we add, using the clever ploy of adding that Jesus is the Word, so we should study God's word and make it the center of our lives.
So am I saying we should ignore the Bible? No, no, no. But we have put the Bible so high up that it trumps the Holy Spirit. We don't need to follow the guidance of the Spirit when we have the guidance of the Bible. The Spirit has been long forgotten as a less understandable, strange part of God that is too complicated for us, the "people of the Book."
Feel free to study your Bible, but realize that our main goal is to know God more. That's what matters! The Bible is a multitude of voices talking about God, but listening for God in prayer and meditation, that is getting the message directly from God himself. That sounds right to me. Your thoughts?
Peace,
Matt
Currently Reading: How to Stay Christian in High School by Steve Gerali.
I have heard sermons, with the emphasis on why the audience members need to come to Christ, that have went off-track for 20 minutes on why the Bible is infallible, inerent, 100% true, the written word of God, etc... "Believe the Bible and be saved" we preach! "Let God's word speak into your life!" we add, using the clever ploy of adding that Jesus is the Word, so we should study God's word and make it the center of our lives.
So am I saying we should ignore the Bible? No, no, no. But we have put the Bible so high up that it trumps the Holy Spirit. We don't need to follow the guidance of the Spirit when we have the guidance of the Bible. The Spirit has been long forgotten as a less understandable, strange part of God that is too complicated for us, the "people of the Book."
Feel free to study your Bible, but realize that our main goal is to know God more. That's what matters! The Bible is a multitude of voices talking about God, but listening for God in prayer and meditation, that is getting the message directly from God himself. That sounds right to me. Your thoughts?
Peace,
Matt
Currently Reading: How to Stay Christian in High School by Steve Gerali.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
New Links...
Just an FYI because I am excited about my new links. My friend Paul's blog is super-cool and linked onto this blog now, as well as the Norton and Triumph webpages. I am really wanting to buy an old version of one of these bikes, but my wife and I are also saving to buy a house, so I don't know if it will ever happen or not.
Peace,
Matt
Currently Reading: Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis.
Peace,
Matt
Currently Reading: Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Got the guts?
I just started Eugene Peterson's book Working the Angles. His Contemplative Pastor changed my life, and I think this will be more of the same.
In this book, Peterson uses his usual blunt style to describe the modern-day pastor. This person could be taught in four easy classes, says Peterson, which would be Creative Plagiarism, Voice Control for Prayer and Counseling, Efficient Office Management and Image Projection (p.7). He mentions preaching, teaching, and administration as the work pastors are typically known for, but adds that these must be held together with prayer, scripture and spiritual direction (p. 5). Not surprisingly, I agree with Peterson.
The problem: church seems to be about pleasing people. People are not as pleased with a praying pastor as they are with a program pastor. And honestly, I seldomly have the guts to really go against what people want. It is a scary and lonely road. I'm in a career in which I often hear church attenders referred to as customers, and the idea of bringing spirituality into any of it is intimidating.
The solution: the first part of solving this dilemma for me is to be reminded daily that I am not in business, but am doing ministry. This is where incarnational orthopraxy comes into the picture. It is a deliberate choice to follow and live like Christ. It is right-living, both in who I am and how I live into my vocation. Some may not understand, and for them I have to try continually to explain, but also continue on the path I God has laid out.
All I need is the guts. I guess that's why I need to continue "working the angles" as Peterson says it.
Peace,
Matt
Currently Reading: The Peterson book mentioned above, as well as Soul Gardening by Terry Hershey and How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler.
In this book, Peterson uses his usual blunt style to describe the modern-day pastor. This person could be taught in four easy classes, says Peterson, which would be Creative Plagiarism, Voice Control for Prayer and Counseling, Efficient Office Management and Image Projection (p.7). He mentions preaching, teaching, and administration as the work pastors are typically known for, but adds that these must be held together with prayer, scripture and spiritual direction (p. 5). Not surprisingly, I agree with Peterson.
The problem: church seems to be about pleasing people. People are not as pleased with a praying pastor as they are with a program pastor. And honestly, I seldomly have the guts to really go against what people want. It is a scary and lonely road. I'm in a career in which I often hear church attenders referred to as customers, and the idea of bringing spirituality into any of it is intimidating.
The solution: the first part of solving this dilemma for me is to be reminded daily that I am not in business, but am doing ministry. This is where incarnational orthopraxy comes into the picture. It is a deliberate choice to follow and live like Christ. It is right-living, both in who I am and how I live into my vocation. Some may not understand, and for them I have to try continually to explain, but also continue on the path I God has laid out.
All I need is the guts. I guess that's why I need to continue "working the angles" as Peterson says it.
Peace,
Matt
Currently Reading: The Peterson book mentioned above, as well as Soul Gardening by Terry Hershey and How to Read a Book by Mortimer J. Adler.
Friday, June 03, 2005
Passion
I got to work this morning and had two messages in the form of questions, one of which answered the second.
The first question was a voicemail from a fellow youth pastor asking my thoughts on how I stay passionate about doing ministry. I guess that's a fair question, and it was partly answered by an e-mail that was sent to me last night by a 15-year-old girl asking what she needs to do to become a follower of Jesus. Needless to say, that got me a bit excited.
So how do I stay passionate? First of all, I've discovered that close relationships with those I am ministering to is essential. Having a massive group of people in front of me is great for my ego, but really does nothing for my passion. Relationships get my passion going. But that's only half my answer.
The other half of my answer is this: I'm not concerned about passion. Feelings and emotions are important for us to be in touch with, but we cannot base our ministries on these because they change constantly. I wouldn't hold a ministry position for more than a week at that rate! When Effie and I went through pre-marital counseling, we were told that there would be times when we would fall in and out of love with one another throughout our marriage. The passion fades in and out, but there is something deeper there holding a marriage together. I think there is something profoundly deeper than passion, or even "calling" that holds us in our jobs. I don't even know what I would call this... vocation maybe, but that doesn't even do it justice. It is Spirit-led, and obviously somewhat incomprehensible for me. That's as close as I can come to explaining it.
Peace,
Matt
Still reading Gadamer's very thorough (aka long) Truth and Method. It is an amazing book. Oh, and I don't think I mentioned I am also slowly reading a book of poems by Alberto Rios called Teodoro Luna's Two Kisses.
The first question was a voicemail from a fellow youth pastor asking my thoughts on how I stay passionate about doing ministry. I guess that's a fair question, and it was partly answered by an e-mail that was sent to me last night by a 15-year-old girl asking what she needs to do to become a follower of Jesus. Needless to say, that got me a bit excited.
So how do I stay passionate? First of all, I've discovered that close relationships with those I am ministering to is essential. Having a massive group of people in front of me is great for my ego, but really does nothing for my passion. Relationships get my passion going. But that's only half my answer.
The other half of my answer is this: I'm not concerned about passion. Feelings and emotions are important for us to be in touch with, but we cannot base our ministries on these because they change constantly. I wouldn't hold a ministry position for more than a week at that rate! When Effie and I went through pre-marital counseling, we were told that there would be times when we would fall in and out of love with one another throughout our marriage. The passion fades in and out, but there is something deeper there holding a marriage together. I think there is something profoundly deeper than passion, or even "calling" that holds us in our jobs. I don't even know what I would call this... vocation maybe, but that doesn't even do it justice. It is Spirit-led, and obviously somewhat incomprehensible for me. That's as close as I can come to explaining it.
Peace,
Matt
Still reading Gadamer's very thorough (aka long) Truth and Method. It is an amazing book. Oh, and I don't think I mentioned I am also slowly reading a book of poems by Alberto Rios called Teodoro Luna's Two Kisses.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Cycling Forward in Sabbath
I suppose I should refer to circling forward as spiraling, but that just doesn't seem to do justice to the idea that pushed its way into my head last night.
Ancient Israel, according to Grenz & Franke's Beyond Foundationalism was "set apart from the surrounding peoples" because they reached an "understanding of time as a linear historical span." In other words, they had a "development of a historical consciousness" (p. 254). Their history became "pregnant with future" to quote Jurgen Moltmann's Theology of Hope. The nations surrounding ancient Israel lived with a cyclical view of time, meaning their concept of time was based on a recurring yearly pattern. This can be seen in the Canaanite rituals in which the god of death (Mot) and the god of fertility (Baal) battle continually, with Baal winning in the winter (with new rains for the crops) and Mot winning in the summer (drought). Grenz and Franke claim Israel surpassed this belief with their linear view of time. I would half agree.
I believe Israel, as well as Christ-followers today, was cycling forward. This is most obvious with the Sabbath. With sabbath time we live in is cyclical as well as linear time. These two dimensions of time are held together in unity within Sabbath living. This is where we gain a "sanctuary in time," as Rabbi Heschel calls it in The Sabbath (p. 29). Sabbath cycles with the continual motion of six days of work, one day of Sabbath. It works God's followers into a pattern in which they find the flow of the Spirit working on a daily and weekly basis.
But Sabbath also is linear, not to mention eschatological. The day of Jubilee is the best example of this. It is the Sabbath event of seven Sabbath years. Every 49 or 50 years (there is still debate over the math) the Day of Shofar (or Jubilee) would occur and equality would occur. For God's followers this was something to be looked forward to with great anticipation, and they counted their cycles as they moved closer to an event in linear time. The two are brought together in this culmination of Sabbath days and years.
Maybe it's not surpising to discover the eschaton itself is Sabbatical. Read Revelation and see the blowing of the trumpet, aka shofar. The Day of Jubilee is literally called the Day of Shofar because on that day the shofar would be blown. So the Day of Jubilee, the Sabbath of Sabbaths, points forward to the eschaton. It is the ultimate example of cycling forward. For the Christian it is the connection point between who we are and who we are becoming. It is an eschatological ontology, a cyclical way of life working in a linear fashion. We are made to cycle forward like the wheels on a car. I believe that this is how God wishes us to live.
I hope this isn't too metaphysical, but I have felt a deep need lately to explore the issue of time, and the books mentioned here really helped me pull some thoughts together about it. Hopefully I can comment some more on it soon; especially if I get any feedback.
Peace,
Matt
Currently Reading: The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel and Sabbath by Wayne Muller.
Ancient Israel, according to Grenz & Franke's Beyond Foundationalism was "set apart from the surrounding peoples" because they reached an "understanding of time as a linear historical span." In other words, they had a "development of a historical consciousness" (p. 254). Their history became "pregnant with future" to quote Jurgen Moltmann's Theology of Hope. The nations surrounding ancient Israel lived with a cyclical view of time, meaning their concept of time was based on a recurring yearly pattern. This can be seen in the Canaanite rituals in which the god of death (Mot) and the god of fertility (Baal) battle continually, with Baal winning in the winter (with new rains for the crops) and Mot winning in the summer (drought). Grenz and Franke claim Israel surpassed this belief with their linear view of time. I would half agree.
I believe Israel, as well as Christ-followers today, was cycling forward. This is most obvious with the Sabbath. With sabbath time we live in is cyclical as well as linear time. These two dimensions of time are held together in unity within Sabbath living. This is where we gain a "sanctuary in time," as Rabbi Heschel calls it in The Sabbath (p. 29). Sabbath cycles with the continual motion of six days of work, one day of Sabbath. It works God's followers into a pattern in which they find the flow of the Spirit working on a daily and weekly basis.
But Sabbath also is linear, not to mention eschatological. The day of Jubilee is the best example of this. It is the Sabbath event of seven Sabbath years. Every 49 or 50 years (there is still debate over the math) the Day of Shofar (or Jubilee) would occur and equality would occur. For God's followers this was something to be looked forward to with great anticipation, and they counted their cycles as they moved closer to an event in linear time. The two are brought together in this culmination of Sabbath days and years.
Maybe it's not surpising to discover the eschaton itself is Sabbatical. Read Revelation and see the blowing of the trumpet, aka shofar. The Day of Jubilee is literally called the Day of Shofar because on that day the shofar would be blown. So the Day of Jubilee, the Sabbath of Sabbaths, points forward to the eschaton. It is the ultimate example of cycling forward. For the Christian it is the connection point between who we are and who we are becoming. It is an eschatological ontology, a cyclical way of life working in a linear fashion. We are made to cycle forward like the wheels on a car. I believe that this is how God wishes us to live.
I hope this isn't too metaphysical, but I have felt a deep need lately to explore the issue of time, and the books mentioned here really helped me pull some thoughts together about it. Hopefully I can comment some more on it soon; especially if I get any feedback.
Peace,
Matt
Currently Reading: The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel and Sabbath by Wayne Muller.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Supply Side Jesus
If you have never seen this comic strip, you absolutely NEED to read it right now! It is hilarious, but almost too true to be funny at all. All it took was a person from the outside to look in and see the difference between what Jesus taught and what his American followers believe. If you don't really want your faith to effect your life, or if you don't want to be a disciple of Christ who actually lives for him, don't read it. Otherwise, take up this page and read.
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/132/story_13245_1.html
Peace,
Matt
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/132/story_13245_1.html
Peace,
Matt
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