theological snob

Why are Men So Insecure?

2012-02-02T09:14:00.000-08:00

I was planning on taking today off from blogging. I reallyshould thing about a sermon for Sunday and all that stuff, and maybeacknowledge the existence of my children. I was all set to do these greatthings until I checked out my Twitter account (don’t bother following me – I amboring, borrrrrrrrring!) and I saw a link to the following blog.

The blog post is about John Piper’s call for a masculineChristianity and a masculine church. Normally I would ignore such rants, butPiper is a fairly popular and influential person who has the potential to screwup many Christians. Blogger Rachael Evans smartly asked for guys to respond soshe would not be labeled as some angry feminist. My straight, white, male guiltkicked in and here I am writing.

I’m not going to rehash Piper’s argument – I suggest goingto Evans’ blog to see a good summary or go here for a more complete text.

So I’m not just rehashing feminist’s arguments I’m going totry to avoid using some great theologians.

Thus I suppose I should avoid mentioning Catherine MowryLaCugna’s chapter, "God in Communion With Us," in the book Freeing Theology whereshe points out that the idea of Complementarity (the idea that a woman reachesher fullest existence through a relationship with a man) does not speak to thenotion that a man does not have to have a relationship with a woman to reachhis full potential as a child of God and in no way reflects the Trinity, i.e.God, i.e. the one in who’s image we were created.

I guess I shouldn’t mention Elizabeth A. Johnson who makesthe simple change of talking about God by starting with the Holy Spirit ratherthan God – creator, and notes many of the feminine aspects of the Holy Spiritand how those aspects are found in God – creator and in Christ.

No, I will resist using these theologians because they justare not masculine enough. I will instead address Piper’s claims myself.

First, he describes Masculinity as:

Theology and church and mission are marked by anoverarching godly male leadership in the spirit of Christ with an ethos oftender-hearted strength, contrite courage, risk-taking decisiveness, andreadiness to sacrifice for the sake of leading and protecting and providing forthe community. All of which is possible only through the death and resurrectionof Jesus."

Take out the “godly male” part and I don’t see what makes itmasculine. This describes my mother (as well as my father) and many other womenand men that I know. Seems to just be a convenient definition that is notgrounded in any studies of sociology, psychology, anthropology, or anyone whomay actually know what it might mean to be “masculine.”

Second, Piper references scripture saying that all thepriests in the Old Testament were male – I guess he forgot Deborah – and all ofJesus’ apostles were male which is only if you us a very specific understandingof the apostles that emerged through time. I’m not going to respond to hisBiblical arguments with other Biblical arguments. What I see is a convenientreading of scripture. That is, Piper wants to make an argument about masculinityand then find all of the information he can use in scripture so he can back itup while ignoring anything that may suggest otherwise. I have never encounteredthe Bible as so crystal clear on one topic. Piper is employing poor scholarshipat best and a dangerous hermeneutic that can lead to many other dangerousassumptions like slavery is ok, and polygamy is necessary, and it isappropriate to kill your children or at least sell them into slavery when theyact out. If I want to use scripture to argue any of these points I can by usingthe same method Piper uses – find the passages that work and don’t mentionanything else.

Third, Piper is neglecting a large part of the feministnature of the church in church history. Granted I’m not sure exactly what femininemeans, but I’ll work off the common assumptions for now. With that in mind Bernardof Clairvaux’s great sermon On the Song of Songs talks about a holy kiss thatwe have on and with Jesus. Hmmm….

Jonathan Edwards pushes the idea of religious affections, a whole-bodyexperience of religion. It is emotional and spiritual (disclaimer – I am not anEdwards’ scholar so I may be missing some of the nuance). I don’t know if thisis feminine, but based on what Piper is suggesting I think it is.

Finally, I do want to refer to my sister theologians,specifically about the idea of the nature of God. If Piper is a Trinitarian,and I am sure that he would claim that he is, then the nature of God is one ofequal, relational, indwelling where one aspect of the Trinity is not above anyother nature of the Trinity. If one aspect of humanity is deliberately placedabove another, then we are not reflecting the nature of God, but the brokennature of humanity. The church, then, should be a place that strives not for a masculinefeel or a feminine feel, but one of mutuality and equality.

End this post with your own bit of angry rants and explicativethat this is still an issue with people. We should be well beyond this…. AHHHHH

Sometimes Its Nice to be Needed

2012-02-01T08:45:00.000-08:00

I’m moving on from the last two posts. This one willactually be a positive post. No rants. Really.

First I want to plug this link to a website put together byone of the kids in the church I serve. It is about bullying in Rhode Island andsets a good example for others to consider in their own state. Unless you arepro-bullying (i.e. capitalist?) then you should support such an endeavor.

Second, I attended a Christian Unity service at the CopticOrthodox Church of St. Mary and St. Mena sponsored by the Rhode Island StateCouncil of Churches. Really neat form of worship. We were vividly remindedabout the persecution of Christians in Egypt. It is not a good thing and weneed to tell others about these atrocities; we need to spread awareness.

Finally, I read a good article from Alban, one thatsurprised. The article seemed to be about church growth and elicited a loudgrown from me. Everyone in the coffee shop stopped what they were doing, staredat me in wonder, and I looked back and said:

Do you have a problem?

One more advancement for Christianity in the world.

Anyway, as I read more of the article I was pleasantlysurprised. In this article the author talks about his efforts to prepare oneparticular church for a time with no pastor. He was looking at the dearth ofyoungish pastors and the abundance of pastors in their early 60s and saw thatit there would be a time when there would not be enough pastors for churches.So he began to prepare his church. That is positive thinking at its best.

What he found was that the spirituality of the congregationgrew through these efforts. Nice!

I think there is something to be said for a congregationthat can provide spiritual guidance, minister to each other, be present foreach other, and exist without a pastor. Now I would argue that there wouldalways be a spiritual need for a pastor, for someone who believes he or she hasbeen called by God to preach, pastor, and lead the congregation. I’m not justthinking of my own sense of job security, but thinking of ecclesiology – this maybe something for another post.

Yet we want churches to be healthy and not dependent on oneleader. We want churches that can walk aside the pastor, and even lead thepastor from time to time (we are human after all). Perhaps what people in myprofession should be working towards is a day when his or her presence is notnecessary on some levels and then is appreciated on a deeper level.

So I guess I should start to try to work myself out of ajob. Don’t tell my wife or children.

What I Meant to Say Was...

2012-01-31T10:50:00.000-08:00

It is now confirmed that not everyone likes me… or at leastthe stuff that I write. I think this is good because the conversation generatesbetter thoughts and articulation of those thoughts. Here are some of the thingspeople said in response to my last article:

Mock,malign and marginalize the spiritual but not religious all you want. They'reour fish. They've had spirituality commoditized for them and need to see thata) spirituality involves work and b) that work bears amazing fruit (b beforea, really).

Sorry,but I completely disagree with this essay. You're equating lazy with not doingwhat Christianity and other organized religions prescribe. To me, that kind oflogic is lazy and elitist.

Spiritualitycomes in all forms.

You can read two other comments on my blog.

It seems that some see my previous post as a big ole’ pushfor organized religion. Granted that is my bread and butter, but it wasn’t myintent. Based on the way I wrote the entry I can see how many reached thatconclusion – I really could have said things in a different and maybe morepositive way, but then I wouldn’t be so much fun, would I?

I think what I meant to say was that it is important to findand be a part of a community however that looks. Last week’s podcast ofPhilosophy Bites featured Alain de Botton speaking about Atheism 2.0. He spokeabout the importance of a community as a place where not only morals are taughtand carried on, but also as a place where ideas of importance, values aretested, shared, and celebrated. De Botton stressed that it was not faith so muchthat was important (as an atheist that would be weird for him to celebratefaith in God) but the rituals and liturgy of the community stressing the valuesand morals of a community.

I am not suggesting that Atheists form a church with aliturgy and all that. I don’t even know what that would look like. It is thecommunity that is important and the type of community.

Those who get together on a regular basis have rituals andliturgy and in large part rituals and liturgy express the ideals and values ofthat group of people – even if it is a group of people gathering around to talkabout God over beer, or to talk about beer over God.

It is the individualist spiritual person that I was railingagainst and I will add to this the individualist Christian, the individualistJew, the individualist Muslim, and on and on (I’m not attacking groups ofpeople, just individuals). A community requires work. It is work to learn the“grammar” of the community and to participate in that grammar. It is work to shareyourself and to share in the life and struggles of others. It is a lot easierto just go to church, say the words proscribed, and then go home without anyconnection with the people there or any investment in the rituals. It is a loteasier to say you are spiritual but do nothing that considers, expresses, ordeepens that spirituality. That is what I meant by selfish spirituality.

For those who are searching – keep searching – that is partof the work. For those who have a community be it an organized religion or not,engage and immerse yourself into that community and push the community todeepen its experience of spirituality however that may be expressed. I guessthat is what I meant by being religious – being deliberate about yourspirituality.

Of course I really appreciate all of the comments. Well, Ikinda appreciate all of the comments – it took me about a week of crying in theshower to find the nerve to write a response. Now I look like a giant whiteraisin.

Topic closed? Can I move on and blog about Red Letter Biblesand churches with pastors?

Spirituality = Laziness

2012-01-25T08:45:00.000-08:00

Today I had a for real “coffee shop” conversation. I wassitting, minding my own business, looking mousey, when someone asked me if Iwas a writer. If I was smart, I would have said, “yes,” but I’m still slow tothe uptick and said, “nope, I’m a minister.” I even think I felt proud aboutthis declaration. In response, this person told me how he is very spiritual,leaning towards the Zen side of faith and views everyone religious as prophetson equal ground. Yawn.

To be fair, this individual seemed to really know his stuff,knew what he was talking about so he may be the exception to the rule. Therules are:

When someone says, “I am spiritual” that person does not putany real time or energy into his or her own faith and wants to avoid any senseof guilt for sleeping in on Sunday mornings.
When someone says, “I like Zen” (or any other Easternreligion) it means that he or she wants to seem radical, enlightened, or beyondChristianity but still spirituality grounded to some kind of tradition. Again,it is most likely to avoid the guilt thing.

I want to stress one more time that the person I was talkingto seemed to take his stance kind of seriously (or I may just be writing thisin case he happened to be reading this right now and I can’t bear the thoughtof someone not liking me). Yet by in large the rules tend to stand. Why is thisa problem? For me it is the same as saying, “I like Italian food” and onlyeating Chef boyardee or only eating out at Olive Garden. Or saying, “I’m intoart” and stocking their house with all of the five dollar artwork that is soldat local auctions (what I term ‘Hotel Art’) or Thomas Kinkade (I am holding thevomit back as I write those words).

First, if you are into Buddhism, Zen or not, then really beinto it. Meaning, join a community, go to regular worship, and become fully immersedinto the tradition. It only works if you are fully into it and make acommitment. This is actually true of all reputable faith traditions – you haveto go all in or don’t go at all.

Second, try to get a clue what “spiritual” means because Ireally have no idea and think you (the universal you, that is) don’t have anidea as well. If it means finding peace in nature than read some of the transcendentalists,hug a tree, and go to a Unitarian Universalist church. After all, you can’thave enough Emerson and Thoreau in your life.

If being “spiritual” means seeing good in everyone, thenjoin the Optimist club if they even still exist. I doubt that they do.

If being “spiritual” means believing in Jesus, believing inGod, but rejecting the church and all that it stands for then you are a hypocrite(ha!). If you really believe in Jesus and follow him, and if you really believein the God that Jesus represents then you will realize that God/Christ callsfor relationships and community. You can’t be a believer or follower withoutbeing a part of a community or you are rejecting the relational aspect of God.Yup, pretty harsh, but there it is.

So, get your lazy, “spiritual” a** off the sofa and dosomething, get involved, even if it means joining a Unitarian Universalistchurch. Shudder.

Its All About Me!

2012-01-24T07:39:00.001-08:00

I’ll admit that the last two posts were kinda lame – what Ihave watched and what I have read? Really? Who cares?

They were just easy posts to write, compiling data from thepast year, but now it is back to business – no more slacking off, no morefluff, no more … I guess no more of whatI usually write.

I have recently been sloughing through War and Peace (I’vefinally gotten past page 1,000 but still have about 700 pages to go). I have toadmit it is a very good book that really captures a great deal of the horrorsof war and the indifference of the upper echelon of society (among about abillion other things). While a great battle is waged just outside of Moscow, amarried woman is flirting with two men, promises to marry both of them, andbecomes Catholic in order that she can have her marriage annulled. How’s thatfor a twist? Become Catholic to end a marriage. In the book the whole scenariois very interesting for many people – it is the gossip of Moscow andPetersburg.

I think the connection between tabloid entertainment and thehorrors of reality is obvious. News is made when McDonald’s re-releases theMcRibb or when someone’s marriage doesn’t last very long but not when peoplestarve to death, etc. This is fluff, bread and circus kind of entertainmentthat appeases the masses so as to avoid the festering wounds of society. Yuck.

However, no one likes a dour, sour-puss kind of person. Thisis the person who is so involved in all of the suffering of the world that justto be in their presence is its own kind of suffering. Know anyone like that?

Activists, tree-hugging kind of Christians (and otherdo-gooders) again and again remind us that we need to consider the other (in aLacanian, Buber kind of way). I agree that if we are only focused on ourselvesthen we are not fully living. Yet I don’t think I would argue that those whofocus on pulp news are not focusing on themselves. We have a lot ofdistractions, crappy, enamoring distractions that keep us from knowingourselves. So then the guilt comes that we need to help others and we don’teven know who we are and all we have to talk about is the soft-core snuff thatpasses for television.

Take some time to figure out who you are. Take care ofyourself, get to know yourself in a substantial way and then start to considerothers. Go for a walk. Read a book. Bake a cake. Etc, etc. This is aselfishness that isn’t so bad and may actually lead to something good. Hmm,maybe it is time for me to think more about myself…

Book Reports!

2012-01-11T09:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I've listed the movies I watched and now the books that I read in the past year. I have to be honest, I am a little disappointed that I did not read more. Twenty-two books, 6,586 pages does not seem like a lot. This year I will see if I can do better - it doesn't help that I am only on page 631 in War and Peace and I keep reading a lot of journal articles.

A Fortunate Life - A.B. Facey
The Wizard of Oz and other Narcissists - Elanor D. Payson
Dishwasher - Pete Jordan
The Foucault Reader - ed. by Paul Rabinow
The Art of Reading Scripture - ed. by E. Davis and R. Hays
The Coming of the Body - Herve Juvin
A Layman's Guide to Protestant Theology - William Hordern
The Secret of Overcoming Verbal Abuse - Albert Ellis and Marcia Grad Powers
Middlemarch - George Eliot
The Magician's Nephew - C.S. Lewis
Freakonomics - S. Levitt and S. Dubner
A Bief History of Christian Worship - James F. White
The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis
Children of the Self-Absorbed - Nina W. Brown
After Virtue - Alasdair MacIntyre
Prize Stories 1993: The O. Henry Awards - ed. by William Abrahams
Autism, Asperger Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Barbara Quinn and Anthony Malone
The Nature and Purpose of the Church - World Council of Churches, Faith and Order Commission
The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History - John M. Barry
Revisioning Christian Unity: The Global Christian Forum - Hubert van Beek
The Girard Reader - ed. by James G. WIlliams
Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully Engaged Members of Your Church - Nelson Searcy with Jennifer Dykes
Twilight of the Idols - Friedrich Nietzsche

Whatca Watching?

2012-01-04T08:23:00.000-08:00

It is a new year, so it is a time for lists. I only have twolists (this year, but watch out next year!), so I will make it two blog posts.First, the movies I watched this year.

A little bit of background. I have been trying to watcheverything that has been nominated for an Oscar of any kind (even bestcostume). I started with the most current, which was 2010 at the time, and thenadded the 2011 list when it came out. Near the end of the year when I finishedthe 2010 list I started the 2009 list of Oscar nominees.

I have also been re-watching the AFI 100 best films ofcentury (both the original list and the updated list). I finished this list awhile ago, so am re-watching them and finding that things are really great thesecond time around.

Finally, sometimes I just like to watch crap. Deal.

Here is the list in the order that I watched them, more orless:

Movies of 2011

The Imagination of Dr. Parnassus

True Grit

Lost Boys

Nine (the musical)

An Education

The Fugitive

Citizen Kane

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer Stone

The Last Airbender

IP Man

Il Divo

The Door (a short film)

The Kids are Alright

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkahban

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Casablanca

The Messenger

The Princess and the Frog

Coraline

The Fighter

The Godfather (part I)

Invictus

The Other Guys

How to Train Your Dragon

Gangs of New York

Megamind

A Serious Man

French Roast (animated short)

Kick Ass

Gone With the Wind

Julie and Julia

Black Swan

Milk of Sorrow

X-Men First Class

Just Go With It

Lawrence of Arabia

Iron Man 2

Food Inc.

Knockaround Guys

IP Man 2

Biutiful

Hot Tub Time Machine

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1

The White Ribbon

The Wizard of Oz

I Love You Philip Morris

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Elsberg

The King’s Speech

Rise of the Planets of the Apes

Silverado

Twelve Angry Men

Sherlock Holmes

Analyze This

The Graduate

In the Loop

Office Space

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Instead of Abracadabra (short film)

Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty (animated short)

On the Waterfront

Paris 36

Inception

Mr. Popper’s Penguins

Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon

The Zookeeper

Bad Teacher

Green Lantern

Bridesmaids

I Love You Beth Cooper

Wanted

Pirates of the Caribbean – Stranger Tides

The Secret of Kells

Schindler’s List

The Lovely Bones

I Am Love

The Warrior’s Way

The Princess Bride

The Prophet (or A Prophet)

Singing in the Rain

Coco Before Chanel

The Social Network

The One

Romeo Must Die

Exit Through the Gift Shop

It’s a Wonderful Life

Bah Humbug

2011-12-19T07:16:00.000-08:00

I should write something about all of the people who aren't going to church this upcoming Sunday because it is Christmas. Does that sound as backwards as I think it sounds... and we are worried about a war on Christmas. When people make parties, get-togethers, and other traditions more important than going to church the seldom times Christmas falls on a Sunday then we lost the war on Christmas. It is now a secular holiday.

"But I have family coming over." Bring them to church.
"But we have so much going on and I have to get ready." I refer you to the story of Mary and Martha. Who chose the better thing?

I usually don't get upset over people's schedules and decisions to not attend worship. I get it. People are very busy and need to take care of themselves. But this is Christmas, one of the most holy days of our Christian calendar and it doesn't always fall on a Sunday. So on the days when it does shouldn't we make the effort.

If Easter didn't fall on a Sunday would people still attend church on that day?

Someone suggested to me that perhaps the quiet, simple time in the morning with the family is an appropriate way to honor and celebrate the birth of Jesus. It sounds good, but wouldn't it also be good to gather with your church family to honor the birth of Jesus?

Surrender the claim for titles. Surrender the demand that the pagan tree be called a "Christmas tree" because it has religious significance. I don't think people really care about the religious significance or they would be in church on Sunday. Surrender the idea that the reason for the season is the birth of Christ. Surrender it all because we have lost, Christmas is a secular holiday. Joy to the world.

Well, that was a whole lot of cheer.

A Naked Critique

2011-12-05T08:39:00.001-08:00

I just read this interesting article from the Alban institute:

Basically the author, N. Graham Standish is arguing that the reason why a majority of churches are dying is because they have stopped listening to God. He claims that every "thriving" church he has attended are all open to the presence of God in their community. I don't know what he means by "thriving," but we'll assume it means they have more than 200 people a Sunday and really good donuts.

He claims that all of those other, apostate churches are mired in rational functionalism which is rooted in the idea, "that we can uncover the mysteries of life and the universe mainly through rational thought and disciplined investigation. It is the tendency of denominations, their congregations, and their leaders to subscribe to a view of faith and church rooted in a restrictive, logic-bound theology that ignores the possibility of spiritual experiences and miraculous events."

Sermons are basically academic papers. Churches are run like a rote institution. They are cold, vapid, and basically dead.

Those "thriving" churches are "open to God at its core." That is basically all Standish says about those "thriving" churches.

Mr. Standish (or is it Rev. Standish, or Dr. Standish?) I am calling you naked. Well, I'm not actually calling you naked but your theory naked. It is weak, hypercritical, and groundless. I think that is the nice way to put it.

It is very easy to go to almost any church and say, "well, since you are doing things that I don't like you must not be listening to God, you heathen, bastard church."

It is just as easy to say, "this church is doing well because it is doing the things that I think are exciting and important. They must be listening to God. Let the angels sing and rejoice."

Basically Standish is saying, "if you can't see what I see then you are Godless and doomed to failure." If you can't see the fine clothes on the emperor, then you must be a fool.

But I will call out the emperor's nakedness. Standish's critique and claim is nothing but putting up a false facade of spirituality and making other struggling churches feel like crap. There may be some value to the critiques he makes, but the package stinks. Thanks N. Graham Standish. Thanks a lot.

Christmas Apathy

2011-11-28T06:42:00.001-08:00

I don’t want to get caught up in the whole “Christmas Wars”thing. I don’t want to be painted as some flag-waving, well-groomed nut who isconvinced that the “secular media” and others have waged a war on Christmas.Nor do I want to be seen as some dirty, earthy, angry, vegan hippie who wantsto be sure that everyone is miserable and no one can publically celebrate anyholiday whatsoever. I don’t want to be painted or placed in either corner. Igenerally try to avoid the conversation because I see both sides as nuts.

Yet while strolling down Main Street (yes, I really didstroll down Main Street) I saw the following in front of Town Hall:

I know they will put up a menorah when Hanukkah starts, so Iam not going to get all in a huff that other religions are being neglected(although I didn’t see anything for Ramadan). Personally, I don’t care thatthere is going to be a manger scene in front of Town Hall. I don’t care becauseof in the context of Town Hall I do not see the manger scene (or the menorah,or anything else) as a religious symbol.

The reason I don’t care is because the institution of TownHall and the politicians of East Greenwich do not have the depth or history tomake religious/theological claims. It is not a Christian institution (whilethere may be Christians working there). Nothing is placed in front of Town Hallfor Easter, or Pentecost (the other two of the big three holidays). Nor have I noticedany wide observance of Lent, All Saints Day, or any other day on the religious calendar.It is an institution that does not have a religious voice. So when a mangerscene is placed in front of the hall I see it as an empty symbol speaking to adesire to placate a number of people and maybe to celebrate with them; probablymore of the former than the latter. For me it is the same when a box storewishes me “Merry Christmas,” an insurance company sends me a card, or whenDavid Bowie sings “the little drummer boy.” These are empty gestures (to befair, I don’t know if Mr. Bowie is a Christian, so I will withhold hiscondemnation – aren’t I generous?). These are a cultural symbols and a sign ofthe Town recognizing that a lot of people are celebrating Christmas as well asHanukkah. I would rather the picture be of Santa, but again I’m not going tocomplain.

Now if the manger scene is in front of a church that is adifferent story because I assume they understand the significance of the birthof Christ. But it is very possible I am giving many churches more credit than Ishould.

Say It With A Flair!

2011-11-25T07:01:00.001-08:00

This Sunday the Catholic Church will be using a new liturgy– newly translated, closer to the original text, and apparently a greater senseof the mystery of God.

I don’t know the specifics of the Mass since I have onlybeen to one once, and I certainty don’t know the Latin text, so I don’t know ifthe original is better or not. I have seen some of the examples of thetranslation in an article from the Providence Journal. One jumps out at me notvery good:

Before, in the Nicene Creed, Jesus Christ was described as“one in Being with the Father,” and now will be described as, “consubstantialwith the Father.”

That seems much more confusing and cold.

To be fair, there probably are some changes that aresmoother and cleaner but I don’t feel like looking for them right now. I’m surethey are out there – find them and let me know so you can show me up.

The thing that stuck out to me was the move to make theprayers more formulaic and structured and to offer less freedom to the priests.The intent seems to be good. I won’t read into the idea of the existence of asmoky, underworld, bureaucracy of the hierarchy clothed as charlatans pretendingto care about the blue haired women while they wring their hands counting theircoffers as the copyright fees are updated and St. Peter’s builds a brand newbathroom. I won’t comment on that because it probably is more of a canard thananything else (but fun to write).

What I will comment is on the particularity of the localparish. I understand the necessity for uniformity in a movement/church, andthat liturgy is a place where that uniformity can be celebrated. One of thearguments for a Latin Mass was that you could go to Mass anywhere in the worldand know that the words themselves will always be the same.

However, there is something else to be said for contextualization.It took a number of years for missionaries to realize that the gospel cannot betold with the same language and in the same exact way to people of differentcultures. The gospel needs to be contextualized. I would argue that to a degreethat is the case for the Mass. Different communities have different characteristics;they will hear and receive the a message in different ways depending on how itis conveyed. For example, some prayers are heard better by one community usingvery formal language while another community would respond to language used ina more vernacular language. I would argue that the pastor of the parish shouldhave the freedom to nuance the Mass in such a way that it will speak to the peopleof that particular congregation. Having a written liturgy will insureuniformity, but when it is made to strict there is a danger that the HolySpirit will be ignored and no one will be reached.

Of course I am sure that I have some Catholic brothers andsisters who would take great offence at this post and say something like:

“What the **** does this two-bit Baptist know aboutuniformity and liturgy? How dare he criticize the one true Church?”

“Who does this Malone character think he is telling theall-powerful and mighty Church what is right and what is wrong? He shouldreturn to he back-woods Baptist group of slack-jawed yokels and leave realworship to us.”

Feel free to choose either one as a critique. I do recognizethat I am an outsider and don’t expect my comments to change any minds in thehierarchy. I’m just sharing my humble, simple thoughts. Thoughts that areprobably right, but humble and simple nonetheless.

Do You Understand The Words Coming Out Of My Mouth?

2011-11-22T09:36:00.001-08:00

I didn't get a chance to do any reading or studying yesterday, so I am still without anything profound and earth-shattering to say. Don't worry, I'll get back on the ball soon.

I am doing a burial today that poses and interesting question. It is a last minute deal for a family that is not connected at all with any church. The father (who is being gently laid to rest) never went to church nor did the son. So what can I say and what can I offer? I could just assume they are Christians and use language of life and salvation. Maybe they are in some confused, weird way, but probably not. I could speak in broad and shallow platitudes that will offer just about as much comfort as a Helen Steiner Rice poem on a Hallmark card. Who is Helen Steiner Rice, and how did she become so great? (Ambassador of Sunshine my a**)

The family asked for a minister so there must be something to my presence; something that speaks to an awareness of the presence of God. So I do think it is important to speak to God's presence in one way or another. I will assume that there is some level of grief and I think it is important to speak to that grief. Yet I do not know if I can speak to the hope I find in Christ in a way that they will understand. I will use scripture because that is my tradition and will speak to some hope that is found in Christ, but I do not feel I can speak to eternal life through Christ.

What I think I can do is talk about the love of God, how this man is God's child and is now at rest (or something like that).

MacIntyre, Hauerwas, and others make a big deal over language, grammar, and community and here is where I think the rubber hits the road. These people are not a part of a church community and do not have that language. They are looking for something and I can only answer it with language that I know. However there is an "inner" language that I must withhold to a degree unless moved otherwise.

Of course I could just take advantage and have an altar call during the burial, but I'm afraid of people falling down the deep, deep hole as the come up to embrace Jesus. The idea of someone dying trying to accept Christ is kinda funny.

2011-11-21T06:15:00.001-08:00

There have been a couple of things happening that I could possibly comment on in an insightful and meaningful way. I, along with a number of other very bright Baptist theologians, was asked to look over a statement from the National Council of Churches on evangelism in a pluralistic world. The issue of evangelism versus social justice arose - haven't I addressed this before?

I was recently at my last meeting with the American Baptist Home Mission Societies board of directors. I am no longer a director, so I'm just going to assume that the ABHMS will now flow haphazardly into the abyss of institutionalization.

Christmas music is already playing in a number of establishments. This makes me more than slightly nauseous.

To top this all off, I have started reading Twilight of the Idols by Freddy Nietzsche.

So there are a number of things I could muse over with wit and profundity. Yet I wont. So many things have distracted me from any one thing and I do not have any focus. Something should be said to doing to many things at once and never really being able to focus on what one is doing at one time, however that is what our society dictates. The phone beeps and we need to answer the text right away or our friend will never speak to us again - is that so bad? Someone asks you to do something and you have to say yes or else no one will ever like you. If you aren't reading more than one thing at a time and writing and publishing then you will never be successful. It is almost as if we set ourselves up to fail, but to fail in a thousand ways, falling into a thousand pieces.

This is a familiar rant and may be more for me than anyone else, but then again it is my blog, I can write what I want, and the blog at heart is the work for the narcissist.

Don't Blame Me...

2011-11-10T12:27:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I had the joy of driving all the way from my townin RI to Sturbridge, MA to pick up the youngest. What made the trip so greatwas having lunch at an Applebee’s. I don’t think I have had a worse lunch in along time. I tried to play it safe with a soup and salad combo but the basil tomatosoup tasted as if it were the leftover sauce from a Chef Boyardee can (this is not a good thing), and the spinachsalad was so coated with oil and some other mystery substance that all of theleaves of spinach clumped together as if they were one. Bleh!

I read an article from a back issue of Newsweek about theguilt of an executioner. A major thrust of the article was that every time hekilled someone who was then exonerated (to little to late) he felt that he wasa murderer. Now, if we look at the idea of sin and responsibility, where doesit fall?

Some may say that ultimately the executioner is to blamebecause he is the one who pushed the button (so to speak). Yet what of the judgesand lawyers who pushed for the individual to be executed? Should they be held culpableas well? What of the detectives and other police forces who did not do a thoroughenough investigation to find out all of the fact? What about the people, thelawmakers who pushed for a death penalty in that state? What about the peoplewho voted for someone to keep the death penalty (or reinstate it)? What aboutthe tax payers whose dollars support the death machine used to kill theconvict?

Girard (yeah, him again) makes the point that the prisonsystem has in large part taken the scapegoat out of the system, punishespeople, and keeps a kind of calm in society. Albeit it is a faux calm, it is acalm nonetheless. But let us return to the question of blame.

We are all to blame, unless we move to a state that does notsupport a death penalty. Kidding. We are all to blame because we all are a partof the system whether we like it or not. If that is the case, then whenever aninnocent person is executed we are all murders.

Yikes, that is a fairly macabre way to end!

It's Not My Fault!

2011-11-09T07:31:00.000-08:00

Once again it has been a while since my last post. Part ofit was because I did not fare very well on the way back from Indonesia. I endedup getting a little sick and then a double outer and inner ear infection.Seriously? An outer and inner ear infection? What? What?

I have recently finished reading with my good friend Paulthe Girard Reader. Students of Rene Girard I’m sure are very excited to seethat someone else is actually reading this guy. Personally I am alwaysskeptical to read anyone’s work while they are still alive, but sometimes Imake an exception.

Girard is good, fairly good, and I know I have posted abouthim earlier. So instead of going into his stuff again, I would like to considerthe Occupy Wall Street movement via Girard’s scapegoat theory. Just so all ofyou sticklers know, I am going to crassly simplify Girard’s theories. If youdon’t like it, get the book and read it yourself.

People are not happy. They are not happy for a number ofreasons, which I will not list here. When people are not happy they tend tolook for someone or something to blame for their sorrows. The Tea Party blamesthe government (go figure). The Occupy folks blame the capitalist structure ofsorts. It may be true or it may be because they Occupy folks really just wantwhat they (the capitalist pigs) have.

In this theory the scapegoat needs to be similar but notexactly like the crowd casting blame, so Wall Street et al works well. Whatusually happens is that the anger will increase and increase until something orsomeone snaps and the metaphorical stone is thrown. At that moment the rest ofthe stones will come crashing down until the victim/scapegoat is dead. Afterthat the scapegoat is deified or made into a savior of society and peacereturns. For the time being.

This is not a happy scenario for those of us bleeding heart,peace loving, tree hugging, “can’t we all get along” wusses who want to avoidany bit of violence. We get squeamish and start to cry and look for a wayaround the violence. One way out of the stone throwing is for the scapegoat towillingly embrace his or her crowd-demanded punishment. For example if abillionaire would go public and give away all of his or her money or somethingelse humiliating the desire for “blood” would be satiated. Such an action couldthen shame others to action and appease the angry crowd.

Now this is all theory so don’t start waiting for somethingto start throwing things. Don’t go to Wall Street or wherever you are and startthrowing stones in hopes that more will happen. Oakland may be the first stonethrown, but maybe not.

Regardless, I think Girard’s theories are quite good and aptin this situation. The challenge is to look past the distraction of thescapegoat at the actual cause of unrest and inequity. It may not be Wall Street’sfault. Wall Street and company may just be a part of a systemic problem thatgoes beyond one group of people. But that is much more difficult to do and Ihave this great, smooth stone that I have been aching to throw. Now I just wantto find a nice, big window or someone named Tessie Hutchinson. Shirley Jackson,eat your heart out (not literally).

Indonesia - A Pictorial Timeline, or The Many Faces of Jonathan Malone

2011-10-08T16:33:00.000-07:00

I'm very, very, very excited to be here!

Tell me more about everything.

(Sung to the Pointed Sister's song) I'm so excited to go to the governor's house. It makes me feel special.

How dare you cut me off!

Well, if I can't talk then I won't listen (aka "the mature response").

So sleepy and yet cannot sleep.

I don't even know what time it is any more - probably because I'm not wearing a watch.

My "meeting face."

Uh, maybe something I ate?

Definitely something I ate!

Ever feel out of place?

Laughing with the Trinidadians (not shown).

And now, Trinidad the Musical!

Polite applause.

Who has two thumbs and is happy he went to Indonesia?

This guy!

Indonesia 9 - The Final Chapter!

2011-10-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

Here it is, the final post. I’m stranded in Singapore forthe night with no internet so I thought I should at least make good use of mytime and give you that brilliant, amazing wrap-up I promised.

As my faithful readers know (all two of you) this has beenan interesting and challenging trip (please, no Grateful Dead references). Hereare a couple of lessons I have gleaned:

Lesson One – It isdifficult for people let others in (metaphorically speaking).

In the beginning of the week I complained that it seemedpeople were not willing to share. A part of that was simple fear, shyness andmy own neediness. What I have come to realize is that the majority of the participantswere in the same boat as I was; they did not know anyone either. A commonreaction to a new place is to err on the side of caution. Be carful who (or isit whom?) you trust. Trust is a commodity in small supply and is given out verycarefully. Yet by the end of the week everyone seemed fairly chummy witheveryone else; there was a very positive esprit de cours. I arrived with anassumption that we all were here as Christians and therefore were all ready toshare yet I think I forgot that we are all human. Maybe I need to relax with mytheological excitement and learn a little more patience.

Lesson Two – It isvery difficult for Christians to trust other Christians.

When you are in a place of so many different traditionsespecially traditions that have not always gotten along, it will be verydifficult to create a level of trust. Every conversation among participantsstarted with a question of where the individual was from and then which churchthe individual was representing. The real question was behind thesepleasantries was often, “can I trust you?” If the person was from the “right”group then trust could be found. This is a sad reality of Christianity, andperhaps one of the reasons that the Forum exists. People are slow to trustpeople, and Christians are even slower to trust other Christians.

Lesson Three – Wehave a lot of work to do.

While the leaders of the conference continued to celebrateunity, unity, and more unity, I left realizing that there are some very realplaces of serious difference and disagreement. There is a deep tension betweenEvangelicals and Orthodox, Pentecostals and Traditional churches, and elsewhere.It is very telling when we cannot end with a service of the Lord’s Supper – thevery moment when unity is incarnate. I think the idea of the Forum is a goodstart and applaud it’s efforts, but I leave with a very real understanding ofhow much work we still have to do.

Lesson Four – TheGlobal Christian Forum Is Necessary, Good, and Unrealistic

One the worst witness that Christianity has in the world(aside from all of the persecution of Jews, burning of witches, wars, etc.) isthe many divisions within our house. It is necessary that we work to get alongwith others who claim the Lordship of Christ instead of looking the other waywith our grievances. We are supposed to see Christ in others and if we can’tsee Christ in our brothers and sisters who also profess to see Christ and yetdisagree with us theologically, doctrinally, ecclesiology, or otherwise, thenhow will we see Christ in non-believers? The Forum is necessary.

The Forum is good because it is making that effort to bringpeople together to try to see Christ in each other and trying to do this in apositive way. This is a worthwhile cause.

The Forum is unrealistic because human brokenness will againand again get in the way, pride will rise, anger will bring others down, andfear will dictate our actions. I can say with certainty that we will mess itup. Yet this is the church on a local and global level. It is an institution orgathering that is broken. At the same time it is what God uses again and againto proclaim the gospel to the world. We can’t do it, especially on our own, butthere can be moments of transcendent unity only through the action and thegrace of God.

Now What?

So now I need to consider what I should report to the goodole’ American Baptists (if they haven’t already given up on me because theyhave been reading my posts). Despite my gripes and complaints I am glad and continuedto be honored that I had the opportunity to go and represent the AmericanBaptists in Indonesia. I learned a lot about myself, and about the difficultiesbefore us as Christians. From what I have seen and experienced I would urge theAmerican Baptists to continue to stay involved in the Global Christian Forum.Issues like the Prosperity Gospel (which is nothing less than a heresy of ourtime), proselyting (or sheep-stealing) from other churches, and a generalfeeling of mistrust of others are very real in the country and the world. Thesedifficulties again and again get in the way of sharing the love of Christ andcalling people to grow in their relationship with Christ. We need to be a partof the solution and I think the GCF is on the right track.

Beyond that, I think the denomination, regions, orindividual churches should engage the challenge of unity every opportunity theycan. We should deliberately engage Pentecostals and Orthodox and everyone in-between(including those crazy Independent churches and other Baptists). I stronglyfeel that we should especially continue to engage the overtly Evangelicalchurches because I believe are closer than many “classical” American Baptistswould like to think and we can learn something about ourselves. We need tocontinue to work with established organizations like the National Council ofChurches, the World Council of Churches, and others. And finally we need to continueto reach out to other communities of faith (Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, etc.) andfind that place of commonality or connection where we can all work towardsbettering the world.

I am glad I was able to go, and with all that I learned Iwould gladly and humbly go again. It was a time when God certainly pushed,challenged, and blessed me. I hope to take what the Holy Spirit has shown meand share it with my church, my denomination, and all others who will suffer methe audience (In other words, despite my earlier posts, I am very thankful thatI was able to go – thank you Roy Medley!).

I hope you enjoyed the pictorial timeline of my experience and thanks to all for coming along on the ride.

Indonesia 8 - The End is Near!

2011-10-07T18:08:00.000-07:00

A short post today, as I am packing and getting ready toleave.

The trip ended on a very good note:

· The Mayor of Manado threw a party for uscomplete with tradition dance and a choir that was out of this world.
I got to go on a short field trip.
· For breakfast I had wonderful conversation witha number of different people.

I am working on a brilliant summary that will nicely wrapthe whole trip up and offer a sense of hope. It will be amazing. It will rockyour world. It will be better than Cats (Its hard to not be better than Cats –Slam on you Andrew Lloyd Weber!). So to help you prepare mentally, emotionally,spiritually, physically, and pneumatically I am offering you the belowpictures:

Indonesia 7 - The Musical!

2011-10-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

Today I’m going to write a happy blog post. No grumblingabout weak pleasantries, false smiles, or a watered down theology. No, insteadI will work on sharing some of the joys of this experience so people will notthink that the Jonathan Malone experience was one of a gray rain cloud theentire time.

Personally I would say that this has been a good experienceas well as challenging. I’ll address the challenging aspects in a differentpost because this is a happy, happy, joy, joy post (can anyone sing the song?).

As I expected would happen, the relationships have been themost wonderful. Despite my gripes about people being slow to share in thebeginning of the week, I have had the opportunity get to know some wonderfulpeople and in those relationships I have been blessed.

Here is my conclusion based on everyone I have met:

(queue the lights to a single spotlight on me sitting on achair with an acoustic guitar)

When I’m down,

When I’m feeling blue

When it seems that everything is falling apart and life isgetting me down (at this point a single tear falls down my face)

I needn’t fret

I needn’t frown

But just remember this one lesson I’ve learned

(pause for the curtains to open, I jump off my stool, throwthe guitar into the seats, grab a top hat and cane and a full jazz swing band startsplaying)

Go… to… Trinidad!

Go to Trinidad!

They love to laugh and smile and have a jolly time

Go to Trinidad!

Where they know that nothing should bring you down

Go to Trinidad!

It’s the place where your frown turns upside down

Because in Trinidad the Spirit is alive

And you’ll laugh and laugh and laugh until you cry.

Now, you need to imagine me repeating that song a secondtime with dancers, animals, and sparklers. There will be an abundance of jazzhands, fancy spins, and even a solo tap number.

Then one more time, with synchronized swimmers, aTrinidadian children’s choir, and leading to a big, final finish.

APPLAUSE – APPLAUSE –APPLAUSE; flowers fall on the stage,etc.

In case you didn’t pick up on it, I have meet some wonderfulfolks from Trinidad (and the surrounding area) with whom I have laughed andhave had some very good and profound theological conversations. In this alonehave I been blessed and it is not the only blessing of this trip.

I should also say that I met a Coptic Priest from Australiawho could laugh and laugh and laugh. He was a joy.

Today we are going on a field trip to the actual city ofManado. I need to find a brown bag for my lunch and look forward to seeing thispart of Indonesia.

Indonesia 6 - I Want a Piece of Pie!

2011-10-06T03:58:00.000-07:00

Today we had a number of speakers – again. I’ll offer a bitof a reflection on their contributions further down. I am still very tired andnot adjusted to the changes. I did manage to sleep during the afternoonpresentation. Don’t freak out and think that I stayed in my hotel room andskipped part of the conference – I was there in the big room with everyoneelse, I was listening for about ten minutes, and then I was asleep. Probablywriting a blog post at 3:45am does not help.

We took our group picture today. I hate group pictures. Wehad to get in a circle and smile. I hate smiling for group pictures. Here isthe mental picture for you: almost 300 Christians trying to make a perfectcircle, using protractors and a compass, smiling and laughing, and one grumpyBaptist shouting again and again, “just take the stikin’ picture!”

Well maybe is wasn’t exactly like that. I did crack a smileonce, for Jesus’ sake.

Here are my reflections on the speakers this morning:

What is it that is keeping churches and denominations divided?Some say it is theology. Others say it is structure. After being here for fourdays, I think I would say that it is pride and hubris.

One of the ongoing themes that I have heard again and againis that the Pentecostal church is growing in leaps and bounds. This is sharedin a way that suggests that they must be doing something right. Then we aretold that churches in the West are not growing and therefore they must be doingsomething wrong.

But what is a Pentecostal church?

One speaker, Dr. Opoku Onyinah, said that a Pentecostalchurch is one that, “emphasize the working of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.” Iam pretty sure that I do not serve in a Pentecostal church, but at the sametime I am pretty sure that I am part of a church that emphasizes the working ofthe gifts of the Holy Spirit (which are wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing,working of miracles, prophecy, the discernment of spirits, speaking in tongues,and interpretation of tongues.)

I am told that a Pentecostal or charismatic is one who is“baptized by the Spirit.” I’m pretty sure I am not a Pentecostal or charismatic,but I know that when I accepted Christ as my savior I was baptized by theSpirit. I have seen others who would not be described as Pentecostal orcharismatic baptized by the Spirit.

I am told that my church and I need to have a Pentecostalexperience and a charismatic experience even though by their standards I alreadyhave had one. If I argue this I am told that I am wrong and they are right.

This is where unity breaks down and is lost. When a positionand experience is shared as a superior to another’s position and experiencepeople are put on the defensive and unity is lost. When someone claims, with anair of superiority, that they are right and that others are wrong unity islost.

I think people should be steadfast in their tradition,experience, faith, and positions. I think that should express how theirtradition offers such depth in faith and should freely share the gifts andwonders of those traditions. Yet when placed in a way of absolute truth andsuperiority unity is lost. So we all should go to the local diner and order upa big ole’ slice of humble pie.

While we’re there we should also get some strawberry-rhubarbpie, some key-lime pie, some apple pie, some blueberry pie, some pumpkin pie…

Indonesia 5 - The Code Word Will Be...

2011-10-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

It’s 2:30 am, or 2:30 pm depending on what part of the worldyou are in. For all of my peeps back home in the States, it is in the pm. Forme, it is 2:30 am, although my body seems resolute in denying this reality.

Yesterday, after my wonderful lesson in how to be anarrogant d**k (from a Canadian of all people!), we heard a number of presentersspeaking about the many changes in global Christianity. Many of the changesdescribed were ones that I (and many others) were already aware of. Christianityis growing in leaps and bounds in the South and East. Pentecostals andEvangelicals are leading the charge in with great growth. This is nothing new,but still significant and important to name and claim. However, the theme forthe day seemed to be unity.

The first speaker was Dr. Dana Robert from BostonUniversity. She suggested that church unity could be found within the fourtraditional “marks” of the church:

One

Holy

Catholic

Apostolic

She made some very interesting arguments about the basicplatforms of each mark and how all Christians could find some common groundwith each. Within all this she argued that mission is integral and perhaps thekey and center to unity. Remember this for later.

The second speaker, Dr. Sang-Bok David Kim, spoke aboutchanges and trends in world Christianity. Again, it was nothing new. He didspeak about two things that caught my attention. First was all he almostbragged about all of the Muslims that were being converted and how great thatwas. Second, he did brag about the evangelical effort to reach out to “nominal”Christians. Nominal Christians are Christians in name only who really do nothave a personal relationship with Christ and aren’t fully with the spirit. Inother words, Americans and Europeans (although he didn’t say it thatspecifically – it was coded language). He also spoke about the importance ofmission.

I found his presentation to have a level of surety andbravado in suggesting that part of our “mission” is to convert people fromother religions (rather than just reaching out to those who are lost and not inany belief system), and that someone can name who and who is not a “nominal”Christian. I guess I would fall into that category of being a “nominal”Christian, and I can’t wait for someone to come and bring me to Christ.

The words being used in this conference are powerful.Yesterday someone asked me if my home church (an American Baptist congregation)is Evangelical (I assume he meant it with the upper case). I was caught off guardwith this question. He was asking a loaded question and I did not know theshibboleth to answer that question. I did not know how to answer in the way hewanted to hear. Evangelical is a loaded term.

People speak of the importance of mission but are not clearif it is strictly converting people or strictly offering services and workingfor peace, etc. We speak of holiness but in what sense. Someone even said thatall Christians might be moving towards a greater sense of Catholicity, but whatdoes that mean?

To a degree I think such terms need to be vague in order foreveryone to find a space. Yet if they can be used as a litmus test to discernif you are a true Christian or a nominal Christian, then these words need to beunpacked and maybe even deconstructed. This is not an easy thing for me towrite because I have been running from Derrida and his gang of FrenchDeconstructionists for a long time. They hurt. They hurt a lot. They hurt a lotand then leave you with nothing. That is deconstruction and in this instance Ithink my weak understanding of it (lacking of nuance) would be very helpful.

Perhaps today (when everyone else wakes up), I will work todeconstruct the terms with charity and gentleness. After all, how can I evenbegin to have a conversation with someone if I do not know what they mean?

Anyway, I have been more reluctant to share in groups and alittle more withdrawn. I will own some of that as my own issue, but also wonderagain how safe is the space and I am sure I am not the only one who questionsthe level of safety.

Now I will go into the hotel lobby at 2:45 in the morning soI can post this on my blog (there is no internet in the rooms). I’ll let youknow how many drunk/wasted folks are milling about in the lobby trying todecide what to do next because the bar just closed. Maybe I can label them as “nominal”Christians and try to bring them to a “real” relationship with Christ.

Postscript - no one in the lobby. I guess this is a very holy group. Here is a picture for you:

Indonesia 4 - Silenced!

2011-10-04T20:08:00.001-07:00

Today, this morning, I was told to stay silent during discussions. It was inthe midst of a Bible study with 15 of us and we were looking at Peter’sdecision to include the Gentiles via the movement of the Holy Spirit. I wastrying to listen and made a comment trying to expand on a point that someoneelse made. It was right after I mentioned it that someone else quicklydismissed my comment in a fairly rude way. He described my example as an “extremistAmerican situation.” I was more than a little pissed.

I did approach the gentleman after the Bible study toexpress my resentment at the way he dismissed my comments and he (a Canadian)said that in his experience Americans tend to dominate “these kind” ofdiscussions leaving out those from other countries. He wanted to make sure thatI, an American, did not dominate the conversation. I made it clear that I wasoffended by his method and that I would have appreciated him making thatstatement in a different way. We left sharing gentle pleasantries about theleaves in New England this time of year.

On the whole I vehemently disagree with his view. If thiswas a gathering organized by the World Council of Churches, or another Westernleaning organization I could see some of his point. Yet this is supposed to bea safe space where everyone can share and the assumption is that everyone’sexperience is valid and important. Yet I was told that an American’s experienceis not as valid (I also think he was saying that a young person’s experience isnot as valid because he played the “old, wise experience card”). Now, becauseof his actions, I do not feel safe or very welcomed. I understand that he isnot speaking for everyone in my group, but the experience is still very real.

I’m holding back from drafting a list of expletives but won’thold back from my newly embraced skepticism and cynicism.

What is the point and purpose of this gathering? So far itseems to be a space where we can say, “gee, isn’t it great that everyone fromso many different places can get together? Aren’t we just awesome?” and then togo no farther. There still seems to be a very real reluctance to discuss majordifferences. Even now I am listening to one of the speakers saying with greatpassion that we are one in Christ. That is nice, but do we need to have aconference to make such statements. Theological pleasantries should not be thatexpensive that one would have to travel halfway across the world to hear.

As to my continued active participation in discussiongroups, I’m not sure what I will do. I will go to the small and large groupgatherings, but right now I do not want to share at all. Again, I do not feelas if it is a safe space. Perhaps the Holy Spirit will lead me otherwise.

Indonesia 3 - Stop, Look, And Listen, Pay Close Attention, This Is Something That I Got To Mention...

2011-10-04T16:25:00.000-07:00

I slept for a solid six hours, woke up at a normal time inthe morning and said to myself, “boy, you got this time change thing licked!”Then, about 1:00 this afternoon I started to feel very, very sleepy. I had adifficult time staying awake and didn’t realize what was happening untilsomeone reminded me that back home it was 1:00am. So…. I guess I don’t have thetime change licked yet. Maybe I’ll have time to run out to the local CVS andget a 5 Hour Energy Drink. Oh wait, they don’t have 5 Hour Energy Drinks here.Oh wait, they don’t have CVS here.

The day started with worship in an Indonesian ReformedChurch. The same band that blasted music last night blasted music in themorning. A great way to wake up and experience the presence of God in thespirit of worship.

Once again we had traditional dancers who sang and danced toopen worship. It was nice until I looked at the words they were singing:

Our respect to the brothers and sisters

We convey respect at this time

God in heaven, look at us…

Look at us who ask Thy blessing… oh God

Today, is a great and happy day to all of us.

Let us always unite to follow the right way

How beautiful if we are living in harmony and peace

If there is a problem to be resolved

God in heaven look at us…

Which already there this time.

That was when the dancing and singing went from nice topowerful and moving. It is reassuring to see the way a local culture/traditioncan be brought into worship.

The rest of the day was listening. Listening to people talkabout the history of the GCF (Global Christian Forum). Listening to people talkabout their hopes for the GCF. Listening to people share their faith stories.That last bit of listening was done in small groups of 25, making it much more intimate andpersonal.

I have been thinking about my crybaby rant yesterday. I amstill finding a reticence in many to share, but it is not as strong. What Ithink is part of it is not just the reticence to share but a fear of sharing.There are people here who would never consider talking to another Christiangroup. A Syrian Baptist said that he might have to work with the local Catholicpriest in order to reach out to Muslims. Yet he admitted that it was a verydifficult and scary notion for him and he had not yet brought himself to thatplace.

There are walls between people, denominational walls thatare much higher and stronger than I realized. If this is the case, then theidea of actually sharing with others is a dangerous idea for others. It is aquestion of trust and vulnerability.

Tomorrow I will try to start to ask people about theparticularities of their faith tradition, i.e. what makes them different thanothers. I will also ask why they are a part of that tradition. These questionsare more driving, more personal, but I believe will get more to the point ofthis event.

The people I met:

A Syrian Baptist

An Indonesian Salvation Army Major

An Indonesian Roman Catholic Priest

A Syrian Orthodox priest from Malaysia

An Independent Christian from South Africa

An Assembly of God (Pentecostal) from Kenya

An Independent Christian from Kenya

A Swedish Pentecostal

A Palestinian Lutheran

A South Korean Methodist

A Burmese Christian

40 More Countries and I get to go to the bonus level!

Indonesia 2 - Dude, You're Harshing My Mellow

2011-10-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

I just returned from the Governor’s “home.” A motor cascadeled us and the whole time I stuck my head out of the bus window yelling,“woooooo, woooooo!” Now I have a big bruise on my face from a wayward palm tree.

Boy did I feel important – an Indonesia concert band wasplaying, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” as we entered, and then a dance troupeperformed for us followed by a choir, followed by a speaker, another choir,another speaker, another speaker, another choir, and another speaker, andfinally the governor. There were only three awake at that time and I was notone of them. Sorry the pictures aren't great, but you get the idea.

The governor spoke eloquently about the love of God andChrist and how that is reflected in this gathering. I am always uplifted tohear a politician speak earnestly and honestly about their faith. You usuallycan tell when they are doing in – the shibboleth is not only in the words butin the way those words are said. It was and is a moment of vulnerability andhonesty.

So on this trip I met:

An Anglican from Hong Kong

A Tazie Monk from France

Someone from New Zealand (I didn’t understand who he waswith)

An Anglican (who was first a Baptist and then a Pentecostal)from Australia

An African Episcopal Methodist Bishop from Florida

A Lutheran from Brazil

Here is something that I have been noticing – we are a bunchof introverts! Well, not me, but everyone else. It is like pulling teeth to getpeople to open up and talk to me and I’m sure it isn’t the way I look. Iremoved my plastic fangs and fake extra-long fingernail just to be sure. Itcould be the big palm branch welt on my face.

I have been asking questions, lots of questions. That is howyou get to know someone and find something to talk about, by asking lots ofquestions about that person. It usually makes that person feel pretty goodabout themselves as well to have all that attention. What I have been findingis that people have not been asking me lots of questions. I ask a question, geta one word answer, and that is it. It is like talking to a room of teenagers. Iunderstand that a lot of it may be the language, but that excuse can only go sofar. Some of it is that many of these people already know each other, haverelationships from past events, and I can understand the reticence. Why sharewhen you already have friends.

I don’t have any friends

---pause---AWWWW---pause---

so for the sake of survival I need to talk topeople. But pity-party aside, we are here to break down walls between churches,especially between Pentecostals, Evangelicals, and the more traditional(boring) churches. Everyone will need to work, and that work will be hard forsuch walls to be broken. Yet once again the sin of complacency becomes adownfall for God’s work.

Ok, that was a little harsh so I’ll soften it up a bit. Untilwe are all willing to take chances as individuals and as denominations we willcontinue to spiral in our navel-gazing despair ignoring the movement of theHoly Spirit. Was that softer?

Indonesia 1 - What! No Icebreakers!

2011-10-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

Here is part one for real. It counts this time because Ifinally made it to Indonesia, and I actually talked to other people from othercountries and other churches. Let’s see if I can remember everyone I talked to:

The Lutheran(s) from Sweden

The Presbyterian from India

The Salvation Army person from London

The Dominican Nun from Chicago (that’s a foreign country,right?)

The Para-church Evangelical from North Carolina

The Methodist from Connecticut who works in NYC and (no bigsurprise), knows the Reverend Dr. Donald Anderson.

I also talked to a man in a purple shirt, which I guessmeans he is a bishop, and two other men dressed all in black. I’m told they arealso bishops. All three are from the Middle East (one from Egypt) – I’ll makeit a point to get to know them a little better in the week.

Tonight, very soon, we all are going to the Governor ofSulawesi’s home for dinner. It will just be a cozy dinner of the Governor, hisfamily, and about 300 of us. I’ll say “hi” to him from all you Rhode Island fansof Sulawesi.

So far the conversation is fairly superficial, which is tobe expected when people are just meeting. Maybe I’ll just start doing what I doand pushing ideas, queries, and wonderings. If you see me running from a bunchof angry bishops, Salvation Army chaps, Lutherans, and others on the news tomorrownight, you’ll know why.

I only got to take a couple of pictures on the ride to theconvention center and the hotel. The area reminded me of La Romana in theDominican Republic – clearly not overwhelmed with riches. Poverty iseverywhere, and looks very similar everywhere you see it. The convention centerlooks nothing like the neighborhood.

I’ll try take more and more pictures, but I don’t wantpeople to freak out and think I am a stalker… at least not yet anyway.

Christians of the World, Start Talking About Uniting and Stuff!

2011-10-02T13:39:00.000-07:00

Next week I am going to be in Manado, Indonesia attendingthe Global Christian Forum. It goes without saying that I am very excited to begoing to Indonesia for the first time. For some reason I missed the sixth gradebus trip to Jakarta and have never been able to go to the country made upmostly of islands (over 17,500 of them).

Not only am I excited to be going to Indonesia I’m alsoexcited to participate in this conference. The purpose of this conference is tobring together Pentecostals, Evangelicals, and boring Christians like me and totalk about Christian unity. I have to be honest, for some time I thought theconversation about Christian unity had gotten pretty predictable, tepid, andbanal. In my estimation, such efforts consisted of talking about the wonderfuldiversity we have at the table, how we are all concerned for the least of theworld, and ho we can put aside our differences to help out the needy. Usuallywe end by sing some Phil Collins rip-off praise song, holding hands and lookingoff to the horizon with a glint in our eyes – isn’t it just great to be aChristian?

Well, apparently there is more to unity than this. Somepeople don’t like Phil Collins rip-off praise songs (gasp!) and prefer U2rip-off praise songs. Some people don’t want to focus so much on feeding theleast but instead of saving their souls (don’t get me started on the issue ofthe soul – I don’t want to get into the Hellenistic influence on Christianityleading to a dualistic view of reality, i.e. body vs. spirit thus showing thatTertullian was right – don’t get me started). Us boring Christians would liketo respond to the soul-savers and say, “sure, we think that is important, butnot on an empty stomach.” The reality is that we really do not do much towardsthat type of ministry which looks to gain conversions for Christ (and forbragging rights).

So these other Christians who like to jump and yell and getexcited for Jesus go and save souls and their churches are growing likemushrooms under my kids’ slide after a rainy day. I’m not saying that numbersare everything, but maybe they are onto something?

I guess there is something more that needs to be said and Iam excited to hear what that might be. I will do my best to avoid being boring(too late) and to contribute something to the conversation. I will also beexcited to be in Indonesia. I am especially excited to be headed to Indonesiabecause right now I am sitting in a train headed to New Jersey.

Keep an eye on this blog (keep the other on the podcast blog),and watch for updates. Maybe they will be interesting, maybe I will share apowerful revelation and epiphany that I have, or maybe I will spend the entiretime in the hotel room curled up in a ball trying to recover from food poisoning/malaria/typhoid, or anything else. Regardless, it should make somegreat writing.

Postscript - The picture is me in the Singapore Airport after 26 hours of flight from Newark, New Jersey to LA, to Tokyo, Japan to Singapore. During that time I have read articles from the Atlantic, Harpers, Newsweek, and Christian Century. I have finished one book and I have watched 8 movies. I still have 5 more hours of waiting until I fly for 3 more hours and finally reach my destination. I haven't had a full night's sleep, I don't even know the difference between day and night. Don't I look like I'm ready to represent American Baptists? (Roy Medley, if you are reading this right now, aren't you wishing you asked someone else?)

A Nice and Comfortable Theology

2011-09-06T06:39:00.000-07:00

I just read this interesting article from the World Council of Churches about harmful theology and helpful theology. It is a very good consideration of how destructive some theological ideas can be to those who are suffering. Read it, there will be a test! Just a thought - how does one turn or change theological assumptions of a community? It is like asking a community to change it's value systems, or basic conceptions of reality. I agree with the change in theological direction, yet wonder if it can be done. I think this is an important question because there are many churches and Christian communities here in the United States that practice their faith on what I would describe as harmful and destructive theological presuppositions. I know you want examples, but because this is an off the cuff post and initial reaction to an article, and I am feeling wussy right now I won't give in. Instead you can just think of the things you don't like and assume that is what I am talking about.

New Podcast Episode

2011-08-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

For your listening enjoyment, episode 7 of Charley and my podcast is up, we focus on the difference between Sacraments and Ordinances, answer listener mail, and continue with "watcha reading." Check it out at 12enough.libsyn.com or on itunes at 12enough.

Now Everybody Hug and Pretend You Like Each Other

2011-08-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

I have finally finished reading MacIntyre's After Virtue, and gosh darn it, I'm pretty proud of myself. I think I mentioned the book on the podcast and did not recommend it for the layperson, or even the unambitious undergraduate student. It is not an easy read. Actually, I am afraid that someone within those two categories will read it and find it very easy and I will feel stupid. So don't read it. It is too hard. It is beyond us all! Run in fear from the dreaded After Virtue.

For some information about MacIntyre's project, see my previous posts. There is to much going on for me to encapsulate in one snide blogpost, so I will pull out one aspect of the book that led me to think. As a community we need to be clear about our values, ideals, and identity.

Again, one of MacIntyre's major points of complaint is of individualism; the individual comes before the society. Thus there is not a sense of a common task or shared goals of a community, rather it is of individuals. "What is best for me?" comes before "What is best for the community?" This will lead to conflict within a community among individuals, or so claims MacIntyre. I tend to agree, because often what is best for me is that you not have that big piece of chocolate cake. Instead I should have it.

If only we had a sense of direction as a group of people, a community.

Might one suggest that the Church could have a sense of direction, a goal, a purpose? Maybe those writings in that Bible thingy and the ideas of that Jesus guy can give us a sense of direction and purpose. Maybe we can say, in light of our understanding of the Gospel as understood through Jesus Christ, what is best for our church community. Ah but it is not as easy as we would think for we in churches would have to actually talk to each other and come to some kind of agreement of our sense of identity and shared values in response to Christ. We would have to agree on things like baptism, mission, preaching, social witness, etc. Yes, we would have a sense of our identity as a community and might be better positioned to grapple with different issues. Yes, as a community we may have a sense of purpose, but what about my own personal, individual needs?

DC Trip part 5

2011-07-30T04:38:00.000-07:00

Last Day with the Kids -

On the last day there was water. Lots of clear, chlorinated water. And in the water was one pasty white pastor and a bunch of kids kicking and splashing and bobbing around in life jackets (along with a number of other adults). The kids love swimming! It was an indoor pool but that didn't seem to matter. No sand or beach, but that didn't seem to matter. The kids just loved to swim, and it was a lot of fun.

We also did crafts, storytelling, and music with the kids which went well.

We had our final meal, our closing session where we didn't get to officially say good-bye, and that was the end of our adventure in DC.

Today (Saturday) we are packing to get back on the train and go home. It has been a long week. I think it is to soon to try to sum up what the week was about or like. That and the fact that I am still a little groggy and foggy is keeping me from writing something brilliant and insightful about the week. For now, find comfort in the idea that it was a good week for our group and hopefully for the kids as well.

DC Trip part 4

2011-07-29T04:08:00.000-07:00

Day 4 with the kids

This day was another "ordinary" day kids, meaning we didn't have any field trips. Overall it was a good day. We went to a different park - a much older one with fountains, statues, and tall, old trees offering a good amount of shade. No swings, no playground, but still a better park. Just as I saw at the bowling alley, I saw how these kids act much older than they really are until they have an opportunity to be a kid and act their own age. When it came to feeding ducks, or watching water flow, or climbing statues, they are little children all over again. It is almost as if they are forced to repress their age appropriate urges in order to survive.

While at the park I played a game of football. For those who know me, this is a big deal.

The afternoon was rotations of music, arts, and storytelling. From what I heard those all went well. The younger children love crafts and music. The older kids are done with those things, so they were invited to help cook and they jumped right in. They loved working in the kitchen, and helping. One of the really young kids, one who caused trouble multiple times asked if he could was the dishes. Again, it was an opportunity to see them act as kids.

In storytelling I tried over and over to share the different path that Jesus walked. I am shocked at how many of the kids did not know about the story of Jesus or make the connection that he could have resisted his crucification but didn't. They need to hear the story of Christ, but not just the story of his death and resurrection and what that means to them. They need to hear the whole story of the different way Jesus lived, the way of peace, love, and acceptance, because then the cross will have that much more power.

I think that is probably one of the biggest challenges to being a Christian overall - you are called to live a different way than the way the world calls you to live. For those of us in more comfortable environments it is not as obvious, but for those people living in urban, poor, and violent situations, the counter-cultural nature of Christ is a very real path that leads to a very real life of persecution. Yet as I was telling the 10-12 year old kids on this day, the path of Christ leads to life. The other path leads to a very real death. Still, it is not an easy choice to make.

Finally, some of us went to look at some more monuments. The WWII monument is grand and powerful. Viet Nam is quietly powerful and tragic.

enjoy some more pictures:

DC Trip part 3

2011-07-27T20:34:00.000-07:00

DC Trip - Day Two with the children.
"That's it, no more mr. nice guy!"
That was the mantra for the beginning of the day. Monday was a lot of chaos and by golly we would not tolerate such an experience on Tuesday. I'm happy to say that we did not have to put up with the crazy chaos, the insanity, or the angry retorts at the same level we experienced on Monday.
The day started with a nice long trip to the park, taking as much time as possible, and then playing standard park games - throwing stones at other kids, soccer in a small grassy area, and taking turns on the swings. There were two swings for about 20 kids so everybody got to take a turn. Isn't sharing fun? Aside from one violent outburst that made people cry, the day went pretty well.
On the way back I got to have a long conversation with one boy on why it is actually good to forgive people and walk away. He was sure that the best thing to do would be to get revenge no matter what. I don't know if I convinced him.
In the afternoon we had our rotations - music, art, and storytelling. For the first time kids sat still and listened to me! Now if I could only find something good to say. Overall the kids were good for everyone and it was a good day. For dinner I enjoyed Ethiopian cuisine with some of the other youth (see picture). At our return we saw a broken door leading us to think that maybe someone broke into the church. Everyone was very nervous except for me. I was so tired that I pretty much slept through the whole thing - not very helpful.

enjoy some pictures

Day three with the children - bowling.
On the third day there was a Metro ride, bowling, and no kids lost or hurt! At the bowling alley we saw the kids acting in a way appropriate for their age for the first time. It was good to see. The field trip made for an easier day over all and that was nice.

Later in the evening, at dinner we made silly faces trying to imitate one person in the group - I wont say who, but it wasn't me. His initials are J.D.C.

Overall it has been a very good two days. We have been trying to let the kids know that God loves them and that we love them. I don't think that is a message they often hear. I have been trying to teach Bible stories and am surprised at how much they do not know. There is a lot of work that needs to be done and I am very realistic and aware that we are only just starching the surface.

DC Trip part 2

2011-07-26T05:17:00.000-07:00

Day 2 - started with worship. The music was grand. The preaching was great. A good time was had by all. NBMC is an ethnically mixed congregation with a predominately African-American style of worship. Hence the great music.

Following worship we were oriented. Apparently orientation here is when they tell you about all of the trouble kids, what they do that will push your buttons, and why you need to be a big meanie. Oh, and make sure they don't push each other on the train tracks when taking the subway.

With such lovely thoughts dancing on our minds we went to see some of the Smithsonians. Natural History! Air and Space! THe National Gallery of Art (not actually a Smithsonian, but close enough)! Hooray for free stuff.

The evening ended with Pastor Darin singing some throwback David Lee Roth song about Paradise with the cashier at a 5 Guys and a Burger place.

Day 3 - The adventure really begins.
Today we met the kids. I think they were very smart because they arrived in small spurts; one, two, or three at a time. We had the wonderful opportunity to connect with them via card games, but nothing for money.

Breakfast, circle time, and then…chaos! Normally the kids go to the park in the morning but it was hot. Very, very hot. So we thought it might be better to bring them all into a big room and let them yell and scream and run and use our parachute. So far no fatalities so things were good.

After taking some kids to a different room to play soccer things settled down a bit and we were good until lunch.

Lunch - boxed government food. Need I say more?

Then frustration and an attempt in futility. Some of us were supposed to sing with the kids. Some were doing crafts. I was supposed to lead storytelling. But what happened was a lot of, "are you listening? Sit down. Stop calling her 'ugly.' Sit down. Are you listening?" and so on and so forth. Needless to say it was a little discouraging. But overall all, aside from the throwing of balls at us, the posturing and fighting between 5 year olds, and the random pouring of juice on the floor it was a pretty good day.

We got a wake up call telling us that this is not going to be anything like we thought. We were prepared for difficult, but need to amp up our game.

In the end, we still talked about Jesus. Told the kids that God loves them, and tried to get across the idea that there are other ways to live your life. Today we are going to try even harder to talk about Jesus, God's love, and the way of peace that we are called to walk. Everything else is secondary.

DC Trip part 1

2011-07-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

Made it to Washington DC for our youth group mission trip. We are staying at the National Memorial Baptist Church

and will be working with a day camp all week. Right now it is pretty late, so I am not going to write much. I'm waiting for the church motion dictator to go off so I can turn it off. Apparently this is important, and if I miss this dogs will come out full steam, ready to attack and scare me into loving Jesus with all of my -----. So here I sit.

What have I learned so far. Well, seeing as how I just got here I guess I could say that I learned that the train is awesome, that subways are ok, and that it is hot. So hot that… (you fill out the rest).

Oh, and the escalators don't work and we had to climb up the Mt. Everest of escalators. Kinda hurt.

Also the kitchen smells, but that's not so bad. And finally, people are leaving Egypt on UFOs, or at that is what the guy on the corner was shouting.

Less Worship, More Voting!

2011-07-04T08:22:00.000-07:00

Reflections on a Biennial

So I realized that the last post wasn’t very funny, and if I’m not funny then no one will want to read this and I’ll lose all of my readers and then I’ll lose my sponsorship, and then my children will have to go work in the factory for a penny a day so that we can continue to eat food (as opposed to eating non-food). I will do my upmost to make my reflections on the ABC Biennial humorous, or at least slightly amusing.

Here is one big take-away: worship services are long. I know my church folks complain about my sermons from time to time and I don’t heed their complaints to much, yet when you have one or two services every day the length starts to get very noticeable. Granted, the sermons, the music, the readings, and many other things were very good, but very long.

Another take-away: Puerto Rico is very hot and very cold. Outside it was muggy and warm. Inside the air conditioning was blasting. Maybe next time we should make sure our Biennial does not happen concurrently with the Penguin Convention.

One more take-away: don’t over-sell your point. Some of you may remember my post from the Biennial two years ago when the by-laws for the denomination did not pass. This year one person, a regional executive minister who is very unassuming, spoke fairly freely about the by-laws, the listening they did in the two years, and the changes that were made. There were statements made for and against and then the vote passed with 44 against around 500 for making 92% in favor of the motion. This is very different from two years ago.

What happened was they (the leadership of the denomination) did not force the sell and listened to representatives from churches. I suppose there is some kind of lesson that can be learned, but I refuse to listen to anyone who my think they know what that lesson might be.

Can Baptists do Theology?

2011-07-01T12:54:00.000-07:00

Reflections on a Theology Conference

On July 23 and 24 I attended a Baptist conference on Theology in Puerto Rico. It was specifically for American Baptists.

It was refreshing to be able to talk openly and freely about being American Baptist from a theological perspective. I didn’t have to explain the difference between American Baptists and other kinds of Baptists, I didn’t have to explain terms like “soul freedom,” or “church autonomy,” and I didn’t have to talk in a fluffy, pastoral way about the importance of identity, credentials, or history.

Here is one basic take-away: we need to claim who we are, our identity.

All of the plenary speakers, Townes, Leonard, and Ramirez all spoke to the ideas of sharing stories, claiming history, and claiming a memory that looks to liberate narrative and symbols. So often our idea of what it means to be American Baptist is based on our memory from the past 50 years when we have more than 400 years to pull from.

Here is where I look smart – MacIntyre’s book, After Virtue, talks about the narrative of the community informing the identity and the virtues of the individual. The community has a story about moving towards the good (doing the right thing) and in those stories we find a continuity of virtues guiding actions. The individual has a history in the community and is shaped by his or her personal history as well as the narrative and history of the community.

We are Christians. We are Baptists. We are American Baptists. We have a story, an identity, and it is right to let them shape who we are and how we live.

Fluffy God-Language

2011-06-29T13:40:00.001-07:00

It has been six full days that I have now been here in Puerto Rico. One would think that I have been having a great time, but I have been in meetings, bathing in the florescent lights and breathing the conditioned, forced air.

Even now I am sitting in a meeting. This is fun, fun, fun.

In the General Board meetings I am hearing again and again how the denomination has many issues, challenges, and difficulties before it. Churches are shrinking, giving has decreased, passion for the Gospel has diminished, and the denomination is spiraling in what seems to be a destructive cycle.

The conversation has been interesting because we look at the bottom line, the finances, and the structural/institutional challenges before us and things look dim. Yet on the other hand we are a religious organization/creature and we bring theological language into the mix again and again. Here are some of the things have I heard:

“There is a future for what God has promised us…”
“God tells us, do not be afraid…”
“The Holy Spirit is working with us…”
“The grace of Jesus is all we need….”
“God is still walking with us…”

These phrases suggest a sense of hope on the unrealistic. If one where to bring a business model with such phrases as justification for the risks taken as well as assurance that things would go well we would be laughed at. Yet we are a people of faith and we need to have one foot in the grace and faith of God through Christ.

It is not easy to hold onto passion and faith in these meetings. The lighting and the artificial air makes it difficult to hold to a sense of faith and God’s presence. That is the moment when the institution arises and the faith and passion dies.

This is what will kill us so it is important to hold onto our faith and to be unrealistic as best we can. Maybe one of those pie-in-the-sky statements about God holds some truth…

Loving the Living with Baptists in Puerto Rico

2011-06-25T02:50:00.000-07:00

I have now been at the ABC/USA Biennial for two full days and here are my vitals:
I still have a pulse
I still love Jesus
I still love being a pastor
I still love being a Baptist
Vials are good. Things are going well.

I started by participating with the gathering of Baptist theologians and scholars. I heard a number of very good papers, and had the opportunity to share my own paper. I suppose at some point I am going to have to say something about all that, but not just yet. Overall, that was a very good experience.

The Biennial started in earnest on Friday afternoon with a sermon and presentation about missional church (a catchy term for something that has been happening for a long time), followed by a dinner hosted by the Unity Committee on which I sit, and then evening worship. All were good enough.

The highlight of the evening was the Morehouse College Glee Club. I have to be honest, there are not many times during worship experiences at these that I feel moved or connected, but this time I was. They were powerful, they were sincere in their singing, and they were f*ckin awesome! It was good to have a moment when I could let go of having a “convention” mentality and simply worship.

Today starts another day of Baptist hoopla. I am sure it is going to be just fine. But then again, I woke up with a headache and we are voting on the proposed ABCUSA bylaws. That does not bode well.

New Blog Link

2011-06-14T12:27:00.000-07:00

Steve Harmon posted a very nice link about my dissertation on his blog, so in return for the favor I am putting the link to his site on the "blogs I like..." list.