how not to be loving

While the title of this entry might result in a resounding "well duh" as you read it, sometimes stating the obvious can be educational. Since I am still wrestling with a particularly mountainous topic, my ears have been open as always for interesting things to point out to my friendly readers. So without further ado...

First Church of the Ambivalent -- Steve Chastain, StupidChurchPeople.com

There are some things in there that I completely agree with, but overall I think it serves mainly as a great reminder to Christians that we can sometimes be the worst hypocrites out there. Firstly, I don't necessarily condone the consumeristic mentality of church shopping (i.e. looking for a church that perfectly meets your needs for a certain look/feel/theology/etc, thereby making church all about you), but I do believe in finding a community that you fit into well (i.e. you are served well, and your gifts meet the needs of that community as well). However, regardless of that situation, our response when people choose to leave can be soul revealing -- and sometimes it is ugly. As for the leaving the church for a time, I agree whole heartedly, so long as there is a reason and a purpose. What is it that people say, when you start to get depressed/bored in the daily grind, it might be time to break up the routine for a while? Besides, sometimes the most beneficial soul searching is done when we can isolate ourselves for a time.

jason clark - rethinking

Good stuff on Jason Clark's blog... check it out
Rethinking the Gospel Message

Enjoy!

tired, not dead

Been a while since I've posted anything of interest, but I wanted to post something. For the moment, I can say that I am anxiously awaiting my replacement copy of Brian McLaren's The Secret Message of Jesus. I say replacement copy because the one I ordered apparently decided to leave out chapters 14-16 in favor of a reprinting of chapters 3-7. But no harm, no foul; a fresh copy should be zipping its way through the mail to my door, passing the one-off copy I mailed back along the way. As a preview to a review I will be doing, let me just say everything I've read so far has been excellent. I may be somewhat of a McLaren fanboy at times, but to be quite frank I've yet to read a book of his that hasn't caused me to stop, think, and re-evaluate my spiritual life and faith in general -- and I mean that in a positive way.

On other fronts, I am exploring brand new territory in my life. I am actively brainstorming material on being a missional church for public co-presentation with a friend in September. And when I say missional think along the lines of emerging, relational, communal, post-postmodern, and active. Strangely enough, I've also been compiling some material on my own on some other topics that I am mulling over -- whether they will become blog content or something else entirely, I don't know yet. All I do know, is that no matter how tired I get from doing my normal, everyday stuff (you know, that career of mine that I enjoy), I always seem to have the energy to churn through these new ideas in my head. Now taking that and putting it down on paper (or digital document as the case may be), that takes a little more effort and a little planning...

the kite runner

As I've said in the past, when it comes to reviewing books, I'm not the most eloquent. I tend to ramble on or give too much away. However, I think I've come up with a good formula now that I've finished another book.

The Kite Runner -- by Khaled Hosseini

Visceral. Eye-opening. Intriguing. Gripping. Heart-wrenching.
Although each of the previous is descriptive, raw would have to be far and away the single-most fitting adjective I could tag this novel with. There is so much raw emotion bared throughout the story that explaining it any other way is tough. Set initially in Kabul, Afghanistan prior to the Russian invasion, the story introduces you to the culture that existed through the eyes and life of a young boy, Amir. Amir is the son of a wealthy businessman, and his best friend Hassan is their servant's son - a Hazara, a Shi'a Muslim of primarily Mongolian descent, both attributes which marked them as despised minorities. You follow Amir's life, as he encounters bullies, tension with his father, exodus from his home after the Russians have invaded, immigration to California, and eventually returning to visit his home (under Taliban rule) for one last time. This lifelong journey exposes the many internal struggles he deals with, the torturous secret he carries with him, and the self-redemptive awakening he reflects on. I also say the book is raw because Hosseini held nothing back in describing some of the most gruesome events in Amir's life, but he also expresses the sheer joy and lightness that comes from those moments of bliss. The book is real; real as in the ending is not quite happy, but it is not quite sad or tragic either, the book conveys life as we experience it. There is tragedy, victory, emotional scarring, danger, joy, and anything else you could think of; in the end Amir and his family must learn to live with the consequences of it all, both positive and negative. Though, in my estimation, things were beginning to look up for them all... and I closed the book with a hopeful grin.

I recommend checking it out, it's a great book. As for me, on to the next book... Cheers!

cope on homosexuality

Mike Cope (PreacherMike - Homosexuality) has an excellently written, well thought out and researched post on homosexuality and how we as Christians are in many cases not living out the kingdom when it comes to gays and lesbians. I highly recommend reading it if you haven't already. My wife and I, along with many of our friends, have sought to be loving and accepting of this highly ostracized community -- but as Christians, remembering that our acceptance of their orientation is not an endorsement of sexual behavior that does not honor marriage (Hebrews 13).

Cheers!

what about judas

It was covered in The New York Times, and was talked about on the Today show -- The Gospel of Judas. A manuscript that has been long sought after, since historically it is mentioned by name and its contents have been hinted at or surmised by scholars, a copy was finally tracked down, analyzed, and translated. Read the article that I linked to above to find out the wandering route this document took in recent history before finally landing in the hands of researchers (NYTimes requires you to register to read it now that its past the initial publishing).

I considered posting about this when I first read the article, but hesitated since I wanted to really grapple with the various perspectives that exist. Obviously, the article and the Today feature focused on the more 'warm-fuzzy' aspects that are revealed -- Judas was told by Jesus in private that he would betray him, Judas recognized that Jesus was God incarnate, and that Judas was told he would exceed the other apostles by sacrificing Jesus. I say those are the warm-fuzzies because some of the rest of the gospel's writings get very strange. There is a translation available for download through the NYTimes article, which I grabbed and read through. There is a portion where the 11 other disciples relate a dream they have, which Jesus interprets as their resistance to his true message and their possible hand in leading people astray. That is followed up by Judas relating his own dream of being stoned by the other 12 (the 11 plus his replacement), and then approaching the realm of God. Jesus interprets this as his persecution by the apostles and future generations, but that eventually he will rightly have his place with God as the 13th and greatest apostle. And if that isn't difficult enough for you to struggle with, the manuscript then takes a turn for the truly difficult. What I can only come up with at the moment is that the manuscript records an account of Jesus showing Judas how Creation takes place from a divine perspective, since it has a lot of angels, aeons, generations, Adam, Eve, and continues with the account right on through to the end of days.

Obviously, that kind of information can seem awfully far-fetched, especially when we've had nearly two millennia of church history that makes no mention of any of this -- partly due to early church leaders considering it and other accounts as heresy, you can read a bit about that here. However, what the manuscript does present is further weight to the idea that Jesus had told Judas about the betrayal before the supper with the rest of the apostles -- see John 13:18-30. It would also explain why Judas was so wrought with grief and guilt that he committed suicide (which is oddly only recorded in Matthew and Acts). While a lot of what the Gospel of Judas presents is something that I will probably grapple with for a long while, I think when you boil it down there is a core truth that should pop out to everyone. Jesus knew that Judas would betray him, and knew that because of this he would be hated by many. However, as he taught and as God shows us, Jesus loved Judas before, during, and after the betrayal -- God loves Judas, and it is not our place to denigrate him for his part in bringing about what Christ knew must occur.

missional pastoring

Being that I track a plethora of faith-based blogs every morning as part of my "coffee & news" routine, I often find some very interesting articles. While some I am sure many others find just as easily, there are a few that I just have to post as noteworthy because they just click with the way I think.

That said, if you don't already following the Emergent-US blog, you should pop over there from time to time. Tony Jones dropped this excellent article about a pastor friend of his...

Pastor, will you help us? -- Bill Yaccino

Enjoy!