Well, there goes the second debate. Not much new. McCain wants to buy everyone a new house and keep government spending frozen. Obama says nothing much new. Translation: the lines stay where they are and Obama wins. Pretty boring debate, except that Brokaw has got to be the worst moderator in history.

It's been a long time since I've written a post on my old blog here. I thought this would be a good time to stop in and do a little brain drain. I have been watching too much election news and the second debate is about to start. I need to start using this blog to decompress.

Let's see...what else can I think about?

Just waking up and remembering that I've got a blog. Hello out there. Anyone reading this. Testing, one, two three.

Hamo at Backyardmissionary had a great post about his frustratiions about becoming a disciple. Funny how there can be a lot of wisdom in "frustration." Here's part of it:

What makes anyone think that a bunch of people who are fairly content with their lives and who are moving 'up in the world' might want to make that a secondary priority to 'taking up their cross daily' and following Jesus?

Why would your average middle class suburbanite sacrifice the pleasures and self gratification of life as they know it to live a counter cultural life of discipleship? How do we communicate that kind of a call to people?

My ego is interested in seeing a 'bigger church', but I'm really quite unimpressed with just more people if we have no more disciples, no more people choosing to live life like Jesus would. I know this whole thing is a process etc etc. Blah blah blah... but some days I look at how hard it is to make disciples out of those who are in the church and I wonder how the hell are we going to make any kind of a dent on those outside...

Some days I look in the mirror and I am reminded that if I've been at this for 30 years and I am still struggling along then what can I expect from people who have no concept of who Christ is?

So my quesiton is, have I sacrificed ANY of the pleasures of this life in order to be His disciple? Not sure. I could probably find things that I have done and efforts I have made. But they have all been around the edges; they have not gone to the core of my life. The sacrifices I have made have been no real threat to my standing and security in the world.

"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." Jn. 1:14.

Look at the "dwelt among us." Do we really understand that? Do we really get it, in our hearts? God came "down" and "dwelt among us." The word "dwelt' there means "to tent, or encamp." I've used the analogy before that it's like God moved into our town. I live within a few blocks of the Hanson's home (that's a big deal if you're a 14 year old girl, who likes their music). I talked to a girl once who thought that was pretty impressive. But do we think it's impressive that God came to dwell amoung us? That he came to live right here with us? That it didn't just happen 2000 years ago in Palestine, but that he lives right here with us today?

bs

   I've been using a new blogging interface called w.bloggar (download). Works straight into my Blogger website, but I don't have to be signed onto Blogger to use it. I don't even have to be signed on the internet. I can write and edit posts off-line, then just sign on whenever I want to post them. It's got a pretty neat little group of editing whatzit's. I love little editing whatzit's.

bs

Totally boring day at work. Plenty of things to do...just brain fried from doing too many of them. Smoke coming out of ears and I'm hearing "TILT" gongs in my head. Time to go home.

bs

Christian Exodus :: Come Out of Her, My People

That's a new one on me...Christian Constitutionalist? I'm surprised they didn't move to Oklahoma to do this.

"ChristianExodus.org is moving thousands of Christian constitutionalists to specific cities and counties in South Carolina through a series of emigrations. Our board of directors considers the values of this state to be very similar to the values held by our membership. Additionally, South Carolina possesses a rich history of standing up for her rights.

The cities and counties will be selected based upon, but not limited to, the following criteria:

1. Voter turnout in primary elections.
2. Voter turnout in general elections.
3. Moral nature of the electorate.
4. Cost of living/housing.
5. Economic and employment opportunity.
6. Christian educational choices (including home school networks)."

I wonder how much Kingdom impact there would be if these same folks moved to New York or L.A. and devoted themselves to living out the Sermon on the Mount? I wonder what would happen if I started doing that???

-BS

Now, that's what I'm talkin' about...

The overshadowing event of the last two centuries of Christian life has been the struggle between Orthodoxy and Modernism. In this struggle the primary issue has, as a matter of fact, not been discipleship to Christ and a transformation of soul that expresses itself in pervasive, routine obedience to his "all that I have commanded you." Instead, both sides of the controversy have focussed almost entirely upon what is to be explicitly asserted or rejected as essential Christian doctrine. In the process of battles over views of Christ the Savior, Christ the Teacher was lost on all sides.

Discipleship as an essential issue disappeared from the Churches, and, with it, there also disappeared realistic plans and programs for the transformation of the inmost self into Christlikeness. One could now be a Christian forever without actually changing in heart and life. Right profession, positive or negative, was all that was required. This has now produced generations of professing Christians which, as a whole, do not differ in character, but only in ritual, from their non-professing neighbors; and, in addition, a massive population has now arisen in America which believes in God, even self-identifies as "spiritual," but will have nothing to do with Churches--often as a matter of pride.

What is new in the current revival of interest in spiritual formation is the widespread recognition that by-passing authentic, pervasive, and thorough transformation of the inner life of the human being is not desirable, not necessary, and may be not permissible. We are seeing that the human soul hungers for transformation, for wholeness and holiness, is sick and dying without it, and that it will seek it where it may--even if it destroys itself in the process. We are seeing that the Church betrays itself and its world if it fails to make clear and accessible the path of thoroughgoing inner transformation through Christ.

Dallas Willard, in an article at Alleon.

I think Dallas (I can call him Dallas; I've met him...) is saying that doctrine is like a tool chest. We love our doctrine. And a tool chest full of good doctrine is necessary in order for us to do the work of the Kingdom. But, we spend all our time polishing up our doctrinal tools, thinking that if we get our doctrine right, then that will transform us into Christlikeness. Nope. At some point we've got to get the tools out and let the Lord start banging and sawing and doing the work of transformation. Orthodoxy is the tool box; but Discipleship is "job one."

-BS

Wow...look at THIS! After Viet Nam invaded Cambodia, Cambodian refugees hid in the jungle for 25 years, scared that the Vietnamese were going to get them. Uh...the war's over, dude.

What a happy coincidence...

I saw a disturbing cartoon/bumper sticker yesterday.

"What a happy coincidence. God hates the same people I do."

Ouch. Do I do that? That's something I'm working on right now. Trying to get out of my own head and develop the "mind of Christ" on things. Forget my perspective; what's His perspective? Forget what I've always heard about "Christian values." What does the Word say that Christian values are? Forget my picture post card idea of Jesus; what did he really say, and how did he really live?

Certainly the Carpenter of Nazareth did not come to earth to die in an effort to reinforce my preconceived notions. He came, in great part, to challenge the world's structure and thought pattern. Much of that world thought pattern is still embedded in me. He came to transform me. The kingdom of this world is "upside down" compared to His Kingdom (see the Beatitudes) and I can not just comfortably assume that my thoughts are in line with His. He's got to keep reminding me to re-evaluate, constantly.

Please go read "Citizens of the Empire - Thoughts on Patriotism, Dissent and Hope" by Robert Jensen (a .pdf file, so you can read it online).

Jensen challenges my comfortable thought patterns about nationhood, patriotism and citizenship. As a Christian, it leaves me with some disturbing questions to answer. As a Christian, am I a citizen of the United States, or am I a citizen of the world? In answering that, what does it mean to be a citizen of the Kingdom of God? As a citizen of the United States, I know I have the "right" to dissent and speak out when I disagree with the government. In fact, Jensen would say I do not just have a "right," but an obligation. As a citizen of the Kingdom of God, though, how much deeper is my obligation? Forget my duty as an American; what is my duty to my King?

America is slipping further and further into empire. We like to think of ourselves as a benevolant empire, but are we being blind to our own arrogance and violence? Because of our power, it is easy for us to impose our will on other people. Because we can easily impose our will, there is a natural temptation to use our power to selfish ends. We like to tell ourselves that we use our power for noble causes; yet are we just kidding ourselves?

Iraq, for example. If Iraq did not control so much of the world's oil supply, would we even know where it is, much less be concerned with "bringing democracy" and stopping Saddam from killing his own people? If our international motives are truely to relieve suffering, bring democracy and stop genocide, then why haven't we intervened in East Timor, Sudan or any of the other shameful examples of genocide around the planet? How many tyrants has our country supported (including Saddam), and how much genocide and injustice have we knowingly ignored, because of our "national [usually economic] interest"? Quite often America acts with good motives, to help the oppressed and bring justice; but quite often America acts with evil or selfish motives, to line its own pocket and to sacrifice the security, freedom and economics of other people in order to make sure that the people of America are wealthy and have cheap gas.

I fear that someday future generations will look back on this time and wonder where all the Christians were. This is a "What would Jesus do?" question. Will future Christians look back on us some day and wonder why we kept silent, or allowed ourselves to be blinded to injustice because we were so focused on being "patriotic" or winning an election? Not that we necessarily fit into the "Nazi" mold, but millions of German Christians bought into the Third Reich, and a few (e.g., Bonhoffer) fought against it. As Christian citizens of the new "Empire America," how will history judge us? Will we be remembered as Christians who spoke from a true Kingdom perspective, as voices of the true King; or will we go down as one more generation of Christians who towed the party line, and waved flags and watched while our government created, or approved of, unspeakable attorcities around the globe?

And the personal question to me now is, what am I going to do? How should I then live?

Have we found a new church?

Since the demise of Water's Edge, we have been trying to figure out where we fit within "the body of Christ." Do we even "go to church" anymore, or just do home church? Do we go denominational, megachurch, small town church, etc.?

This Sunday we visited, for about the fifth time, one of our local congregations. It consists of about 50% college age and 20 somethings, but still has a fair amount of grey hairs attending. The music is progressive (edgy...way on past "choruses") and the preaching is great. I still feel a real pull to be involved with young people. Sue and I both enjoy the worship time. I think we may have found a good candidate. If I want to be involved in ministry to young people, this would be a place to be.

Concerns:

I'm still not convinced that we need to struggle to find a "building" to worship in. Sometimes "going to church" can numb you from "being the church." Is God just asking us to be satisfied with our home church and not worry about finding a building with a bunch of people?

Although I enjoy the young crowd, and the preaching, and the music, do I really sense a heart for "outreach" in the new church? It's a fairly new church plant. They have poured their energy into reaching out to youth and college age...is it fair to expect them to have already developed a ministry to the poor, for example? Actually, I do not feel that this church is too inward focused. If I give them some time, or become involved myself, I will probably discover a heart for outreach that I just don't see yet.

How will we get to know people? There is no "sunday school" structure; everything is in small groups. That's tremendous; except we already have a small group meeting in our home. Will we miss out at the new church because we are not in one of their home groups?

Oh well...don't know. I do know that He's in charge of this. But we still need to listen closely so that we get His plan and not ours.

The Return of the Prodigal Blogger.

Not sure I should even do this, but here I am blogging again. I question whether this activity is worth the effort. If no one is reading this, is this merely a glorified diary? If it is a diary, then why keep it public? If people do read it, even occasionally, is it wise to be revealing anything of any substance? And, if we're not dealing with substance here, then what's the point? Is it all just ego?

I notice that Blogger seems to give you many new editing and formatting possibilities. I've been looking around at some of the other blogging programs. But, I'm not really sure what real benefits they would give me over Blogger. Shows how long it's been since I've looked at Blogger.

OK. So here I am, back "on the air." Guess I'll try to add this to my morning routine. (Gee Brad, try not to act so excited about it.)

Found a little quote from Dallas Willard that pinpoints the troublesome concepts of "grace" and "works."

The path of spiritual growth in the riches of Christ is not a passive one. Grace is not opposed to effort. It is opposed to earning. Effort is action. Earning is attitude. You have never seen people more active than those who have been set on fire by the grace of God. Paul, who perhaps understood grace better than any other mere human being, looked back at what had happened to him and said: "By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me." (I Cor. 15:10)

Live Life to the Full
Appears in Christian Herald (U.K.) 14 April 2001.

Check out the whole article here.

We just returned from viewing the Passion movie by Mel Gibson. Too much, and not enough, has been said about the movie already. However, there is a good note in Sojourner's Magazine, written by Robert M. Franklin, that discusses the link between Jesus' suffering and social oppression and how the understanding of one can lead to an understanding of the other. See SojoNet: Faith, Politics, and Culture. Also, the movie makes it forever impossible to trivialize or forget the reality of the torture that our Lord endured before He made it all make sense on Easter. Here's my favorite quote:

I'm intrigued by another possibility of response. Based on the excerpts that I have seen, I think the movie will offend many mainstream white religious audiences and resonate deeply with most blacks. The icons, art, and passion plays in most white churches present Jesus as the subject of a radical makeover. The rugged, sun-baked Palestinian Jew of the Bible gets morphed into a manicured, middle-class model citizen. Almost like one of the neighbors. The theology that underwrites this sanitized Jesus avoids the brutal manifestations of oppression and violence he experienced. Even when crucifixion scenes appear in Anglo-American religious art, you may see a little blood and a wound or two, but almost never the dirty and broken body that endured torture for several hours. This film's lingering gaze upon the grotesque will be difficult for viewers accustomed to such art.

Today started out mixed up. Overslept until 6:30 so I didn't have time to work out too much. Had a decent, albeit boring, day at work. Got a fair amount done on a case that bugs the heck out of me. Was ready to come home and collapse when Sue called and said Kathy and David had invited us over for steak. Man, did that hit the spot. David's a master-griller. The steaks were perfect. After dinner we sat around playing dominos and then Farkle until we were too tired to go on. Wild and crazy people, we are.

Tomorrow will be a fairly warm day and I want to spend it working in and around the house taking care of alot of the debris and "deferred maintenance" that I let build up over the winter. Hope I actually get something done.

Get to go to Water's Edge fellowship (eat and games) Sunday evening. Can't wait til the next preview service for their worship time. Not sure where we're going to church Sunday AM. But, we'll get some good Emmaus worship Saturday night!

I thought I'd hate church shopping. I'm loving it. I feel like I'm on a vacation, or on some sort of retreat.

Since leaving our old church I have experienced a strange combination of spiritual excitement and exhaustion. Excitement to see what God is going to do with us, and for us. Exhaustion because we come to the end of years of pressure and frustration and see ourselves, and friends, dealing with the grief of leaving the old structure (or making the decision to stay and deal with it). I pray that God will lead each of us to the church home or fellowship where He wants us to be.

One thing I've done is concentrate too much on church "process." I have centered on what the church ought to be, and examined church models too long. All this reading and talk of home, house, cell, emerging, postmodern, or whatever church has been instructive, but it has also made me focus too much on earthly structure rather on my Father. I'm starting to realize that now, and am beginning to find more joy in simply reading His Word, being with Him and worshiping Him. Man, I need this.

Went to Water's Edge fellowship time tonight. I was a little uncomforatble part of the time just meeting new people. But I got over that and came away with a real good feeling for the people. I think I'm going to like this. Now, God, help me do some ministry along with it. Or, maybe I just need to cool it for awhile and accept a little ministry myself.

One of my favorite authors is Brennan Manning (The Ragamuffin Gospel). However, I have heard others say that he is a "universalist" who believes that we are all saved and that we all simply need to realize it. In other words, we are not required to make that tough choice to lay down our lives and "accept" His lordship as a precondition to our salvation. The universalist would say that everyone is saved; we just all don't realize it yet.

I thought the criticism was over blown, but I decided to re-read his book in order to see for myself. So I've gotten through the first couple chapters and I can't get a real handle on Manning. There is a lot about grace, but I've been looking for the need for the sinner's repentence. Then, we get to pg. 73, and Brennan is talking about our misconceptions about grace, and he says that too easily become legalists and fret about "the heresy of universalism." Ok...maybe we do. But, Brennan, what is the real gospel? He goes on to explain:

"The saved sinner is prostrate in adoration, lost in wonder and praise. He knows repentance is not what we do in order to earn forgiveness; it is what we do because we have been forgiven. It serves as an expression of gratitude rather than an effort to earn forgiveness. Thus the sequence of forgiveness and then repentance, rather than repentance and then forgiveness, is crucial for understanding the gospel of grace."

Now, I don't have any problem with a church running on the basis of "belonging then believing." Quite often it is a person's relationships with other Christians that loves them into the Kingdom. What I'm not too sure of is what Brennan means by saying "forgiveness and then repentance."

Is Brennan describing the route to salvation here? I agree that we don't have to "pretty ourselves up" for God before we are good enough to merit his salvation. But is universal forgiveness just laying around out there, waiting for us to discover it so that, afterwards, our gratitude encourages us to repent of our sins? If that is the case, then the whole human race has already been forgiven, we just don't all realize it yet; and that is universalism.

Or, in this passage, is Brennan simply talking about the process that occurs after salvation (He does start out by saying "The saved sinner...")? The saved sinner realizes that, at any given moment, he is just as forgiven as he ever will be, and, in gratitude for that amazing grace, turns from his sin, the best he can, in order to live a life pleasing to his adoptive Father. The beggar is grateful for the banquet laid before him. All beggars are invited, but not all decide to attend. The banquet is still only available for those who accept the invitation. And, that's not universalism.

Well, now that I've talked it through a little bit, it seems to me that Brennan is saying the latter (the gratitude of the saved sinner), rather than the former (the gratitude of the already forgiven human who happens to realize that we all have been forgiven by a gracious God).

I really enjoyed the Ragamuffin Gospel when I first read it. I probably enjoyed Ruthless Trust even more. But, I'm still cautious and am looking for more statements in Brennen's works that shows me he's not a universalist. These two books fiercely attack Christian legalism (as it often should be attacked). All of us, no matter how "mature" we are in the faith, are still just ragamuffins, adopted into the Father's household only because of Christ's merit. None of us deserve to be here, or have any higher place in the household than another. But I still need to ask: even though all may be invited to the feast, isn't it a prerequisite that each of us first accept the invitation before we can count ourselves as otherwise unworthy ?

Went to Redeemer Covenant this morning. We went to their contemporary service. It was very professional. I guess that was part of the problem, because we felt we were more part of a performance than a worship service.

A church wants to grow, so it discovers among its members (or imports) more and more talented performers to lead worship. As the church grows, the members expect more professional worship leaders. Soon the worship service becomes "performance."

I wonder if Water's Edge can stake its popularity on its small groups, rather than on increasingly professional music.

Meanwhile, Michael went to Asbury and reports good things. He seems to enjoy the youth group and enjoyed the "living room" worship service.

Tonight we head for a fellowship dinner with Water's Edge folks. Sounds like fun.