Discussions

Sorry fellow blog followers. I have been working on quite a few posts but have not posted any. I will be posting a bunch of stuff sometime next week. stay tuned…..

Does God only exist in certain places at certain times?  Do holier people have more access to God than say your common everyday Joe?

I grew up during a time in which the secular was pinned up AGAINST the spiritual. God was not at the bars, he was at the church. God didn’t approve secular music, he approved Christian music. God was not at the kegger, he was at the Bible study. This was a conviction which was heavily impressed upon me. I was encourage to buy Christian books, Christian clothes, Christian music cd’s and pay lots of money to go to Christian concerts.  Many leaders didn’t drink beer for fear of being called a hypocrite and ruing their “witness”. Instead of drinking responsibly, they fled the thought of thinking altogether. Instead of enjoying the world which God created/creates, we were prompted to focus on heaven and spreading the message so that others could one day go to heaven. The message was that this world is tainted and that God will one day do away with it and give us a blissful spiritual existence. So which one is it?  Does God love the world and interact in it or is the world a godless place where we suffer until we die?

Parts of that message were true but other parts were horribly misguided. There isn’t enough room on this blog to go into the inner workings of this escape/evacuation/exclusive message but I believe it to be false. I’m interested in a message which is a bit more integrated then that.  Aren’t you?  A theology which marries heaven and earth the way that the Bible does. Revelation 21:2 saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

God uses ordinary people and places to accomplish the extraordinary. God appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush. Burning bushes were very common and most people would walk right past them but some say that Moses stared at the bush for a few moments and that was when God appeared. Moses, somehow understood that God could be found in the ordinary.  This is conjecture but there are many other examples of God being among the ordinary or even the insignificant. In fact most of the Bible was written by people who were in horrible circumstances such as prison, and/or exile from their homeland.  Jesus was known for eating with sinners. Not just regular sinners but “notorious” sinners.  People didn’t expect God to be among the sinners but apparently Jesus didn’t get the memo? I recently had an experience that illustrates for me the power of Gods presence in any situation.

My favorite football team, the New Orleans Saints, went to and won their first ever Super Bowl a couple months ago. I couldn’t miss this once in a lifetime experiences to see the Saints win it all and so I went to New Orleans to be apart of the madness? Yes, I made the trip. I couldn’t miss my place in Saints history. I wasn’t able to enjoy experiences like this until about 4 years ago when I first started to realize that God doesn’t look down on me for enjoying myself at sporting events. So now, I make it a point to not only go to the places where I was prompted not to go but to look for the spiritual, to see how God is at work and present.

After the Saints won the Super Bowl they had a parade. The city of New Orleans is approximately 340,000 in population but guess how many people were estimated to have shown up to the parade? A whopping 800,000!!!! It was quite the experience. One of the security guards let me into a restricted area which was designated only for city workers but the guard knew that I was by myself and wouldn’t take up too much space so he let me through.

After crossing the gate I proceeded to wait for the Saints players and coaches to pass through on the floats.  I happened to strike up a conversation with another Saints fan who was standing around and instantly I had a light bulb come on.   In the middle of our conversation, it occurred to me that God was there at the parade.  This man, Reginald, began to talk to me about his life and the role that the Saints had played in it.  It was an instant reminder of how God uses insignificant things like football to deeply impact peoples lives and that was what I needed to hear at that moment in time.  I live in a world full of hustle and bustle.  I live in a world where moving up in the ranks is what proves your worth.  I live in a world where the significant are recognized and the insignificant are forgotten.  If I come across a situation that merges the “significant” with the “insignificant” then I make sure to take special note of it because it is not far from Gods heart.  (1 Corinthians 1:18-30).  I video taped Reginald giving his testimony and I posted it on youtube.  For those of you who read this blog and have trouble with profanity, please be warned.  There is one cuss word.  If you do not feel comfortable with cuss words then do not watch this video.

In case you don’t know, Sean Payton is the head coach of the New Orleans Saints. You gotta love Reginald and you gotta love Sean Payton. A class act and fine example of great leadership. Most of all I appreciate how Reginald recognized that God allowed him to see Sean Payton with the weed eater. God used Reginald to encourage me and others about hard work. The funny thing was that we weren’t in a church building or a Bible study and God still blessed me in the “secular”. I thank Reginald and I thank God for allowing me to be at the parade and witness what I did.

I don’t have many in depth thoughts on virtue but I do have a few and I am only a novice in philosophical ethics. Therefore, please note that my thoughts are scattered, often times disconnected and rarely fluid. However, they are my thoughts and I will share them.

How does one become righteous? What is good and who is truly good? There are many ways of approaching these questions. Many different presuppositions for unraveling the possible answers. I would like to offer a few. I would also like to set the table for a discussion about the righteousness of Christ and our part in that.

I was always taught that God no longer sees my sins and instead he sees the blood of Jesus. The heart and soul of my ministry is and hopefully will be an outflow of how our theology is connected with our actions. When studying theology, I am constantly asking “how will this shape the decisions I make?” It is important, therefore, at this juncture to take a step back and ask how this view of my sin affects my outlook on life. One area which I believe needs re-evaluating is the over simplistic idea that I am now considered righteous because of the faithfulness of Messiah.

Virtue is something that is gained overtime. I attain virtue by following a course of action which will lead me toward an end goal. I can become virtuous either by learning from someone who is more virtuous than me or I can practice disciplines. Virtue is gained over time.

Now, can someone please explain to me whether or not I am virtuous when I accept the faithfulness of Messiah? See what I mean? Yes I’m forgiven but am I virtuous?

Resurrection, what is resurrection? Are you interested in resurrection? Well, you must be interested in resurrection because you are here and because it is the most important event in Christianity right? Paul said that if the resurrection didn’t happen then it is pointless to be a Christian. In fact, Paul said that it is not only pointless but foolish. 1 Corinthians 15:17. Now, if Paul elevated the resurrection to the point where without it our faith becomes USELESS then we ought to take the resurrection pretty seriously as well right? Don’t you love that word, resurrection? Let me say it a few more times, resurrection, resurrection, resurrection.

The body of Jesus was nowhere to be found after he had been resurrected (Lk. 24:3). The reason his body was nowhere to be found is because it had been recreated into the resurrected body which was later seen and touched (John 20:17). Paul gives details about the resurrected body in 1st Corinthians 15:50-55. In this passage Paul affirms that the resurrected body of the righteous will no endure any death or decay. Death will be destroyed and the body will never die.

The other day, I went to in and out with some friends and ate and the plan was to go to Walmart afterwards but for some reason the driver wasn’t heading in that direction. So my friend in the back said “Walmart is the other way.” Well the driver wasn’t paying much attention because she was fiddling with the radio and so my friend in backseat said it again “Walmart is the other way.” And the driver kept driving until a couple minutes later when she said “Wait a second Walmart is behind us” Both my friend in the back and I were thinking “duuuhhhh we tried to tell you that two times.” Often times I feel like that is what has happened to Resurrection in Christian theology. The Bible is constantly screaming Resurrection ****Ding ding ding*** resurrection and yet people keep talking about heaven, salvation, baptism, the importance of sharing your faith, and the wrath of God while resurrection sits in the back seat and says ****What about me? Hello, resurrection?

For many people, the idea that Jesus was raised from the dead (resurrected) serves as a proof positive that, to quote Dennis Green “he was who he said he was“. That’s it. Hardly ever do I hear Christians talking about the resurrection of the dead, rather it is always about going to heaven. IE: We will make it to heaven one day if we trust in Jesus. For many the resurrection is only significant in that it shows God as the winner and that we can count on him to get us into heaven. But is that all there is to the story? Doesn’t that sort of thinking lead to the kind of people who are so “heavenly minded, that they’re no EARTHLY good?” Why clean the brass on a sinking ship? Why recycle when this earth will be destroyed? Why stay in shape when really it’s all about going to heaven and getting an immaterial body while sitting on the clouds and playing harps? Why care about the environment or relationships when heaven is around the corner? It is easy to be obsessed with the after-life when the NOW-life isn’t flowing the way we’d like. It is even easier to manipulate our theology into hope for a better tomorrow by forgetting about today. Doesn’t the Resurrection provide any hope for TODAY? Doesn’t the Resurrection make any kind of difference in who I am or what I do now? It seems to me that there is a major disconnect between the Resurrection of Jesus and our hope in Christianity. That is, how many people would say that there hope is to be resurrected? Don’t most Christians say they’re hope is to “go to heaven?” Many people are obsessed with going to heaven yet going to heaven is not the most important goal in Scriptures. N.T. Wright says “Heaven is important but it isn’t the end of the world.”

Hasn’t the gospel become a guilt exchange for a ticket to heaven? It is such a simple transaction right? I call it the “Generally Accepted Assurance Paradigm” (GAAP), Jesus paid the penalty for our sins thereby insuring a free-ride into heaven? I know that there is obviously more to the story but some would argue that the basic message is what I have written in the previous sentence. Jesus + guilt reduction = Heaven

So what happens to the Resurrection in that equation? Is it even mentioned? What role does Resurrection play in the day to day life of a Christian?

For example, the hope of most Christians today is that they will some day make it into heaven. You hear it all the time right? “I’m saved, I know where I’m going.” Some claim that one cannot know whether or not they are saved but even their hope is to be saved. Isn’t it interesting that being saved is often times associated with going to heaven but not necessarily with being resurrected? Why is this? It is because Resurrection has taken a back seat in our current church climate. While the Resurrection certainly affirms that Jesus was who he said he was, it also plays a much bigger role in the grand narrative of scriptures and the course upon which our world is heading. How can we extrapolate this further?

The problem is that our resurrection theology is NOT connected to our day to day life in a natural way. It is sort of like going on a vacation to tell people that you went on a vacation. It doesn’t serve its own purpose. So what that you took a vacation? Did you enjoy yourself or rest? So what that Jesus was resurrected if heaven is the goal? What does Resurrection have to do with heaven?

Culture.

I have been involved with certain cultures that were repressive at best. For example, certain groups of people are very judgmental, insecure, and resistant to change. These cultures are driven by certain principles about the way the world works. There are all sorts of reasons for this climate and I’m simply stating the fact that they do exist. They exist and often times we find ourselves inside of them or dare I say endorsing them. Then someone comes along who is different than that culture and brings a new attitude. He or she, connects with those that others would not and lets those who aren’t necessarily in their field associate with him. They are, therefore, creating a new culture which is a lot more progressive because it allows for those who in the past were ignored to be heard. Those who were not listened to have something to contribute and they are by being heard opening the door to new possibilities. Granted some of those ideas may be bad but usually it has been the underneath person who sees what the high and mighty cannot see.

The resurrection is the ultimate hope for repressed cultures. The resurrection reminds us that something good can still come from the darkest of situations. The resurrection reminds us that our failing bodies will one day be renewed and that this isn’t the end of the situation. The resurrection reminds us that we should take care of our bodies and that we should take care of this earth because will keep it forever and ever. The resurrection is a sign of new life bursting forth in the midst of the dead. The resurrection is the life we all hope for.

Romans 8: 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Romans 8:23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

Philippians 3:10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Philippians 3: 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there,(from there??????????, shouldn’t he have written, “to go there”) the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

John 5:28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.

The popular thing to say in our culture today is “I’m not religious, I”m spiritual. I was even taught, “It’s not about religion, it’s about relationship.” Well which one is it? What is wrong with religion?

What is religion?

My definition of religion is a rote set of practices which are based in specific signs, symbols, and events.

Week after week, and day after day, we all attend religious events. We may not call them religious but they certainly all.

Some people say they are not religious and yet they get together at the sports bar every week to watch football or basketball games. These gatherings are organized around certain consistent rules and traditions. For example, Tailgating before a football game could be considered a religious event.

Others say they aren’t religious but they go to the mall with the same group of friends and shop at the same stores every week. Still, other, high class individuals are not religious and yet they go and eat sushi on a regular basis. They have quaint little movements they take part in as they are eating sushi. They eat green peas a certain way and they create a certain type of sauce to dip their dead fish in. These people claim they are not religious and yet they partake in a set of rote practices week after week and day after day.

I believe that everyone is religious. Everyone has rote practices that they partake in. The problem isn’t that we are religious. The problem is that the rote practices we partake in are often times meaningless and disconnected from any valuable signs, symbols or events. The beautiful thing about being a Christian is that you are able to be weekly and daily reminded of a God who loves through rote practices. The problem is that many of us attend church week after week and day after day but hardly ever do we understand the meaning behind the rote practices. Hardly ever do the pastors or priests even understand the religion they are participating in it. In fact, even if they do understand, they rarely really take the time to explain it to their congregation.

It isn’t wrong to be religious. It’s wrong to be involved in empty religion. Another subtly which empty religious people try to push is that religion is for God. That somehow God needs us to be religious and to be involved in religion. Again, I don’t think religion is wrong. I think empty religion is wrong. See what God says to Israel about some of their religious practices. Notice that he doesn’t say their practices are bad.

Psalm 50: 7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you:
I am God, your God.

8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices
or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.

9 I have no need of a bull from your stall
or of goats from your pens,

10 for every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.

11 I know every bird in the mountains,
and the creatures of the field are mine.

12 If I were hungry I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?

14 Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
fulfill your vows to the Most High,

15 and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

I pray that all of our attendance at church this week will be infused with deep theological meaning and passion. I pray that church officials will triumphantly proclaim the the meanings behind the actions. I pray that we can mysteriously enjoy a great big God through small rote religious practices. Something to hang out hats on.

A couple passages that have riddled me for a while now are found in Luke 15:31 and 1 Corinthians 13:5b. In the discipline of hermeneutics, or as some call it, Bible study, there are many different barriers. Barriers to getting at the heart of what the text is actually saying. Some of those barriers can be dealt with very scientifically through understanding the background of the text, the grammatical construction, and various other methods for digging out the main point. However, there are some passages I come across that are beyond my bible study abilities. They take something of a moral study, they demand something of a moral fiber which will then connect the reader with the text. A thief understands another thief but hardly ever can an arrogant man understand the humble. So there are times during my Bible study where I’m forced to throw up my arms in defeat, sheepishly admitting that I am missing the moral fiber which is needed to experience a certain text. An example of this lack of moral fiber can be found in the two verses stated above. Both of these versus seem to be pretty straight forward and yet I am convinced that the depth of meaning is beyond where I’m at.

Luke 15: 31″ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.

Hmm. Everything I have is yours? How does that work? What does that mean? Should we cease to work because we are guaranteed to already possess all that is worth possessing? Or do we try to have everything while possessing nothing? Do we move in the tension without depending on it? “Everything I have is yours”. Whoa. What if that is true? Do I give up my pursuits of justice, peace and mercy? How does he share all things and yet desire us to take things to the next level? My lack of clarity is an indicator.

1 Corinthians 13:5b “love is not self-seeking”. Who is not self-seeking? How do you seek without being self-seeking? Should no one seek at all? Can a person look without looking? What kind of release is necessary to be free from the things we want? How can we want and not be self-seeking? Moral fiber. Does my desire for a certain moral fiber disqualify me from attaining it?

Randomness on a precise day. Thoughts? Reactions?

So I’ve got this friend, he’s a great friend and he’s usually full of really good advice. We aren’t very much alike in some respects but in other respects we are very much alike. Therefore, our friendship is very beneficial as we sharpen each other in areas that we wouldn’t normally be sharpened. Well, his latest suggestion was that I look into running. Apparently running has really dispensed a lot of grace into his life. Who would have thought that hard work would dispense so much grace?

With that in mind, I have decided to give my best shot at running. Starting today I will run 1 mile and then try to run at least 1.5 miles by the end of the week. The air quality is really bad in Turlock, in fact, I only breath through my right nostril. I have this condition which many people have called “a deviated septum.” It sounds like a really bad calculus problem. This condition might hinder my running abilities but I’m whipping ahead anyway. We’ll see what kind of grace running dispenses into my life. Maybe it will give me a chance to think about things I wouldn’t normally think about? Maybe it will give me a time to drown in my IPOD. Lately I have been feeling tired quite a bit and yawning too much. Hopefully this will help to overcome that. I will post an update after I’ve made progress. If I end quitting then I will post a blog confessing my weakness.

I just finished reading a Severe Mercy and it is easily one of the best book I’ve EVER read. It is a rather difficult read, if you are not good at reading books which have a lot detailed imagery. However, if you can get past that, then you’ll enjoy a wonderful gift.

The book is about the love story between Sheldon Vanauken and his wife Jean ‘Davy’ Vanauken but truly it is about more then their love. It is about the motivating factor behind their love. I am no expert in love stories but this was one I could believe in. This love pointed to much more.

The couple fell in love while atheists and created all kinds of excellent elaborate schemes for securing their love. In fact there is a chapter called “The Shining Barrier (the Pagan Love) which highlights these rules. It is quite magnificent to read the attempt which is made at securing their love. CS Lewis was instrumental in their conversion and the book contains actual copies of letters he had written to Sheldon during his conversion.

I had to pause many times and meditate upon what I had just read. CS Lewis is extraordinarily succinct. If he had a blog, it wd. contain few words and v. deep thoughts. I don’t want to say much more about the book because I might botch it.

Here are a few quotes which I highlighted.

“One who has never been in love might mistake either infatuation or a mixture of affection and sexual attraction for being in love. But when the ‘real thing’ happens, there is no doubt. A man in the jungle at night, as someone said, may suppose a hyena’s growl to be a lion’s; but when he hears the lion’s grown, he knows damn’ well it’s a lion. So with the genuine inloveness. So with Davy and me. A sudden glory.” Pg. 29

“Our love of course seemed to us a miracle. First love always does the old, old story sung by poets and sneered at by wrinkled of heart. And yet it is a miracle, an unbelievable miracle, just as every springtime of the earth is a miracle.” Pg. 30

“What we did see was that jealousy is fear: it can corrode even if quite baseless.” Pg. 32

“Over-valued possessions, we decided, were a burden, possessing their owners.” Pg. 33

“But death is no respecter of love.” Pg. 44

“The best argument for Christianity is Christians: their joy, their certainty, their completeness. But the strongest argument against Christianity is also Christians – when they are somber and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug in complacent consecration, when they are narrow and repressive, then Christianity dies a thousand deaths.” Pg. 85

“Some people run away from grief, go on world cruises or move to another town. But they do not escape, I think. The memories, unbidden, spring into their minds, scattered perhaps over the years. There is, maybe, something to be said for facing them all deliberately and straightaway. ” Pg. 195

“All our most lovely moments are perhaps timeless.” Pg. 201

“Disobedience is not the way to get nearer to the obedient.” Pg. 210

That is all for now. Check it out if you need another book to read.

This is a great website for more information. http://www.willvaus.com/sheldon_vanauken

Have you ever thought that Starbucks should be renamed Fivebucks? Do you ever want to scream like a mad man when they have the air conditioning blasting in the winter so that more people will have to buy warm drinks? Do you find it funny that they care so much about those who are poor and yet there drinks are so expensive. Are they an evil empire which is sucking everyones blood? Could they be compared to Pharaoh or Rome? Why was Rage Against the Machine such a great band? Is there anything truly special about Starbucks coffee? Is it time to return to the mom and pop shops? I think so.

This is from the Starbucks website.
“So ever since we opened our first store in 1971, we dedicated ourselves to earning the trust and respect of our customers, partners and neighbors. How? By being responsible, acting ethically and doing things that are good for the planet and each other.”

I’m so thankful that they care about the planet as much as they do. Why not raise the prices just a bit more? Why not add a a few recycle bins to the store since they obviously care about the environment so much. Why not turn down the AC in the middle of the winter? Gimme a break. Starbucks in Dallas, at West Village was cool but it is time for a change. House of Java, Christina’s, here I come.

I’m sorry Starbucks, we use to be friends but I don’t know if I can continue in this sort of relationship. Unless of course you are hiring? We’ve been friends for a while but do you even care about me or is it all about the green? COME ON MAN.