Here's a comment from my 'Science & Faith' post for those of you who might not read the comments. I think this is a good follow-up post on that topic.

We should definitely keep a higher view of Scripture than any other written, spoken, or blogged words of man.

But I'm not sure that Scripture is to be interpreted as evidence for a literal 6-day creation...or as evidence against evolution in any form.

I'm not sure that one has to claim the earth to be 6,000 years old or less to be orthodox.

Maybe it would be accurate to say that too many times, Christians speak with a sort of scientific sense of accuracy while disparaging a scientific method vs. faith approach to truth.

It is not mine to judge anyone a prude...so again I apologize for my careless words earlier.

From Rant to Recant

My last post on here came across a little harsh...especially as I reread a snippet of it on my brother's blog

I'm not recanting my statement or concept...just my attitude!

As I pick up reading a daily Proverb again, I'm reminded of how much wisdom is in God's Word. 27:12 says,

"The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it."

I guess calling someone "simple" in Solomon's day was the politically correct version of "fool?" But that proverb applies in a way to my subject line. Interesting, in fact, that a similar root word is used here as was used by myself in a derogatory manner previously. Prudent...marked by wisdom or judiciousness (merriam-webster.com).
Prude...a person who is excessively or priggishly attentive to propriety or decorum(also www.merriam-webster.com)

Actually, prude comes from an old French term and prudent is from a Latin word...so thankfully they have very different etymologies.

Anyway, I think the Proverbs have much to say to us. For sometimes we see the danger (whether physical, financial, marital, verbal, etc) but we keep going and suffer for it.

I love v. 17 (same chapter)... "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." We are meant to connect closely in relationships with those around us. Accountability, encouragement, counsel, and support are just some of the benefits of being close enough to sharpen and be sharpened by a friend.

And we could all stand to be reminded of v.14 "If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse!"

Faith & Science

I spent several years in high school and college planning for a career in science. My favorite classes in high school were chemistry, physics, and calculus. As I immersed myself in the academic environment of the university...I continued to enjoy the chemistry and calculus...though the physics was starting to kick my butt.

Then I sensed that God had other plans for my vocation. I surrendered my plans for chemical engineering and eventually teaching...for what I understood to be a "calling" to serve God full-time in a pastoral capacity. I wouldn't say that my decision at that point was a mistake or that I regret it per se...but I'm not sure it was a necessary change of plans. Honestly, I've always missed the sciences and the math as well as the environment of the lab and scientific experimentation.

Perhaps it makes me hypersensitive to the debate between science and faith. According to this article in Newsweek, my alma mater's sister campus is having quite a debate over the teaching of evolution as fact.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20657204/site/newsweek/

There are many other articles referring to the Olivet controversy if you google it a bit too.

But something that really raises my blood pressure in this article is the kind of flack the college is getting from local churches in the denomination...threatening to withhold financial support etc...give me a break!

It's just like the church's arrogant narrow-minded reductionism of any single issue or cause to an irreducible claim on God's position. As with homosexuality, abortion, being a Republican, the War in Iraq, Evolution vs. Creationism, etc...who gets off deciding what God's view is and then dictating it to others. Religious elitists and prudes beware or be damned! There are certainly some guides and commands in Scripture which make certain things clear. But on many other things there is SO much room for interpretation that you've got to be mentally deficient to claim a definitive stance (e.g. evolution).

My Friend, the Pastor

Life (and the One who designed it) has an interesting way of bringing people in and out of play. One of the great blessings I have right now is a new friendship with our lead pastor, Kevin. Having served in several different churches with many different co-pastors, staff, and "bosses"...I have come to realize that being in ministry alongside of someone you actually consider a great friend is not something to take for granted.

This guy was right there beside me during one of the most technologically life-altering days of my life...the day I switched from PC to Mac! In fact, this picture was the first one ever taken with my macbook pro...it was quite a bonding moment.

Seriously though, I am blessed to be hanging out with this guy and also blessed to hear God speak to our community through him.

This past Sunday at our gathering, Kevin layed it on thick...in a good way. He was talking about Community and the foundation of it in the early church (Acts 2). Some powerful statements which stood out to me were:

Community was formed around the Gospel (transformation in Christ).

Keeping Christ at the center enables a community to love intensely.

Community is not about meeting "my" needs.


It was a great reminder of how transformative and formative the good news of Jesus really is. Although it's painful to get slapped in the spiritual face, it's good to keep the focus on Christ and the Kingdom...not on ourselves.

Belonging and Connecting

So I'm reading Joseph Myer's prequel to "Organic Community" which I blogged about several weeks ago. And he is raising some difficult issues for me.

Part of the problem is that I find myself once again within the "system" of church which bases success (to some degree) on numbers and attendance. I really don't like this system! But as we attempt to design a more organic, relational, and dynamic environment for connecting people with God and with each other...it's tough to get away from that sense of less is less.

Another angle I'm dealing with because of my role as "pastor of community life" is how to perceive people who avoid or reject the idea of being committed to a small band of people for the purpose of spiritual maturity, Scriptural study, and interpersonal compassion/care. And Myers is kind of hammering this point home in different ways...that it's not appropriate or even healthy to submit everyone to a small group experience.

The kinds of things he is saying about belonging make a lot of sense too. Like the fact that there are people who consider Lifespring their church home (belonging) although we may only see them once a month. Then there's my Starbucks experience which demonstrates the connection and belonging customers feel at a particular store even though we may only know two things about them (their drink and maybe their name).

And if ultimately, connecting people with the Kingdom or helping someone know they BELONG to their God and Creator is our main priority how does that change the way we evaluate a person's spiritual and social connectivity? Having been raised and conditioned by the "system" for so many years, I'm not sure if I'll ever stop lamenting the lack of commitment/attendance or if I'll stop inappropriately praising the person who shows up 3 or 4 times a week for something! We really need to improve our Kingdom vision and perception.

Faces From the Past

(Pretend you're Leonardo DaVinci to read the mug shot)

I recently visited my myspace.com page for the first time in about 3 years. I think it was the first online blog-type client that I used. But because of all the junk you encounter there...w/ spamming and inappropriate content and "friend-vitations" I decided to steer clear of it. Well, as I checked back in on it, I found that some old high school classmates had left a message or two for me over a year ago.

In reconnecting with some of those high school friends, it has reminded me of the significance of relationships. I often look back on my high school years as just a period of time I tolerated. I really didn't develop many serious friendships in the process of those 5+ years (it didn't take me that long to get through high school...our 8th grade class got moved to the high school). As I reflect, it occurs to me that I didn't make the best use of all that time with people. I often used the church or my miserable attempt at Christ-following as an excuse to guard against many close relational encounters.

Part of it was being a bit of an "outsider" in the community as well. WE moved to this little town in Butler County Kentucky two months into my 7th grade year, which was a terrible time to be transplanted. But even when I graduated from the high school 5 years later, I lacked any close friendships which would be sustained over the years.

I suppose instead of brewing over some of those regrets and missed opportunities, I'll just celebrate the notion that I may have the next 50 years to do a little better and treat people as more important than my own personal agenda of events, accomplishments, and advancement.