Radical Love of Christ

I'm preparing to teach a message on the radical Calvary-like love of Christ this coming Sunday at our church, Lifespring.

Recently, I've been influenced quite a bit by the writings and words of Greg Boyd up at Woodland Hills Church in Minneapolis-St. Paul. One of the things which has really endeared me to his teaching is his thorough understanding and use of Scripture. He is a biblical scholar and passionate communicator of Kingdom truth.

Anyway, he shared this image on his blog as he was discussing the ways in which our affiliation with our worldly kingdom (America) taints our understanding and impedes our ability to manifest the radical kind of love which Christ modeled and taught. Apparently, this image stirred up a great deal of protest...from Christians of course...probably because we want to demonize our enemies and justify our hatred of certain people or people groups.

These attitudes, actions, and aggression-justifying rhetoric are all undermining the Kingdom of God way of love. Forgive me, Father, if I think I'm any more deserving of your love than is Osama or any other perceived 'enemy.'

Great Quote

Occasionally, I just have to share something from one of the blogs I'm tracking. This one is from a fellow Christ Follower in Newark, OH. He is a courageous pastor-leader with a few of my buddies on staff as well. I'm always encouraged by what I see happening at Newark Naz!

You can see his entire post here...but this was the sentence that just begged to be repeated, underlined, quoted, or something:

I have no stomach for weak, unengaged, lukewarm, half-hearted, apathetic, and willfully ignorant Christ-following.

And this is just a cool picture someone sent to me. Looks kind of like the Jerry Bruckheimer Films/TV image.

A Mostly Merry Christmas

Over the past couple of days I've spent 5 or 6 hours with a family who are experiencing perhaps the worst Christmas imaginable. A father and husband who is just a few days older than me was struck by a car this past Friday at a construction site and has not regained consciousness since. He has a 12-year old daughter and a 9-year old son. He had also battled leukemia for the past 2 years and was actually in remission for about 6 months when this accident happened. It's one of those situations that really causes you to ask God the heavy questions. Like "What the hell is wrong with this picture!?"

For some reason...the situation is just really weighing heavily on me. As we celebrated Christmas this afternoon with a house full of family...I could not get the tragedy...or the image of the battered and unconscious father...out of my head.

Please pray that God floods this family with grace and miraculously restores the dad/husband/son/neighbor/friend.

Watery Winter Wonderland

It was a beautiful mild winter day here in Cincinnati. I think the temp topped out at about 60 or 61 degrees for the second official day of winter. Due to all the rain and miscellaneous precipitation over the past week or so, the water level was up on the Little Miami and each time I drove over the main bridge in Milford, I eyed the little white-caps longingly.

So I set out this afternoon for the put-in just behind the American Legion and carefully launched out, trying to keep dry inside my little kayak pit. Even the launch point was a couple of feet deeper than usual, so from the very start...I was putting a good deal of effort into remaining dry. By the time I came to the first real set of 'rapids' I saw that my hopes of staying dry would certainly not be realized. Typically, this spot in the river would require stepping out of the kayak and dragging it over the shallow ripples to the bottom of the fun. This time, the current sucked me right into the angriest section. As I tried to keep the kayak perpendicular to the waves and cut through them...I saw an unusually high spike in the water and caught a glimpse of rock in the fading light of the day. I was able to avoid getting juiced on that rock but immediately buried the nose into the next 3 waves and water came crashing onto my lap. Brrrr!

Once I had gotten wet, the initial fear of moisture gave way to raw wave-running enthusiasm. I sidled the kayak along the shore and back upstream to give it another go. This time I took every whitecap I could find and drenched my feet and legs. But the torso was still dry for the most part so I continued down to the next section. This section is just passed the bridge (rt 28/50) and is usually guarded by a "sweeper" log which hangs out over the left side where the white water is churning. But the sweeper is gone so I bounce through that section with ease. As I pass by the old bridge footers though...I notice how nice the section to the right is...so I decided to attempt paddling upstream. At first it seemed as though I was making some headway, but then I looked across the bank at a tree which betrayed my lack of forward progress. That's when I decided to step out of the kayak and drag it through the current to the next swirling pool I could launch out from. That was the final moment of dryness...for as I shoved off and tried to hop in the kayak...too much forward momentum caused the kayak to turn completely on its side. In order to keep from swamping it and risk dampening my camera, wallet, and phone...I just dove in and shoved the kayak back to shore. It was a deep enough spot that I went completely under. The chill took my breath and I sloshed backwards and onto some rocks. I got back in the kayak and checked my gear...yep, the camera still works! At that point, I knew the fun was over and that I would need to get back upstream to closest put-in ramp. So I emptied the water from the boat and started dragging it along the edge of the bank upstream to the Jim Terrell landing. From there I walked about a mile back to my car and then retrieved the kayak. Although I only got to run the two sets of rapids (twice)...it was well worth it to get some wave time in December!

Too Much Stimuli

Sometimes I have nothing to say...other times I must work to focus my thoughts in only one or two directions with all the random input which has been collected throughout the day or week.

I guess I'll let some things gush out first which have been stewing for a few days. I finally finished a book I've had laying around for a couple of months. Perhaps my penchant for perusing multiple books as once is not very effective. As of this week, my commitment to read one book at a time (in about a week or less) has birthed out of the undisciplined practices of my past! (and there was great rejoicing from my wife who thinks I should actually read the books I have)

As I was saying, I finished Joe Myers' book...


I like Joe's writing style and the information he shares...but ramifications are a little scary. Being a little more careful with the ways in which we promote and discuss community and belonging is not so much a scary proposition though. I suppose what is most scary to me is how many people we've pushed away from healthy community because we want it to look a certain way. Yeah...that's scary to think about.

So now for the 'way forward' right? Well, according to Joe...it's a matter of recognizing the organic and healthy ways in which people actually connect and 'belong.' He refers to four spaces in which connecting and belonging usually take place (based on research by Edward Hall I think). It's really an accurate and descriptive lens for viewing relationships. Public, Social, Personal, and Intimate are the areas in which relationships exist. To make a long post short(-er)...we often try to force belonging and community into personal and even intimate categories when what is needed is a realization that a lot of healthy community and connection can happen in the public and social spaces...i.e. the front porch.

Ray Oldenburgh and his disciple Howard Schultz (Starbucks) would call it the 'third place.' But I would agree with Myers that we need to encourage more of these social-to-personal environments (median spaces) as places to enjoy appropriate and healthy kinds of relationships. I see a great church and friend of mine in ministry promoting this through a coffee-house endeavor in Newark, OH. They are remodeling an old firehouse into a "front porch" for the community. I can't wait to stop in and enjoy the space with them soon.

Well, I could go on...but it's time to press on. I'm a quarter of the way into "Myth of a Christian Nation" by Greg Boyd. This is going to warrant a few doozies to spark some comments!

Nazarene Lingo & Dialogue

I was recently searching through various blogs and websites where Nazarenes and 'emergent' conversations were taking place. The first thing I noticed was how few such sites I could track down.

That could be for two reasons...one of which might be good. The potentially good theory on the absence of these conversations is that leaders who are serving from within the Church of the Nazarene don't feel the need to have their own denominationally-centered online meeting spaces.

The second reason I suspect however is just the lack of young Naz leaders, pastors, and theologians who are even entering this arena of controversy and ideas.

One of the sites I have stumbled upon and would recommend any like-minded individuals to check out would be this one...



Again though, I'm disappointed that so few are engaging in this dialogue. And many of the sites are months or even years out of date. When I'm looking for some fresh conversation and discussion...a blog that hasn't been posted on in 30 days or more is almost always cast into the trash bin of forgetfulness!

Anyway, what prompted this post in the first place was a little dialogue I entered into at the site above in which 'Kingdom of God' language was being paralleled with 'entire sanctification' rhetoric. As I stated in one of my comments (even as a 5th generation Nazarene), I discern an unhealthy effort by Nazarenes to defend the "distinctiveness" of our theology and doctrine. From what I heard, M7 was a grand attempt to rally the holiness troops and wage the war of doctrinal defense. In a time when the global slave trade is rampant, hunger kills, AIDS decimates, and clean drinking water is scarce...some of our leaders want to focus on Calvinism, the Emergent Church, and Reformed theology!

That is laughable (at first...then it's actually pathetic).

And the 'Kingdom of God' is bigger than our doctrine of 'entire sanctification' which is often reduced to a personal experience of holiness with God which still tends to be more about the 'kingdom of me being right.'

Matthew 23

In the Gospel Advent reading for today, Matthew speaks some very challenging words.

In fact, I heard a message from Rob Bell recently entitled "Gnats & Camels" I think...which was a great take on these verses.

I'd really like to dig more into this idea and explore the ways in which religion (as a human effort) is an obstacle to the Kingdom of God. A friend of mine has indicated an interest in sharing a message/sermon on the topic of "things the world hates about Christians" or something like that.

I think this is a great passage for something like that because it just nails the premise. Religion is predominantly a system of misplaced effort and altruism. As Matthew says here, the religious leaders where so good at applying Torah to one little area or specific situation but would totally miss the important (weightier or heavier) issues!

So we can have this drama over the style of a worship song, or whether there might be too many candles in play (I think anything over a dozen is considered emergent and potentially heretical) while some kid or family literally goes unfed, unclothed, or worse...unnoticed within a few miles of our "church!"

Politics and Nationalism

The next book I want to dig into is "Myth of a Christian Nation" by Greg Boyd.
Then I'll finally get to Wallis' book and maybe Balmer's "lament."

It seems as though our nationalism and our political ideologies often trump our citizenship in the Kingdom of God.

I voted for George Bush (current) but feel like it's been one of the worst 8-year stretches of decline I've witnessed in my lifetime. Of course, I didn't pay attention to politics for the first 20 years...so that's not saying much.

But for this coming election, it makes we want to ignore the faith claims of all the candidates. Do we think that a president declaring his or her faith and then receiving the endorsement of our favorite Christian radio personalities equals God's person for the job?

For me, the war and economics have been the critical issues. I believe we need to figure out better ways to promote peace and economic justice. Most of all, I think we need to quit pretending that God is a conservative Republican! We are made in the image of God...not vice-versa!

Religious Polarization

I feel like I am becoming a bit of a sounding board for several folks when it comes to things emergent and postmodern. Obviously, the only thing that qualifies me (or anyone for that matter) to carry on a conversation about such things is the fact that I'm breathing and living in the 21st century. Perhaps because I've read enough recent books to at least articulate a few thoughts and perspectives on spiritual and religious topics I have set myself up as one of many "re-thinkers."

A good friend this week passed on an article from crosswalk.com which pretty much blasted emergent thinkers as well as all the Willow-style seeker sensitive types. You can find these articles (though I hesitate to even encourage any more viewership) here here and here.

Coincidentally, I found the recent Emergent podcast was a conversation between Tony Jones and Brian McLaren (two major voices from the 'emergent' conversation) which was very encouraging. I say that because there is just such religious polarization right now with the conservative evangelicals lashing out and calling people heretics and warning of theological heresy, universalism, and other spiritual treachery. I think Tony refers to it as 'binary' language in the podcast...very similar to the political polarization we experience in our country.

Everyone gets lumped into one of two predominant categories...conservative and liberal (which is why I hate that profile category on Facebook too) and once you're dumped into one of those bins...good luck trying to have a healthy conversation with someone in the other bin...unless they're dangling over the side of it.

If statistics are accurate (even remotely) then the decline of the church and Christianity in our culture and country demands that we re-think some things. Once we elect a new president, it would be ridiculous to blame the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on his or her leadership. Similarly, one must at least postulate that the current situation of the church and Christianity is not to be blamed (beyond a very small percentage perhaps) on any leadership or church movements from the past few years.

And I find it highly suspect right now for any Christian leader to value systematic theology over practical theology...or a well-defined theory of atonement over a theory for feeding those who are hungry...or a strict adherance to religious polity over a deep conviction about materialism and greed.

I consider Bradd Pitt and Angelina Jolie, with the efforts they're making in New Orleans and around the globe, to be more worthy of our attention than some staunch pulpit monger who cares more about his book sales and radio reputation than the real Kingdom of God.