on the Fords of the Jabbok

Beyond Rebuilding.

2010-03-03T11:07:00.000-08:00

Following are comprehensive notes i had from the sermon i preached at Walnut Hill Community Church on 2/21/10. The Sermon title is: Beyond Rebuiulding. If it's not complete as far as sentence structure and thoguht process please forgive me, this is a copy and paste job.

The end of the Sermon live was structured differently than in my notes - you can call this the prompting of the Holy Spirit, a change of heart, putting aside my human arrogance...whatever it is you can find the live sermon at http://walnuthillcc.org/index.php?id=85&f=f001. Just look for my name.

The reason i am posting this is not to prove i can preach, or to take any attention from the Lord and put it on myself. I think there is a nugget of truth for all of us in the words of Ezekiel, also i hope this will prompt my desire to start blogging again.

Pray before you read and enjoy.

A couple comments about Prophets
1. Prophets speak on behalf of God
God raised them up from among the people so God could deliver his word to them.
2. What the prophets speak is unoriginal
By this I mean the prophets are, as one scholar calls them, Covenant Enforcement Mediators.
God’s law to Israel contained stipulations as well as sanctions – contractual agreements as well as conditions for punishment and reward.
Everything the prophets spoke to Israel was already said by God in the covenant He made with Israel at Sinai. The prophets may use different wording and vocabulary when addressing these issues, but the message has already been spoken by God in the Covenant at Sinai.

That being said, sometimes the prophets went to great lengths to get their message across. In fact, some of them were fairly strange.

-Hosea married a prostitute and named his kids “Not pitied” and “not my people” as a warning that Israel must repent from their idolatrous ways or God would continue to have no pity on them and cut them off.

-Isaiah walked naked and barefoot for 3 years around Jerusalem – if I did that people would run away…I’d probably get beat-up a lot. Isaiah did this to show that if Israel allied itself with Ethiopia and Egypt they would end up naked and in slavery.

-Jeremiah walked around with clothes on, but with a wooden yoke around his neck to symbolize the yoke of Babylonian rule.

-And then our friend Ezekiel. One time he ate a scroll to symbolize the appropriation of his message. Scrolls were pretty big…and either made of papyrus or goat skin. Another time Ezekiel carved a model of Jerusalem out of a brick and lied down next to it on his left side for 390 days…then he switched sides and lied down for 40 days on his right. So, for 430 days he laid next to a brick…all the while eating nasty bread cooked over cow dung. Originally it was supposed to be human dung, but even God agreed that was a little extreme.

The prophets were brilliant communicators. They turned their lives into protest pieces and proved that to communicate truth sometimes you cannot be afraid to take a turn from polite society and be a little absurd.

So, the section of scripture we just read comes from Ezekiel 47. Let me quickly give some of the context of Ezekiel for us.
In 586 BC the Babylonian’s leveled all of Jerusalem, including the temple which was the center of their whole religion, worldview, and identity as a people. God lived in this temple. 11 years prior to Jerusalem’s destruction, Ezekiel, along with other important figures in Judah, were taken to Babylon as captives in Exile. Ezekiel writes his prophecy during his time in exile.

Chapters 1-24 are set before the fall of Jerusalem and are mostly prophecies of doom against Jerusalem and all of Judah.
Chapters 25-32 are prophecies of doom against foreign nations, which form a bridge to Ezekiel’s ultimate message contained in
Chapters 33-48 which speak of a rebuilt city, a rebuilt temple, and the presence of God returning to his people and bringing life and hope back to the Israelites.

Chapter 47 is a beautiful picture of what the results of a rebuilt Jerusalem and a rebuilt temple will look like. It reads like this: Read Ezekiel 47:1-12

So Ezekiel is brought to the entrance of the temple by his guide and he sees a strange thing…there is water flowing out from the temple. A couple things need to be noted about this water. Where it came from, where it was going, and what it did along the way.

So, where is it coming from? (Click)

V. 1 – The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.

The river flows from the southside of the temple, which probably is not significant unless you know about the temples architecture and orientation. What is important to note is that the river is flowing from the presence of God.

Now we have to ask, where is the river going?
The river is heading east out of the temple and out of Jerusalem.

If you were to head east out of Jerusalem you would walk through the wilderness of Judah toward the Dead Sea. The wilderness of Judah looks vaguely like this.

The Judean wilderness has largely been uninhabitable throughout all of history because of its lack of water. It is a dry, barren, unforgiving landscape full of hills and rocks and not much else.

The Wilderness backs up to the Dead Sea, which looks vaguely like this…
Those white lumps, they aren’t ice and they aren’t foam. They are salt deposits. The Dead Sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water on the planet with 33.7% salinity. It is also the lowest point on the planet NOT underwater at 1,385 feet below sea level. All this is to say that nothing lives there. No plant life grows, no fishes swim. Craig one time told me that he dove in to the Dead Sea with his eyes open…and regretted it thoroughly.

That is where this river is headed, a dead, barren wasteland…hmm…interesting.

The last question I have is, “what is the river doing?”

The river flows from the temple, through a dry, barren land and produces abundant life – trees, animals, fish, fruit-bearing plants. The Dead Sea becomes the sea of life. Fish fill the water and Fisherman will stand on the shore and fill their nets. This is a place of beauty, life, and abundance where formerly there wasn’t much going on.

The river is bringing life where there is nothing. Ezekiel begins to speak of the rebuilding of the temple in chapter 40. Chapter 43 speaks of God’s presence returning to the temple. Chapter 47 speaks of the results of this process. Jerusalem is rebuilt, God has returned, and as a result, life will come back to a land that has been annihilated by Babylon.

There is a classic metaphor for the temple and the river which flows from it...made by who else? JESUS! John 7:38-39a

The Spirit of God dwells in the heart of every believer as God’s spirit dwelt in temple. We, in essence, become mini-temples…not separate and silent, apart from the world, but temples through which a life-giving river flows out from and brings life to the world around us.

Keep this in mind, but I think there are more implications to what Ezekiel is communicating.

First I think Ezekiel is saying that Jerusalem had to be destroyed.

In his retirement, Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia. Because Jefferson trusted that students would take their studies seriously, the code of discipline was lax. Unfortunately, his trust proved misplaced when the misbehavior of students led to a riot in which professors who tried to restore order were attacked. The following day a meeting was held between the university's board, of which Jefferson was a member, and defiant students. Jefferson began by saying, "This is one of the most painful events of my life," was overcome by emotion, and burst into tears. Another board member asked the rioters to come forward and give their names. Nearly every one did. Later, one of them said, "It was not Mr. Jefferson's words, but his tears."

Remember, Ezekiel is writing while Jerusalem and the temple are destroyed and the people of Judah are in exile in Babylon. Why are they in exile? Why was the temple destroyed? Why would God allow this bad stuff to happen? Because the people of Israel and of Judah broke the covenant they made with God. They lost their love of God and their love of Torah. They worshipped idols and their ways became evil and wicked, as Ezekiel says in chapter three. You could say they rioted against God.

The purpose of the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile was to serve as a wake-up call to the people of Judah. I don’t think it was so much God’s wrath and anger against them. God loved Israel, he chose them for a reason, and we know that he planned to return and send his Messiah through that nation. The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple was not God’s anger, but God’s tears. I am a firm believer that God suffers with those who suffer, and he would have been suffering then.
If God had not allowed the city to be destroyed then Israel would have gone on living the way they had. They would have continued in their wickedness, oblivious to the fact that they were causing God to suffer. Jerusalem had to be destroyed, as a wake up call, to the people God loved.

How are we, as individuals, causing God to suffer? I feel like I wake up every day making promises to God…things like today I won’t be cynical and tear anyone down. It rarely works. Today I am going to spend 20 minutes in prayer. Today I am going to tell my alcoholic friend that enough is enough. Whatever your struggles are, and I don’t mean to be too forward, if you love God he is going to expose them and issue a wake-up call because if he doesn’t, just like Israel was, you will probably go on without ever knowing how much God is suffering.

My second point is that Jerusalem was rebuilt.

God wasn’t going to abandon his people. Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC and by 538 BC, less than 50 years later, the Israelites returned to their homes, or what was left of their homes.

The land of Israel was one of the most important things to the Israelites, and it is still true for the Jews today. The covenant they made with God, much of it was centered around the promised land. Returning to their land would have been a bitter-sweet occasion. Yes they were back where they belonged, but their homes and more importantly the temple were completely leveled.

Ezekiel’s vision is one of hope that would eventually come to fruition. He paints a picture of a rebuilt city and a rebuilt temple with the presence of God returning to his people and bringing more life than before.

If Thomas Jefferson had never shed his tears the students of the University of Virginia would have never come forward to take responsibility for their lack of discipline and for their rioting.

God had tried to warn his people countless times that they had to change. As I said earlier, the prophets were Covenant Enforcement Mediators. They reinforced the words God had already spoken through Moses at Mount Sinai. But they didn’t get it.

If Jerusalem would have never been destroyed then it could never have been rebuilt in the hope that Ezekiel gives in chapter 47.
I have a lot of friends who have suffered broken bones from snowboarding, skateboarding, or running in to doors. A lot of times, for some reason, when a bone breaks it will heal incorrectly so you’ll have to go back in so the doctor can re-break the bone so it will heal correctly.

Are you tracking with me? A few years ago I think I broke my left ring finger playing a game of football, but I never went to have it examined or fixed because I was lazy and figured I can live with it. Well know there’s a permanent bump on my top knuckle because I don’t see the need to have it fixed.

I hope that’s not my attitude with my relationship with God. So often I have to try to make sure it isn’t. But the fact is some things need to be broken completely before they can be fixed.

My final point is that we have got to let go of our expectations.

The people could not have returned from exile, rebuilt their city, rebuilt the temple, and said, OK God, we’re ready for you now. Just because they built a structure doesn’t mean that God is there. Listen to what God says regarding his return to the temple in Ezekiel 43:9

Just because you build something, just because you expect God to fit in to the walls you’ve put up doesn’t mean he is going to.

God is saying to Ezekiel that the people had to change in order for him to live among them. They couldn’t just build the temple and expect God to be there. The life-giving river Ezekiel writes about is only going to come as a result of God’s presence being at the center of the community, not from any structure being built.

Our structures, our expectations cannot define how and when we experience God. Let me say that again…our expectations cannot define how and when we experience God.

What expectations do you have of God?

When I was in high school I was sure I was going to be a musician. I play guitar and bass and have been in several bands and I was gung-ho about playing music forever. That didn’t last. My first couple years of college I was sure I was going to be in the movie industry. I thought I would move to LA and work for a major studio doing cinematography. Again, this plan was not meant to be.

I expected that if I did these things I could make a living and in some way honor God. Of course I was totally wrong. My expectations meant nothing and here I am having finished college with a degree in Biblical studies pursuing a calling to work in full-time ministry. I expected God to work within my ideas for my life.

My expectations meant nothing because God is not going to be confined to the idea’s I have about how I live or how I experience him.

What expectations do we have of God? Coming from an academic community I expect God to be able to fit in to different systems of theology and to be able to interpret the Bible through methods such as historical and literary criticism. And sure I can experience and discover pieces of God through that, but there is also a life through which I can experience God day to day.

Are you like me, or are you the opposite of me? Do you come to church expecting God to hit you with a wave of emotion every time you hear the words to that new Chris Tomlin song? Do you set up parameters that say God is an experiential God and I don’t expect to encounter him while reading about systematic theology or about great thinkers such as Karl Barth?
Or are we getting too wrapped up in expecting God to be the ultimate buddy. Do we expect God to only be intimate and personal? Too often I hear phrases like, “My God is loving”, “My Jesus is powerful”, or my personal favorite, “that song just isn’t my worship style”. Yes my friends, we have made God subjective to our individual experiences.

The picture Ezekiel paints for us is not one of an empty city waiting to be filled. It is a picture of a city rebuilt and renewed in the love of God and it is only then that God promises to dwell with them.

Our expectations cannot define how and when we meet with God.

Jesus said whoever believes in him will have streams of living water flow from within.

The will of Jesus is not to be subjected to our own personal expectations.

The Character of Jesus is not for us to believe in him so we can be silent, separate, holy beings who sit within the walls of the church feeling something we didn’t feel before we walked in.

The will of Jesus is to change the world. It is for him to be the center of our lives as God was the center of the temple, so that without expectation, streams of life-giving water will flow from within us and bring life to a barren, desert land.

Jerusalem had to be destroyed before it could be rebuilt. God could not work with the structures and expectations the people of Israel had at the time. He had to strip them of their expectations and set new expectations in their hearts.

Make Jesus the center. Tear down the things that make God suffer so he can rebuild you, without expectations, without parameters or walls, to do his work and to share his love in this world.

i'm ok, i'm ok, i'm ohkay, i'm ahkay, i'm a kay...i'm a kay?

2009-11-06T13:37:00.000-08:00

Until i was age 3 i lived in Los Angeles, California. One summer my mothers younger sister and her boyfriend, who is now my uncle John, stayed with us while they were still in college, i was probably 2 y/o at the time. One day my uncle was babysitting me and he couldn't get me to stop crying no matter how hard he tried. He put on the tv, took me for a walk, let me play with the hose out in the yard (my favorite activity), but nothing worked. Now, i love popsicles, always have, and apprently i loved them even more then, so my uncle John gave me popsicle to try and calm my wailing. That day i ate a whole box of popsicles. I knew what i wanted and knew how to get it without thinking, or considering the options. Granted i couldn't form rational thoughts or cohesive sentences, but this is how i feel lately.

Egocentrism is the condition of being unable to see past your own condition. A person is only concerned with fulfilling their needs and desires and has no knowledge of the effect they have on others around them. Today i had lunch with a friend and we spent some time catching up over some delicious Panera soup. During our talk i was asked a question, pertaining to a certain situation, that i was forced to look at myself through the eyes of others. "Was it worth it?" i was asked. There was no judgment or negative feeling coming from my friend, which i am grateful for, but in a way it made me face my own situatedness. From that point in our conversation a lot was said in regards to a lot of things, but now that i am home all i can think of is that question, "Was it worth it?"

Now, as a person grows and develops they are forced, by situation or parental influence, to move from egocentrism to ethnocentrism - from a focus on self to a focus on family. Doing chores, babysitting siblings, doing family outings all contributes to this. From ethnocentrism we are forced to move to anthropocentrism - from family focus to world focus. You see and are concerned with the needs of the world. In the last few months i feel as if i have regressed from anthropocentrism back to egocentrism.

Was it worth it?

The sad thing is, i feel like a normal person. By that i mean i feel like there is nothing wrong with that. I was in Vegas this summer and was able to observe people eating expensive meals, throwing money around trying to get more and not being able to say "enough is enough" when they lost. In fact, you couldn't help but feel that way. It's an oasis of self in the desert. Are individuals becoming more and more egocentric?

In his book The Great Divorce, the brilliant C.S. Lewis illustrates hell as a place where people can't stand being near each other and live increasingly farther away from one another. Egocentrism, being consumed by your own situatedness, is an increasing problem in our world.

i do not want to be caught in it.

Was it worth it?

The Old Testament is the story of a nation, the New Testament is the story of a new kind of nation - an ever decentralizing tribe of people not bound by ethnicity, but by purpose. I think i have lost my sense of purpose. Without help it will be impossible to get it back. This goes for all of us, not just me. We have lost our sense of purpose as a world. Globalization, technological advances, internet, television, and the other decentralizing features of the world are bringing us together in new ways, but are taking away our dependence on others and on our need for God. Can we figure it out ourselves? Can we do it all ourselves?

i hope not, because if so, we are screwed.

Was it worth it? I still don't think so.

2009-09-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

the NNIV

2009-09-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

the NEW New International Version. apparently they are making it more gender inclusive. This version has been unchanged for 25 years, and since it is the top selling Bible in America, they want to accommodate to the market and make it more "friendly". My question is: are we betraying the original languages of the Biblical texts, or are we making the texts more accessible?

The NIV is not the only Bible version out there. I liked it because it was a good middle ground between literal translation, and interpretive translations such as "the Word on the Street".

why change it now?

The NIV is competing for sales in an ever-increasingly gender-inclusive world where the Biblical lines of gender "roles" are blurred. do i believe in specific gender roles? i don't know. sometimes i do, sometimes i do not. I think both roles need to be involved in the family unit, but who carries them out...i don't care.

Coming from a Bible-major perspective, where multiple translations are often used in textual studies, i wish for the NIV to remain the same. Coming from a consumer-driven culture, i understand the changes being made. Coming from an ambiguous gender-inclusive culture, i understand even more.

is this change good? for my own studies, not particularly, but it isn't particularly bad either. the NRSV is always a good alternative. Is the change bad? no, i don't think so.

i just hope Marv Wilson, and the rest of the NIV translation committee know what they're doing.

Scientist Studies

2009-08-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

The issue of Sanctification will need to be dealt with at a later date...which i am looking forward to. Frankly, i do not have all the pieces i desire to tackle this issue effectively from an educated point of view. Today i would quickly like to observe something. I was on facebook and saw the following quote in a classmates status:

'..."Scientists are open about the details of their work, so that others can follow their thinking and repeat their experiments and observations" (quote from my textbook). I'm sorry... can I be a little skeptical of that statement?'

The person who wrote this in their status is a Christian (assumed), and a Youth Ministries major. i saw this and immediately did not know how to take this. Is this person opposed to the studies of the world around us? Are they opposed to logical investigation of life, the universe, and everything? Do they take Genesis 1-11 as literal? Are they ignorant? Do they think i am heathen for having a different opinion? They must be judgmental, right?

These thought all raced through my head in an inarticulate jumble of confusion, interest, and, unfortunately, aq lack of surprise. My big question: Do most Christians view science as "wrong".

a few thoughts:

What we call 'science' today i will define as, "human attempt to make sense of the world around us". This is fair. through study, experimentation, hypotheses, testing, and whatnot, we try to understand how the world works, and how the world has always worked. Fair, right?

Unfortunately, science was not always a luxury. In the ancient world, this especially includes the JEWISH world, there were no scientists. instead, there were Magus the singular of Magi (a word we all should know) - these would be translated as magician or magicians. What comes to mind when we think of magic and magicians? A Christian mind would immediately stir negative connotations. Magic is evil, wrong, etc. However, in the ancient world, the job of the magus was to make sense of the world. Through magic and religion the ancients tried to make sense of the world around them. They held ceremonies to bring rain,sacrificed to their gods in order to atone for sin, or to entice the gods into providing for them.

It was also the job of the magus to heal the sick. The ancients typically viewed sickness as a result of daimonia, or demons. Daimonia were not always bad, in fact they were sometimes seen as good forces, more like a demi-god than a demon. However, some daimonia were terrible. If a person had what we today call epilepsy, or blindness, it was the result of demon possession. Jesus practiced a ministry of healing, and casting out demons was a major part of that ministry. It was believed that if you knew the name of a demon you could manipulate that demon fairly easily. This is illustrated in Mark 5. Also, there are probably implications of this demon-name belief in the Burning Bush narrative.

Today, things such as rain and blindness are easily explained through science, and the process of rainfall is easily understood. My new question is: Is it right for us to apply this ancient, 'biblical' understanding of the natural world in light of what we know today?

If the major understanding of the process of rainfall (evaporation, clouds, precipitation) is pretty much universally understood and accepted and proven to be true, do we still dance to bring the rain? NO, we do not. At least the majority of the developed, educated world does not. Well why not? because we understand that the rain is not controlled by any daimonia, but by natural process.

i don't know anyone who would seriously call me a heathen for that.

So why is it OK to apply this new, scientific understanding to rain, and not OK to apply this new understand to something such as evolution, or to the big-bang? Why do we believe theories such as "young earth" or "old earth" or "creationism" when evidence suggests otherwise?

does the bible intend to illustrate specifically HOW the earth was created? or does it simply communicate THAT the earth was created?

Science is invaluable to how humans understand the world. Why do many Christians insist on science being illegitimate, or wrong, when much of what we believe about the world is a result of science? Why do we believe in rainfall but not in evolution? We cannot discredit science because the bible says "on the first day...on the second day...etc". Science and faith fit together quite simply because the more complicated we discover the natural world to be, the more of an appreciation we should gain for the One who set it all in motion.

This summer i had the privilege of seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time in my life. It is rather impressive. It is HUGE and you can see each layer of the earth as you look down from the rim to the floor of this truly spectacular display. Science would say "billions of years went in to making this". I don't know about you, but i find God much more impressive NOT when i think, "God plopped this on earth and it is beautiful", but when i think, "God set in motion the the time, the water for erosion, the soil, the layers, the energy for this work of millenial beauty". The fact that it took so much time and energy for the Grand Canyon to exist is a testament to God's patience and ultimate mastery.

I ramble. Science is good. Faith is good. Let's see if they compliment each other.

results of frustration

2009-08-17T12:41:00.000-07:00

the purpose of this blog was not fulfilled while i was in CA. i intended to seek the needs of the church and compare those to the needs of the church in New England. This was not accomplished. It is either because of my apathy towards attending a church in California, or because i am arrogant, or because i used sunday's to catch up on homework.

either way the purpose of this blog has been reassessed.

Over the past several months i have been struggling very deeply with issues of the church, theology, philosophy, and the human condition. This blog is re-dedicated to the struggle. it is dedicated to the questions, not necessarily the answers. But as a friend of mine said, it is a waste of brain capacity to ask questions with no intention of seeking answers. It is also a waste to ask questions that have no answers for the sake of provoking a response from those you ask. I know a guy who needs to be right, and it is impossible to argue with him because he will run you in circles with questions that cannot be answered, or the answers are simple and faith-based, therefore having no logical answer, therefore, in his mind, being completely "stupid". So how do we wrestle?

In my latest experiences with historical and literary criticism i have begun to see Jesus in two realities. We have the historical Jesus - this man walked the earth, had disciples, ate food, died, was buried. We also have the Jesus of Faith - the Jesus who rose from the dead and is alive today, this is the Jesus we experience.

As Marcus Borg would say, The Pre-Easter Jesus, and the Post-Easter Jesus.

These two expressions of Jesus must be seen together. One cannot communicate truth without the other.

Because of Literary and Historical criticism i am having trouble seeing them together. The teachings and life of Jesus was passed down orally for 40 years before any of it was written down. stories change, details disappear, or are added. There is so much room for error that some people are forced to ask, "is it a lie?" or, "how can we trust any of it?"

Does historicity determine truth? This is a big question i have. if Jesus never said, "i am the way, the truth and the life..." etc., does that mean Jesus is not the only way to heaven?

no.

The gospels reflect a development of thought in the first-century. They communicate early theological truths about Jesus that we must take seriously today.

This must all be balanced with how we know and experience Jesus today. The church experiences Christ every day. We can see the way Jesus works today, and the truth of that experience, coupled with the biblical tellings of Jesus, make up all we can know about the one we call the Christ. Each side by itself is incomplete. two halves of a whole truth.

this is not as easy.

i do not have the answers. But it is within this struggle that answers will be found, or there may be some issues that must be considered unsolvable, because it is impossible to put ourselves in the shoes of God.

Forget logical arguments for now. try to understand your experiences. try to understand the Jesus of history.

good luck.

next time: sanctification

Because i am Christian it is my job to show you how sinful you are.

2009-07-29T20:22:00.000-07:00

This title is not my particular point of view. In fact, because i am a person, it is my job to love you because that is how we, as people, are supposed to act....right? i think yes. Because i happen to be a Christian does not mean i am called to love people...it is because i am a person that i am called to love people.

There is a theory called the Redemptive Movement Hermeneutic. Essentially, this hermeneutic suggests that God is constantly moving the world to a greater place. Let us take the example of slavery. In the Ancient Near East everything was built on slave labor. There was no code of conduct for how to treat slaves, who were usually foreigners in whatever country they were slaves in, so they were treated terribly. When God gave the Torah to Israel, he introduced a code of conduct for slavery - that is, the ethical treatment of slaves. You may be asking, Why wouldn't God just say, "no more slaves"? this is because without slave labor, the economic structure of Israel would collapse. They were a nation of shepherd-farmers who depended on slavery to help not only create economy, but to they relied on slavery as a way to pay debts. If God said "no slaves", Israel would have collapsed completely. But, in God's perfect kingdom there will be no slaves...and today the world has moved closer to this reality. on a chart, we would see something like this:

X ---------------------------Y-------------------------------------Z

X = original culture context - bad treatment of slaves
Y = God's words to Israel - be nicer to slaves
between Y and Z = our culture today (hopefully closer to Z) - very few slaves
Z = God's perfection - no slaves

Hard to understand, i know. Anyway, my point is that God, in this picture, acts a polemicist. He is drawing his people out of imperfection and into his perfection.

I struggle with this. Christians have taken it upon themselves to become cultural polemicists. For example, Harry Potter is a wizard and evil DO NOT WATCH IT! or...Drinking is harmful, so don't ever drink! there are many other small, and large, example we could go over. my point is, we are drawing people to points of extremes. It is either one or the other...either do or do not...either yes or no. I have been criticized by Christians who are half my age (that would be 11years old) for being a fan of Harry Potter. and why? Because it entertains me?

this is one of the greatest problems with the church. We have become isolationists. We have created our own culture where we do not read Harry Potter or watch films by true artists offering true glimpses into true lives. Instead we write Christiany books, send them to Christiany publicists Zondervan to be published, only to be read by Christiany people because no one in the terrible mainstream culture has ever heard of Zondervan. We have created a culture of isolationism in which we take people out of the world and bring them into the church to become a part of the cycle we have created.

Not as a slight to this particular church, which has given me so much, but i must use it as an example. My home church is large, by New England standards anyway. IT has the resources to change the area we are located in, but, as is consistent with the culture of isolation, we create programs and meetings and classes and opportunities which take place, probably 90%, within the walls of the church. As an example, the Youth Group is encouraged to serve by helping babysit for a childrens event, or by setting up tables for the mens ministry. The church is serving itself within its own walls...and i don't know if they even see it.

Back to the Redemption Hermeneutic above. God called his people to a new standard of living WITHIN THEIR OWN CONTEXT. God sought to make perfect the culture IN WHICH ISRAEL EXISTED. In my opinion, the church has become a self-serving machine that offers its support within its own walls. We think we are changing the world when, after a sunday evening service, we feel hyped because of the sweet worship set. In Reality, the only "criteria" Jesus offers for getting into heaven, in the synoptic gospels anyway, comes in Matthew 25:31-46. It is about social justice, it is about people, it is about helping the world...not about dogmatics, theology, or, i am sorry to say, faith (this can be another discussion for another time).

Read Matthew 25:31-46 sometime.

my point is this: Let's stop creating a culture of isolationism. I do not want to hear the word's "Christian subculture" ever again in my life. Let's follow the example of YHWH and, instead of taking people out of the world, bring the world a little closer to God's perfection.

water: the silent killer

2009-07-24T17:19:00.000-07:00

i work in food service. We have a soda fountain at work that is available for any customer to choose whatever soda they want and get it themselves, all i do is give them an empty cup. On this fountain there is a tab for water (as is standard on most soda fountains). This water is free. If a customer asks for a cup for water, i give it to them gladly.

Now, i do not know if most people don't realize this fact, but a vast majority of people prefer to spend $1.50 on bottled water instead of $0.00 for the aforementioned free water tab. Why is this? Is it because Americans are enthralled with pre-packaged items with a "freshness seal" so we can tell if the item has been tampered with? Is it because we want to be able to easily carry the water with us ere we go? Is it because we love spending money? Maybe all? Maybe more? Either way, this is not my issue.

In the first century-ish B.C.E, there was a Jewish separatist group called the Essenes. They moved from Jerusalem to a place called Qumran (a place in Israel on the north-western shore of the Dead Sea where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered). They moved out of Jerusalem because of the corruption they saw in the Jewish Elites (Pharisees, Sadducees, priests, etc.) and the system of Temple-worship that existed (an issue Jesus would tackle a century later).

The Essenes desired a more pure form of life and worship. In the Jewish tradition of the First century B.C.E, it was custom to ritually cleanse oneself before meals. Usually this involved washing of the hands, but the Essenes decided to cleanse their whole bodies. They would individually cleanse themselves in what is called a Mikva, or ritual bath. This bath was carved from stone and filled with water, usually attached to a running spring or pool, and a person would strip and fully submerge themselves in the Mikva.

At Qumran water is very scarce. It rains very little during the "rainy season", and there is not much in the way of running water, so the Mikva would be filled with the rain water from the short rainy season, and stay that way until the next rainy season. The Essene's would cleanse themselves twice a day...the whole community...in this one Mikva. Of course this was back before microbiology, so these people thought they were becoming clean, when in fact, the life expectancy of the Qumran community was far shorter than the Jerusalem, or Bethlehem, or Jericho, or anywhere else pretty much because everyone was bathing, twice a day, in a disgusting pool of everyone's nasty. These people would be dead before the age of 18, and their community only lasted a century or so before it was no more.

And we love bottled water...the nerve.

the fireworks are celebrating america like thunder celebrates the rain

2009-07-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

I just watched Dan in Real Life. I saw the first half with some good friends this last semester (a la the Pleasure Field) and it made me miss them.

Confession: my summer job is...Food service at Target in Pasadena. I get paid close to minimum wage to serve shoppers pizzas and hot dogs. Because of the ovens and dishwasher it is constantly hot. There is no escape from the heat, but it could be worse i suppose. At least i have a job. A guy who got hired with me named Nadir, he must be in his late 20's, used to work in finance and is now working at Target. I hope he moves on soon.

It's amazing how people fit profiles that you know in other places. My co-workers all remind me of people i worked with at Starbucks. Also, we have regulars! people come to the Target Food 'court' every single day and get the same thing. It is astounding. It is predictable. It is kind of sad. We have one woman who comes in every day wearing the SAME EXACT track suit and sits for hours and hours refilling her soda. I think she might be homeless...or at least lonely. It makes me wonder if God made 5 or 6 basic molds for humans and reused them for all 6.5 billion of us. Or are we all simple variations of one mold? or are we all unique? i am beginning to doubt the latter.

LA is a mirror of New York, or Boston, or Providence, or Bethel. Frat boys look like frat boys, 'ghetto' kids still look like posers, hipsters still wear tight pants, and the less fortunate still shop at walmart.

Today is the 4th of July. I celebrated by working all day and now doing homework.

Speaking of homework, and people fitting a mold, my Life and Teachings of Jesus professor reminds of a certain Dr. Steve Hunt. He is a slightly younger version. He tucks his polo or button-down into his jeans and makes lots of comments during his lectures. They are theologically similar...except this guy hasn't finished his doctorate yet.

I miss New England. This year was the first time i have enjoyed being at school. I have always been a homebody, but this past spring semester was different. Thank you Taylor, Jamie, Dan, Dan, Kuehne, Joel, Dan, Dave, Chuck, Imke, Tate, and the rest of you. if you read this, know you made a difference in my life this year.

I have been spending a lot of time alone lately. My roommate is a Middle School Youth Pastor and has been gone the past couple weeks...at camp and with some time off for the holiday he went home to San Diego to be with his family. It's easy for me to be alone. I think a lot about the drive back home. I will be doing it alone this time, and i am not particularly looking forward to it. i will tackle America alone. I will dominate its landscape in my blue civic and i will return to Bethel and step out and i will know, i will know that i just wasted a lot of money and time when i could have easily flown - but that doesn't sound like any kind of fun.

Tomorrow i might go play golf and then write a paper on Paul's resurrection theology.

is this the world?

2009-06-23T22:22:00.001-07:00

I had a conversation with a 34 year old woman today. When she found out i was a Biblical Studies major (which means i study the bible), she asked me what religion that was.

I had a conversation with a college student today. I told her i was from Connecticut. She asked me "where in Canada is that". When i told her it was not Canada...but New England, she was thoroughly confused. I said the Northeast...she said..."oh, ok" and walked away.

My roommate, who was born and raised in CA, and who spent the last two summers in CT and the summer before that in MA couldn't point to CT on a map.

Right now i am watching an ABC News-Journal program about teen pregnancy. There is a school in Mass. that teaches teens HOW to put on condoms and to make sure they don't slip off or rip or etc. There is a school in Texas which refuses to teach this and teaches Abstinence instead.

Texas has the 3rd highest teen birth-rate in the country (according to the program).

Thus...i cannot justify living anywhere but the Northeast

the sun exists in Los Angeles

2009-06-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

I hear the east has been covered in rain. My dad told me on the phone yesterday that the weatherman said the only place with nice weather in the whole country, right now, is Los Angeles. Good thing i came here.

This place is different than New England. I live in an area dominated by minorities (which makes me want to re-define the term). I went into a restaurant today and had to strain my eyes to find the english names of the food. It was fun but intimidating. I don't speak Spanish and being the only white guy walking into "Taco King" is a strange feeling...but i enjoy it.

I have only been here 2 weeks, but i have a major observation to make: There are ALOT of people. The roads are packed at all times. Rush hour is impossible to deal with, and even at 2 am there are more people on the road than there are at rush hour in CT or MA. Everyone has cars and everyone drives everywhere they go be it to work in Downtown or to the market 3 blocks down the road. I have taken up walking - to class, to 7-11, even to the movie theater, but we will see how long that lasts. Also, people drive fast and aggressive here. it's crazy, traffic flows at 80 mph - speeding must be 100mph. I don't know, it's crazy.

I went to Chris' church last week. They are an Evangelical Free church in a town called Diamond Bar (Snoop Dogg lives in Diamond Bar). The church is about 300 people and very wealthy. Their facilities are very nice and their pastor seems to be a solid fellow. I chatted with him briefly. He is quite conservative, as is the congregation. They support a fair amount of missionaries overseas. Chris says this is one of their big things - missionaries. Evangelical Free, for those of you wondering, is a form of governance NOT theology. They have a certain way they govern the congregation and church which is considered E-free. I don't know more about it than that.

I went camping this last weekend up in the mountains - 7,000ft or so up in the sky. Amy, one of Chris' friends, was having a birthday celebration. It was fun. We found a Dog wandering the streets so we walked down the street into the local town to try and return the dog (there was a phone # and address on the collar). We eventually returned it to a crazy dog-sitter woman. She was nuts. That is all i will say about that. Amy is one of Chris' friends from church. She loves people and life - i called her a "philanthropist" and she agreed with that.

Another of Chris' friends, Zack, who works at a church as a video/tech guy, and i had a conversation about ministry and life and whatnot. He believes we, as Christians, are called OUTSIDE of the church to help the world and that we should spend less time in the church body. I agree with him, but i would hold that we need to be a part of the body to be refreshed and filled with the Spirit in order to share the Gospel to the world. I also believe there are those of us who are called to lead Christians in their life of service to the Lord - but i agree with Zack...we spend too much time in our church buildings and in our meetings...we need to be outwardly focused as a church. Coming together as a body of believers should not be our main concern...it should be the world.
More on this in a later blog - after i have time to process it.

I hung out in Hollywood/Santa Monica with Dan Lee this week. He is out visiting friends and we had a chance to connect. It was great...i think Hollywood disappointed him...probably because it is disappointing.

I saw MeWithoutYou last night. they were incredible. I want to have fun like they do when they play music. They have so much joy from being able to share their music with us. It's something to strive for.

I am hoping to visit Saddleback next weekend.

nothing profound this week, sorry. More to come

...and i suddenly realized i was 3,000 miles from home.

2009-06-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

Following is the account of my drive from Bethel, CT to Azusa, CA. Much of it is directly from the journal i kept during mine and Corey's journey and some of it is reflection. It is poetry, it is literature, it is truth, it is bullshit - however i perceive it at any given moment is irrelevant. This is my story:

JUNE 3
As I packed my car in the cool summer morning i could hear the hum of the distant highway. I was only 20 minutes from joining the innumerable commuters and travelers on the road we all share. It wasn't quite rush hour and the feeling of anticipation i had felt for the past several months all but disappeared. This is real now. The night before i kissed my sweetheart goodbye. I stood in her doorway and touched her face, saying, "3 months is not that long to be apart." This was a lie. It was a lie to her and to myself. I am missing her comfort, i am missing my home as i set out to the west, to a new place, a new culture, and new experiences. Was this the right move, going west? It's too late to ponder this. All I can do is follow the atlas to the place i have dreamed of since January - California.

We drove through the rain to Pittsburgh. We arrived as the rain slowed and became an inescapable dampness. We found ourselves in the North side of the city - the ghetto side. Corey's friends were waiting for us. A hipster and his hipster friends invited us in and we sat and talked for a while. Our conversation felt juvenile. A girl talked about her ex-boyfriend and her new boyfriend and his ex-girlfriend. The drama...the importance of it all. It was fun. We listened to some vinyl and decided we were hungry. We ate Thai food. As the night went on and i conversed with the hipsters i learned of a Christian artistic community in the Northside. They are mostly filmmakers who use their gifts to tell stories of truth, of God, and of life and love. I loved it.
We went to Banjo night. It was the best experience. At the Elks Club we found about 25 old men on stage playing Banjo together, singing songs and performing for a packed house of 50+ women and 65+ men. the $5 pitchers of Yeungling was the icing on the cake.

Soon we drove to Cleveland to see Ryan. We arrived at 1am and chilled until 4am.

June 4
We planned to leave that day, but Ryan got off work so we stayed. We hung out by the pool, Corey bought a camera (pictures of the trip are on facebook). We went to Ryans Girlfriends house to hang out. She owned like a million acres and a barn. We hung out in the barn and played Stop. A few of their friends came, it was fun. I was just glad to be with Corey and Ryan.

We left in the morning.

JUNE 5
We drove through Ohio, Indiana, Illinois...not much to say. Sitting in traffic while passing through the Chicago area on I-80 i saw two children riding their bikes on an empty street about 80 yards off the road. They rode in the direction we were headed. It seemed quiet and simple. I miss childhood. I often think about moving to a small, quiet, uncomplicated place. I miss the simplicity of youth.

The sun began to set as we drove through Iowa. We stopped at the 'Worlds Largest Truck stop'. I bought an Orange Julius. As we drove through Iowa i asked Corey the question, 'does anyone actually live in Iowa?' Neither of us could answer this question. When we reached Des Moines i was pleased to find an answer to this question - yes.
It was 11:30pm. Corey was asleep in the passenger seat. The moon haunted me from my left window. It's full, sad face followed me. I imagined he was wondering where i was going. I began to reflect his sad disposition...or perhaps he reflected mine.

JUNE 6.
I let Corey take over so i could sleep. I woke up a while later in Nebraska. I awoke, appropriately so, to Corey listening to Bruce Springsteen's 'Nebraska'. He didn't even realize this until i told him. The clouds had overtaken the moon, and soon they opened up and it was like driving through the river Styx. We were crossing over into death, there was no escape...we were our own ferrymen. The rain lessened and the sky displayed its awesome beauty and power in a brilliant light show that opened my eyes to the power of God. I now understand why my sweetheart loves storms.

We entered Colorado at sun-up. The landscape almost immediately changed from flat to hills. Fog rolled over the state, and i felt depressed. It was dull. After a couple hours the fog broke and i beheld the Rockies for the first time in my life. They were awesome. We stopped in Denver to use the internet and grab a bite. The Rockies loomed in the west and i was not anxious to challenge them, but i knew we had to and i prayed that my car would make it. We drove through the Rockies.

I never knew that people lived in the mountains. There are whole towns there! i was amazed. I saw several churches, all modern looking and i'm sure exploding with the tithes of rich Colorado professionals.

After the mountains we came into the Canyons. Looking up from the bottom of these billion-year-old works of grace left me wanting more. But what more could i want? I had seen the awesome power of God in nature and was excited for more...but it was tiring. There was much to take in.

We drove into Utah, which is probably the most awesome state of all time. It began as desert outlined by painted cliffs. The desert gave way to a landscape in which i am sure i saw Wile E. Coyote chasing the Road Runner. Desert and mountains. Up and Up we drove. Down we cruised, up we went, the whole time surrounded by unforgiving formations of rock and sand.We stopped at a Denny's in the desert. Our waiter was a creep. I'm sure he was a child molester.

Eventually the desert became lush forest and high mountains. We came into a valley and saw towns and Walmarts and CVS and life. We were happy. We cut down a back-road highway to make our way south to the Grand Canyon. We stopped at a mountain lake and trekked about 1/4 mile off the road in order to understand its beauty. There was a dead stork on the shore so we turned back.

That night we slept at a rest stop on the side of a mountain highway. I thought a murder would find us, but i slept 7 straight hours in the passenger seat.

JUNE 7
We woke at 5:30am and drove into the Arizona Desert. We had to turn around to get gas, and backtracked some 20 miles through the sands to find a place to fill-up. Luckily it was 6:30am and heat did not yet exist.

We arrived at the Canyon, which is a long way to get to. It was awesome. Corey and I, but mostly Corey, ventured to take the most dangerous pictures. We stood on ledges that were there for our death but we conquered them and felt like gods, gods that set the limits of the world and we laughed.

We ate at a diner on the way out of the Canyon. The waitress talked us into getting a slice of pie. we shared it and were happy to have experienced the day together. It was only noon.

We drove back through Arizona and into Nevada. Vegas was all we could think of. We desired to see the lights and the people and to know what recklessness felt like. We found a Super 8 Motel for $40 and cleaned up. It had been 4 days since we showered and it felt good to be clean. We walked over the the Bellagio, to Caesars, to Mirage. We felt fake. We felt tired. We felt poor. Vegas was too much for one night. We slept.

JUNE 8
We left Vegas for LA. The desert of Nevada and California is hot. It was only a few hours and then we entered into San Gabriel Valley. We were close. We entered Azusa, my summer home, and were pleased to see Chris waiting outside his apartment. I unpacked, settled in and we went out to experience Azusa. We went to a dive, i loved it. We ate at In n Out. I was impressed. I now have to deal with the fact that i am here for the summer. I am jobless, without family and without security. It is only for two months, anyone can deal with it and i look forward to the challenge.

More to come.

Thoughts from a ten-hour drive.

2009-05-31T08:57:00.000-07:00

Where does the church need to be more understanding? Towards those outside the church, or towards those inside the church? I would argue for the latter.

Growing up in New England it is not uncommon to have a sense of superiority. My culture, my views, my experiences, my..., my..., my... is better. Living between the greater New York and Boston areas have allowed me to interact with a very diverse group of people. When you succeed you succeed at the highest level, and when you fail you fail at the lowest. I am the spectrum.

At least that is my New England perspective.

Growing up in a large New England church i have developed a sense of pride about the way WE do things. We know how to reach people, how to plan events, how to program, and how to shepherd people correctly. We know this because we minister in the toughest place in America to minister and we have 'succeeded' at it. I doubt I am the only one who knows this feeling.

This is NOT a good perspective. Over the last couple of years i have been breaking down this perspective. I have realized the flaws in myself and in my church. I have seen things from the perspective of an outsider and have determined that New England needs help. So...from this perspective...i am called to minister in New England.

This last week i vacationed in the Outer Banks, NC. On my drive down - through CT, NY, NJ, DE, MD, VA, and NC i saw more churches than i could count. Most of them on the side of the highway, dilapidated small buildings with names like, "living word worship center", or my personal favorite, "Noah's Ark Church" which is, incidentally, a church in the shape of big wooden boat (i saw two such churches). Every half mile or so there is another small baptist church, another small methodist congregation, another Assemblies of God stuck on the side of the highway.

All i could think was, "how sad".

As a prospective pastor i must ask, have we succeeded? Is another church the answer to the problems we face in America. Is planting another small congregation going to save the world? I have no qualm with small churches, i love them so much, but if the church is not doing anything to change lives outside of itself then is it succeeding?

On the contrary, i heard Rick Warren say, "it is no coincidence that growing ministries are usually the most blessed ministries" - or something to that effect anyway. The point is, are we succeeding? Is a mega church succeeding because of its numbers? People fill the seats, small groups boom, money is sent overseas because the resources to change the world are there. But is this success? Are numbers success? Should we look at mega churches in terms of their numbers? Should we look at small churches in terms of their numbers?

No

it is the health of a church that matters. Are their ministries serving in the best way they can? Are people truly in love with Jesus? Are these people living in light of this?

Are any of us living in light of the love of Jesus.

I digress. Back to the original question about understanding.

The Northeast does not understand the south. The south does not understand the west. the west does not understand the midwest, and so on. The church does not understand itself. I do not even understand myself let alone a whole group of people.

The south does not appeal to me. I do not see myself living and working in any other place than New England. But never say never. A woman i know prayed for years asking God to please NOT let her marry a hairy man. For ten years now she has been married to hairiest man I've ever seen.

Do i have a point in all this? I think so. I think i would say that we need to understand the church in its entirety. We cannot get by in out own cultural context and expect the world to change. If we are going to see the power of God change the world we need to see the world as a whole. Vague? yes. But are is anything really clear?

Two final notes:
I am reading On The Road by Jack Kerouac. We could learn something from this Beat poet.

I am watching Into the Wild. Chris McCandless got it. He understood the evils of materialism and the search for truth, but it was misguided. The church could take some lessons from this kid. Lose the selfishness, let go of the things you put value in and i think you might find truth in the sacrifice of Christ. This point will be re-hashed at a later date i am sure.

This last point makes me angry. WE ALL suffer from it. I need to stop before i punch someone.

Live outside of your cultural context. You can find Christ anywhere and everywhere. Understanding is a never-ending conversation. Let's talk.

Do you really love anything?

2009-05-27T15:49:00.000-07:00

What is it you really love to do? I myself cannot answer this question, and it makes me sad. "Wait, Matt, you don't love to do anything?" I do love a lot. i love life, but after hearing about this i must ask the question, "what do you love to do?"

As you read this there is a man named Alexander Bailey Martin canoeing across America. He is taking 6 months to do this. His journey is over 6,000 miles. 2,000 miles are against the current, 3,500 with it, and over 600 miles of portaging (carrying canoe and equipment over land). A friend of mine knows Alexander and says, "he loves to canoe more than anything else." This is the first time a person will have canoed across the country. It is a unique and intense trip, a trip that is intimidating and makes me say, "i would hate that". But Alexander Bailey Martin loves it. He is doing what he loves. I think this is the problem with America, especially the north east. We are too ready to settle. We are too eager to please. We are not eager enough to please ourselves and just do it. A little more recklessness could do us some good. Stop thinking perfection is the end. Please, for your own sake, fail a little.

So what is it you love? once you find out do it, and do it unapologeticly.

Website for Alex's jounrey: http://www.americasriversexpedition.com/index.html

Into the Wild

2009-05-19T09:58:00.000-07:00

Generally I am not a person who enjoys discomfort. More often than not i would rather relax on a couch and watch Sports Center or House while i eat a sandwich somebody else made for me. I don't consider myself technologically dependent, that is, i do not play video games or spend hours and hours on YouTube. I spent the last few days backpacking around Harriman State Park in New York and i have come to some realizations.

The first, and most important, is: Development is Good.
Nature is great. Exploring the (relatively) undisturbed created order is fun and enlightening. You realize things about yourself, nature, and God that you may not otherwise see. However, it is exhausting and uncomfortable. Weather can be harsh, bugs can be annoying, and the terrain can be unforgiving. I did not find myself really missing the comforts of civilization, such as television and internet, but i did miss sleeping in comfort. Before arriving at our site for the last night i suggested NOT setting up our tent...why? Because i did not want to take the time to set it up and take it down - it was too much work...when in reality it took 5 minutes to set it up and 7 to take it down. Why wouldn't i want to take the small amount of time to set up the tent in order to sleep in comfort?

Human nature has evolved. Comfort and minimal effort takes precedent over the do-it-yourself attitude of past generations. We used to build our own houses, now we buy pre-built, or pay others to build them. I don't even make my own sandwiches (as i already mentioned). This is not anything new, but as I labored over damp wood trying to entice a fire i thought, "why would anyone want to do this EVERYDAY?", "the starter log is the greatest thing ever created", and "i need a smoke".

The Second thing i realized is: Nature is NOT God
This i already know, but it is VERY easy to see something like a waterfall or a sunset and deify it. The sights of this world entice certain emotions and cause us to say words like, "awesome" or "unbelievable" or "incredible" - all words that have serious implications that we may not necessarily understand. The creation should point us to the creator, much like "Waterlillies" by Monet makes us think of Monet's masterful concept of color and texture. It is beautiful itself, but it is the work of a master...and it is the master's skill that we are in awe of. Deifying the creation is a common mistake man has made over the course of history, but it has gotten worse with the generations tree-huggers and the like. Nature points beyond itself to the Master who created it.

However, during my time in the creation, i was cold to it. I understood its beauty but did not see it. I knew where it pointed but i did not turn to look. Exhaustion from finishing school and from miles upon miles of trekking with 50lbs on my back took its toll and what should have been an experience turned into a systematic walk - step-by-step, up the hill, down the hill...breath...drink...walk. So i ask, Did it do me well to head into the creation?

My answer: i am glad we have it this easy.