The other day...

A few Saturdays ago the boys and I were home hanging out and the doorbell rang.  Jonah and I were in the middle of a guitar jam session where he would take a turn playing and then I would take a turn playing :-).  We went to the door and a man and his wife were standing there with Watchtower literature.  Fighting the urge to not answer the door I opened the door hoping to be a good example of Jesus's love for my boys and the couple standing on my front porch.  After introducing themselves they began to state the purpose of their visit and were taken back a little when I invited them in.  They came in and we remained by the front door as the gentleman continued to explain, almost by script, his belief that people could indeed understand the Bible because the Bible in fact said so.  He asked me to read a passage from 1 Timothy which I did aloud for everyone.  After I finished reading he told me he was going to leave something for me to read through.  At this point I asked if they would like anything to drink but they said they had to get going.  I told them that we were believers and said something about house church.  This prompted a response from his wife where she told me that so many people get turned off by organized religion but that it was good that I was "showing an interest."  Needless to say the whole dialogue felt a bit awkward but they were very kind and sincere. 

       Although I didn't know exactly what she was referring to when she said "showing an interest" the phrase did remind me of the importance of showing an interest in people.  I wonder how much potential transformative power remains untapped due to our general lack of interest in people at times.  I certainly do a poor job most of the time showing a genuine interest in others, especially those different than me.  Maybe showing an interest could be equated to a type of redemptive listening...a listening that has the power to reveal the image of God in every person with the ability to eliminate the walls, barriers, and divisions we construct to define our neighbor.  Could Jesus's declaration of "he who has ears" be one of inclusive interdependence that contains the seeds of transformation needed to root us in grace and love for the other? 

        Just thoughts I wanted to pass on... 

Side (but very important) note: During this whole interaction Jonah remained glued to my leg and Judson watched from his swing absorbing the entire experience.  I think back to the statement "there are no neutral words..." and for that matter, moments

Crumbs

First of all you've got to check out Danny Coleman's The Parable of the Mustard Seed.  This is one of my favorite reads over the past few months. Powerful.

Next in line is a simple yet profound one-liner from (surprise, surprise) one of my favorite teachers Richard Rohr who stated recently on his blog "The steps toward maturity are necessarily immature."  Words of wisdom.

Regarding the Church, I want my children to reflect an understanding that David Dark mentions in his book The Sacredness of Questioning Everything when he says, "...our children speak very naturally of going to the 'church building.'  This habit is formed by an important distinction we've felt compelled to drive home: the building isn't to be confused with the people we know, the people with whom we live and work and dine and talk.  These are people who mean to have a go at following Jesus in all they say and do, the called, the ekklesia."

Another great passage from Dark's work states, "The many want the Jesus Christ whose name is a secret password into eternal bliss.  The few will allow Jesus' gospel to actually infect the way they think about, talk about, and regard other people.  The few will grapple with Jesus' always provocative good news broadcast...Our world will become one where no human life is unsacred or uninteresting, and there are no nobodies." 

I came across a description of the Tower of Babel that compelled me to pass it on.  Essentially the author asserts that the Tower of Babel serves as a powerful metaphor for the numerous complex belief systems we have evolved about God and how to get to him…the confusion that takes place when God dismantles the project reflects the confusion we feel when our belief systems fail to take us any closer to God.  The fact that we set up a tower to “get to” God reveals a disturbing point…could the belief that we have to somehow “get to” God be the root cause of our dualistic sense of separation from Him?   Crumb source: The Alternative Gospel: The Hidden Teachings of Jesus by John Baldock.

Let's continue to, as Peter Rollins put it, inhale the aroma of words and exhale life, liberation and love.

Jesus loves you, this I know

It's been a while...

For some reason I thought about posting tonight...it has been quite a year.  For the rest of my life I will be learning what it means to be a husband, father, son, and man seeking Jesus.  But I have to ask - Do I really even try to seek and follow Jesus.  I mean, am I living like what he talks about in the Sermon on the Mount.  Not even close!  Do I love my neighbor?  I'd like to say that I do but what actions do I have to show that? I have plenty of actions showing I love myself.

Jesus continue to strip away the layers of blindness in my life and teach me to love...

About those updates...

Yeah...about those reading updates coming in the next few weeks...maybe I should have been more conservative!  My posting history has been very sparse to date.  Got a few questions for you to think about...just going to list what comes to mind...sorry in advance for the sporadic nature of topics.

1. Is Adam's fall more powerful than Christ's resurrection?
2. Is there any question that Jesus cannot handle?  If not then why are we afraid to question?
3. Is it possible that God's love is unconditional? What about His forgiveness?
4. Where's the least likely place for darkness to hide?
5. What if we live in a safe universe?
6. Do you know anyone who has been arrested for living like Jesus?  If not why?
7. Why did Jesus say people would hate you for following Him?  Does it make sense to hate a person like Jesus?
8. Have you ever been told that you can't do anything to earn salvation but then directed to walk somewhere and say certain things to receive salvation?
9. How come we are more harsh on salvific generosity than on salvific stinginess?

Just some questions that surfaced as I was typing (definitely influenced by some recent and not so recent books)...Maybe I will get around to some of those book updates in the next...check that...near...check check that...we'll see :-)

 What questions have come to you lately?

News

I've always thought the word "news" was a little weird.  It sounds a bit bizzare doesn't it?  You think anyone would be interested in the 10 o'clock "olds" as well as the "news."  Or what about the 10 o'clock "second-hands?"  Just saying...

It's been a while (as usual) but here is some big "news" and a few "olds" in my story within the Story definitely linked to our story.

First, I am a dad!  My wife and I welcomed our first son in February!  It has been an adventure to say the least.  God is blessing us beyond measure.  We are so thankful for this new part of our journey.  God has opened spaces within my heart that I did not know existed through my son.  It's definitely a new way of knowing love. 

Second, I have many books I would like to tell you about that I've been reading over the past few months...hopefully over the next few weeks I can "update" you on my readings.  Andrew Marin's book Love is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community is very good.  Other authors that I've been reading lately include Thomas Merton, Richard Rohr (as always!), Thomas Moore, Charles Swindoll, Jean Vanier, and Stanley Hauerwas.  More from these readings to come...

Finally, I am currently reading Rob Bell's new book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.  It's been big "news" lately around some Christian circles...some like it, some not.  I am half way through it and all I can say is...you need to read this book.  It is conversation dynamite.  More to come on this excellent provocative read later...right now dad duty calls :-)

Reading Update

I am currently reading Job and the Mystery of Suffering by Richard Rohr. I wanted to pass on some snapshots from the reading…

“Religious education has for years given people answers to questions they’re not asking. The people accept answers quickly and easily. And the answers go about an inch deep. And the people, all too often, spout the answers for the rest of their lives.” “…such knowledge can pass away as quickly as it came, because we never thirsted for it. Until we make space inside, what comes is not an answer but an excuse – an excuse not to face the question, an excuse to stop searching, to avoid the journey.”

“The mystery of why there are thorns on the rose eventually becomes a question of who God is”

“Is Jesus your ‘personal lord and savior’? This phrase has become very popular, even though it’s very recent, and very individualistic. I get letters every week from people telling me they have made Jesus their lord and savior. I’m glad they have, but it’s going to take most of us all our lives to know what that means.”

“The church is filled with people who are living on hearsay.”

“Don’t let anyone tell you that theology and belief have not evolved.”

“God created a definition of good that seems to include evil.”

“The New Testament metaphor of Gehenna, the garbage dump of Jerusalem, ‘where the worm never dies and the fire never goes out,’ (Isa. 66:24) didn’t help us much either. For some self-loathing reason we tend to take negative metaphors literally and dismiss positive metaphors – such as, ‘your names are written in heaven’ (Luke 10:20) – as innocuous poetry.”

“But faith does not mean having answers; it means being willing to live without answers. Cultural faith and civil religion tend to define faith poorly and narrowly as having certitudes and being able to hold religious formulas. Such common religion is often an excuse for not having faith. Strange isn’t it? Faith is having the security to be insecure, the security to live in another identity than our own and to find our value and significance in that larger union.” (Gal. 2:20)

“It seems the real revolution, which we still have trouble accepting, is the Gospel, which tells us to work for justice for others but not to demand, expect, or even need it for ourselves. That is extraordinary freedom.”

“We must never think we are building up God by putting humanity down.”

“We begin here.”

...Rohr continues to illuminate perspective

Something for the Road

Well...after a two month absence...Here is what I have for you...

"Meditation means to let the word descend from our minds into our hearts and thus become enfleshed.  Meditation means eating the word, digesting it, and incorporating it concretely into our lives."
-words from and inspired by Henri Nouwen

What is God trying to teach you today?