ash wednesday

we had a wonderful ash wednesday service last night with our students.  i was moved and impressed with how focused they were.  maybe they fooled me and they were just texting in silence the whole time, but i was honestly moved.  it's pretty deep and amazingly moving to look someone in the eyes and tell them, "remember you are dust, and to dust you will return.  repent and believe the Gospel."

remember you are dust.

remember.

you are dust.

the reality of death is gripping.  we live in a culture that fears death and tries to defeat death.  little does our culture know, death has been swallowed up.  where, o death, is your sting?

the Blue Parakeet II

what's the purpose of the Bible?  what is the overall theme of the Bible?  is there one?

i like how one of the pastors i work with says it: "the Bible is the story of God's relentless pursuit of us."  how true!

in the Blue Parakeet, McKnight talks about the Story in 5 parts [and no, he's not crazy exclusive about this!].

1) Oneness - creation

2) Otherness - sin

3) Otherness expands - sin expands!

4) One in Christ - redemption

5) Perfectly One - consummation

there is a Story in the Bible, and sometimes we forget that it is a BIG story.  the Bible isn't about grabbing a verse here and there to make ourselves feel better on a particular day.  the Bible isn't focused on making us feel good.  the Bible is about us locating ourselves in the Story.  it's about helping us come into contact with the God who pursues us.

McKnight says, "God's idea of redemption is community-shaped."

is our idea of redemption and, therefore, our reading of the Bible too narrow?  have we made it all about us?  we have a scary tendency to do just that - to make everything about us.  let me tell you, in working with students and in my own life, the desire to make everything about me is there.  but the Bible is about the Story; it's about the BIG picture.

the question remains, how do YOU and I fit in?

the Blue Parakeet

great read. Scot McKnight's, the Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible.

"God did not give the Bible so we could master him or it; God gave the Bible so we could live it, so we could be mastered by it. The moment we think we've mastered it; we have failed to be readersof the Bible..."

amen! are we honest in how we approach the Bible and what baggage we bring? are we honest about our "picking and choosing"?

how can we develp a consistent hermeneutic? do we read to master the text or be mastered by God's Word?

proverbs 14:31 NLT

"Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, 

but those who help the poor honor him."

really?  well.  it's in the Bible.  must be true!  what a thought!  the way we treat the poor, or those in need, is a direct reflection on how we relate to God.

in fact, those who oppress the poor INSULT God.  those who help the poor HONOR God.

can it be any easier than that?  it's plain.  in the relationships between God and neighbor, how we relate to our neighbor is a direct reflection on how we really feel about God.  and this is why Paul is able to say that fulfilling the command to love our neighbors as ourselves fulfills all the commands of the Law and the prophets.

loving your neighbor = loving God and vice versa...

why do we fight? why do we wage war?

next post.  same book.  everlasting man, G.K. Chesterton...

why do we fight?  we do we wage war?  what's in it for the soldiers?  a good question.  something i've asked myself before.  what causes men/women to go to war?  why risk their lives?  pride.  bravery.  defense.  what causes people to take up arms and kill others?

G.K. writes,

"In nothing is this new history needed os much as in the psychology of war.  Our history is stiff with official documents, public or private, which tell us nothing of the thing itself.  At the worst we only have the official posters, which could not have been spontaneous because they were official.  At the best we have only the secret diplomacy, which could not have been popular precisely because it was secret.  Upon one or other of these is based the historical judgment about the real reasons that sustained the struggle.  Governments fight for colonies or commercial rights; governments fight about harbours or high tariffs; governments fight for a gold mine or a pearl fishery.  It seems sufficient to answer that governments do not fight at all.  Why do the fighters fight?  What is the psychology that sustains the terrible and wonderful thing called war?"

later he says, "It is always stubbornly and stupidly repeating that men fight for material ends, without reflecting for a moment that the material ends are hardly ever material to the men who fight."

in war...who wins?  how is the winner decided?  are the winners content, happy, satisfied?  were the sacrifices and losses incurred worth it?  how do we decide the worth of human life?

in the last election there was a great deal of argument, usually hostile and irrational, about abortion.  now, abortion is never good.  it is never right.  it is always bad, horrible, evil, murder, etc.  however, when i brought up to people that war and guns kill people as well, they said i was crazy.  in fact, they rationalized, God sometimes wants us to go to war.  sometimes war is necessary.  so, therefore, sometimes the loss of human life is necessary.  hmmmmm....

who gets to decide?  why do we fight?  why do we kill?

G.K. is right.  we need to look at the psychology of war.  especially in times like these.  in times where more and more men and women are returning from war with minds that are beaten.  with spirits that are tired and tortured.  what will we do?  thank them, then forget about them?

why do we fight?

the everlasting man

reading, the everlasting man, by G.K. Chesterton.  the book is, some believe, a direct response to H.G. Wells', outline of history.  Chesterton's writing and polemic is almost hilarious!  it's refreshing.  he says things that make you go, "yeah, i guess he's right!"  he makes you think, and anymore, that's a really great thing.  we need to think!

here's some inspiration.  for free.  be inspired.  but please, do something with this inspiration.  [inspiration that doesn't inspire one to actually do something is pretty much worthless]

Chesterton is talking about "comparative religions," and he basically says:  "you can't compare religions.  it's not a level playing field."  that's what i love about G.K.  he just says what he thinks.  he doesn't deny or gloss over the Truth.  maybe not the greatest evangelism tool, but it's got my attention.  in his look at world religions, Chesterton notices that almost all religions have an idea of a Supreme god who is in charge of the other gods.  every religion has the one god who is over the other gods.  he is also refuting popular theories of evolution where, he rightfully argues, everyone becomes a god.

Chesterton writes, "In short, there is a feeling that there is something higher than the gods; but because it is higher it is also further away...For them what was truly divine was very distant, so distant that they dismissed it more and more from their minds...As the Jews would not degrade it by images, so the Greeks did not degrade it even by imaginations.  When the gods were more and more remembered only by pranks and profligacies, it was relatively a movement of reverence.  It was an act of piety to forget God."

"it was an act of piety to forget God."

the big, supreme being, became so scary, other, holy, that it was too much to think about or talk about.  this being was unreachable.  so it was an act of piety to forget God.  

unfortunately, we do this today.  dealing with God means dealing with sin.  it means we have to deal with God's holiness.  in the end, we come out like Isaiah, "i am unclean and i live among a people who are unclean.  i'm not worthy."

let us confess.  let us turn to the God that reaches down to us even when we ignore him or believe he is far off.  and, let us be sure that he will bend down and listen.  thanks G.K.!

retreat-ing

back from the annual high school retreat at Cascades Camp.

i love retreats.  i love retreat-ing.  getting away from the junk that clutters my life; the distractions; the stress.

it seems like every time i go on a retreat or go to camp, i'm reminded of my call.  i'm reminded of why i work with youth.

if i'm honest, there are days i wonder, "why am i doing this?"  those days where i'm at church until 10 pm.  those nights, weekends, weeks away from family.  the pain of watching kids make bad choices.  the feelings of inadequacy...

that's what makes my camp experiences so meaningful.  camp reminds me of why i work with youth.  camp re-energizes me.  at camp, God reminds me of the call on my life to serve youth.

God reminds me to be attentive;

to listen to the stories of students;

to let loose and have fun [be vulnerable];

to worship;

to give thanks for creation;

to be joyful instead of cynical.

for me, God shows up when i'm retreat-ing.  God shows up when i'm out of my element.  

what about you?  when does God show up for you?  what are the places in life where you go to unwind and be renewed?