"The Jesus Camp" and Allegiance (?)

There is a movie/documentary coming out soon entitled "The Jesus Camp". See http://www.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/jesuscamp/trailer/ or simply do a "Google" with the title to read some awfully disturbing theology.

My friend, Katy Allison and I, presented some thoughts on this recently. Below is our dialogue. The following will only make sense if you watch the clips/trailers.

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There is a new movie/ documentary coming out called “Jesus Camp”. It is about a camp called “Kids on Fire” for kids as young as 6 years old. The film will follow 3 children as they speak about their gifts and what it means for them to be Christians. It also teaches kids how to be political activist for their Christian faith and you hear them several times refer to themselves as “God’s Army”.

A woman named Becky Fischer runs the camp. She has been a children’s minister since 1991 and before that she was a business woman managing a motel and a radio station. She is also lead pastor for the F.I.R.E. Center in Bismarck, N.D.

You will see a flash of a young girl, 10 at the oldest, who is wearing a piece of duct tape across her mouth that says, “life” on it. What you don’t see is that she is outside an abortion clinic protesting abortion. There is a point in the film where the kids are chanting “righteous judges” over and over again.

***
Did you hear some of the sound-bytes coming from these people who are representing conservative Christianity to this country?

• “There are two kinds of people—those who love Jesus and those who don’t”. I guess they have not heard of the time Jesus said that anyone can love their friends…the real test being the ones who have nothing to offer you in return.

• “The evangelicals decide who will be in the White House” (Andrew Card on Meet The Press) I guess that have not heard of the time when Jesus said “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”—meaning God and Caesar are two completely different realities.

• “Righteous Judges, Righteous Judges, Righteous Judges” I guess they have not heard of the time when Jesus taught very clearly that judging is not something the Christ Community should be known for.

• “We’ve got to train our young people in the same fashion they’re training they’re young people” I guess they have not heard of the time when Jesus said, “Those who live by the sword will also perish by the sword.”

The saddest thing to me about the trailers(and I have not seen the entire film yet)— when the people in the movie say “we” and “us” and “our” they are not referring to the church, they are referring to their blind nationalism. Nationalism is different than patriotism. Patriotism is honoring what is good about a given nation be it Uganda, Poland, or the U.S. Nationalism, blind loyalty and complete allegiance, is something all together different. There is a word for it in Scripture: sin…idolatry…spiritual fornication (Thanks to my friend Randy Harris for that bit of distinction).

Whether you are aware of it or not, there is a battle being waged among Christians in America. The battle is being fought over defining rather elementary terms like “Jesus” “salvation” “church” and “gospel”.

Some want to lift up an American Jesus who wants his disciples to pray for “God to bless America” and for our “territories to be increased”. Others are reminding us that Jesus told us to pray for “the kingdom to come” and that our clearest promise from Jesus, from his own mouth, “you will have trouble in this world”.

Some want to reduce salvation to “avoiding hell” while others point out the eternal life starts right now. There is battle waging if you have the ears to hear.

Some want the church, though they would not admit this, to be an extension of the American Government, a lackey for American interest, economics and “democratic values”. Others point out that the church should always stand at odds with any tribe claiming to control the world. Only God sits on that throne.

What I am trying to say is that Jesus is political but the politics he instructed us to practice are often ignored by Contemporary Christians. It might sound silly or even downright demonstrative—have we been reading our bibles very closely? When I say Jesus is political I don’t mean he’s a Republican or a Democrat—I think we’re all mature enough to know that neither party has a foothold on the God of Scripture. When I say Jesus is political I mean he cares very much how we arrange our communities, determine our values—the way we treat one another; how we treat people whom we never met. That is the definition of “politics” in its oldest meaning. A way that is much bigger than elephants or donkeys.

I want the life of Jesus to pervade every compartment of my life. I don’t want to relegate him to an hour on Sunday, I want Jesus to be completely free to move and push me out of my own perceptions, biases and allegiances. I want the central teachings of Jesus to be engrained into my heart, soul, mind and quick reflexes. Teachings like:

1. The proclamation of the gospel should compel me to live in relationship with the poor (Lk 4).

2. That I should pray for my enemies. I wonder what would’ve have become of the Apostle Paul (formerly a terrorist by the name of Saul) had he been alive today? We might not have half of our New Testament. When is the last time our churches prayed for Sadaam Hussein or for Osama Bin Laden? That might sound foolish…but it might sound foolish because we’re more invested in our country than we are in the actual demands of Jesus.

3. Our allegiance flows in this order: kingdom, humanity, nation.

4. That the way of discipleship is found in death. “If anyone should come after me let him take up his cross.” Or, as Bonhoeffer stated, “Christ bids us to come and die.”

Katy and I have been wrestling with a familiar Gospel text these past few weeks. She has some very challenging things to share.

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There is a point in the gospels when Jesus rides into Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which was known as the final battle place against Jerusalem’s enemies. The people in Jerusalem were cheering and laying down their garments and palms leave becoming excited because in their eyes Jesus was coming to take down the Romans and put the Jews back in charge. But Jesus was really performing a type of play called “street theatre”. The Jews think that worldly power and glory follow Jesus but in fact the opposite is true. In the words of Chuck Campbell Jesus comes riding,

“not as one who lords his authority over others, but as one who rejects domination and comes as a servant;

He comes not as a mighty warrior, but as one who refuses to rely on violence;

He comes not with pomp and wealth, but as one identified with the poor.”

Jesus’ coming is explained in Zechariah 9:9-10
Rejoice greatly. O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
Righteous and having salvation is He,
Humble and mounted on a donkey,
On a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
And the war horse from Jerusalem;
And the battle bow shall be cut off,
And He shall speak peace to the nations;


Jesus himself explains why he has come in John 12:23-26:

"The hour has come for the Son of Man to receive glory. What I'm about to tell you is true. Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only one seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves his life will lose it. But anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it and have eternal life. Anyone who serves me must follow me. And where I am, my servant will also be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”
What my point is in telling you this is that the people in this documentary and many people in the U.S. see Jesus as the Jews saw Jesus when he was riding into Jerusalem. People still don’t seem to want a crucified messiah but rather one that will give them worldly wealth and power. But our Lord didn’t come to offer us worldly possessions and worldly power but rather he came to teach us how to be servants to the world, how to humble ourselves before the world, not conquer it.

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Admittedly, it is easy to point out the flawed thinking of others. The one’s who walk closest with Jesus recognize that we all have a long way to go in our lives of discipleship. Some of us will continue to be Pharisees thinking the answer is to clean up the streets and society, moving the poor and the sinners out of sight. Some of us will continue to be Zealots grabbing our guns, tanks and war planes every time we feel the impulse. Some of us will continue to be the Essenes, hiding and isolating ourselves from the pain and mess we’ve made of the world. Some will continue to be Sadducees perfectly ok that you are “sleeping with the enemy”. Perhaps the story Katy has shared this morning will call of us to more in our lives.

Maybe Republicans will see that you cannot determine values only by what happens below someone’s waste (abortion and gay marriage).

Maybe Democrats will see that just because you talk about helping the poor doesn’t mean you truly know the poor.

Maybe the cynics like me (that’s my official political party) will be resurrected out of our slumber and actually do something about the plight of the world. Something that is true to the way that Jesus did something about the plight of the world.

FYI. If you are looking for practical ways to lay down your life for the sake of the world, come up and talk to Katy and I at the end of assembly. In a few weeks I will be traveling to Washington D.C. to find out how much the Global Night Commute (Invisible Children) has affected the bloody wars of Northern Uganda. There are some students who are contemplating making the trip. Then, On October 15th IMAGE and some people from the Rochester Church will be throwing a love feast for the poor and marginalized of Detroit. Last, This March, I’ll be leading a group of you to the Bronx to practice what Gustavo Gutierrez calls “solidarity with the poor by knowing them.” The real tragedy in the US is not that Rich Christians don’t care for the poor; it’s that most of us don’t really know any truly poor people (Thanks to Shane Claiborne for that gospel wisdom).

Christians should never be afraid to lay down our lives for those we love OR for our enemies because we know that God alone holds the power to raise the dead. And if death visits a disciple, the Spirit will one day raise us from the dead.

A Good Word from Anderson, Indiana

My good friend Adam Hill is doing some serious reflection for North American Churches of Christ (or churches period). Here is a quote used without permission (take that Adam). His blog is weird (www.thehighcheese.blogspot.com) but he's brilliant. Must be the seminary he went to :)


“...And if all we have to offer this community racked with homes broken by adultery and abuse, teens deceived by our culture about sexual promiscuity and their lives subsequently shattered by teenage pregnancy and a merciless system of honor and shame grinding them to pieces, countless addicts fighting tooth and nail to regain anything close to real life again, countless people battling depression over the loss of a job, their homes, their families, a mountain of consumer debt that is crushing an entire generation…if all we have to offer this world and this community is a definitive answer to centuries of debate regarding the necessity of water baptism, the weekly observance of the symbolic (not literal) lord’s supper, the impropriety of the use of instruments in corporate worship, and the proper role of women in church polity, it is no wonder that they see no connection between what the church is about and their own struggles. It is no wonder they believe that we have truly lost the point a long long time ago.

It is not that doctrine is unimportant—indeed I value greatly the doctrinal commitments of my heritage of faith, even when I find them in need of further thought—but if our discussion of doctrine loses touch with our mission and our purpose, then we become more of a distraction than anything else. Our purpose is to be the person and work of Christ” --Adam Hill.

Like He Taught Us

Today, I am trying to pray according to the way of Christ.

I am praying for all of those left broken from the events of 9-11. For those rescue workers, nurses, doctors, police officers, firefighters--for the families who have an empty spot at the dinner table where a loved one used to sit. I've been to ground zero twice in the last ten months and it is one of the most numbing places on the planet.

I am also trying to pray as Jesus teaches me to pray: for my "enemies" and for the ones who might (wish) persecute me. So, as hard as it is, I'm praying for Hussein, Bin Laden, et al--that they might know the justice and mercy of God; the pain they've caused and the redemption that is still possible by living according to the kingdom of God and not the kingom of darkness.

I'm not only praying for Christians and Jews in the Middle East, I am praying for Muslims too.

Jesus said that it's easy to show love to a friend. But can we love those who wish us harm or who have nothing to offer us? I don't know if I can answer that question. But the question is still there begging to be acknowledged.

Some might call me soft, liberal, socialist...I honestly am trying to allow the Gospels to dictate the way I think and the practices I'm a part of. I fall short of that goal...but I'm on the journey.

Reel Spirituality

When it comes to film, literature, and the arts—it seems that we have a few options as followers of Jesus. The people of God can hide, burying our face in the sand screaming, “It’s all bad; it’s all the work of darkness.” Or worse, “It’s all pointless.” Or, the people of God can wage war. We’re pretty good at this. We could start boycotts, and concoct propaganda defending our particular viewpoint. I think these first two options are not in the best interest of people trying to represent God in the world. I think the people of God are called to engage everything around us. We can and should engage the questions real people are asking. More than questions related to the sacred hour on Sunday morning, people are asking questions about suffering, purpose, pain, sex, money, and meaning.

I do not claim to know everything about Jesus but it seems to me he wasn’t so interested in ignoring the world around him. He wasn’t terribly enthralled with waging war on culture either. Unless, of course, you are a religious person with your doctrinal ducks in a row…hmmm. In the Gospel’s I see Jesus engaging the world around him, asking people about their background, healing them in order to restore their place in the community. Teaching and preaching? Yes, but usually in the context of engagement and relationship.

As biblical scholar and writer Greg Stevenson reminds us (www.caritas2.blogspot.com):

People don’t only watch movies because they’re entertaining. Movies are a form of story telling. Stories are a means of connecting to the world and to one another.

1. Stories explain our world and teach us how to live in it.
2. The stories a culture creates and passes on shape that culture’s identity.
3. Stories, whether classic literature or a campfire story, preach to us communicating values, beliefs and a certain way of interpreting the world.

The primary generators of stories in today’s culture are film and television. There is a theological conversation occurring in America and it’s coming out of Hollywood, (paraphrase from a class taught by Greg on “O Brother Where Art Thou?”).

For a people whose primary religious text is comprised of stories, and whose chief teacher used story as his primary method of teaching—it seems the people of God would do well in any culture to reclaim the centrality of story.

We could do worse than to seek for God in the places we tend not to look.

To listen to the series, Reel Spirituality (Finding God in Unexpected Places)--go to http://rccaudio.christianwitness.us/ beginning Thursday.

Paul and Romans

I am about to teach ROMANS for the church I serve with Mike Westerfield (President of Rochester College) and Greg Stevenson (teacher extraordinare at RC...www.caritas2@blogspot.com). Here is a prelim description. How would others describe this letter for the ages?

Paul was not a theologian who spent his life in the ivory tower (though he clearly was well-educated and dedicated to theological reflection). Neither was he a minister who spent his time developing new church programs. Paul was a pastoral missionary who preached and embodied the gospel in every city, space, and context he found himself in.

Romans, a letter addressed to the churches in Rome in one of the most influential cities in the world, is more than a treatise on grace and works. This letter unpacks the mystery of God choosing to reveal himself in Jesus as God's witness to the world. The practical implications for you and I jump off the page when we are willing to dig deep into the rich soil of this letter.

From the power and universality of sin, to the practical call of discipleship; from the mystery of Israel to the transformation that occurs in baptism--Romans is a letter that resembles one of Mozart's great works. Romans must be considered from beginning to end as masterpiece.

The world of Romans is packed with meaning for today's Jesus followers. Come along for the journey...

Mere Discipleship

Lee Camp's book Mere Discipleship has challenged me over and over in my studies and reflection of my life of following Jesus. See this address for more information on the book:

I was fortunate to co-write the study guide with Lee (Brazos Press) this past spring. Though I'm still sorting out the implications of the book for my own context (family, teaching, ministry, etc), I find the "demands of discipleship" to be a fresh wind for an all too complacent and success driven church.

Here's the introduction to the work.





Exposing the Foundation of Western Christianity

In Mere Discipleship, Lee Camp is not simply challenging the beliefs of many Western Christians; he is challenging the vessel that births “belief”. Just as Dr. Martin Luther King did not foremost address the dangers of segregation in the United States but instead challenged the foundational philosophy held by White America based on power and greed, Camp is asking questions bigger than those typically asked by Christians. Otherwise stated: it is one thing to identify symptoms, another to diagnose the disease.

For Camp, the shortcomings of Western Christianity cannot be separated into detached compartments for these shortcomings—war, materialism, indifference, abuse of power, exclusion, racism, neglect of the poor— are the result of a poor theological paradigm; a false primal understanding of what it means to be Christian in a world fragmented by the principalities and powers.

The disease revealed in Mere Discipleship is two-fold: a Constantinian Cataract which colors the way most Western Christians think and live, and a Eusebian philosophy which empowers the cataract to run rampant. The Constantinian Cataract, suggests Camp, both climaxed in and was further fostered by the 4th Century marriage of Church and Empire. Some say the wedding was a sight to behold. “You should have been there. It only took the Gospel a few hundred years to take hold the hearts of the great leaders of the time. God truly had his hand in the explosion of the Christian faith.” Others do not remember the wedding with such nostalgia: “In such a way, Christianity becomes its own worst enemy: the triumph of Christianity actually inhibits discipleship,” (Camp, 22). The cataract noted by Camp carries at least two assumptions: (1) the ends justify the means and (2) the way of Christ is not relevant to the way the real world operates. One should agree with the author when he notes that to view the events surrounding 312 A.D. as either a triumph or defeat is too simplistic revealing naiveté and a loss of confidence in God’s ability to work in all settings and situations. But Camp is also correct when he notes that to ignore the ramifications of 312 A.D. and the rest of the Fourth century is irresponsible and dangerous.

The Eusebian philosophy, the other half of the disease, is the conviction held by many that “God sides with the winners,” (Camp, 46). Conveniently, the winners are the ones who end up writing history—a notion, that until recently, has not been entertained in a context were manifest destiny is boasted as a pivotal ideology in its early development and current identity. The Eusebian philosophy not only reiterates the legitimacy of the Constantine event, but furthermore has recently acted as a catalyst in recent developments in the United States (e.g. Iraq: 1990 and beyond).
In summary, Camp reminds the church that to be ignorant of the past is to be orphaned in the present. And so, instead of claiming our identity as children of light (a city on a hill) we orphans are quick to hold to American ideals instead of the demands of the Kingdom.



Revisiting the Language of Faith

After addressing the Constantine Cataract, and the Eusebian philosophy, Camp then sets forth to re-imagine the convictions and practices of the Christian faith; he offers new language for the way in which we understand discipleship, God, Savior, and the Church. Discipleship is not mere “belief”, but the intentional following of Jesus. One can purportedly “believe” and not follow. One can demonstrate reverence in “worship” and not follow. But if one is daring enough to “come and see”, to follow Christ, than they will find themselves engaged in belief and worship in places and with people never before imaginable (e.g. the Book of Acts). Orthopraxy, or right practice, trumps orthodoxy or right belief.

For Camp, God is not an abstract being, but a divine reality who has come near, whose language, though different from our own, can be heard in the cadence of the Gospel.

Camp talks of the church in terms of the collection of disciples. It is a far different depiction than the institutional model that is prevalent in the majority of Western Christianity.





Cruciform Siblings

Taking our queue from the Gospels then, the Church seeks to be Christ in our time and place just as Christ embodied the Kingdom in his own. In doing so, the church acts a certain way because of who we are. And what we do may not make a lot of sense to a world that rests identity in other places. What do we do then as disciples? According to Camp we live (to tell) the story. The church is the unwritten extension of the Gospels. Just as the early church sought to mimic the life of Jesus, the contemporary church seeks not to copy the early church but seeks to pattern itself after the life Jesus. More than telling others about Jesus, evangelism, according to Camp, invites people to live out the life of Jesus in a community. In fact, perhaps people have rejected the Western version of Jesus more than they have the authentic Messiah. This is what it means to evangelize. We also worship (intentionally loving our enemies not segregating worship from ethics). We pray (trusting that God will act the Church abandons the practice of coercion, manipulation, and power games). We baptize (reminding followers that they are Christian, Human, and American in that order). We eat the flesh and drink the blood (remembering that, at the Lord’s table, all are welcome and welcome to share all). These sacraments or symbols point us to the divine reality that Jesus’ Kingdom is already and not yet.


Most Christians make Jesus in our own image. The greatest danger in Christianity is to make God into our own image. This is a fact we cannot escape. We’ve all looked in the well hoping to see Him only to see our own faces. The vision of Jesus lifted up by Camp is the one that makes the narrative come alive in ways that are most “gospel.”

NOTE: Lee Camp is writing in Post-Christendom Post-modern America. His particular religious tribe is Churches of Christ, an off-shoot of the American Restoration Movement. Originally, the Restoration Movement bore semblance to the Anabaptist Movement but has since gradually merged into the largest block of American Christianity: Protestant Evangelical. In Camp’s view, the Churches of Christ, who once opposed the mingling of church and government, have now wed themselves to the state out a desire for prosperity, place, and influence within the broader culture.

Like C. S. Lewis and Dietrich Bonhoeffer before him, Lee Camp is driven by a passionate commitment to the kind of Christianity that offers no shortcuts and promises, no cheap grace, but is radically demanding, fundamentally life-changing, and entirely worth living. Here is a book that was just bursting to be written. Here is Christianity built foursquare upon a developing relationship with Jesus the Christ. . . . The style is highly accessible and the treatment quite reader friendly. This book is not at all difficult to read, yet it is informative, challenging, and provocative enough for all who are looking for a clearer profile of discipleship or a sharper focus to their Christian life. . . . This is a book I would recommend for a variety of publics. It could act as a basic text for people attempting to identify discipleship historically and in the contemporary world. It could provide a useful point of departure for faith-sharing groups. And it could satisfy those who are still willing to admit that they seek 'spiritual reading.' . . . It is not only the shadow of [John Howard Yoder] or the tracks of the tradition--nor even the pen of Lee C. Camp--that shows through on every page; the author's moral authority is equally evident, and this, his first book, cries out for a second. . . . There are interesting asides, appropriate stories, and helpful suggestions. Above all, readers will be left, not simply with a clear and progressive presentation embedded in a jargon-free narrative, but also with a degree of clarity about what Christianity could be. This is good both for its faithful practitioners and for a wider world. Camp thus offers an appropriately disturbing challenge to live up to our baptismal call and to start living more like real disciples, before it is too late.--Anthony J. Gittins

Tales of Immersion

I've been collecting funny baptism stories over the past few months...

One of the funniest ones comes from my father-in-law Patrick Mead (www.patrickmead.blogspot.com). This is classic.

I was preaching for a military church in Norfolk, VA back in my far, far right days. I was marking time enforcing the traditions of the church until Kami and I could move back to Scotland.

Two young sailors came up to me with another sailor between them. They introduced Antonio, an Italian boy who'd joined the Navy so he could become a citizen much faster. They had been kind to him when everyone else ragged him, messed with his bunk and gear, etc. That made him want to know why. When they told him about Jesus, he was ready! Antonio bear hugged me and announced "I'm gonna be baptized!" I told him we'd certainly talk about that but he had already moved on, hugging other people as he went inside.

I stood up to preach and Antonio came and stood in front of the pulpit. I hadn't said a word yet and was in a dilemma. Do I preach or not? Being a conservative traditionalist, I had to go for it. I shorted the sermon somewhat since Antonio was standing three feet away, staring at me like a puppy who's picked the boy who's going to take him home.

When I offered the invitation, I didn't ask for anyone to come forward because he was already there. I sat him down on the front row (a requirement for the baptism to be valid later) I asked him if he knew what he was doing. "Yes! I'ma gonna be baptized!" I was going to say my standard bit at this time that would go something like "In a few minutes, I will take you through that door right there. Before that, I will ask you to stand up with me and state that you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God."

I didn't get that far.

Once he heard that we were to go through that door, he went. I grabbed onto him and tried to drag him to a stop while asking him if he believed..... I wasn't entirely successful so we assumed that dragging a hefty preacher (I weighed 210 back then) against his will was sufficient evidence of faith.

Upstairs, Antonio headed toward the baptistry when I told him he had to change into other clothes first. He said, "Why?" I was momentarily stumped so said something like, "These are the clothes of unrighteousness. You need to put on the clothes of purity..." So he took off into the little room.

About the time I got my clothes on, Antonio was headed for the baptistry again. I stopped him and said, "I need to go in first." He said, "Why?" In reality it was a safety maneuver. I needed to make sure the stairs weren't slick and the water was warm enough (it was frequently slick with mold and freezing at the same time). Knowing he wouldn't understand I said something like, "I go first to drive the demons from the water!" That was cool with him,

In the tank I turned to him and found him in the pike position ready to dive in headfirst. I waved him off and physically held him, keeping him from plunging under, the whole time I pulled him down the stairs. While I tried to say my bit (I had a bit to say. I'm a preacher. That's what we do) he lifted his legs so that he could slide out of my arms and under the water. I restrained him. Frustrated with me keeping him from meeting Jesus in the water he put a leg up against the side of the tank and shoved. We both went under. I barely got out "in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!" before I was submerged.

We went under with such force that water rolled over the glass partition and fell in a cascade onto the Lords table scattering the communion ware. My first thought was Antonio had only been a Christian two seconds and he was already lost for watering down the communion.

And, sadly, that isn't even the strangest baptism story I have...

More immersion tales to follow.

Now That's a Party

In wrestling with some of Jesus' parable from the Gospel of Luke, I stumbled upon this mislaid treasure from an author who impacted me my high school and early college days.
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Philip Yancey recounts a story from the Boston Globe telling of a bride whose dreams were crushed when her expensive wedding was called off. The bride-to-be poured thousands of dollars of her own money into the big day, only to have everything pulled out from under her. The wedding was to take place at the prestigious Hyatt Hotel in downtown Boston. The total cost of the reception was $13,000 dollars. That was just for the reception. And this took place in the early 90’s.

When the groom got cold feet, the “angry bride” went to the hotel manager to get a refund. It was too late. She could either forfeit the money or go ahead with the banquet.

She decided to go ahead with the party, turning what was supposed to be a reception into a blow out party. Just ten years prior, the woman had been living in a homeless shelter. Now she was on her feet, and she did not intend to let this alteration slow her down.

“And so it was that in June of 1990 the Hyatt Hotel in downtown Boston hosted a party such as it had never seen before. The hostess changed the menu to boneless chicken—‘in honor of the groom,’ she said—and sent invitations to rescue missions and homeless shelters. That warm summer night, people who were used to peeling half-gnawed pizza off the cardboard dined instead on chicken cordon bleu,” (What’s So Amazing About Grace, Yancey, 49).

Joy

I first met her rather innocently five years ago. Her father and I worked together. "No big deal, right?" I was in a season of isolation (reading an unhealthy amount of books each week) and disallusionment--not looking for the "woman of my dreams." And maybe it was because I'd stopped looking that the spirit was alloted the space to move in my life.

Our relationship started rather simple: letters from Detroit to Nashville, email's, phone calls (a lot of phone calls) and a few face to face dates.

After six months of courting, Kara and I had The Talk. It went something like this.

"Well, Kara, I'm a bit nervous."

"Ok, why?"

"Well, this is your first real relationship...and I'm trying to figure out how this will work. You are either a) so picky I'll never be able to live up to your standards or b) a bit innocent and I'll be the greatest thing ever. So...which is it, which will it be?"

Kara's answer was a beautiful foreshadow, "Well, I suppose one day I'll be naive and think your the greatest and the next day, my standards will be higher than what you can live up to," (rough paraphrase).

Today, we've been married for two years. I'm twenty-seven, these two years have been the most meaningful two years of my life.

Kara's name in Gaelic means "dear little girl", in Greek "joy."

God's presence really shows up in smallest but most powerful ways.

Some Thoughts on Islam, 9-11

NOTE: The church I'm apart of is wrestling with this question: how can we dialogue with people of the Islamic, Hindu, or Buddhist faith? I'm proud to be a part of a church that is interested in asking the question without creating stereotypes or straw men. Below is part of one of these gathering times.
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I got up the morning of September 11, as I would most mornings. Showered, shaved, and ate some breakfast. I’m guessing many did the same. I was preparing to go to a funeral for my best friends’ great grandmother: Ebenezer Baptist Church in Detroit. The funeral was slated for 10am. As I was walking out of the dorm I noticed dozens of people gathered around the televisions placed around campus. “What’s going on?” I asked rather innocently. “You won’t believe it. A plane ran into one of the towers.”

I didn’t really have time to process what was being said, I was late for an important funeral. I rode down to Ebenezer Baptist with two close friends. As I jumped into the car, I sensed they were also caught up in the events surrounding New York City. I heard Peter Jennings voice, now being listened to by thousands of American all over the country on television and radio. He just kept repeating the phrase, “Oh my God. Oh my God.” And he really meant, “Oh my God.”

On the drive down, we learned that at second plane had hit the other tower. Now rumors were swelling around words like war, terrorists, plot and cells.

Needless to say, we did not have time to listen to al the details once we got to the church for the funeral.

This was perhaps one of the most transformative funerals I’ve ever been apart of. Lament, worship, prayer, confession and preaching were all apart of the gathering. I do not remember the name of the young minister who stood up to deliver a message that morning but I owe him a phone call or note of gratitude.

“Did you all hear the news? There was a plane. There was a building. There was plane and a building (at that moment someone in the audience shouted “Twin Towers"). Life is fragile, your decisions matter," the minister reminded us.

I got a little nervous; I know a challenging sermon at a white funeral wouldn’t go over well. But he did not relent in his prophetic role as pastor.

“You all come up in here acting religious. But I know some of y’all. You come up in here when I know where you been last night. You been drinkin’, smokin’, having sex.” No way could I get away with this in a white funeral.

As I left the funeral and drove back home that morning, I had this overwhelming sense that my world had changed. Not just because of the funeral but because of the events happening in New York City. What I didn’t know at the time—this darkness had spread to other American states and cities (Pennsylvania and D.C.)

I was paralyzed watching the news the rest of that day and throughout the week. I stayed in my apartment and watched CNN for hours. The only other time I’ve been that paralyzed for that amount of time was a few years back in the second war in Iraq broke out.

Some of you remember when JFK, Martin Luther King or Bobby Kennedy were shot. Some can recall with little ease, the “one small step” that put America on the moon. Some of you even remember Pearl Harbor. Now, I was going through one of those moments where I knew, “Life will never be the same.” It isn’t that times are changing—times are changed.
***

I have visited ground zero twice in the last eight months. I am still overwhelmed by the sheer destruction and tragedy produced by a small group of men.

There is a church, St. Paul’s Chapel, that sits across from the subway system and where the Twin Towers used to stand. It was the only building in the immediate area not affected by the smoke and the debris from the fire. This church became a hospital of sorts, housing victims, the deceased and the many volunteers who so valiantly served during the ensuing days and weeks.

There is one thing that’s haunted me over the last several months. Approximately three thousand people died in the 9-11 attacks. Some have estimated that the events of 9-11 have cost the U.S. almost 500 billion dollars.

As horrible as this day was, there are nations and people around the world who’ve experienced far greater loss and tragedy; some on a regular basis. The Asian Tsunami eclipses the death toll of 9-11 at an overwhelming rate. Earthquakes in China and Afghanistan have taken ten to thirty times the amount of people. My conclusion: America did not experience something brand new on September 11th; we experienced what most of Russia, Africa and the Far East already know: evil and death are as real as the nose on our faces.

Greg Stevenson (one of the best teachers I've been around) has recently turned my attention to the ways in which musicians responded to 9-11. Though he is a self-proclaimed Barry Manilow fan, I still think Greg is one of the better thinkers on culture and Christianity. See his fantastic blog at www.caritas2.blogspot.com

Using Bruce Springsteen as an example of an artist who “harnessed the power of fiction for a means of analysis and comfort,” Stevenson points us to the places where good theology is being done. Many artists wrote songs as a means of national therapy (like the country song which claims “faith hope and love are some good things, but the greatest is love.” Unfortunately, in this song the writer utters the phrase “I don’t the difference between Iraq and Iran.” But I digress).

According to Stevenson, many of the songs on the album (The Rising) address the grief and passion for revenge that consumed so many Americans. One song in particular (Lonesome Day) is something worthy of our consideration. “…It is sung from the perspective of one who has lost a beloved in the attacks.” The grief is too much to bear; the danger of revenge is greater:

Better ask questions before you shoot
Deceit and betrayal’s bitter fruit
It’s hard to swallow, come time to pay
That taste on your tongue don’t easily slip away

The song ends with faith and hope:

Let kingdom come
I’m gonna find my way
Through this lonesome day

The point to all this: 9-11 has changed the way we think about other religions, regions, spaces and peoples. In some ways this is good, in many ways this is bad. Turbans, darker skin, and accents automatically make persons suspicious. For instance, many assume that all Middle Easterners are Muslim—a far cry from the actual facts. 9-11 has created new categories that did not previously exist: terror alert, homeland security, threat level (orange, pink, and red—FEAR).

If the church is supposed to stand between the pain of the world and the love of God (to paraphrase N.T. Wright), we'd better be aware of the place in which we stand.

The world has changed.

Dumb Churches

I know I should be a bit more polite in my language, but I simply cannot resist. There are some dumb churches out there. My greatest evidence, your honor, are the messages that churches actually put on the signs outside their building.

On this issue, I think Protestants could learn a great deal from Catholics and forfeit the "sign strategy" all together.

Here are some of the worst church signs I've seen over the years.

* "Stop, drop and roll won't work in Hell." Now there's a thougtfully constructed view of the point to God's working in the world.

* "Eternity--smoking or non-smoking?" Another articulate way of describing God's redemptive plan for creation and humaniy. So thoughtful and endearing.

* "This church is prayer-conditioned" C'mon...someone needs to fire the committee making these decisions.

* "God Answers Knee-Mail" Yes, God is in the business of anwswering our Christmas shopping lists. Prayer is reduced to "what I need and want."

* "Ch__ch: What's missing? U R" Though the least repulsive on this list, a week ploy for evangelism. Makes a statement someone recently made all the more truer, "So much of evangelism is manipulation."

News from the Bronx

Here's an email from Jared Looney, one of the leaders of the house church movement in NYC (the Bronx). He's in the trenches, bearing witness to the way of God.

Dear Friends,

A day in the life in the city. Reflecting on yesterday.... After a 7AM bible study with a man in my building, I met with the summer interns for the entire morning for our weekly group session. After some e-mails and casual conversations, I continued to meet with our missionary apprentice to review many of the issues at hand. After heading home at around 6:30PM, I realized the need to recant a decision I had made about an upcoming meeting, and so after arriving home, I went to the laptop making sure to keep my time brief.
Family time.... playing with Adalia, Hylma folding clothes, daddy reading, dinner late in the evening. Then, around 9PM there was a knock on the door.
A man that is being reached out to brought me out to the elevator. We went down to the basement where another brother and I met the man's friend.

His friend was 'coked up' (translation = high on cocaine). As a means of 'coming down,' he put down 48 ounces of alcohol inside of 30 minutes, smoking cigarettes and a blunt (translation = marajuana), and rambling on mostly in explitives about all the hate and pain in the world, how much he'd like to become a vigilante, and how he needs to divorce his wife. He told me why he hates white people even though he has white friends, and he explained how well he can quote the Bible. I thought to myself how much he needs to KNOW Jesus.

He seemed intrigued with how we just sat and listened. He refused prayer at first, but later agreed to it. As we prayed for him and for the power of the Living God to be at work, he became strangely calm. As we ended the prayer, he sat on the edge of tears, his disposition transformed. We shook his hand and gave him a hug as we returned upstairs, and the man who called us down to meet his friend continued to tell of how God was working in his life.

Continue to pray for us. Pray for the first man whom God is reaching. Pray for his friend who lives in the 'depths of the pit.' Petition the Lord of the harvest for workers. Pray for the power of the Risen Lord to fall upon the city. The war is waging. The Lord is moving.

Another day in the life in the city.

Jared

Belonging

For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated with the ability of humans to survive all types of drama and tragedy. Elie Wiesel’s Night caught my heart at a young age. Imagine, as a young man, being deported from your home, neighborhood and regular routine to “hell on earth”—life in several Nazi concentration camps.

I've been arrested by Anne Frank’s writing and in subsequent dramatic productions. This young girl, able to see God’s presence and paradox through the worst of circumstances, and in the end, teach us about the necessity of hope—the Nazi tactics could touch her family and physical comfort, but they could not touch the spiritual flame that blazed inside.

Jewish people, Israel for that matter, have survived displacement, slavery, bondage, brutal working conditions, food scarcity, the Red Sea—not to mention Persian, Assyrian and Babylonian captivity. Though there communities and individual lives have endured chaos, they survive taking on the strength of that which they’ve overcome.

***

As profound as men and women’s ability to survive, there’s any even greater stirring in the human soul. Even greater than the human ability to survive is the human need to belong.

Gangs, Starbucks small groups (if you don’t believe me, there are many colonies of people who meet at Starbucks three to four times a week) all point to one thing—the women and men who share our neighborhoods and offices are desperate to belong. Desperate to be apart of something other than their individual aspirations and failures.

In belonging, people have identity. When we are named as son, daughter, wife, husband, teacher, coach, elder—we are given reason to live and to live well.

In belonging, people have purpose, a sense of mission. Our world is full of folks who have no other mission in life than to “shop 'til they drop” and to “die with the most toys.” Only until we have a mission worth dying for, can we really begin to live


“In his marvelous book Letters to My Children, Daniel Taylor describes an experience he had in the sixth grade. Periodically the students were taught how to dance. Thank God this kind of thing isn’t done anymore, but the teacher would line up the boy at the door of the classroom to choose their partners. Imagine what it would have been like to be one of the girls waiting to be chosen, wondering if they would be chosen by someone they didn’t like.

One girl, Mary was always chosen last. Because of a childhood illness, on of her arms was drawn up and she had a bad leg. She wasn’t pretty, she wasn’t smart, and she was…well…fat. The assistant teacher of Dan’s class happened to attend his church. One day, she pulled Dan aside and said, “Dan, next time we have dancing, I want you to choose Mary.” Dan couldn’t believe it. Why would anyone pick Mary when there was Linda, Shelley, or even Doreen? Dan’s teacher told him it was what Jesus would have done, and deep down inside, he knew she was right, which didn’t make it any easier. All Dan could hope for was that he would be last in line. That way, he could choose Mary, do the right thing, and no one would be the wiser. Instead, Dan was first in line,” (Messy Spirituality, 84-5)

Dan describes this moment, a fascinating commentary on our dominating desire to belong.

The faces of the girls were turned toward me, some smiling. I looked at Mary and saw that she was only half-turned to the back of the room. (She knew no one would pick her first.)…Mr. Jenkins said, “Okay, Dan-choose your partner!”

I remember feeling very far away. I heard my voice say, “I choose Mary.”

Never has a reluctant virtue been so rewarded. I still see her face undimmed in my memory. She lifted her head, and on her face, reddened with pleasure and surprise and embarrassment all at once, was the most genuine look of delight and even pride that I have ever seen, before or since. It was so pure that I had to look away because I knew I didn’t deserve it.

Mary came back and took my arm, as we had been instructed, and she walked beside me, bad leg and all, just like a princess… (Letters to My Children, 13-17).

Dislocation: Metro Beach (Detroit, MI)

Charles Campbell recently spoke at the church where I am blessed to pastor--May 21st to be precise (http://rccaudio.christianwitness.us/).

His class "Reading the Bible in Dislocation" greatly impacted our church and some of our small groups are taking seriously the challenge of reading the Bible in multiple settings and spaces.

Campbell's premise is that the location, the very location, one reads Scripture in, will drastically shape the experience one has with the holy text. For instance, if I read Luke 4 (a prime story in the Luke narrative) in Starbuck's in downtown affluent Rochester, my experience, my understanding of the text, will be drastically different than if I am reading the text in say, a shelter for abused women. The words "The spirit is upon me to preach good news to the marginalized" can best be heard when it is read among the marginalized.

The key: remember that the goal is not "evangelism" per se but an opportunity for those who normally read the Bible in church, home, etc. to be changed by reading the Bible in the places in which most of Scripture's stories take place: market place, streets, foreign spaces.

One of my favorite lines from Cambpell's teaching time: "It is not that we good Christians posess Jesus in here and then somehow take Jesus outside to others. Jesus is already there--he's already outside! We are simply invited to go (outside) and meet him there," referencing Hebrews 13, "And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then to go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come."

---

So our small group went yesterday to Metro Beach on the outskirts of Detroit to read the text in dislocation. Metro Beach just might be the most visible public space of the melting pot that is Detroit: Arabs, Eastern Europeans, affluent white and black, poor white and black, Asian, Laocian--we read the Creation Psalms and passages about community in Paul's thinking, etc.

It was a subltle shift, not as drastic as reading the text in the other places we plan on doing this summer, but a shift I consistently need in my life. I need the pace and rythym of my sheltered suburban life to be interrupted. And in the process, I hope to meet Jesus.

Christ Plays in Creation: Conversation #4

NOTE: Continuing the dialogue between a pastor in Rochester, MI and two missionaries in Uganda, we are considering the important work of Eugene Peterson's Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology. Right now, we're considering chapter two: Christ Plays in Creation.


I want to hone in on Peterson's description of "Gnosticism," (pg. 59ff). Peterson draws out these primary threads for understanding Gnosticism (which we'll generally define as the privatization/hiddenness of truth or the modern notion that belief and praxis are two separate things). The parallels to Western Christianity are apparent. I'm curious to hear how a westerner writing about western faith resonates with westerners living in Uganda.

*Metaphysical alienation: The material world is temporary, passing away. In fundy lingo, "It's all going to burn anyway, who cares?" Because God is spirit, we should not invest ourselves in the material ignoring the fact that Creation is good/very good and that we (material and spiritual beings) are created in the image of God.

*Secret lore: Hidden truth is the one path to salvation. Da Vinci Code smacks of this--which forces me to ask myself, why are people so attracted to this hidden salvation/revelation? Is it because it lets us off the hook from the radical demands of the gospel, or the sacrificial demands of local faith communities? Is it because Da Vinci code is inherently against metanarratives (Roman Catholics, Universal Church, Opus Dei, Patriarchy).

*Escapism: "We escape from everything except the self, we escape from the world into the self," (61). Peterson will later remind us that I am not myself, when I am by myself. I am made to live in community, relationship and dependency on others (wives, families, faith community, neighborhood's), etc.

*Few souls: This Gnosticism is only found and achieved by a few...good remnant theology. We see this in extreme fundamentalism and extreme liberalism, it's really good ol' fashion pride and arrogance. God is not interested in saving the world (cosmos) BUT in a few people. How depressing is that?

*Individualism: Private interpretation is encouraged (i.e. self taught is a virtue) and it seems that Gnosticism can be prone to a historical reflection.

Stanley Hauerwas said to a group of preachers and professors this week, quoting someone else I believe, "The hardest thing to do is to live where you are."

God places us in specific geographical locations, ethnicities, relationships, times and worldviews to ask the question C.S. Lewis asked when writing about Narnia. "Once I created Narnia, I asked myself, now how would God redeem that world?"

"Gnosticism offers us spirituality without the inconvenience of creation...spirituality without the inconvenience of sin and morality...spirituality without the inconvenience of people who don't like or who aren't 'our kind.' And maybe most attractive of all...a spirituality without God, at least any god other than the spark of divinity I sense within me," (62).

Peace.

Josh

Conversation #3

Clearing the Playing Field... revisited


In response to your thoughts on worship, it seems that Peterson could almost substitute the word "Life" where you have used "worship" in your article. I think that worship is a word that is almost dangerous to use now because the working definition for most people in our churches is so hardened. I think that it is a word that needs to be carefully redefined as we use it because it conjures up so many images throughout the conggregation, and so little imaginative freedom. It seems that we cannot break out of a constrictive box because we spend our time arguing, sometimes debating, and in better scenarios wrestling among different terms, most of which have been petrified and void of life for ages. I think that Rochester is a church that is really open to exploration and is taking some great strides that are the exception to our movement as a whole.

The talk about gnosticism made me think of the critique of the whole "historical Jesus" movement by Bultmann (I think?), where Jesus always ended up looking a lot like the person doing the research on the historicity of Christ. To the existentialist Jesus turned out to be, whoa!, and existentialist, to the monastic Jesus was monastic, and to the moralist, the center of the life of Christ was moralism. We seem to hold on to that tendency as many of us today in the Christian church, which overemphasizes (in my opinion) a confession of belief in doctrinal stance, thus underemphasizing a lived out gospel that may or may not make the verbal confession that the church is seeking. I think that Peteson's
discussion of the Word is brilliant in bringing these together. I think
it is scary, though, because it is so hard to define and impossible to confine.

I love this stuff. Mark and our other teammate, Ben are reading the Clearing the Playing Field section now. I think they are both excited about joining the discussion.

Feel free to use any of this on your blog.

Spencer OUT!

Conversation #2

It is a bit arrogant to quote yourself, but this is from an article I wrote for Wineskins...I think it rings true in my reading of "Clearing the Playing Field":

The top question of the day for American churches is not whether we are right, rationale, or biblically accurate. Whether we have a progressive worship service on Sunday’s or whether we are on the cutting edge in our particular tribe. The top question for the Church is, “Do we understand who God is and the way he understands worship?” Our lives are worship more than the songs that flow from our lips. The Living God is calling the church to be a prophetic people. To be prophetic in the way Jesus taught and lived while he was among us, revealing the Kingdom of God.

I love what Peterson does with the phrase "spiritual theology." In fact, I'm going to unpack this for a moment.

First, I think we need to talk more about the gnostic tendencies in American Christianity or maybe it is just Christianity in general. I think the appeal to the DaVinci Code, for instance, is that it is simply a new (old really) set of beliefs. If I believe in the right to live, personal responsibility, my country--then I'm a faithful Christian. I can root, cheer, believe, admire, and even worship Jesus so long as I don't actually have to follow his way and teachings. Luke-Acts (in conjunction with a discussion about "belief" in the ancient world vs. modern constructs) would serve as a healthy remedy to the disease of gnosticism.

Second, a sound-byte may illuminate what I'm trying to say. Why are eastern religions so appealing to Westerners? In the West, Christianity presents itself as a philosophical system whereas Eastern religions present themselves as a way of life. What I'm saying, Christianity started out as an eastern religion! Rodney Clapp's phrase "Constantinian Gnosticism" seems appropriate here.

Now to theology. Coming from a religious movement (Restoration Movement) that almost devalues theological education (hence our pride in self-taught preachers) I find this to be an extremely important element. We need women and men who've wrestled with the great thinkers of the twentieth century, who've been challenged by James Cone, Guitterez (sp?) et al. We need folks who understand the complexity and mystery of trinity without offering a Kool-Aid "esque" explanation.

But we need theologians to also be practicioners. That's the genius of Peterson. Here's a first class theologian who's committed to the work of local pastorates.I don't know a whole lot of spiritual theologians. I know a lot of spiritual people who carry around some unhealthy theology (myself included) and I know some great theologians who've never actually embodied the Good Samaritan.

Confession: I would rather hide out in the office, writing this reflection than go and put my arm around the woman in the hallway who just found out her husband is leaving her. So, today, the word from God, is to be less "theological" and more "spiritual" (to use Peterson's language). To be more passionate about living according to the rythyms of the gospel than knowing the text.


P.S. I may put some of our discussion on my blog, if I have your permission to do so.


Peace.

Josh

Conversation #1

Warning: The following posts will be discussions between Josh Graves, Spencer Bogle, and Mark Manry. One lives in cozy Rochester Hills, MI and the others live in Jinja, Uganda. All three are dedicated to asking the question, "What does it mean to be an apprentice of Jesus?" The conversation is based upon Eugene Peterson's book "Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology."


Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places
Conversation 1- Clearing the Playing Field


And so we begin our conversation on “a conversation in spiritual theology.” I will try to offer up ideas which will ignite some dialogue, though it may be tempting to merely converse on the subject of “Eugene Peterson as poet extraordinaire.” I am not sure what structure will work best for this dialogue, but I think that the form my initial entry will consist of my overall understanding of the main points (often times I find in discussion that what I perceive as the main point might not necessarily be so), maybe a quote or two that I see as representative of his argument (or perhaps quotes that just blew my comfortable framework of spirituality to pieces), and then some proposed questions concerning praxis. Let me know what you think if it is not what you expected or wanted.

This guy is a stud- to steal a Mark Manry word, an absolute wordsmith.
I felt that the Introduction and “Clearing the Playing Field”
prolegomena exposed the current (and historical) Gnostic tendencies that separate the spiritual life from the here and now and from the relationships that compose our nexus of existence. It draws back the theologian with head in the clouds as well as the elitist spiritualist who interprets holiness as isolation from the surrounding ‘sinful’world. I guess if I were to choose another sub-title for the book so far it might simply be, “a celebration of Life.” He has such a way of constructing ideas to open eyes to the possibility and the reality of life in everything that exists. All of this, encased in the Word. I love that he states that he will use 2 stories, 3 texts and 4 terms to begin, and the 2 stories and 3 texts are all scripture. I guess I was expecting a good “sermon illustration” story, but found that everything is scripture in here, and it challenges me to see all of life through the Word. His passion for the Word of God, living and played out in
every aspect of life, is apparent on every page. I thought I had a
fairly decent “theology of the Word,” but I was captured in his exegesis of John 3 and 4, as he exposed the creative nature of the word made flesh. He has a way of sharing thoughts that are so profound to me in a way that leaves me feeling like, “why in the world did I not see that? How have I missed it?” In both stories it is comforting to find Christ at the center, creating and recreating, covering a spectrum of influence of which is impossible for me (or the people with whom I
work) to be outside. It is so very freeing.

My thoughts through this section was that it seems that our interpretation of spirituality and tendency to separate it from its sibling translations of the more “here and now” wind and breath have such a profound impact on ecclesiology. It seems that it lends itself to a rather low ecclesiology where it is hard to see the church as the body of Christ in action in the world. It seems that this gnostic spirituality is always waiting for Christ to “use me” or Christ to do something while very rarely reaching the point of identity where we see ourselves as the body of Christ as well as ourselves in direct relation to the body of Christ incarnate in the world. His 4 terms all seem to resound with one theme- Relationship! With everything.

All of the time. How do we see it? How is Christ at the center? To often we have reduced this to a trite moralism that stifles our imagination. My struggle is to find the language that can re-define the terms that our congregations are so “used to” and comfortable with that are now a barrier to imagining the Christian Life in whatever context they find themselves. How do we talk about sin? Salvation?
Grace? How can we use a language that challenges our churches without
leaving them behind with a seminary jargon? How can we challenge
them to use the same imagination that they use with their jobs working on a computer, designing a car, exploring ways to teach a 7th grader, in their walk with Christ? Well, I guess I will spare the quotes this time because I have guests and need to cook something for dinner. I am anxious to hear what you think.


Spencer

Mom Instincts

I am convicted that I live my life according to the insticts that are embedded deep within. Some instincts are good, some are destructive. The spiritual life is figuring which is which.

I grew up in a nurturing, safe, and empowering home. Many of the insticts I live out come from my mother.

Instinct #1. The instinct to love. Here's the thing: to love someone is to risk everything. We run the risk of being rejected when we choose to love. Those who are willing to invest in others, pursuing them, face the reality that some will not love in return. Long story short--mom taught me to love without conditions, risking all one has for the sake of others. Mom does not exist for herself but for the sake of others. The instinct to love, to risk, is a great gift--full of terror, wonder, pain, and rejection.

Instinct #2. The instinct to work. My mother wove discipline into her children. Nothing comes easy, if it does, be suspicious. Little comes without hard work, if it does, it probably isn't worth having. Right in front of us, mom lived out discipline (going back to college when I was entering the teenage years) juggling a chaotic family, school, and deep fidelity to a local church community.


Instinct #3. The instinct to praise. To praise is to admit the incompleteness of our existence. Not just praise toward the Creator, but praise towards those around her. Constant affirmation, encouragement, and approval--no matter what adventure we invested ourselves in...and there were many.

To love like Jesus. To work for the way of God like Jesus. To praise the Father and those around you like Jesus...what better legacy can a mother leave for her family, those whose lives cross her annointed path?

Global Night Commute for the Invisible Children

According to my good friend, philosopher, and former Ugandan Missionary, John Barton, Christians tend to fall into two camps when it comes to issues of social justice (to paraphrase). One, they are naive and believe that enough money, American ideals (capitalism, democracy), optimism and denial will assure success and triumph. Or, they are cynical, quick to judge, though they themselves are not personally invested in works of mercy with the poor and marginalized. This is especially dangerous in the world of professional ministers and academia.


***

This weekend, the Rochester Church and Rochester College are partnering to participate in the Global Night Commute (this Saturday from 5pm to 2am)--a follow up to the viewing we hosted for Invisible Children.

Americans are closing their eyes to open the worlds’ to an unseen war.

By lying down, we are joining the invisible children in northern Uganda, and demanding that our government put an end to the longest running war in africa, and one of the worst crises in the world today.

FACTS:

Northern Uganda called the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today because of the lack of attention

1.7 million people forcibly displaced

AN estimated 20- 50,000 children abducted to fight as soldiers
tens of thousands of children commuting nightly

130 people die per day in Northern Uganda due to violence

On April 29th in over 130 cities across the country, thousands are lying down to demand that our government take a stand and put an end to child abduction, the need for night commuting, and war in northern Uganda.

We ask two things:

President George Bush and The United States Government should press the United Nations and Yoweri Museveni to do everything in their power to:

End the conflict and protect the civilians in Northern Uganda
Ensure adequate humanitarian assistance to the Invisible Children (in the internally Displaced camps and beyond)

This saturday, join us (rich, poor, college students, young, old) for time of reflection, peaceful protest, community, worship, and story-telling. We'll root for the Pistons and American Idol...will we root for the ones who have no voice?

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/theMovement/globalNightCommute/