:: in.a.mirror.dimly :: A theology and culture blog with the Bible in one tab and a news feed in the other.

In digging around the letters by the apostle Peter lately I noticed a rather striking change in his introduction when comparing 1 Peter and 2 Peter.

1 Peter 1:1

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ”

2 Peter 1:1

“Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ”

In the NLT,which I happened to be reading, the word “servant” was “slave,” which gives a stronger sense of Peter’s change. So what exactly happened? Was Peter demoted?

In a sense, I wonder if Peter demoted himself, realizing what it meant to be a true apostle. Perhaps I make too much of this, but notice that servant/slave comes before apostle. Something radical has happened to Peter in between the writing of these two letters and he makes a huge change in how he thinks of himself.

These words of Peter embody the message of Jesus that the greatest must be the servant (Matthew 23:11).

All Things Considered yesterday provided a great deal of analysis of the latest remarks by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the former pastor of Barack Obama who was at the center of a controversy about his remarks in a sermon that included the phrase, “God damn America.” The report shared the following:

He [Wright] said he was quoting an ambassador to Iraq in that sermon, although he did not give the ambassador’s name.

“Jesus said, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,’” Wright added. “You cannot do terrorism on other people and expect it never to come back on you. Those are biblical principles, not Jeremiah Wright bombastic, divisive principles.”

Wright said the comment captured on YouTube — in which he says, “Not God bless America, but God damn America” — was taken out of context.

“God doesn’t bless everything,” he said. “God damns some practices, and there’s no excuse for the things that the government — not the American people — have done. That doesn’t make me not like America or unpatriotic.”

Also key to his defense, Wright spoke of black theology and preaching as different, not hostile or bombastic (See Time Magazine as well)

After this report NPR provided some analysis by two senators, one who supported Obama and one who supported Clinton. Curiously they both initially remarked that this controversy has gone on for too long and lamented the way the media has handled it.

I couldn’t agree more. While our candidates should be scrutinized carefully, I think it goes too far to overanalyze a sound byte from a sermon that Obama didn’t even hear. Also, we can’t drop everything Wright says into Obama’s mouth. We can question him about it and be concerned about his beliefs in relation to his pastor, but everything has been blown out of proportion.

There are plenty of things we can scrutinize about Obama without digging into his pastor’s sermons. Let’s look at what he himself has said. I know I don’t agree with every single thing my own pastor has said, and I know that even if I agree with my pastor, there are times when he may say things differently than I would have said them.

Both campaigns recognize this has been blown out of proportion, when will the media catch on?

Technorati Tags: Obama - Wright - religion - America

The Bible repeatedly tells followers of Jesus to expect suffering, to endure patiently, and to never be ashamed of Jesus of the good news of his salvation (see Romans 1:16). This obviously means different things depending on where you live. In some countries you may be in danger of imprisonment and death, however in America much more a matter of social and cultural dismissal.

On one hand, I have no issue with people writing me off as a Christian. I live to please God. That’s just how it is.

But there’s something that really does bother me, that I even fear, and that is being dismissed for the wrong reasons. This usually happens when people associate all Christians with a  particular Christian leader or someone they know personally who has failed to model the love of Christ, lived  as a hypocrite or worse. While suffering as a Christian is a very good thing, I’m a bit concerned about being dismissed because of the failings of other Christians or misunderstandings of what it means to  be a Christian. Perhaps some people have a false impression of Christ by observing me…

Like any other group, Christians want to be understood and represented fairly. I recognize that I can’t control this, that sometimes I just need to take it on the chin. However, I do believe it is very important for Christians to clearly distinguish themselves from the negative associations that detract  from the core Gospel message, and to then let that message be the source of offense. In other words, we need to work on undoing some of the damage we ourselves have caused in order to clear the air and let the gospel do its work.

For example, I find it very important in conversations with people I don’t know and in public settings to quickly follow up an ID of myself as a Christian with a denunciation of the Iraq War (specifically Bush’s reasons for attacking). For the record, I never thought it was a good idea–I remember listening to the radio in 2003 and dreading what our president had just unleashed, but more importantly I want to make sure people know that even if Christians did vote for George Bush, that does not constitute a rubber stamp on all of his policies. In other words, I don’t want people to write me off  because they think all Christians support the Iraq war. There are Christians who  supported it and those who did not.

Maybe I’m overreacting here, but it really chews me up sometimes to hear the negative associations people have with Christians that really have little to do with the message the God has come to free us from sin and to give us new life, life the way it was meant to be. If you hear me out and understand what I’m saying and then write me off as a deluded, religious nut, that works for me. So long as you heard what I had to say.

Technorati Tags: Christian - suffering - persecution - Romans - gospel - Jesus - religion

I’m sure I’m not the first one to think of this metaphor, and it happens to be curiously similar to Jesus’ parable of the sower, but here you have it…

The fields in my valley are still damp from a lot of April rain and the March snow melt. Streams running down the sides of mountains remain swollen, and the Battenkill River licks over its banks as it rushes toward New York state. Still, with a steady week of sunshine and unseasonably warm temperatures the farmers have been able to plow their fields.

It’s a lovely site to see freshly turned soil where yellow, barren stalks once stood from the previous year’s harvest. Soon they will be sowing seeds, waiting for the corn and soy beans to emerge.

And that brings me to the role of reading scripture. I think we sometimes set ourselves up for disappointment by expecting miracles to happen, angels to descend, or the Holy Spirit to drop in as we read these sacred words. It’s not unreasonable to expect God to use scripture in powerful ways, and there are times when words jump off the page and into our lives, bringing renewal and the life of God.

However, in the grand scheme of things, I think that reading scripture is a way that God tills the stiff, barren soil of our lives, sows his word of life, and then, whether immediately or later, those words will sprout with life. In other words, we read scripture to get the life of God within us so that the Holy Spirit can water them and bring about new life.

Just as a farmer must always till, plant, and harvest every year, we have the same responsibility to continue reading scripture, sowing new seeds and allowing God to raise up new life. When we least expect it the seeds of scripture sown into our lives will be brought to life by the Holy Spirit.

I know, I know, I’m not exactly breaking new ground here. I think it’s been on my mind lately because I’ve found that I am using a lot more scripture in my prayers. God seems to be bringing up stories, verses, and words as I pray and man, it’s a really powerful thing. It feels like the Bible is so alive at those moments.

Technorati Tags: Bible - scripture - holy+spirit - life - farmer - sowing - battenkill - vermont - God

I’ve been busy revamping things at my writing blog over the past few days. While I still have a ways to go as far as personalizing the design and graphics as my very own, I did manage to make a nifty little pencil graphic. However, with me it’s always about the writing.

Since I’m moving towards the publication of my first book (there’s a link to it on Amazon now, but that’s it) and have now entered the marketing phase, I thought it may be fun to revisit some of the steps I have taken over the past 3.5 years to arrive at this point. I created a category called “publishing” and will be posting a few times each week on some practical things you can do to get published. Though my ultimate goal will be publishing a book, publishing magazine articles are all part of the process, and so I’ll be able to address a variety formats.

Of course there is no sure-fire way to get published, but I have found some great ideas in reading the stories of other published authors and even managed to rule out a few things that would not have worked for me. Even if you’re not looking to get published, I find that many people are interested in knowing what goes into publishing.

I’ve actually reduced it to a simple formula:

hard work + lots of rejection + late nights + small victories + resilience + help from published authors = published book

Well, that’s a bit simplified and, if I may say so, formulaic, but you get the picture!

Find out some answers to this question and a whole lot more at my friend Adam’s new web site for his community that is committed to Christian peacemaking: Shalom House. He wrote the following:

Our blog is basically the story of Shalom House as we try and work out what it means to be Christian peacemakers in this violent world.  It is a work in progress, we intend to keep it simple, but also hope to make it a useful resource for peacemaking information and maybe even a little inspiration.

As if this Democratic primary season isn’t weird enough, Hillary Clinton’s latest ad makes the strangest of all statements. Essentially, she tells Obama to get out of the kitchen and to leave it up to her.

With an all-star fear-mongering cast that includes Osama–not to be confused with Obama–bin Ladin, Clinton pulls all of the boogie men from under the bed, waves them in our faces, and then offers her assessment that Obama can’t take the heat. The commercial ends with a tribute to perhaps one of the greatest Democrats of all time, “Harry Truman said it best –- if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”

To be quite frank, I’m quite relieved by this.

If Barack has been kicked out of the kitchen, perhaps Hillary has finally realized that politics just isn’t her thing and that she’d like to take a whirl at being a homemaker. With Barack out of the race to see who gets control of the kitchen, he is now free to campaign for president of the United States.

Phew, I’m glad that’s all settled now. And we thought this primary was going to drag out all summer and Howard Dean was going to have to scream or something! No, it was really control of the kitchen that got everyone so worked up. I suppose the folks in Pennsylvania planning on voting for Hillary can just stay home and not bother voting. I heard a rumor that she’s teaming up with Rachel Ray for a special episode… but wait, wasn’t Obama interviewed by her today? Oh, that Barack, always meddling in the kitchen! When will he ever learn!

Now Barack, listen to Hillary and leave the heat of the kitchen to her. You have a campaign to run!

Julie and I needed a getaway and we also needed to connect with my family in the Philadelphia area, so we stole away for a few days into my former home town. We spent the first couple days in center city at the Sheraton Hotel at City Center, formerly the Wyndham at Franklin Plaza (or something like that). We buzzed about the city in the midst of the Obama/Clinton campaigning with women brandishing Hillary signs on street corners and a few well-dressed young people parading about China town with Obama fliers.

My internet access has been limited because the Sheraton still charges their guests to use their internet. I find that so hard to believe since just about any dumpy motel off the interstate has free wifi these days. In fact, it seems that “free” is a very necessary prefix for wifi. So I’ve been unable to post on a few things I noticed during our time in Philly:

Of course the best part of our visit was hearing the crowd at the debate actually booed the moderators. If you know anything about Philly sports, you know that anyone and everyone is fair game for a round of boos. Some of our more shameful boo recipients include Santa Claus, Hall of Fame baseball player Mike Schmidt, and (if memory serves correctly) his young son. Oh, and just about every professional sports team in this town has been booed pretty viciously on a fairly regular basis. So if there was any town able to spot a lousy couple of moderators, it had to be Philly. They heckled and booed just like at any sports event. Take that ABC.

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Over the past few days I have spent quite a bit of time working on my two web sites. By looking at them you probably wouldn’t know because most of the work was done behind the scenes. I have upgraded to Wordpress 2.5 and have been installing a host of plug-ins that will supposedly make my life easier. We’ll see about that.

I have also provided myself with ample evidence that I’m a completely hopeless hack when it comes to web sites with my simple inability to upload files to the correct folders on my web sites. With sluggish satellite internet moving at roughly half the speed of DSL, it was a rough go. However, the sites are well on their way to being updated and hopefully you’ll notice some improvements here and there on the sites. Once I figure out how to make this theme “widget aware” I’ll be really cooking.

All that blogging babble aside, here’s what I’ve been up to:

On the Bed Side Table

Of course I haven’t spent all of my time uploading software and tweaking web sites. I’ve really dug into Christian satirist Becky Garrison’s book The New Atheist Crusaders and Their Unholy Grail. This is a book that really stands by itself, and I will review it soon, but it’s worth simply making a few introductory remarks up front.

First of all, Garrison fills a gaping void in Christian writing: smart, well-researched, well-written books that are accessible for a wide audience. This means that Garrison does not wield a PhD or shock the atheists with her incredible credentials. She is no doubt brilliant with an MDiv from Yale, and unlike many authors with a PhD and tenure track position, she can really, really write.

Secondly, you have to keep in mind that Garrison is a satirist who writes with a self-deprecating humor that dances around issues and talks about some pretty deep stuff with light and sometimes silly words. It’s a chatty style where you’ll read a quote from Alister McGrath in one moment and then launch into a light-hearted banter against the new atheists.

I guarantee you’ve never quite read a book like this.

How should we confront false doctrine today?

Well, if you’re an approved workman of God able to handle the truth (2 Timothy 2:15), you should be able to lay some holy Bible smack down on false teachers, right? I mean, if you don’t confront them, who will? Are you just going to sit by and watch false teachers make a mess of things?

When Paul instructed Timothy on the best way to handle false teachers in Ephesus, he actually told Timothy to step back. Really. He eventually instructed Timothy to gently teach those who have erred, but for the most part, Paul’s approach is not all that aggressive or confrontational. Paul is far more concerned with the state of Timothy and his own purity of spirit and the purity of his Gospel.

In fact, he tells Timothy to avoid godless chatter. This godless chatter just happened to be calling the resurrection into question. Serious no doubt, godless for certain, but to be avoided all the same.

What should Timothy do instead? Find out in 2 Timothy 2. It’s got something to do with faith, love, and holiness.

I have been thinking about the Olympics quite a bit lately with all the protests about the torch (which was actually started by the Nazis by the way). I can’t help but think: who cares about the Olympics?

I used to. Now I don’t see the draw as much.  It is kind of interesting to watch Olympic hockey since it’s one of the few times Americans get to watch European-style hockey with the larger rinks and finesse, rather than the tightly packed fisticuffs of American hockey.

Track and field is OK, but it’s as doped up as the Tour de France and Major League baseball. It seems like you can spot the steroids users by finding the three “winners” standing on the blocks with medals around their necks. That’s a gross overstatement I know, but such is the state of sport that the fans don’t trust the athletes, the commissioners, and those who have to enforce the rules.

Now we are going to stop caring.

Sports commentator Frank Gifford–one of the greatest commentators I’ve ever heard/read–has summed it up nicely in his commentary:

The Olympics has really ended up as a festival for those sports that nobody much cares about for the other three years and 50 weeks. The showcase is track and field. How many of you can name a single American track athlete? How many of you can name a single track athlete from any nation? The Olympics is a symphony orchestra without the violins and brass.

But hooray for all the Olympic athletes. Please, please, everybody, just threaten boycott, but let the athletes all go to Beijing and have their day in the smog. It was so unfair when, in 1980, President Carter sacrificed our Olympians to make a point against the Soviet Union. But, as the torch wends its way, spreading the bad news, I really think we might be seeing more than a censure of China. We may also be witness to the start of the real decline of the Olympics.

China has finally laid to rest all of our fears. The governor of Tibet has stated:

“If … anyone should attempt to disrupt or undermine the torch relay, they will be dealt with severely according to law.”

Phew. That makes me feel better. At least the torch will be safe. I was kind of worried that the torch may be interrupted on its was to Beijing while protestors in Tibet are beaten, murdered, locked up, and threatened.

The Chinese officials have to be NUTS if they think the rest of the world is concerned about the safety of the torch relay! Come on guys, learn from Pooh Bear: tap your head and repeat after me, “Think, think, think.”

Look, America is no angel. In the past six years or so we’ve invaded two countries for no reason that we’ll ever be able to clearly discern other than the twin bastards of fear and a vague war on terror. But let’s face it, the Olympics have been boiled down to a balance statement just like any other sport out there. It isn’t a matter of balancing sport and profit, it’s more a matter of the bare minimum sport required in order to make maximum profits. If you doubt me, put on body armor and then ask a Canadian how he feels about the state of hockey today.

If you survived the first tirade and feel brave, ask him about Gary Bettman’s innovations on the NHL.

I’m all for using sticks and carrots in the pursuit of a moderating agenda that avoids isolation from other countries. In other words, we can give China our business (carrots), if they pass and enforce labor laws that help their workers (sticks). We use this rule to a great effect in our home with our rabbits. We give them carrots, but will lock them up if they nibble on the couch or coffee table: sticks and carrots.

Not just carrots.

I understand that the International Olympic Committee isn’t a force for diplomacy, but they are an economic force. Where the money goes, so goes influence. Money talks. The IOC has silenced it.

Technorati Tags: China - Olympics - torch - relays - protests - tibet

I don’t know how I missed Roger Olson’s latest book, but it may very well be one of the most important books released this year if you’re an Evangelical Christian. However, How to Be Evangelical without Being Conservative may very well present a refreshing, timely vision for Evangelicals in the wake of the religious right. Apparently the marketing campaign is a bit thin at this point because I actively search for books such as these, and I had to look at Zondervan’s web page just to find some information after viewing Amazon’s bare page for the book.

While the religious right is still alive and well, it has suffered a grievous blow under the Bush administration’s failed policies in Iraq; its inability to address pressing domestic issues such as health care, the mortgage crisis, and many social programs; and its head-in-the-sand approach to the environment. Many Evangelicals recognized that the Republicans they trusted to bring about greater morals have actually proven to be just as flawed as the Democrats they detested in the 90’s. In my opinion the religious right is on the decline as many Evangelicals question its basis and agenda.

Roger Olson presents a compelling notion that I find irresistible:

“In recent years the American media have portrayed the evangelical movement as a conservative force in society equating it with fundamentalism. Many people equate evangelical Christianity with conservatism in religion, politics, theology and social attitudes. But is this the whole story of evangelicalism? Roger Olson’s new book sets forth evidence that the link between evangelicalism and conservatism has not always been as strong as it is today in the popular mind. Olson shows how contemporary evangelicals—who want to remain evangelical—can do so without identifying with conservatism in every way.”

That sounds alright with me. I think we need to recover our Evangelical heritage and rethink many of the pieces of our movement that have become hallmarks, but truly belong on the margins. The description continues:

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The past two weeks have been quite busy in relation to my forthcoming book Coffeehouse Theology: Reflecting on God in Everyday Life with NavPress this coming September. I thought that my work would basically be done when I finished writing the book. However, that appears to only have been half the job.

I have now entered the publicity season, and the first event on that calendar is finding a list of endorsers.

I began working on this by making sure I had plenty of information available about the book project. If you click on the Coffeehouse Theology link at the top of this web site, you’ll see that I’ve revamped the page: inserted a better introduction to the book, pasted in some advance praise I received, and stuck a relatively up-to-date summary of each chapter. The “punathon” remains at the bottom of the page.

After that I spent an entire day writing to various Christian writers and leaders who may be interested in my project. The following two weeks were filled with all kinds of e-mails and research to dig up addresses and to follow up in various ways. I really had no idea how involved this can be!

So far I’m really happy with the list of Christian writers and ministry leaders who are willing to give my work a look. Of course I can’t mention specific names until things are settled and in place.

I’m not 100% sure about my next step in the publicity drive since I still have quite a bit of time, but for the time being I’m going to be working on developing a few ways I can improve the buzz for the book. Once again this is uncharted waters, but I’ve spent enough time looking at what other authors have done that I have a few ideas jotted down. We’ll see what happens next.

Last week I uncovered the secret behind a local scandal of sorts: the kind of thing that you long to know, the kind of thing that changes your perception of several key people in your town. One who is far worse than you thought, and one who moves from villain to hero.

I’ll have to leave things hopelessly vague, lest I fall into the gossip trap, and leave it at this: a guy was talking on his cell phone in a public place–let’s say in line at a supermarket–and he unfolded the whole story of the local scandal as a backdrop to his own situation regarding his family. I tried to mind my own business, but he was talking rather loudly. The more he talked, the more my ears perked up.

My mind raced through all of the people who needed to hear about this. They would be shocked at how grievously they had misjudged the two main characters in this story. In fact, I would be doing one of the main characters a real service by helping his reputation.

Of course then I had that sinking realization that these are actual people with real tragedies going through all of this. And beyond the juicy gossip of my inside scoop, there was a family suffering. And even more so, I’ve gone through much of what this person described.

Could God have placed me right there just so this family would have someone praying for them during this week, this very difficult week in their family?

I was ashamed that I even considered passing along his story just to fan the flames of a local scandal a bit. And so right then and there I began praying for that man and his family. He comes to mind every day since, and so I pray for them, knowing that I am glad those days in my own family are behind me.

And if praying wasn’t enough of a help, at the end of his conversation he talked about another situation he was working through, and it just so happened that I knew of someone who could help him. So when he tucked his phone away, I jotted the information down on a card, walked over to him and said, “I’m sorry to have listened to your conversation, but I think this may help you…”