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

Seven years of schooling and I still haven’t quite found my place in life. Approaching my twenty-eighth birthday, I’m still not where I thought I’d be. That’s OK.

While attending a community group (as in a small home meeting of Christians) with Julie’s brother and sister-in-law, I heard many recent college grads struggling to find their places in life. Many were working at low-paying or dissatisfying jobs. Many had a glimpse of what they thought the future would look like, but didn’t know how to get there. I sensed a little frustration and a lot of struggle.

I was there and have been there. It’s hard to face your family after they’ve put you through college and say, “Thanks for the first-rate education, but now I don’t know what to do with myself.”

During my second year of college I settled on the path of ministry, becoming a pastor in particular, and therefore finished with a BA in Bible and English Literature–the Bible is literature after all. Then I shot straight into seminary and completed my Master of Divinity program in three and a half years.

The problem was that in the course of seminary I ended up ruling out an academic career or a career as a pastor. What else is an MDiv good for in the job market?

And that brings me to my point. Life is about the process of elimination. We have to go for the things God sets before us one step at a time, and as we move forward some things are ruled out, while others become more attractive. We can only pursue our options until they lead to another course or come to a dead end, requiring a whole new direction.

In my own case every major step I took planted a small seed that I hardly noticed. That seed led to something else that planted another small seed. For example, seminary led to serving in a church, that led me to nonprofit organizations and that led me to where I’m at right now, serving in the nonprofit sector.

In addition I went from aspiring to write academic theology books, to lay level nonfiction, and now to a mix of nonfiction and fiction. Everything seemed to change over time, but each step brought me a little closer to where I want to be. And I confess that even “where I want to be” changes over time.

That doesn’t mean I’m content, but I’m working on it. In the end we must find our contentment in our standing with God, but we can take comfort in knowing that he cares about where we’re heading and what we’re doing.

To all those recent grads who are struggling to find their place, I can offer this encouragement: it’s normal and it’s a long–if not life-long– process. Life is this strange mix of enjoying where we are, but also weeding out what doesn’t belong.

I didn’t have my elbow on the arm rest. That was my first mistake. He settled in, commandeered the arm rest, slid his elbow into my ribs, and then flopped his knee against mine. I was flying again.

Four years after my last flight, I was–I’m being vulnerable here, so bear with me–a touch nervous. Let’s say I felt a constant need to do a quick overview of my accounts with God to make sure I was still in the black. Admit it, no matter how common it is to fly, it’s a little nuts to think that we can slap wings and and engine on a long metal tube and presto, you can soar through the air at ridiculous speeds.

The security was tight at the airport. We took off our shoes, opened our bags, and handed over all valid forms of identification to the security crew who swarmed all over the metal detector area. They shot us with puffs of air and waved all kinds of magic wands on our stuff. I’ll admit that I felt pretty good about our safety on the flight.

Once settled on the plane the fellah to my left with his elbow in my side talked and talked. No matter I had a magazine, no matter I was working on my fiction debut masterpiece–he needed to yap a little. I played along, didn’t surrender too much information, and treated him nice.

When I go on vacation I typically lose all social skills. I am a little clam who wants to be introspective, to pray, to read, to study a little theology, and to write. It’s time to catch up with God, and so the clam keeps his little lid shut and broods. Intruders not welcome, with exception of wife.

The one thing he said that caught my attention related to the pilots of smaller planes who fly to the tiny airports, such as our second flight of the day to Fayetteville. He mentioned that these pilots are often not as experienced as those who fly the big planes. When we began our descent into Fayetteville on a tiny plane, the nose of the plane dipped and then it really plunged down. I have never been on a plane that dipped so much on the front end . . . ever.

I don’t think of myself as unreasonable, but at that moment I was a rush of panic, prayer, and pulse. While my palms grew moist, the thought of the elbow in my rib, the knee rubbing mine, and his little comment about the pilots of the small planes danced about in my reeling head. And then in a moment the nose went up, little lights appeared off to the side, and we skidded onto the ground.

And now we’re in NW Arkansas enjoying the green vegetation and the wonderful absence of spring snow and mud. I’m so glad our plane isn’t a small flaming wreck on the ground!

Technorati Tags: airport - plane - flying - Arkansas

The other day I noticed a large crack on the passenger’s side of my wife’s car. White scuff marks surrounded the crack, showing that someone must have given our little Saturn a good wack . . . and then run for it.

The problem was that someone with a white vehicle had recently parked nearby my wife’s car. Tire tracks in the muddy road led us to believe this person, who we knew of but did not know personally, bumped the car and then ran for it.

We tracked down the contact information and I prepared to call this person the next day, fretting all the while of calling someone to make such an accusation. It was really, really unpleasant.

And then I remembered what I was reading in the book of Samuel. If my life was a Veggie Tales episode, this is the part where Junior Asparagus would hop out and deliver a pep talk complete with a cheesy little, foot-tapping song.

Throughout the stories of Samuel, Saul, and David there is a consistent theme of surrendering situations to God and then waiting for him to work it out. It sounded like a horrible plan in my situation. I preferred to just get worried about my upcoming phone call. Read the rest of this entry »

When I look at Jesus throughout the Gospels, I see him challenging  uptight religious practices and freeing people to enjoy God through his healings, sermons, and dinner parties. Surely he calls his followers to costly discipleship, but the way to follow God is not the austere, stodgy way of the Jewish leaders.

Jesus challenged the guilt and legalism that infected the people of God. His mission was to make it possible for people to actually enjoy God once again. That’s not to say he took sin lightly and will let his followers run amok–not in the least.

I see Jesus breaking God out of the religious mold. He didn’t just heal or preach in the synagogue. He prayed at all hours of the day. He instituted a meal at the center of Christianity.

In the end, he made God accessible to all people. He wanted a relationship with God to be as natural as an evening at home with one’s family. I hear him saying, “Relax. Now follow me.”

Relaxing does not mean we become apathetic. We relax in the peace that God brings and offer ourselves to him out of that calm place he has given us.

Technorati Tags: Jesus

Though I am in danger of overburdening the “Spring cleaning” metaphor . . .

Just as we sweep clean our homes for Spring or before family comes to visit, so too must we deliver a thorough spiritual spruce-up to ourselves on a regular basis. When our lives fill up with commitments and projects we often lose touch with God. Attacking this clutter is the only way to set things aright with our Creator.

In my home cleaning is often connected with hospitality; the wife and I call these speedy household overhauls a “blitzkrieg.” In our minds a messy home is bad form when visitors are concerned. In fact, a messy home is perhaps worse than asking guests to help sort socks and sweep the floor.

Welcoming God into our lives is a form of hospitality, and spiritual clutter can put a damper on our fellowship with the almighty much like laundry piles on the couch and toy-littered floors hinder visiting with company. If we fail to create a space for God in the midst of our projects and appointments he will not be able to settle in and live among us. Much of Christian spirituality is concerned with the ongoing task of chopping down towering distractions and clearing out a parcel of holy ground.

When God acts he is completely other and separate from us. He is magical and we have no part in making that magic. But we will rarely ever experience this if we fail to make room for the magician. We are the hosts waiting for God’s visitation.

Spirituality is essentially a form of hospitality. That is why a meal is at the center of Christianity: God is most interested in visiting us and making his home among us. If we fail to create space for a meal and a proper visit, then we should not be surprised that little happens when God stops by.

Magazines on the table, bills on the counter, books on the chair, the radio booming, the computer beckoning for attention: all of these clutter our lives and leave little room for the most important guest.

Last Sunday I was meditating on Jesus’ words in Luke 6:37:

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged.”

The truth is that everyone fancies themselves as excellent judges. From the way we dress, to the way we react to other drivers on our way into work, to the way we treat our co-workers, friends, and family, we make judgments every day.

The vast majority of our judgments aim to justify ourselves at the expense of others or to at least set ourselves apart from others who fall below a perceived standard. Nevertheless, there are times when people make very sound judgments that should be heeded. What is the difference between a good judgment and a bad judgment?

Perhaps one way to work this out is discussing the difference between a prophet and a legal judge. A judge is tasked with sentencing someone for his/her actions. The sentence is a punishment: that is the goal of a judge. In a Christian sense, a judge tells people where the fall short of God and what the consequences are.

A prophet on the other hand is concerned with communicating God’s will, where people fall short, and how to get back on track. The goal of a prophet goes a step beyond the sentence to repentance. Prophets begin with judging righteously, and then move on to restoration.

There are many who claim to be prophets today. Off the top of my head I can think of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson as two Christian leaders who have been lableled as such. The problem is such prophets presume to interpret today’s events from God’s perspective, such as 9-11 or the tsunami in south east Asia, with dubious credentials and with little offered by way of repentance. The messages I’ve heard focus on the judgment.

Before we start pointing fingers though, it’s important to remember the prophetic function the entire church should be playing in our world. In our call to know God, we also bear the responsibility of bringing the world to repentance and restoration with God.

This is a heavy burden that requires humility in order to judge properly and then listening to God in order to share his message of restoration.

Technorati Tags: judge - Christians - Jesus - prophet

Over the weekend we saw Judevine performed at the Dorset Playhouse. Judevine is a poetic play uncovering the ordinary, humorous, and tragic aspects of a small town in northern Vermont.

I’m not an expert on plays, but we really enjoyed it. There’s enough humor to offset the tragedy and vise versa. There is a true sense of entering into a small town and meeting the various characters.

One character is a young woman who lives in poverty because her husband left her. She moves from one disappointment to another, until she finds a job up at a ski resort. While there she meets a wealthy business man from New York City who flies her and her children down to the city. She narrates all of this quickly and awkwardly, as if she’s hiding something. The main narrator of the story is very concerned, but nothing more is said of the situation.

How odd it is when the rich mingle among the poor. There is a certain power and hold that the rich seem to have. For example, in the case of this woman, the rich boyfriend could turn her out on the street in New York and then what? She may not even have the fare to take the bus back home.

This has me thinking about the incarnation of Jesus and specifically how the scriptures say he became poor for our sake. The only way Jesus could work among us and share the love of God was by emptying himself of his power and position while on earth among us.

Jesus wasn’t interested in wowing us or winning us over with all kinds of miracles or tricks. He didn’t want a gang of followers. He wanted friends. And that is part of counting the cost.

Technorati Tags: judevine - Vermont - play - Dorset - incarnation

God knows we’ve inflicted enough damage on the people of Iraq. Two wars, a botched occupation, and now failed attempts to bring peace and stability while US contractors make a quick buck. On most days I’m sickened by the Iraq war and occupation; burdened with a feeling of guilt and helplessness, not knowing what can be done to make things right.

Before going on a snowshoe this evening I received an e-mail from Shevet Achim. This is a Christian organization that provides the funds for Arab children, mostly from Iraq, to come into Israel for life-saving heart surgery. It’s an idea so crazy that it’s actually working. They have several children who are recovering very well at this moment from their surgeries.

On the home page I noticed that a child named Hana needed about $250 for her heart surgery, while several other children still need $7000. I began thinking, “I can spare at least $50, and if 100 people gave $50, one of these kids would be well on the way to raising all of the necessary funds. And that’s where the Iraq war came to mind.

No one knows how many innocent people have died as a result of our war in Iraq, but most estimates are staggering. I spoke with one Iraqi with family in Baghdad; he said things were better under Saddam. That’s when you know things are bad.

So instead of feeling bad or powerless about the war in Iraq, I encourage all who are willing to bless the people of Iraq through Shevet Achim. Our war has ended so many lives. Therefore, an appropriate response should involve giving life when we can.

No pressure. There are thousands of worthy causes out there who need funding desperately, but if your feelings about Iraq resemble mine in any way, then Shevet Achim may provide the perfect course to follow.

Technorati Tags: Iraq - War - Shevet+achim

Loving one’s enemies is a radical idea advocated by Jesus. There’s a sense to it though. You can’t very well make things better by hating them. If they intend to do you harm, there is nothing to be gained by fighting fire with fire.

Ghandi also said, “An eye for an eye, and soon the whole world is blind.”

So let’s lower the stakes a little here. What are we to do with idiots, jerks, fools, annoying people, the guy who cut you off in traffic, the lady who jumped in front of you in line, a vindictive co-worker, the landlord who ignores your maintenance requests, and so on? Since they’re not trying to kill us or ruin us, these people are freed up to receive mild hatred or plain old disdain. No harm done right?

I was snow shoeing this morning just stewing and stewing about someone who has done more than irk me lately. He wasn’t at enemy status, so I just had a little pity party for myself and vented angry thoughts in his direction. And–dang it–I felt very convicted. Hardly what should be coming from a follower of Jesus.

God wants his followers to be characterized by their love. I had to stop, turn from my sinful anger, and ask for his refreshing and renewal; the very thing promised by Peter in Acts 3.

3:19 Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out,
3:20 so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and so that he may send the Messiah appointed for you – that is, Jesus.

Technorati Tags: love - enemies - Jesus - Ghandi

When I talk about a ruthlessly simple church I envision a gathering of believers that is not program-heavy or particularly fixated on Sunday morning. There isn’t one form that a ruthlessly simple church must take, but it will certainly have Jesus at the center.

The arts have suffered greatly in the environs of the pragmatic, program-focused church of late, and so I’ve been wondering if there is any place for artistic expression, particularly worship in a ruthlessly simple church.

Obviously many church gatherings have music in one form or another, but I’m also wondering about painting, photography, graphic design, poetry, or whatever else may qualify as artistic expression within the limits of what is generally considered art.

If a church group desires to remain small and simple the obvious choice is to create a partnership with a local library, art gallery, or some other institution with wall space. Many local nonprofits and libraries are eager to hang art on their walls and to even host a complete exhibition.

Technorati Tags: art - church

I don’t know how others feel, but I am completely overwhelmed with the amount of books, blogs, articles, discussion boards, and who knows what else out there. There are many good options out there and I feel paralyzed by the options out there.

And so I am on a bit of a quest to narrow down some of the best places to go for Christian theology, emerging church stuff, and other Christianity-related material. With Bloglines as my helper I’m adding some new subscriptions to see what sticks. I’ll share some of what I’m reading today. (And by the way, I’m really not “digging” the teaser feeds. If I wanted to visit someone’s site, I’d visit the site. I have a feed reader so I can: read the feed. Just my personal rant there, sorry.)

This week I came across a very good article on Christianity Today’s site about the reevaluation of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. The stories that many Americans have come to accept may be more mythical than we thought. The article is called: Coffins on Their Shoulders.

Jamie over at Emergent Voyageurs (a word which my spell check is not going to like) posts a very important question about art. Should we mess around with art when there are people with more basic needs that go unfulfilled?  He responds with some good thoughts and a Christian perspective on art.

My take on it this is that art has value in both spiritual and big-picture economics. Perhaps I’ve just bought into my own propaganda at the place I work, but the arts are a very important part of an economically healthy community.

Technorati Tags: arts - Israel - Palestinians - Christianity

One of the organizations I keep in touch with is Shevet Achim. They are based in Israel and the Palestinian territory and provide critical heart surgery for Arab children.

Think about that. They pay to bring children and their parents from Iraq, Jordan, and who knows where else into Israel for life-saving surgery. Talk about reconciling two people groups.

I received a prayer request today. There is a child in Jordan who needs surgery and has been waiting for six weeks for a slot at a hospital. Here’s part of the message:

We are asking you to join us in a fervent time of prayer over the next few weeks.

Shevet Achim works primarily with one major medical center in Tel Aviv for performing heart surgeries. We are currently limited in how many Iraqi children we can bring to Israel because there are too few heart surgery slots available at this center and too little space in Tel Aviv in which to host the families. God willing it is time for Shevet Achim to enter new relationships with new medical centers in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, there is a child in Amman, Jordan who cannot get permission to enter Israel because of these very same problems. She and her parents have been waiting for six weeks now.

We believe these relationships cannot be built without the prayer of the saints petitioning the Lord to move the hearts of administrators and doctors in these respective hospitals. Keep in mind that many of these professionals will not be listening to our request as believers in Messiah. It will certainly be the power of prayer and grace of God that will move them to consider building these relationships.

Technorati Tags: prayer - shevet+achim - surgery - Israel

An anonymous person is putting together a big ministry in a fairly large city. Part of the plan is to gather a group of people, say more than 10 at least, who can participate in the ministry whenever there is a need.

To be frank, I’m not sure how this team of people will help the top person’s ministry, but in order for them to fulfill this role, they need to move to where this person is. And that unsettles me.

I’m already uncomfortable when a bunch of Christians get together and try to form a church or ministry. Neil Cole, a church planting guru, says that two Christians are really all you need to start a ministry. The rest of the group  should come from new converts in the local area of the ministry.

So, is it good and helpful to import workers for the ministry? Should they only come from the immediate vicinity of the ministry? I understand the missionary teams sometimes go out, but is bringing enough people along with you so as to constitute a legitimate congregation going too far?

I’m just thinking out loud here. It seems like something else may work better, but I have not planted anything from scratch, I’ve only worked with ministries after the planting.

Technorati Tags: ministry - plant - church

I’ve been reading Luke 14 this morning and found Jesus talking about taking certain actions that are quite frankly unfamiliar to my experience. In one instance, Jesus talks about inviting people to your home who cannot pay back in kind:

14:12 He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you host a dinner or a banquet, don’t invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors so you can be invited by them in return and get repaid.
14:13 But when you host an elaborate meal, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.
14:14 Then you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (NET Bible)

Now I’m not an expert at ministering to the poor, but from what I’ve done, it’s my view that anyone with warm-hearted notions of nobly feeding the poor is in for a shock. It’s hard work that involves far more than just putting food on a plate.

Ministry to the poor has always left me with a notion that I am way out of my depth. Nevertheless, those with prior experience in this area have always helped solved problems and prepared me to be more effective.

And so I’m wondering, who should prepare the church for ministry to the poor? Seminaries? Snicker, snicker. The local church? More likely. If we have any hope of effectively ministering to the poor at all, the church needs experts with experience to lead the way forward. We can’t just jump into this ministry.

Lack of preparation means all involved are in for a disappointment. In addition, proper training will actually help those who would be otherwise indifferent get into the mix.

The other part of Luke 14 concerns the cost of following Jesus and the duty of disciples to consider it carefully. Besides the obvious reference to our blunders in the Iraq war, Jesus made it very clear that all who would follow have some serious considering to do:

14:28 For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t sit down first and compute the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 14:29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish the tower, all who see it will begin to make fun of him. 14:30 They will say, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish!’ 14:31 Or what king, going out to confront another king in battle, will not sit down first and determine whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 14:32 If he cannot succeed, he will send a representative while the other is still a long way off and ask for terms of peace. 14:33 In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions.

Does that sound like any of the evangelism practices we have been taught? “Take your time, think it over, don’t rush into this, it’s a very hard and costly way of life. Don’t take it lightly.” Hmmmm. I think we’ve always strayed toward the, “Jesus is wonderful and he’ll fill you love, joy, peace, and hope, why wait?”

You can’t candy coat the cross.

Technorati Tags: Jesus - disciple - cross - poor

Time Magazine reports on the shift away from religious fundamentalism and the power of religion in politics. This sounds like good news for Christianity at least, since Christianity thrives better on the margins than in the halls of power.

Regarding Evangelicals, the article states:

“Evangelicalism also saw the beginnings of a political divide. A new head of the Christian Coalition was forced to resign after he wanted to expand the group’s mission from abortion, marriage and stem cells to poverty and the environment. David Kuo, a former Bush Administration insider who helped run the faith-based social program, wrote a book decrying the cynical use of Evangelicals for political gain and regretting his enmeshment with the religious right. He called for devout Christians to take a two-year fast from politics. And in a remarkable sign of a new era, the orthodox Evangelical Rick Warren invited Democratic Senator Barack Obama to address a conference on AIDS. What was once a seemingly rigid and monolithic group was revealed to be actually more diverse, nuanced and open to debate than once seemed possible.”

Read the rest.