tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19010497087355415072024-03-12T20:48:28.199-05:00Being Perfectly Human"When you hear a person say that they love God more than people they are preparing to hurt someone." - Richard BeckErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.comBlogger124125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-1878516338802543692018-01-12T09:21:00.000-06:002018-01-12T09:21:12.283-06:00All Our Yesterdays<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Wind changes direction<br />
this way, that way, it tells me that<br />
All Our Yesterdays<br />
are gone.<br />
Blown out to sea, crashed into trees<br />
Broken by speed and momentum,<br />
Crushed beyond recognition<br />
<br />
Light moves from East to West,<br />
moving yet unchanged it tells me that<br />
All Our Yesterdays<br />
are gone, but still here<br />
Heat and Cold rise and fall<br />
Broken yet remaining still<br />
Shadows of memory<br />
<br />
Water flows and recedes<br />
in and out, moving sand to bury<br />
All Our Yesterdays<br />
under the tidal pools filled with<br />
Life. Life moving and changing over the<br />
Impressions of Love<br />
<br />
Earth stands still,<br />
unmoved yet lifting up<br />
All Our Yesterdays<br />
to the light that gives<br />
Life. Life now and yesterday and forever<br />
Formed as an imprint of<br />
You.<br />
<br /></div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-84530240517571421572018-01-09T09:40:00.000-06:002018-01-09T09:40:07.331-06:00Kenosis 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Emptiness<br />
is what He desires<br />
us to realize, our basic nature<br />
of seeking to be filled is against<br />
His will<br />
<br />
Emptiness<br />
is what we hate<br />
we search and grasp at anything<br />
that will relieve this feeling of<br />
Wanting<br />
<br />
Emptiness<br />
is what He tried to teach us<br />
that we cannot be filled<br />
without draining our lives of<br />
Everything<br />
<br />
Emptiness<br />
is what we need<br />
freed from the falseness of ego and<br />
desire, then we can receive what is<br />
Real<br />
<br />
Emptiness<br />
as He emptied Himself<br />
He was filled with the fullness<br />
of Heaven, of the Father, of the<br />
Spirit<br />
<br />
Emptiness<br />
brings us what we seek<br />
the fullness of Love<br />
that can only enter us as we pour out<br />
Love</div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-70804534095023168202018-01-09T09:29:00.002-06:002018-01-09T09:29:49.889-06:00Kenosis<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We are solid<br />
We feel, we touch, we interact in a solid world<br />
We grasp for solid things<br />
but solid cannot enter solid without<br />
Fire.<br />
<br />
We are solid<br />
But we take in liquid, something slightly<br />
less than solid, but<br />
not what we can grasp without<br />
Tools.<br />
<br />
We are liquid<br />
But we must have a solid world<br />
To grasp for liquid things,<br />
things liquid cannot hold without help from<br />
Solid.<br />
<br />
We are liquid and solid<br />
Yet we take in vapor at the interface<br />
Of solid and liquid,<br />
a thing neither can grasp on their own.<br />
Air<br />
<br />
We are Solid, Liquid, Vapor<br />
Yet we grasp for something<br />
That is none<br />
of those, things we see only through clouded<br />
Glass<br />
<br />
We are none of these things<br />
Yet we still grasp for that which is<br />
None but Spirit.<br />
that which exists in a different plane than things<br />
Love<br />
<br />
We are Love<br />
Solid, Liquid, Vapor, yet also what is beyond these<br />
Love<br />
love of Love drives us to grasp what cannot be<br />
Held<br />
<br />
We are Love<br />
Yet we cannot grasp ourselves, we cannot grasp the<br />
Other, we can only feel<br />
love slipping through our fingers, something that is<br />
Spirit<br />
<br />
We are Spirit<br />
We thirst and hunger, yet we cannot be filled<br />
Our Solid leaks, Our Liquid drains, Our Vapor<br />
disappears into the emptiness, leaving us with nothing but<br />
Spirit<br />
<br />
We are Spirit, and<br />
Solid, Liquid, Vapor, yet our physical<br />
Nature cannot be satisfied with<br />
seeking to be filled, we gain only by pouring out<br />
Ourselves<br />
<br />
We are Love<br />
And God is Love, seeking to fill us<br />
As we empty ourselves to fill<br />
others we encounter in this dim world of<br />
Love and Spirit<br />
<br /></div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-13965247332415367182018-01-05T12:54:00.001-06:002018-01-05T12:54:28.573-06:00Freeloaders<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
They don't do anything. Nothing at all.<br />
Except for making noise. They're good at that.<br />
I fix them breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and all I get in<br />
return is their noisy scolding when I feed them.<br />
<br />
Some of them are communists; I know this from their red clothes.<br />
A few wear a patriotic blue, and some wear the black flag of anarchy.<br />
Most of them just wear dull browns and beiges, fleeing<br />
when the more political ones begin to argue.<br />
<br />
They all left after the storm; it was finally quiet for a while.<br />
But, once they didn't need to be in the shelters anymore<br />
they came back. But they didn't come back making<br />
demands upon me.<br />
<br />
They didn't come back until I had set up the buffet again.<br />
And they brought more with them.<br />
Ones with nerve enough to wear tuxedos and red hats.<br />
Hadn't seen any of that crowd in quite awhile.<br />
<br />
But, just think about them a bit. They don't work, but their Heavenly<br />
Father feeds them. I'm neither Heavenly<br />
nor Fatherly,<br />
but still, I feed them every day.<br />
<br />
Even though they scold and complain when I bring their food<br />
I'd miss them. I'd miss getting to see their courtships and their children<br />
new outfits as they grow, and I would miss their songs of praise to<br />
Heaven when they think I'm not listening...<br />
<br /></div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-90032787208942709672018-01-05T12:13:00.001-06:002018-01-05T12:13:15.370-06:00Someday...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When Peace, like a river, attends my way<br />
I cannot recognize it.<br />
The surface rolls and moves past, leaving me<br />
Behind. Behind my blind eyes<br />
I cannot see underneath<br />
to the still silence at the bottom of the river.<br />
<br />
I know that Peace is down there, but it is not<br />
where I want to be<br />
No Light, No Air, No Motion, just a cold<br />
Peace.<br />
I have to Breathe, See, Move, Exist in life's<br />
Chaos.<br />
<br />
Yet I seek Peace that I cannot grasp.<br />
It is my promised reward, my Birthright,<br />
my rest.<br />
One day, It will come for me<br />
and I will not refuse it.<br />
It is our salvation.<br />
<br />
When Peace, like a river, moves past me<br />
every day, changing yet changeless<br />
I know it is mine. It is yours.<br />
It is our Birthright<br />
We shall enjoy it<br />
Together.<br />
<br /></div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-22672287885253253922018-01-05T08:43:00.002-06:002018-01-05T08:43:42.589-06:00She came to me...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
She came to me in a dream,<br />
but she wasn't there.<br />
She had been there, but she was already gone when we were talking.<br />
We talked about her fun, her laugh, her love,<br />
and how we missed her.<br />
Memories crashing down upon us from a<br />
Time that was another world for all of us.<br />
<br />
She had come to you in this same dream,<br />
but she wasn't there<br />
and yet she was still with us.<br />
We knew from her presence that things would<br />
be alright, that we would be alright.<br />
Memories washing over us, of many worlds<br />
reminding us how she still loves us.<br />
<br />
We laid down the books filled with memories<br />
and walked down the beach, our hands<br />
in hers.</div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-73479734239741364252017-12-18T08:37:00.003-06:002017-12-18T08:37:53.188-06:00"Free" Speech Has a Personal Price...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It seems to me that most people today have a very strange understanding of what "Freedom of Speech" actually is. Twitter is about to shut down "far-Right" accounts (it's a haven of pure negativity now, it will just become a left-wing haven of negativity.) Young (and quite a good many old) communists and socialists think "freedom of speech" is their right to shout down and silence anyone whom they choose to vent their anger upon. They couldn't be further from the truth. Free speech demands a very personal price from all who would claim to use it.<br />
<br />
It's much less about your right to speak than it is your opponent's right to speak.<br />
<br />
Yep, it's about you speaking your piece, AND then allowing the other person to speak theirs.<br />
<br />
No matter how offensive, bigoted, ignorant, etc., you feel the other person's opinion is.<br />
<br />
No matter how convinced you are of your own correctness.<br />
<br />
Free speech is by its very nature the right of others to voice a different opinion than yours.<br />
<br />
But free speech is a right that can only be employed and enjoyed by mature people.<br />
<br />
<br />
If you feel the need to shout down someone's right to speech, then you're not mature enough to appreciate and utilize true free speech.<br />
<br />
If you feel the need to pressure a media outlet to restrict someone's freedom of speech, then you're not mature enough to practice any speech in the public forum.<br />
<br />
If you feel the need to resort to violence and lawlessness over someone attempting to speak freely, then you're not mature enough to participate in public discussion.<br />
<br />
You don't have to agree with them. You don't even have to listen to them (seriously, whatever happened simply to ignoring offensive things?)<br />
<br />
But, you do have to let them speak. That's just adolescent-level maturity in public discourse.<br />
<br />
<br />
If you think you're truly mature, you might want to listen, then try to engage respectfully. Spiritual maturity is all about equality between people, and it begins with reaching out from your own perspective to try to understand others. That's the true courage of maturity.<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course, you're perfectly free to shout down anything and everything that doesn't fit exactly into your worldview.<br />
<br />
Just don't expect me to take your immaturity very seriously.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-33681157923782104052017-12-11T11:03:00.000-06:002017-12-11T11:04:33.589-06:00Christmas is not a pagan holiday...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So, it's that wonderful time of year. Trees, lights, presents, family meals, etc. Christmas carols, Advent candles, midnight Christmas Eve church services. Things that many people look forward to since the previous year. But not everyone thinks this is a wonderful time of year. Today I'm writing about a subset of Christians who think this is a time of malevolence and deviltry. You know who I'm talking about; the people who start railing that "Christmas" is a pagan holiday, stolen by the Romans to make it easier to draw pagans into the Byzantine empire. I've heard this for many years now, and have known some who are militant in attacking everything about Christmas. I think they're horribly misguided, and I'm going to lay out just three of the reasons why I believe that to be true.<br />
<br />
<br />
1. Christmas refutes anti-semitism.<br />
<br />
What could be more Jewish than to be born, circumcised on the eighth day of life, and to learn Torah in the Temple under the most learned of scholars of the day? To declare that the moneychangers in the Temple are defiling "My Father's house?" To quote the prophets to the Pharisees, telling them to "go and learn what this means; I desire mercy, not sacrifice?"<br />
<br />
Marcion of Sinope (c. 85- c. 160) was the first major anti-semite voice in the church. He denied that the God of the Old Testament ( יַהְוֶה, Yahweh, YHWH, Elohim, etc.) was the "Father" of whom Jesus spoke. He referred to the OT God as the "demiurge" who created the physical world, while the "Father" to whom Jesus referred was a completely alien deity not in contact with our universe outside of His creation Jesus.<br />
<br />
Matthew and Luke take pains to give us a genealogy of Jesus that shows He is of King David, and of Abraham. Why would this be important enough to write about were it not to demonstrate that Jesus IS, not was, a Jew?<br />
<br />
<br />
2. Christmas refutes Gnosticism.<br />
<br />
Gnosticism posits that the physical and spiritual realms are entirely different and separate from each other. It also holds that the man Jesus and the spirit Christ are two entirely separate and different persons. In this way, they claim that the "Christ" did not suffer death on the cross, or decay in the tomb.<br />
<br />
What could be more "physical" about an existence that to be born, nursed as a baby, be cleaned up as any other baby, and to go through the physical rituals of Judaism? If Christ was nothing other than a spirit which descended upon the man Jesus, then why do the Gospels spend any time at all discussing His birth? Why would an angel have appeared to the shepherds proclaiming "Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, The Lord" and "Glory to God in the highest Heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests" had this not been the true presence of God in physical form on the Earth?<br />
<br />
<br />
3. Equating Christmas with Paganism is superstitious.<br />
<br />
If, and this is a big <i>if,</i> we actually believe what the Bible says about Jesus and our salvation, then why would we fear a supposedly pagan holiday when we have been told, Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives." (Hebrews 2:14,15)<br />
<br />
The devil has been rendered powerless, and we are no longer slave to the fear of death. How then shall a supposition of paganism in a holiday affect us? In Colossians, Paul wrote, " See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10\and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority" and, "Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." Christmas and any religious opinions of it are dim images of what is to come, and these dim images are sanctified because their essence belongs to Jesus, who has freed us from the slavery of the fear of death.<br />
<br />
<br />
Enjoy the holidays. Live a life of "Peace on Earth, and goodwill towards men."<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Proclaim Glory to God in the highest because God is with us.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Smile, and enjoy the wide-eyed children looking at lights and Santa Claus.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
As Therese of Lisieux put it, may we all become victims of Love.</div>
</div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-15327006058319655792017-04-07T21:50:00.001-05:002017-04-07T21:50:53.105-05:00In Defense of Love<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As happens occasionally when my two brain cells collide, my thoughts got sparked yesterday during a conversation with my best friend, accomplice in thoughtcrime and philosophical conversation partner, Ed. We use these conversations to have a sounding board to crystallize our own thoughts most often, and sometimes find a new avenue of exploration. Yesterday, Ed's lead-in was a topic we really haven't covered specifically on its own: the dichotomy in the contemporary American church of a wrathful and punishing God that is the darling of fundamentalists and new Calvinists, and the newer trend of seeing God as love and nothing more. The thing we immediately agreed upon is that the church in America needs to have more discourse in seeking a viewpoint of God that has balance. (Yes, I know that there are plenty of churches that discuss God in this manner, but it's not the viewpoint that gets much publicity.)<br />
<br />
So, let's dispense with some preliminaries. First, God is as perfectly balanced as can be possible, simply because of His nature. The problem lies in how we perceive and define that balance. Second, that in His nature He is ineffable, that we can never truly define or comprehend that nature. Given those points, the problem lies not in God or His nature, but how we perceive Him, present Him, and live in Him.<br />
<br />
Addressing the three previous problem I mentioned, perception and presentation are inextricably linked. Much of our perception is based on how He has been presented to us by others, and by our own experience in our earlier lives. Likewise, the presentations given us are formed by those people's experiences and how God was presented to them. These perceptions and experiences are powerful enough to persist through our whole lives, even in contradictory experience and evidence. But, at some point in our lives, to become mature in our spiritual belief, we must put our ideas to some rigorous examination. That is what I wish to discuss here.<br />
<br />
However we <i>do</i> perceive God, we must consider how we <i>might</i> perceive God. When we look to scripture to see who and how God is, we always view this through the lens of our experience, learning, and environment. As we gain maturity in mind, soul, and spirit, we become able to choose the lens with which we view the scriptural portrayal. I was raised in a church culture of legalism; the Bible said what it said, and that was it. As I aged, I realized that we all tend to cherry-pick the scripture to support our internal viewpoint; we give more weight to some scripture than others, even when we deny that fact. Several years ago, I was challenged to consider Grace in its fullest, and to look at scripture through that lens.<br />
<br />
This led me to try and reconcile some scriptures that are seemingly in contradiction. But the conclusion that I came to is that there is one over-arching concept and several subordinate concepts with which we might want to view scripture and God. All through the Bible we read that God is (wise, angry, tender, protective, saving, condemning, joyful, sad, ever-faithful, wrathful, etc.); a list of adjectives. These adjectives describe God in terms we can grasp, but not in His fullness. God = adjective, a word that only describes an aspect of His. However in 1 John (as well as 2&3 John and 1&2 Peter) we see God equated with a noun: "Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." 1 John 4:8. This is an equation God = love. From the context, we can also deduce that love = God, since not loving equals not knowing God. This is not a description of an aspect of God, it is a declaration of His essential being.<br />
<br />
Since the basic essence necessarily underlies, informs, and controls His aspects, it may be very beneficial to us to view Him through that essence, and then fit His aspects into that viewpoint. This can bring a greater depth of understanding to the seeming contradictions we may see in scripture, and bring a deeper wisdom and compassion into how we live in and present Him. We can find a balance between the "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" God of Johnathan Edwards and the laissez faire flower-child God of the nouveau hippies.<br />
<br />
But, truly finding this balance in our view of God requires a drastic internal shift. Subordinating our ideas of God's aspects under the idea of love as God's essential being is a radical idea from any side. For some it might mean diminishing concepts of punishment and wrath under the essence of love. For others, it can mean bringing ideas of justice and judgment into the idea of love. For all of us, it needs to inform our internal and external reactions to others.<br />
<br />
How does this work out in our everyday lives? That's the hard thing. Should we refuse to use violence to defend the defenseless? I certainly think not. There's nothing loving about allowing someone to be injured, nor to continue allowing someone to injure others. Mahayana Buddhists understand that very well. This is bringing the uncomfortable aspects of God under the essence of love.<br />
<br />
What about the other side? Should we confront "sin" in others when no one is being harmed? (Yes, I'm talking about gay people here, not alcoholics, addicts, or other people causing a real and tangible harm to themselves and others) Putting the Law and judgment underneath God's nature as love itself demands that we not cast any stones unless we are without sin. That's the point Jesus was making, IMO. This brings the essence of love to the uncomfortable aspects.<br />
<br />
All of that was merely my long argument in support of having the tough discussions about God to reconcile his essence and aspects in our faith communities and relationships. It's far too easy to preach and defend and extreme, but these extremes ultimately wind up hollow and unfulfilling. The narrow path demands we walk between these extremes, and this is where Christ has asked us to follow him.<br />
<br />
Love your neighbors as you love yourself.<br />
So, love yourself.<br />
Love God with all your heart.<br />
God is love, so where love is, there God is.<br />
May His peace be with us all.<br />
<br /></div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-82927461393289889852017-03-23T09:16:00.000-05:002017-03-23T09:16:32.522-05:00The Human Stock Show<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Grey and drizzling, I approach you, a smile and a<br />
Quick turn away the welcome given me<br />
Provisions are needed for this journey<br />
However long or short it may be<br />
<br />
Your guards arrive, an unsecret service of<br />
Your protection, not knowing the stranger beside<br />
Walking hesitantly, masked in my unease<br />
In plain sight, I struggle to hide<br />
<br />
Swerving through the herd of steel and bone<br />
You laugh, they laugh, I can only smile<br />
Abducted from my better judgment<br />
I am both safe and on trial<br />
<br />
Wet crowds pour through the sieve of<br />
Counting and control, into the concrete<br />
Pasture of color and light, wandering<br />
With purpose as the footstep's beat<br />
<br />
A march of hunger to feed the senses<br />
With sound light color taste scent<br />
We feed, we wait, we watch the rain<br />
The herd huddles under a tent<br />
<br />
The corral awaits, a funnel for eyes<br />
Ears hands feet hearts heads<br />
Tension oppresses; in your hair<br />
there is a kiss to relieve the dread<br />
<br />
In the arena, we live through pain pleasure<br />
Fear treasure disappointment relief delight<br />
Memories spring from music, songs bring<br />
Wistful nostalgia, old smiles shine bright<br />
We arise to cross the bridge of sighs; you<br />
Relax, our hands join to enter the night<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-75058458228478603152017-03-22T08:52:00.001-05:002017-03-22T08:52:12.694-05:00To Dream, Perchance to Sleep...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Silence screams at me, a painless deafening hush<br />
I turn away, searching for quiet in the quiet<br />
The flesh is weak, the strong mind weaker still<br />
Talking to myself, I cannot listen<br />
<br />
I screams at I, pain roaring in my soul<br />
I turn to nowhere, peace laughing at peace<br />
Flesh becomes strong, Mind strengthens Mind<br />
Talking to myself, I hear every silent word<br />
<br />
Sleep snores at me, an amused whimpering quiver<br />
I turn towards it, smiling at its simplicity<br />
Bones creak and pop, Mind sinks into its Flesh<br />
Pulling sleep towards me, I enjoy its contented sigh<br />
<br />
Sleep walks away from me, when did he arrive?<br />
I turn to somewhere, finding only Sleep's oppression<br />
Flesh pulls at Bone, barely able to speak to Mind<br />
Speaking to Sleep, He licks at my addled Soul</div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-21916037584715716022017-03-22T08:16:00.001-05:002017-03-22T08:25:20.807-05:00A Heron is in my Yard<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The intruder steps lightly, wanting no attention<br />
<div>
Imminent death shining in his eyes</div>
<div>
Unsuspecting victims move through their day</div>
<div>
Not knowing that Fate waits without patience</div>
<div>
Why have you come to my house?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Hunger stomps heavily, demanding satisfaction</div>
<div>
Caring not about death or destruction</div>
<div>
Instinct is a knife moving through the mist</div>
<div>
Destroying life to give life, thinking only of its own</div>
<div>
You cannot succeed here; I am not prey</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I fire my gun; Brown and Black death screams towards you</div>
<div>
My bullet is fearless, having slavering fangs</div>
<div>
You turn towards me, the predator become prey</div>
<div>
A knowing fear flashes in your eyes</div>
<div>
My house devours intruders</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My bullet steps quickly, wanting my attention</div>
<div>
Slavering fangs smile back at me</div>
<div>
Pleased by his obedience, the gunfire keeps barking</div>
<div>
Wanting to feed on flesh and bone and blood</div>
<div>
Next time, my friend, next time</div>
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Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-42225944885833975292017-03-21T19:15:00.000-05:002017-04-07T18:04:47.521-05:00The Way of Things<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Sol rises, blinded by Earth's transient cataracts<br />
The unseeing eyes of all wait upon Thee, desiring to grasp glory and grace<br />
Small ones rise, seeking power for their existence<br />
Patient and expecting, knowing You provide<br />
They toil not.<br />
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We rise, blinded by our enduring prejudice<br />
The unseeing eyes of all wait upon nothing, grasping anything in case of need<br />
Small ones fall, trampled in the fearful confusion of existence<br />
Impatient and demanding, not seeing Your plenty around us<br />
We toil in vain.<br />
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You rise, seeing slowly through the veil of sleep<br />
Your unseeing eyes wait to adjust to the view, desiring knowledge<br />
Of love rising, love faded but cherished, seeking the gift of<br />
Love. The supreme gift of Creation, the knowledge of His provision<br />
We rest, fainting in His arms.</div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-50537405932567434892016-12-24T15:33:00.003-06:002016-12-24T15:34:31.419-06:00A Child is Born...For This?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Christmas, in whatever mode you celebrate it, seems to be pretty irrelevant for America this year. What should be a time of joy and hope is this year little more than a ceasefire in the political battlefield our country has become. We’ll all be nice to others over this weekend, while secretly hating them simply because they disagree with us. Is hate too strong of a word? To me, it describes very well the increasing stridor in political discussion over the past 10+ years. It would be one thing were this a strictly secular phenomenon, but it is increasing in the Church, to the detriment of the underlying message of this season.<br />
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Celebrating the birth of the One who came to bring us unity at such a time of division not only seems absurd, it is absurd. Yet much less absurd than Christ’s existence upon Earth. The spiritual purity of Divinity took on the physical taint of human flesh. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aseity">independent </a>Creator became a dependent and interdependent creation. The<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impassibility"> impassible</a> God experienced all the passions of our mortal life. He who is deathless and eternal became temporary and died. These concepts are contradictions of such an irreconcilable magnitude to make them completely absurd to any logical examination. Yet this absurd space between these wildly unreasonable extremes of existence is the space in which we are called to live.<br />
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Why then is is so difficult for us to try to bridge the much smaller gap between political opinions? That’s pretty simple. The scandal of the Incarnation isn’t that God experienced these mortal things, it’s that He willingly reached out in love to do so. We’re just not doing that these days. We prefer the certainty of our issues than the uncertainty of searching for compromise. We pay more attention to Megaphone Martyrs than to Silent Servants. We claim to be open-minded when we’re secretly terrified to admit to ourselves that we may be wrong.<br />
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We celebrate the solidified diversity of temporal physicality while fearing and avoiding the diverse ebb and flow of thought and spirit. Meals have become something merely for physical sustenance or solidifying in-group status instead of the welcoming of strangers and building of community that ancient peoples practiced. This is something we should be especially mindful of at this time of the year.<br />
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“For unto us, a child is born...” A child born for us to despise and forsake, as written in Isaiah. Most of us would be mortified at the thought that we despise and forsake Jesus, but what else are we doing when we refuse to live in the absurd space defined by the Incarnation, to seek understanding in the gap of opinions, to seek peace in the war in the gulf between us?<br />
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Titus 3:10 talks about “a divisive person”; the Greek word is hairetikos, from hairesis, where we derive our words heretic and heresy. While hairesis naturally implies a choice of opinion, in biblical terms, we are not warned against it unless we are actually being divisive. What better time of year for us to fight divisiveness in our homes, churches, and communities?<br />
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This holiday is about a child that came to give us the life of the ages in abundance. But we let anger and fear impoverish that abundance. Enjoy your holiday, connect with those with differing opinions, give love and compassion freely. And do it again next week and next year. <br />
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We all deserve better than this current state of affairs. But if nobody wants to share the blame, then everyone gets more of the same.<br />
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May God grant us all His peace.<br />
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Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-15537732835350069782014-09-17T11:30:00.000-05:002014-09-21T14:52:53.329-05:00Why I'm Leaving...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It sucks leaving a place you love, even when it's for the right reasons.<br />
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But, my heart has been troubled for a while about the church I've attended for the past year, and, as is usual for me, it has taken some time for the reasons to become crystallized in my logical mind.<br />
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This is a church of loving, generous people, who give freely of their time and money to help people. But, there are still vestiges of the mid to late 20th century church of Christ, which is to give primacy to the dogma of Paul over the example of Christ Himself, and the spiritual principles Paul expounded.<br />
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For me, the biggest issue is how women are treated in the churches of Christ.<br />
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You can thump your Bibles all day and proof-text me until the sun quits shining, but I'll never be convinced that God intends for women to be second-class citizens of the Kingdom (and if you're not going to try and model the Kingdom in the church practices, then why bother with church at all?)<br />
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Women can't lead prayers or singing, speak to the congregation without a man present on the dais, or even carry the communion trays. The Paulists demand that they remain in their place. The problem arises in that we ascribe God's will to all of Paul's words, even when Paul clearly indicates otherwise.<br />
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! Tim. 2:12 reads, "<b><i>I</i></b> do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet."<br />
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That "<b><i>I</i></b>" is not God nor Christ, but Paul. Which is in blatant contradiction to the principles Paul wrote of in Galatians 3:28 - "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."<br />
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In Galatians 3:28, all of the verbs are in the Present Indicative Active form, which means, Present Tense (right now, at this time), Indicative Mood (which is the assertion or presentation of that which is real or actual), and Active Voice (the subject/s are performing the action of the verb.)<br />
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<i>Right now</i>, as of the time of our baptism into Christ (Gal. 3:27) there is no difference in the status of men and women who are in Him.<br />
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<i></i>Yet we refuse to put that reality into Kingdom practice. "Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven" is nothing but an empty platitude.<br />
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Why? Because it's easier to point to Paul's personal prohibition, and absolve ourselves of responsibility in making justice and equality a reality in the Kingdom.<br />
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It's also because we have become a people that worship the Bible, and seek to serve it, rather than to seek and serve Christ and the Holy Spirit. That's the vestiges of our 20th century legacy of being the "people who are right about the Bible." .<br />
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Well, I don't wish to worship or serve the Bible, nor to be a Paulist. I want to be Christ-like, which means for me, following His example as best I can.<br />
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And that means putting the idea that women are equal to men, and equally gifted by the Spirit into reality in my life. There is no discussion, nor proof-texting that will convince me otherwise.<br />
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We've had a lot of discussion of the function of the body of Christ during the study of spiritual gifts. To carry that analogy to the next logical step, for us to say that women must be under the authority of a man to function in the church is equivalent to saying that our left leg can only move if the right leg carries it along. That cannot be considered walking in any sense; what it is is hobbling along. It's about <i>wholeness;</i> a singular, unified wholeness.<br />
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The modern-day church has had far too much of Gnostic dualism creep in to model a real unified wholeness, such as existed in Jesus Himself. We separate reason and emotion by speaking of heart and mind. We divide aspects of our fundamental being into body and soul. We divide people into groups; saved/unsaved, ingroup/outgroup, clean/unclean, etc. And then we claim that this division is "righteous"<br />
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What is the righteousness that is given to us in Christ? It is the <i>right-standing</i> before God. Yet we somehow believe we can keep that right-standing before God while we deny the right-standing of equality to our sisters in Christ? What are we saying about the body of Christ when we deny Adam's declaration about Eve: "Flesh of my Flesh, bone of my bones?" We are denying the need for a whole and unified body when we say, "Not my male flesh, not my male bones" to our sisters.<br />
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That's not the righteousness I want in my life. I want to share in and partake of the best that everyone has to offer, to bless and be blessed by all parts of the body, and to become poor in spirit by raising up the oppressed members of the body.<br />
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What has happened in my life, is that I have learned far more about how to be Christ-like from the women with whom I interact than from the men. If becoming more Christ-like is really our aim here on Earth, then we should treat them as equal members of the Body and the Kingdom, and honor and trust them as Christ did. I can no longer do otherwise and remain true to my conscience and the conviction of the Spirit.<br />
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May God bless us, Christ form us, and the Spirit lead us all.<br />
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Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-42638961331087829622014-08-22T04:30:00.003-05:002014-08-22T04:30:57.628-05:00Welcome to Texas, Mrs. Detweiler!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://twitter.com/SueDetweiler">Sue Detweiler</a> and I are mutual followers on<a href="https://twitter.com/BPerfectlyHuman"> Twitter</a>. This morning, I read a<a href="http://www.suedetweiler.com/new-beginnings-texans/"> blog post </a>by her talking about her family's move to the Dallas area to plant a church. So, I want to say to Sue and her family, Welcome to Texas!<br />
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So, let me give you the real deal about your new area, Sue.<br />
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Hold on.<br />
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OK, I'm back.<br />
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It took me a few minutes to stop laughing.<br />
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You moved to Texas in AUGUST???!?!?!?!<br />
Well, the good thing is it won't get any hotter than this.<br />
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Next, is that Dallas-area people have strange difficulties in relating to the weather.<br />
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They'll complain about how humid it gets. They're deluded. As a life-long Houstonian, I can vouch that none of them understand humidity. August in Dallas is much more pleasant than August in Houston. It feels like a desert to me up there.<br />
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They don't seem to understand how to drive safely in the rain. Actually, they don't seem to know how to drive safely at all. Dalllas drivers are aggressive, and those are the friendly ones! They do things on the freeways that would get you shot in Houston.<br />
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I don't know what Winter is like where you're from Sue, but up in Dallas it can get pretty cold. The bigger problem is that it gets windy. Really windy. There's a good reason for the old joke about the only thing that blocks the North wind in Dallas is the three strands of barbed wire on the Oklahoma-Kansas border.<br />
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Speaking of North. After you're here a bit, you'll notice that when used in conjunction with the word "Texas", direction words are always capitalized. There is no such place as "north Texas" or "east Texas." It is ALWAYS "North Texas", "SouthEast Texas", etc. "West Texas" is sometimes "West, Texas" but the latter is in Central Texas.<br />
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I'll let you learn about Deep East Texas on your own. Besides, you probably had hillbillies in Tennessee, I'm guessing.<br />
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I'm guessing your church plant will do well in the Dallas area. Dallas people love to go to church. The only place I can think of that might have more churches per capita in Texas is possibly Abilene. And they love to talk about which church they go to. Try not to get caught up in the name-dropping, celebrity preacher ethos up there. You'll find tons of super good folks that do Christ's work in the shadows if you just preach the truth of His love first and foremost.<br />
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I love Dallas and Dallas people, even if they do need to learn to drive better. I hope your church is fruitful, and that you get a chance to see more of this beautiful state. Oh, in these parts, distance is measured in hours, not miles. A four-hour drive is not a long drive in Texas. I've done Houston to Dallas and back as a day trip many times.<br />
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Welcome!<br />
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One more thing...<br />
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You will eventually learn that Satan lives in Dallas. He owns the Cowboys.<br />
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Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-24863603017543624462014-07-29T09:44:00.001-05:002014-07-30T08:10:17.828-05:00Let Me Tell You a Story (or, You Just Never Know...)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This isn't a blog post I want to write. I don't want to bring any additional pain to the family members involved, but the situation surrounding convicted child molester Greg Kelley and his supporters in Leander, Texas, makes this a necessary story to tell.<br />
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Back when I was in High School, there was a girl that could easily be described as the nicest girl in school, and stunningly beautiful, to boot. I don't remember anyone that disliked her, and her family was held in high regard by everyone. She had a brother a couple of years younger than us, whom I never met, but he had a nice sister and a nice family, so he had to be a nice guy, too.<br />
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Imagine my surprise a few weeks ago to see a link to a news story on a local message board concerning him. It turns out that he had just<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2678248/Mistakes-contribute-death-suspected-molester.html"> hanged himself in jail after being arrested for possession of child pornography and the rape of over 56 children which he had videotaped.</a> I would have never imagined that he would have been the guy from my school to have done such a thing (and I even knew a guy from school that murdered a couple a few years after graduating.) The FBI is still <a href="http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/seeking-info/matthew-john-coniglio/view">seeking information regarding his victims</a>.<br />
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What does this have to do with the people of Leander, Texas that are holding rallies and vigils to support Greg Kelley? The fact that You Just Never Know... If he weren't guilty, then why would he admit his guilt in a plea bargain? You all think you know this guy so well, but you really don't. None of you live inside his head, and you have no idea what thoughts might be in there.<br />
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I get standing by a friend, and that's an admirable thing. But, to come out and say that the very young victims are lying about this is abominable. You can support your friend in a way that doesn't ridicule the victim in such a public manner. What is especially disgusting is that a local church and its pastor are sponsoring events to support this convicted child molester.<br />
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I'd like to ask Pastor Bob Brydon of Generations Church in Leander how he can reconcile his dismissal of the victim's statements with Christ's admonition not to cause little children to stumble? Do you think this nonsense will make them want to be Christians later in life? Your church claims to seek daily guidance of the Holy Spirit, Pastor Brydon, perhaps you should do some deeper soul-searching and seeking of guidance from the Spirit before you jump so whole-heartedly behind Greg Kelley. Have you had a face-to-face, man-to-man talk with him since his conviction and acceptance of a plea deal? I doubt it, knowing the way TDCJ works, but when he gets established in a housing unit, I'd urge you to go and visit him and demand that he tell you the real truth. You might be surprised at what you hear.<br />
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This is all a sickening situation, and I urge Greg Kelley's supporters to spend some of their energy in prayer for the victims' healing. Put yourself in their shoes, instead of your friend's. I do understand your disbelief, because it still triggers a disconnect in me when I consider what that boy from my school did. But, Matthew pronounced judgment upon himself, and a jury pronounced judgment on Greg. Some things you just have to accept, no matter how hard it is to believe.<br />
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Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-59916885784428485692014-07-06T06:48:00.001-05:002014-07-30T23:06:27.388-05:00Slavery and Freedom<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I gave the communion talk at my church last Sunday, and wanted to develop some thoughts from it a bit more.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
" 11For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,<br />
12saying,<br />
“I WILL PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN,<br />
IN THE MIDST OF THE CONGREGATION I WILL SING YOUR PRAISE.”<br />
13And again,<br />
“I WILL PUT MY TRUST IN HIM.”<br />
And again,<br />
“BEHOLD, I AND THE CHILDREN WHOM GOD HAS GIVEN ME.”<br />
14Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. " Hebrews 2:11-15</blockquote>
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What does it mean for us to be free of the slavery of the fear of death? We no longer are forced to make decisions based on self-preservation and self-interest. We no longer need to seek out stuff and status in order to relieve that anxiety. We don't have to concern ourselves with living a live that will let us "be remembered"; we'll have our names proclaimed in Heaven. We are finally freed to "love God with all our hearts and love our neighbors as ourselves." We sacrifice of ourselves to make decisions of<i> others</i>-interest and <i>others</i>-preservation.<br />
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But this freedom takes us to an unusual place. Where His death frees us from slavery to the fear of death, we make the decision to honor the ransom paid by His blood, and become His bonded servants. Rev. 5:9 " And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased<i> for God</i> with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation."<br />
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As we become Christ's servants purchased by His blood we are able to fully live into the freedom from the fear of death, allowing us to live in a way not possible in our old lives.<br />
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OK, that's the official devotional version, but what does this really mean for us internally?</div>
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A friend and I were chatting about my talk after church, and he commented on how <i>frightening</i> this freedom is. That hadn't occurred to me, but I realized how right he was in that assessment. Being free from enslavement to ego-driven choices in a theological sense means that we can also have that same freedom in a psychological sense. We don't have to try and be who we think others want us to be. We're free to be exactly who He has always meant us to be. Indeed, that person who we are meant to be is the one He proclaims in the congregation.</div>
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But, simply being yourself can be costly. Sometime who we are isn't always easy to accept fully for others, and vice-versa. This is where we have to continue to grow in Christ. We grow to be more loving, more accepting, more forbearing, more like Him. </div>
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This isn't easy for me. It's easier to work from the 'fear of death' paradigm instead of seeing the people around me as having the same worries and fears that I do. It's easier to expect them to have all their stuff together so that my life can be easier. It's easier to criticize them for having different ideas and opinions. And it's much easier just to cut them off rather than reach out in reconciliation. </div>
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Lots of preachers have spoken on what 'regeneration' in Christ is. Mostly, their definition seems to be 'Good Christian", the kind you see in church every Sunday. But I think it's a lot bigger than that. All too often, 'Good Christian' can be just a mask we wear to give others a good impression. Being freed from the slavery to the fear of death means that masks are no longer necessary. We simply are who we are, working towards becoming more Christ-like in making decisions based on the needs of others, instead of based on ego/self/fear. It's that change that I think is a bigger part of regeneration than making a spectacle of repentance. </div>
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Dear Lord, help us each to realize that the chains of our slavery to the fear of death have been removed, and help to understand the true lightness of taking on your yoke. Amen.</div>
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I'll leave you with a beautiful song from Eric Hansen, "Hero In The Dark". Take a few minutes to enjoy its beauty and reflect upon the lyrics.<br />
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Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-20835310156590161312014-05-28T06:37:00.002-05:002014-07-30T23:06:15.824-05:00Rain and Renewal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's five a.m., and in my back yard the chorus of Spring Peeper frogs is deafening. It's a normal sound around here, except in the past few years. My area (and all of Texas) has been in a drought for the past 4-5 years, and the wildlife and their sounds have been affected as much as the plant life. We've gotten just over six inches of rain at my house the past two and a half days, and the critters are loving it.<br />
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The storms moved through about three this morning, the sound of the thunder waking me up.<br />
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Frogs and toads, happy to feel refreshed, screaming as loud as they can to attract mates.<br />
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Yellow crowned night herons wading through the standing water, gulping down the crawfish that have floated up.<br />
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Purple finches, Cardinals, Blue Jays, and White-Winged Doves splashing in the water at the edge of the driveway, then zipping out to eat the safflower and thistle seeds I put out for them.<br />
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Down near the river, Great Blue Herons will feat on frogs, crawfish, and other critter washing down the bayous.<br />
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And bugs will start multiplying. All sorts of them.<br />
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And their predators, too, spiders and dragonflies.<br />
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Snakes, too.</div>
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Best of all, though, the rain brings out our wildflowers and an incredible variety of fungi.<br />
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Green returns to the land, and the land cries out, "Come!" Just as our Lord calls out to those who thirst for His presence. "Come, sit and rest with me!"</div>
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He feeds us.</div>
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And He comforts us.</div>
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As the rain renews the land, so Christ renews us. "Behold, I am making all things new."</div>
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Hope you all have a blessed day.</div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-8760706793838206392014-04-27T05:02:00.002-05:002014-06-11T05:30:50.183-05:00Feel It, Don't Think It!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Jesus told us that we're to love God with all our hearts, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.<br />
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And, after two thousand years, we still know less about love than we do outer space.<br />
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We imagine that "loving God" is demonstrated by how closely we follow the Bible to the letter. At least the parts of it that help us to feel better than other people who are different than ourselves. We've turned love into a rational, emotionless, thought exercise. I remember a well-known preacher at a singles ministry declaring that love was " a decision to know and meet the needs of another." Sorry, Dave, but while that may or may not be a loving action, it is still not love.<br />
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Love is an emotion. It's not a simple decision to 'do' anything or agree with certain opinions. It's a <i>feeling</i>.<br />
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In the 20th Century church, we had a lot of problems with feelings, and that spectre hangs over the 21st Century church. And we've gotten cause and effect backwards when it comes to love.<br />
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We've convinced ourselves that agreeing with the limited face-value of scripture and doing exactly what it says are going to bring about love in our hearts and lives. It obviously hasn't, else people wouldn't be abandoning church in hordes these days. We treat people shabbily from our pulpits and in our lives, then tell ourselves the lie, "I love sinners, but hate sin" to comfort ourselves.<br />
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We've convinced ourselves that feeling good and happy somehow makes us loving people. What it has mostly done is make us a culture of benevolent narcissists with a self-perpetuating inferiority complex. We secretly think that becoming 'loving' people will make God love us more in some way, and draw Him nearer to us. And that blinds us to seeing Him where He really is right in front of us.<br />
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It's great that we do all sorts of things and give generously of our time and money to help people. But, without love as a <i>feeling,</i> we invariably revert to our intellectual narcissism whenever we sense that our certitude or identity is being threatened by something. If you think that's wrong, just look at the thousands of people willing to let children go hungry when World Vision USA threatened to take away one of their scapegoats.<br />
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We've let ourselves become such creatures of reason and intellect that we have no idea of how to increase our individual capacities to<i> feel </i>love for more and more people.<br />
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A while back, during an online Q&A session, I asked two pastors for Christian practices on cultivating love. Neither one had a cogent answer other than, "love is just something you do and have." I lost a ton of respect for both of them that instant. I guess those of us that don't naturally have the same amount of 'love' that they do are just poor, benighted souls wandering through life.<br />
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There is a way to cultivate compassion and love as feelings that will generate actions. Meditative contemplation. The Mahayana Buddhists have known this for centuries. The sad thing is that the conservative church doesn't want anything to do with it. Why not? Because it creates disciples that will put love before obedience to church doctrines and rules. For far too many Christians, what we appear to be is far more important than what we actually<i> are</i>.<br />
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Meditative contemplation on love and compassion breaks down barriers and fears, the ones that move us so powerfully to keep ourselves separated in order to remain pure and uncontaminated by sin and the world. The ones that Jesus broke down when He ate with sinners and touched lepers. It makes us <i>feel</i>.<br />
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In the NT, where it talks about Jesus being moved with compassion, the Greek word is <i>splanchna, </i>a word used to this day in medicine referring to our internal organs and viscera. Jesus felt compassion physically, in His body, He didn't make an intellectual assessment balancing what would be best for the church and the suffering, He acted on His <i>feelings</i>.<br />
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When He commands us to love our neighbors, He wants us to <i>feel</i> love, and abandon our image-based fears and worries. The Pharisees were all about image, remember?<br />
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And I'm convinced He wants to feel that love so powerfully that we abandon our intellectual narcissism about worshiping the Bible above extending love and grace to others. But that scares a lot of preachers and demagogues.<br />
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Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-43275911739771689812014-04-18T05:40:00.001-05:002014-06-11T05:31:47.529-05:00In Whose Name?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today.<br />
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The day that the veil was parted.<br />
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The day He died.<br />
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We like to preach about how Jesus gave His life for us, but the reality of the matter is that He just as much gave His life<i> to</i> us.<br />
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I don't buy into <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_substitution">Penal Substitution Atonement</a> (PSA) theory very much. To accept that, I'd have to embrace the logical inconsistency that God gave His life to save us from Himself, from His wrath.<br />
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While there is scriptural evidence to support PSA, it's all based on a simplistic surface reading of scripture, and it's not the theory of atonement that anyone in the early church would have accepted or understood.<br />
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I think more along the lines of the <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christus_Victor">Christus Victor</a> </i>model, where Christ came to defeat sin and death for us.<br />
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So why would I say that He gave His life <i>to</i> us?<br />
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Well, we're the ones that killed Him. God didn't strike him down, we did.<br />
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When He willingly went to the Cross, He didn't go there to take our place, He went there because that's where we already were, and largely still are, living.<br />
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Yes, we live in a world of death and murder. While we may not be individual killers or part of a wild mob attacking villages, we still allow people to kill in our name. We send troops and bombs around the world to kill people of other religions. We allow people the choice to kill an unborn child. Even though it is an individual decision, it happens in our name. We allow, and even demand that our government execute certain criminals. And when that happens, it is done in our name. What is the worst thing about this is that we claim that it's the 'Christian' thing to do.<br />
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It's the crime Pilate is guilty of; allowing us our wishes, while allowing us to avoid getting our own hands dirty.<br />
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So what does it really mean to be a people of <i>His name</i>?<br />
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He defeated sin and death, and now holds the keys to death and Hades. So why do we still have such a fascination with letting people kill in our name. (You'll notice I've mentioned things that are supported by both liberal and conservative factions in American Christianity. I'm not making this a political issue, just pointing out how we've hidden our political issues behind religious trappings.)<br />
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He came to redeem, justify, sanctify, and give life abundant to <i>all</i>. He brought us God's grace. It's such a great treasure that He gave us that we have a secret desire to hoard as much as we can for ourselves, as if it would somehow be in shorter supply if we were to give it away to others.<br />
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That gift of God's grace, that what the abundant life is. It's not the material prosperity promised by some preachers to those who give money to make the pastor rich, it's the free giving of what we freely received, God's grace.<br />
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Yes, there are people who will always take advantage of that gift, and use it against those who would give grace freely. That doesn't give us permission to quit giving grace.<br />
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We killed Christ in our name, and being the full revelation of God, He gives us the gift of living in His name in return.<br />
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So in whose name shall we live?</div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-50709932499097661802014-04-14T23:15:00.001-05:002014-06-11T05:32:16.733-05:00Holiness Is Not The Goal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's means to an end, at least according to Peter.<br />
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A few days back, I had an exchange with Richard Beck on his blog, and his replies got me to thinking. As is usual for me, it takes a few days of an idea tumbling around my subconscious for it to become something I can express.</div>
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His <a href="http://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2014/04/all-sick-and-twisted-ways-power-and.html">blog post</a> was about the practice of kenosis and the contrast of what this looks like in the lives of people with power and privilege and people who are oppressed and victimized. I commented that is has to start with love, especially in terms of speaking about sins. Richard aptly noted that when we speak of sin, we generally are speaking about the sins of others, rather than our own. However, when we look at our own sin, we should be looking at the sin of not loving others (Rom 13:10 - Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.)</div>
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He also noted that we are called to be holy and pure, bringing up 1 Peter 1: 16 & 22. (because it is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY." and Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart) </div>
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For Peter, holiness and purity is connected to our loving others. We make ourselves holy, not so that we are protected from the impurity and contamination of the world and others, but so that we can actually love them. And this moving in love is our work to do, not a result of our purity and sanctification.</div>
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In 1Pet. 16:22, we have two different types of love being talked about. Purifying our souls takes us<b> into</b> brotherly (<i>philadelphian</i>) love. The Greek here shows that the brotherly love is a noun that we are placed into. From there, Peter commands us to <b>practice </b>agape love (<i>agapēsate</i>), an imperative verb. It is in this practice of agape love towards others that we find ourselves in fulfillment of the law. But what does this look like in our individual lives?</div>
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"Speaking the truth in love" gets thrown about in Christian circles a lot. Much of the time, it's used to excuse our offending other people with our ideological statements. But here's the rub: if you don't actually love the person(s) to whom you're referring, you're not really speaking the truth. If we're struggling with some sin in our lives of which we haven't purified ourselves, we're not fully placed into that brotherly love. But, if we look at the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14), we have to consider that one of the big sins from which we must purify ourselves is the sin of<b> not loving</b> (judging and condemning) others. </div>
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So we tell the rhetorical 'others' to purify themselves in order to get right with God, all the while not realizing that we are defiling ourselves by doing that. Ephesians 4 tells us to "lay aside falsehood" to speak truth to our neighbor. The biggest falsehood we have to lay aside is<b> not loving</b> our neighbor in a real and meaningful way. This means we have to have a real relationship with them. We have to know them, and see them as we see ourselves, as someone who needs God's grace in the same way we need it. 1 Pet. 1:13 tells us to " fix your hope<b> completely</b> on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." If we're <b>completely</b> fixed upon that grace, then it's going to be extended to others, expressed in loving relationship. </div>
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Open-ended declarations against the sins of unnamed (and largely unknown to our hearts) 'sinners' don't express the grace and love which our our own work of purification brings us into. And we're just compounding our own sins when we do that. When we're in an actual loving relationship with someone, we can speak that truth without causing offense and worldly sorrow and pain. In a real, loving relationship, that truth will bring about the godly sorrow that leads to repentance.</div>
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What it boils down to, is that we can't simply decry the sins of an entire group of people, especially if we don't actually know and love someone in that group. If we feel that the sin is important enough for us to declare to them, then we need to avoid sinning ourselves by taking the time and doing the work to know and love that person. That's a big part of our own purification. It requires humble kenosis (emptying ourselves) on our part. </div>
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Emptying ourselves of the Pharisee's pride.</div>
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Emptying ourselves of our false image of ourselves.</div>
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The true love of being a loving and humble servant to others.</div>
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Knowing ourselves and our need for Christ, and who we truly are in Him.</div>
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That's the goal of holiness.</div>
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Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-86753608311074535262014-04-11T05:19:00.002-05:002016-10-11T10:09:25.621-05:00Theologies and Psychologies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A while back, I made a comment on one of<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/zhoag/"> Zach Hoag</a>'s blog posts, and a phrase I wrote resonated with him: "Theologies reveal psychologies." Now, depending on your experience, you could understand it, agree with it, or think it's completely off-base. Since I said it, I obviously agree with it, but I think I should develop it into a deeper and more complete line of thought.<br />
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First off, we need to realize that it's a two-way street. Not only do our theologies reveal our psychologies, theologies also<i> influence</i> psychologies, and I'll readily admit that my story demonstrates both. Let's look at both points.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Theology reveals Psychology</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There are many ways this could be investigated, but the easiest to examine, and the primary way it manifests itself, I think, is in the parallel of how we think God sees humanity and how we see humanity. Show me a person that constantly emphasizes God's wrath, and characterizes people (sinners) as the object of that wrath, and I'll show you a wounded and angry person that distrusts and dislikes people in general. They may well say and do a lot of things that are humanitarian in nature, and give real physical help to people, but I would submit that those actions arise from feelings of pity, rather than love. People are evil and in need of God's pity, and so they view themselves and others in the same way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then take the person that is convinced that God loves only a few people, and He has intended to condemn most people from the very beginning. You're likely to notice how people within the in-group (the Elect) are celebrated as "Godly" people and that people outside the group are "enemies" that wish nothing but to destroy the in-group. Everything they do revolves around sustaining the boundary between "us" and "them". When the horrible events of life hit someone, it's evidence that God has decreed that they deserve to suffer, and very little compassion and connection can be extended.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then there's the person that is completely convinced that God loves them deeply and fully, and that He feels the same about everyone, and became the God that experienced death in order to defeat death and Satan for us. Those are people that love in a way that is willing to embrace pain and suffering to help relieve the pain and suffering of others. They give freely of all that they are, sometimes in a way that makes them unrecognizable to the world for the avatars of love which they truly are. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The reality of the matter is that none of us can study the Bible as believers in a vacuum estranged from our experience, pain, hopes, and ultimately, our personality and worldviews. We cherry-pick the parts on which we will place more emphasis and give more weight, although we may deny that fact vehemently. We allow the conscious and sub-conscious ideas in our minds to determine the kind of God we declare to the world. If we declare that God only loves a chosen few, can we absolutely declare, with absolute honesty, that our view of God is uncolored by our feelings and experience about love? If our conception of love has been defined by exclusivity, by loving only a few, or feeling loved by few, can we really say that our view of God hasn't been affected by that? Likewise, if we feel that there is some grouping of people deserving of our scorn (whether ethnic, ideological, or behavioral, i.e. criminals/sinners), is it realistic for anyone to expect that our declarations about God haven't been affected by that? These last questions lead us into the next section.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Theology influences Psychology (and Vice-Versa)</i></span><br />
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What if churches were not just a place to worship, but communities that could bring deep and effective healing and reconciliation into our lives? What if we had a real way to changes hearts and lives, to bring the awesome humility that comes with episodes of deep spiritual healing and acceptance? Well, we do have the way to do that, but there are so many churches in America that refuse to embrace the complex nature of how that can happen. Churches that get invested into a worldview that wants to exclude psychiatric therapies that include admittedly secular methods, that want desperately to see Jesus as the source of all healing, yet want to limit the ways in which He brings that healing. Churches that don't want to be seen as endorsing anything that is "un-biblical." Churches that care more about growth than health.<br />
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Our church communities influence us in not only the words from the pulpit, but also in the attitudes that define the community's practices. Do we view sin as a contaminant that must be rooted out and excluded, or do we see it as a common part of our human experience, a part from which we all need to seek continual healing and progress? Do we view our own holiness as an image to present to the world, or as part of the healing that increases our connection to each other in our church community and to those outside as well?<br />
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These attitudes will affect people who come into our communities on a superficial basis. People who are not what we would call "dedicated church-goers" or "hard-core church/denominational folks" will accept or refuse attendance at a church depending on how they<i> feel</i> about the experience (those who are closely examining the theology to see what they <i>think </i>about the church fit into the 'Theology reveals Psychology' group more so than this one).<br />
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It's too easy to say, and quite disingenuous, to say that a church at which person <i>x</i> feels comfortable is a healthy church. Churches can reinforce our exclusionistic perception of our injuries. We can feel safe and protected in a church that tells us that all our problems are due to others/satan/the world/etc. But this might not be a place that can bring real and deep healing and connection. These same churches can cause just as much, if not more damage to people who have been victims of abuse.<br />
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That bears repeating:<b> these same churches can cause just as much, if not more damage to people who have been victims of abuse. </b>A church community that seeks true healing for everyone is a church that has experienced true healing. And healing and reconciliation are two very different things. Reconciliation is NOT a part of the healing process. It is, however, a part of the process of which a community regains comfort and equilibrium. Is the community demanding reconciliation between the abused and the abuser, or is it demanding reconciliation between the abused and the world a large? Is it demanding more of the abused or the abuser? Does it want the abuser restored to a place in the community, or the well-being of the abused ones?<br />
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A healthy community of people who are healing in a healthy way lays blame in appropriate places, and <i>only</i> in appropriate places.<br />
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What we get from our church communities reinforces and strengthens what we already feel about ourselves and others. The biggest thing that gets reinforced from this is the 'us v. them' or 'we're all in this together' paradigm. And that reinforcement works in exclusionary and inclusionary ways.<br />
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Who is welcome? Those who wish to look and act just like 'us', or anyone, even tatooed-up, ear-pierced me? Those who agree with the group politically, or those that bug the daylights out of us? If we have a desire to be 'a part of' or 'separated from' we can get those feelings justified and reinforced at a church.<br />
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Jesus gave a comforting welcome to all sorts of people that would make any of us uncomfortable. We like to twist His words and actions in ways that protect our sense of 'us v. them', but everything He did was to make us uncomfortable with that dichotomy.<br />
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Do we want to be like Him or 'us'?<br />
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Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-1234305375909035912014-03-10T11:31:00.002-05:002014-06-11T05:32:51.485-05:00Koinonia, Kenosis, and Charis in The Lord's Supper<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
On Sunday, I gave the communion and offering prayers, as well as short talks for each. I got some very nice feedback from the talks, so I want to flesh the ideas out a bit here. <br />
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I used Philippians for my texts, highlighting the depth of some Greek words that translate into English words that convey a more limited sense than the Greek words do. I think these words and concepts translate well onto the Lord's Supper and the offering, even though Philippians never speaks directly to observance of the Eucharist. From Philippians, I highlighted three Greek words,<i> koinonia</i>,<i> kenosis</i>, and <i>charis</i>; fellowship, emptying, and grace in English.<br />
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I. Koinonia. <br />
For the bread that represents Christ's body, Philippians 3:8-11 demonstrates this fellowship:<br />
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<sup>8</sup>More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, <sup>9</sup>and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, <sup>10</sup>that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection<i> </i><b>and the fellowship </b><i>(Koinonia)</i><b> of His sufferings</b>, being conformed to His death; <sup>11</sup>in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. (Emphasis mine)</blockquote>
Koinonia is much more than what we tend to view as fellowship today. It's much more than the sense of brotherhood and conviviality we enjoy at our fellowship dinners and gatherings, it's a participation and sharing in all of life's events. It's something that is always active and purposeful, and not simply a passive occurrence that we experience.<br />
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In His body that suffered for us, we participate in <i>the fellowship of His sufferings</i>. For us, this is comforting and frightening at the same time. We draw comfort from knowing that we serve a King who fully understands all of our pain and suffering, fear and loneliness. He knows that horrible place in the midst of life's worst events where we scream to God, "Why? Why? Where are You?" He asked the same upon the Cross. At the same time, He asks us to confront our fears as we participate in this fellowship of suffering. He asks us to stand beside others when they are in the midst of crying out that agonizing question, and to be brave enough to admit to ourselves and each other that we don't <i>know</i>, but we<i> trust</i>.<br />
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II. Kenosis<br />
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In His blood that was poured out for us on the Cross, Philippians 2:4-8 give us an example of how to live this emptying, this pouring out of ourselves:<br />
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<sup>4</sup>do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. <sup>5</sup>Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, <sup>6</sup>who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, <sup>7</sup>but<i> </i><b>emptied</b> <i>(kenosis)</i><b> Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant</b>, and being made in the likeness of men. <sup>8</sup>Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.</blockquote>
His pouring out of love and blood becomes our outpouring of love for each other. As His blood covers our sins from the sight of God, our deep love for each other covers a multitude of sins for each other. His blood that was shed frees us from the slavery of the fear of death, and as we continue to empty ourselves, we are able to use that freedom to practice the true religion James wrote about, visiting orphans and widows in their distress. We walk up to the captive and proclaim freedom, the freedom that comes by becoming His servant And as we empty ourselves in love, we find we become filled by His love and compassion.<br />
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III. Charis<br />
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Grace, and the active sharing of grace is shown in Philippians 1: 5-7, and displays the true spirit within our offerings and giving:<br />
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<sup>5</sup>in view of your participation (<i>koinonia</i>) in the gospel from the first day until now. <sup>6</sup>For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. <sup>7</sup>For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are <b>partakers of grace</b> (<i>charis</i>) <b>with me</b>.</blockquote>
This grace that we partake of with Paul is something with a much wider meaning than only the saving grace of God. This grace is alive and active within us; it participates in our lives as we actively share it. It increases our love, it expresses itself in gratitude, and it brings us joy, the joy of God that is our strength. Our offerings are the grace of God in which we partake, extended to others. It isn't limited to the giving of money, it's giving of our love and our selves. It's living out kenosis and koinonia.<br />
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Christ asked us specifically to observe His Supper in remembrance of Him . And we should view it more than just a remembrance of what He did for us; it's a call to remember the other things he asked us to do for Him.</div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1901049708735541507.post-83063406771204543452014-02-27T09:27:00.001-06:002014-03-05T08:33:41.137-06:00On Extending Grace<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Last night, I encountered something that once would have made me angry, but now it just makes me really sad. It was during a Bible study, and the discussion was on why "Love the sinner, hate the sin" isn't what we should be practicing as Christians. The explanation was great (and from a perspective that I hadn't yet considered), but during the discussion, the proposed Arizona law allowing religious principles as an affirmative defense for discrimination by a business came up. What I heard sounded a lot like "Those sinners are attacking us! We have to be judgmental to protect ourselves!" to me. A need for a new volley of arrows in the Great American Culture War.<br />
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Now, typically, my response would be to start angrily railing about them being bigoted hypocrites. But since the Holy Spirit has started softening my heart, and scrubbing the crustiness off of my soul, I was just saddened. The only response I had was about the contradiction of being asked to practice love and practice hate by the same cliche. I wanted to write last night, but couldn't manage to do anything until this morning.<br />
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"Love the sinner, hate the sin." I have yet to meet anyone that can effectively keep the 'sinner/sin' paradigm in a proper perspective. If we can't properly keep sinner separate from sin, then as we try to practice love and hate at the same time, both love and hate will wind up being directed at the wrong object.<br />
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When I got home, there was a link to a<a href="http://rachelheldevans.com/blog/jesus-religious-freedom-gay-lesbian-discrimination"> blog post by Rachel Held Evans </a>in my Twitter feed. She made a point right along where I was thinking and feeling at the moment, "The truth is, evangelical Christians have already "lost" the culture wars. And it's not because the "other side" won or because evangelicals have failed to protect our own religious liberties. Evangelicals lost the culture wars the moment they committed to fighting them,<i> the moment they decided to stop washing feet and start waging war.</i>" (emphasis mine)<br />
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This is where we as Christians have to make some choices. Are we going to demand that people who have not chosen to take up their crosses and follow Christ live as we <i>think</i> they should? Are we going to demand laws to protect our "religious freedom" as we discriminate against <i>people</i> outside of our churches instead of the<i> behavior of those </i><b>within</b> our churches? And biggest of all, are we going to claim the redemptive power of God's grace through Christ while refusing to extend it to others?<br />
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If you don't want to bake a cake or whatnot for a gay wedding, that's your business. Just don't tell me that you're making that choice because you're a Christian. You freely received God's grace, you're expected to give it freely. Gay people are not your enemy. Even if they were, that's all the more reason for you to treat them with love, because that's what Jesus expects of us.<br />
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We're called to wash feet, not send them away dirty.</div>
Erichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03940254651390805766noreply@blogger.com0