Faith Reconsidered

"Do you think you will go to the Christmas Eve service, or just pick up the stuff" read my mother's text.

"Pick up" I replied.

I had left some stuff at my mother's house the night before, and now needed to pick it up before returning to the Twin Cities, and meeting her at the Christmas Eve services was most convenient. But that was beside the point. I didn't want to go to church. Fortunately I had an excuse, other family engagements, but the thought of going to church was not attractive to me.

And that of course leads to the inevitable "why?" Why didn't I want to spend time gathered with others reflecting on the meaning of Christmas?

That I didn't know the people at my parent's church was part of it. Style was another. But the real reasons were deeper.

In past iterations of my faith, there would have been questions about commitment, sin, and things like that. Those questions still linger, but I am increasingly coming to own my identity in these in between spaces.

It is a strange thing to both deeply believe and deeply doubt. Again, in past iterations of my faith these things would have been cause for existential angst. They aren't now.

I am keenly aware of arguments for the existence of God that suggest she resides solely in the grey matter of our minds, filling up the spaces of the things we can't explain, and providing a variety of evolutionary advantages. For example, a commitment to something greater than ourselves which leads to altruistic activities that further the species at the expense of ourselves. Or the common notion that all paths lead to heaven; that there is one life source (or many) known by many different names in the various cultural contexts we humans share. (In particular, I appreciate the more nuanced versions of this thought, less focused on heaven and more focused on the nature of God.) I appreciate the internal logic of these arguments, and am aware of the conservative Christian arguments against them, which likely have corollaries in other religions. I agree with some of these traditional arguments.

What is changing now, is my willingness to side-step questions that allegedly demand an answer, and instead focus on being present, being a better person, and inviting Jesus Christ and those around me to be a part of that process.

I use the name Jesus Christ intentionally because I still believe. I was raised as a fundamentalist evangelical, and later attended the inter-denominational, but still evangelical, Fuller Theological Seminary, known for being too liberal for fundamentalists and too conservative for liberals. That was a needed and rewarding experience. Grappling with the nature of scripture and theology, who wrote the scriptures and how, and just as importantly, how the present versions of our Bible got to us. That experience cracked an iron curtain that was largely unwilling to dialogue with people and writings of other perspectives, other than to debunk them. Fuller didn't take that approach, and for that I am thankful.

For reasons both consistent and inconsistent with the Christian faith, I don't feel the need to convince people to become a Christian in the overt manner that I did as an extremely conservative Christian. I think there is a time and place for considering the why and the how of things, but it isn't my job to convince anyone of anything.

And I don't feel the need to gather on Christmas Eve, just because everyone else is doing it. I do think that gathering on Christmas Eve for any number of other reasons is a good idea. There have been years where that was exactly what I needed. For  many, it is one of the most meaningful parts of their holiday traditions, a quiet respite from an otherwise chaotic season. It's just that I would rather stand under the stars in the falling snow, with silence as my companion.

I may have my father to thank for this independence. When I was born, we didn't go to the kind of church other people went to, and we didn't have a pagan Christmas tree, just because others did. My father is not easily swayed by anything, least of all popular opinion. I respect that about him. Sure it can be maddening on some topics, but on balance it is a good thing.

He is also able to change his mind. 

Today, my father and I have Christmas trees in our front rooms. We both attend churches as normal and vanilla as can be. But thanks in part to my father, I question things, including my Christian faith. This in turn I think, does not diminish a divine connection, it enhances it, drawing me closer to our Creator, and the imago dei that we all share.

It is in that closeness, where it seems like heaven meets earth, in temples and on quiet snowy nights, that sometimes we change our mind. Sometimes for the better. 

Holy Saturday

holy Saturday
dawns with indifference for most
myself included

we sit in the cold
next to a fire warmed
freezing and burned

our back to the one
our face to the other one
unsure which is which

we long for the holy
and profanity in spades
unsure which is which

God from Nazareth
have mercy me a sinner
lost and searching here

What gets preached AND what does not - From the pulpit AND in my life.

I wrote the following to a friend this mourning and thought I would share it with the rest of you. (with a few edits)  It is about me, not him, so no worries on confidentiality.  Read this as a letter to a friend.

...But to be fair, I am a bit cynical in some respects. It is something I reflect on fairly often with the Spirit in my quiet times. How does one see the world as it really is... ideally through His eye's, and not become cynical?

I was visiting a church the other day and they were preaching on God's immutability. Malachi 3:6a was referenced. “I the LORD do not change."

Clearly there was nothing wrong with what was being preached. And God's character was being made appropriately relevant to the hear and now. But like usual I briefly scanned the rest of the chapter, and a problem immediately jumped off the page.

The issue I saw was not necessarily one for any given church, or any given sermon, but rather concerns our shared Evangelical culture. The issue that leaped off the page at me was what we preach, thematically speaking, over the course of a year, and what does not get preached over the course of a year.

Malachi 3 is a perfect example of this.
(Go ahead and read it here, it won't take long.)

Things more than likely preached over the course of a year.
Mal 3:5a - sorcerers, adulterers are evil - check
Mal 3:6 - God does not change- Check
Mal 3:8-9 - Tithe - Check
Mal 3:17-18 - God's Compassion - Check

What got skipped?

The latter half of Mal 3:5 - "So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the LORD Almighty."

When it comes to Jesus, we are all unbelievers

Why I love Jesus but Hate Religion, is the title of a short spoken word video that has recently gone viral.  Let me just say at the top, I like the sentiment in it, but what I find interesting is the variety of perspectives on it.  We have both the non-religious giving it a shout-out, and the Evangelical crowd trying to draw a distinction between "religion" and the one true way.  Others are accurately pointing out how "religious" Jesus was, pointing to chapter and verse where he regularly went to the synagogue.

As is often the case, we commonly see what we want to see, myself included.  What Evangelicals see in this film is a line of reasoning that says, "I'm not merely religious, I take this stuff seriously.  A relationship with Jesus is so much more than mere religion."  While in contrast, the non-church attender sees in this video a version of Jesus they like, one which allows them to understandably reject what they see as the inconsistencies of religion.

But are Jesus and religion actually odds?  The answer is a mixed bag.

The Communion of Saints

Today I enjoyed an interesting dialog between Mark Osler and Susan Stabil on prayer and intercession from their respective Christian traditions. They were comparing and contrasting Stabil’s Catholic view on intercession and praying to the Saints, with Osler’s Protestant/Ana-Baptist view on intercession.  You can listen to the conversation here.

For Osler, the idea of asking anyone, much less a dead person or Saint to intercede on our behalf was, while not heretical, simply not necessary in light of Christ’s work on the cross and our ability to come freely before the throne of God. That said, Osler none-the-less enjoys learning about the Saints and the role-models they provide for us, sometimes in what not to do.

For Stabil on the other hand, asking others to intercede on her behalf was nothing new, and the fact that a person had passed on to the other side changed nothing, accept maybe that person’s free time and ability to intercede on our behalf, (that last part being said in jest, sort of.) Just as we might ask a trusted friend or family member to intercede for us on our behalf while we are together on earth, we can continue to ask our community, this great cloud of whiteness, Sainted or not, to intercede on our behalf even after they have passed on. Stabil said it is a bit like when you were a child and in trouble. You might ask your friend to go with you to talk to you parents, and in the same way, you and your grandmother might go and talk to Saint Peter, and together you might speak with Christ, asking him to intercede with God the father.


My initial question, which I think I framed rather poorly was, “how much does reality matter?” In other words, what happens when we die? Maybe what I should have asked was “how much does metaphysics matter?” In any case, the question rooted in my somewhat fundamentalist upbringing was this: after we die, can we know and understand what is going on down below, allowing us to intercede on our loved-ones behalf? Can the Saints really pray for us, or are their souls in some kind of soul sleep, awaiting the resurrection of the dead?

Finding Purpose

About a month ago I attended a lecture by Michael Schutt on the “drudgery of law school.”  He was discussing the endless reading, writing and fact checking and the mundaneness of it all, and how we can respond.  During the lecture he highlighted four issues: dualism, sloth, pride, and as mentioned, drudgery, that is, being frustrated and not enlivened by what we do.

Dualism is that habit we all have of separating our professional life from our spiritual life or values.  There is no separation between what we eat and how that impacts our life, and in the same way, there is no separation between what goes into our spiritual life (or not) and the telling results.  If we pursue professional goals that are at odds with what we say our ethical values are, there will be consequences, not just outwardly, but in our inner life as well.  That does not mean all lawyers should be doing public interest law, not at all.  Only that there has to be consistency between what we believe, whatever that is, and what we do.

Lectio Divina for September 11th

<sup>Matthew 5

38</sup>"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' ³⁹But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁴⁰And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. ⁴¹If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. ⁴²Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
⁴³"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' ⁴⁴But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?

Acting Our Age

JR has some good things to say in his post Acting Our Age. He talks about the need for Fuller students to be pastored and mentored as they learn how to do so themseleves. I for one am very blest to have one Ben Donley, and in the past, Drew Severson, and Dan Cravillion in my life.

Calvin on Prayer

Following are excerpts from my spirituality paper, the beginning and end specifically.

In the contemporary spirituality setting, largely we have two things, books written by contemporary authors, and re-workings of ancient texts that seem to meet our present needs. What I will examine in this paper, the spiritual teachings of Calvin on prayer, do not seem to meet our present need. For some, myself included, the spirituality of John Calvin represents a hard word from a man known not for his soft ways but for his controversies and his scathing critiques. This seems especially true when one turns to his theologically robust, Institutes of the Christian Religion. It is not a work written for our own time. But then, maybe our own time needs the voice of the other, to remind us of where we have been.

By accessing Calvin in his own words we gain nuance. Interestingly enough, the longest chapter in his Institutes is on prayer. In it, he details in earnest the many things necessary for rightful praying, answering many questions along the way. I do not believe that one can lay the type of foundations for the church that Calvin has laid, without a robust spirituality. The judge of time, renders many works smaller than they first appeared. This is not the case with Calvin’s Institutes.

In summation, Calvin’s rules are these: 1. Pray in a proper frame of mind, divested of all earthly, distracting thoughts. 2. Pray with a sense of urgency, recognizing that all we need comes from God. 3. Pray with humility, acknowledging one’s proper place under God. 4. Having done these three things, pray expectantly; with an appreciation for the holiness of God that strikes terror, and the goodness of God that gives hope, these two being intimately bound up together.

A healthy spirituality is theologically informed. On the one hand we cannot let the musings of humans rule over our real experiences. But on the other hand, our real experiences should largely conform to the orthodox teachings of the church. If they do not, it may be acceptable, but probably is not. Regardless, it is not lightly that we stray from what the community has decided is normative. A figure such as Calvin is helpful in this respect. By returning to him in his own words, we gain access to a tradition that though sometimes hard, is enlightening to what may be some of the defiance’s of our own contemporary tradition. We have to ask ourselves, do we pray with a proper frame of mind? Do we pray with urgency, recognizing our desperate need for the life giver, and what is more, the life sustainer? Do we pray humbly, recognizing that though we in the West “have it all” we often lack what is most important. And finally, do we pray with fear, yet grateful expectation? Often we do not. If we are to mature in our spirituality, we need more than the latest best seller on the topic. We need a hard voice to call us to repentance, fear and awe, a place where our spiritual life can flourish.

Praying the Hours

One of the classes I’m taking this quarter is The Spiritual Disciplines. We are appropriating things from the ancient past (by which I don’t mean 1776, I mean 276) which are helpful, taking a look at the Desert Fathers and others from our Christian history.

One of the things I have found helpful is my own adaptation of “praying the hours”. I set my watch to beep on the hour, at which time I pray the Lord’s prayer. This has been helpful, but also telling. For the first few days I really enjoyed this. It was good to have this help keeping me aware of my creator. But as the days have gone on, I have found the practice indicative of my own deficiencies. Sometimes I don’t feel like praying, and I am actually annoyed by this call to prayer. So it is for this reason I pray: "Our Father who art in heaven holly is your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth (and in my life) as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever and ever and ever. Amen."

On Lent

My friend Greg had a really good article about the lenten season published in the Semi, Fuller's student newspaper.

My first jolt out of Easter baskets and sunrise services into something much more contemplative regarding Easter and the week leading up to Easter occurred during my sophomore year of college. The Thursday prior to Easter Sunday my Christian theology professor, Dr. Preben Vang, arrived to class wearing a black suit. Some wise-fool, much like myself, blurted out half joking, “Who died?” Dr. Vang did not find this amusing. He stood straight up, looked sternly at the class (we all knew something important was about to happen) and replied, “It’s Maundy Thursday and you have to ask me who died?” I had never heard of this event before, but the point was well taken: Jesus’s death and resurrection affects much more of the calendar than Christmas and Easter.

I won’t say that this one-line, rhetorical question put me on the road to Rome, but it sure did not hurt the journey. Now I revel in every aspect of Holy Week from Palm Sunday to Maundy Thursday to Good Friday to Holy Saturday and, of course, Easter Sunday.

You can read the rest here.

A Psalm by Depeche Mode

Read the following lyrics by Depeche Mode.

Girl of sixteen, whole life ahead of her
Slashed her wrists, bored with life
Didn't succeed, thank the Lord
For small mercies

Fighting back the tears, mother reads the note again
Sixteen candles burn in her mind
She takes the blame, it's always the same
She goes down on her knees and prays

I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours
But I think that God's got a sick sense of humor
And when I die I expect to find Him laughing

Girl of eighteen, fell in love with everything
Found new life in Jesus Christ
Hit by a car, ended up
On a life support machine

Summer's day, as she passed away
Birds were singing in the summer sky
Then came the rain, and once again
A tear fell from her mother's eye

I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours
But I think that God's got a sick sense of humor
And when I die I expect to find Him laughing

Do you find them "blasphemous"?

Juxtpose them with these excerpts from the Psalms.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.
Why, O LORD, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
How long, O LORD?
Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

You see, this is what I was talking about in the previous post when I said, "makes me feel". We jump too quickly to the good psalms, skipping the ones that are quite congruent with the situations that Depeche Mode narrated.

Does the song get it wrong? At one level yes. But at another level, not at all. It gives voice to the questions we all have, (or will have at some point in time,) questions that have been asked since the begenning. Questions I think we are entirely too quick to answer.

Larry had no place to lay his head.

This past week was tough. One of my friends died, his name was Larry. We weren’t close, but it was tough anyway.

He was assaulted about three months ago, which broke his neck. To stabilize the head they screwed a halo to his skull, and attached it to his shoulders. That would have worked well if he had a place to stay, but he didn’t. Our church put him up for a while, but that couldn’t last forever. He would panhandle for money, and usually got enough to stay in a motel, but not all the time. Then two weeks ago he fell and hit his head/screws, which sent him back to the hospital with seering pain. An infection developed and a few seizures later he was in a coma. He was pronounced brain dead two days later.

Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." Matthew 8:20

Anyone else want to be like Jesus? - Not me.

Emerging Church (2)

Mark 9:38-41 "Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us." "Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us."

So about a year ago I was introduced to the Emerging Church (EC) by a class of that name. I blogged about it at the time here. I’m writing now to correct some of my misconceptions I had at the time. (What is the emerging church? Click here, here and here.)

Since then I have read some of McLaren’s work, Church on the Other Side, and A Generous Orthodoxy, and taken a few more classes on related topics, ones such as Doing Theology in Context, and Church as Mission. And during this last spring break (all of one week) I read Gibb and Bolger’s Emerging Church. So now I have a few more things to say about the topic, most of which is just re-hashing things which, if your at all conversant on this topic, you have already seen somewhere else.

This is my take, my present position in the conversation: I love it, I have some critiques, but I love it.

Why? Because it is seeking to missionally engage a group of people (postmodern culture) that would not darken the door of a church, or have, and got burned. Additionally, although postmodern culture has elements that are anti-Christian, I think it is an improvement on modern culture which is itself very anti-Christian, and which the evangelical church is thoroughly in league with. (Granted, not always to the point of being un-Christ like.) Regardless, postmodernity or whatever comes next is where we are going.

The number one thing I have taken hold of while here at seminary is being missional, a word brought to life by the sentence: people should not have to cross cultural boundaries to come to Christ. Arguably, the EC is doing this better than anyone else in the West.

I’m not sufficiently intellectually or culturally postmodern to truly be full-tilt in that camp, which is ok. If there is anything I’ve learned in the past two years, it’s that authenticity is essential! Culturally I’m in a middle morass, too much of a geek to really engage postmodern culture authentically, too evangelical to be the EC, and too relativistic to be evangelical (with a few fundamentalist and un-orthodox streaks thrown in for good measure). And again, all of this is ok with me. I really don’t get too hung up on what label is most appropriate to slap on my forehead.

One of my biggest misconceptions at my original introduction was that art and candles made one an EC. I critiqued this as being simply a Gen-X seeker sensitive thing. I was right to notice that there are indeed such contraptions, but wrong to put these under the rubric of EC.

All of this being said, I still have some critiques.

I’m a bit concerned about possible EC syncretism with postmodern culture, but that is a challenge for the church in every culture. I’m not entirely sure how to draw the line between being missional, and syncretism, but I’m pretty sure that all of us, fundamentalist, evangelical, postmodern, have some challenges in that area.

Another is putting Jesus first, no really. When I play at theology, I have to question if any person of the trinity should be put in front of another. It tends to lead to a cannon within a cannon, which I have also noticed to be true of some elements of the EC (the gospels come first), but they have rightly critiqued the evangelical church for tending to put the Pauline texts first, or the charismatic/Pentecostal church for putting the Spirit first to the exclusion of others. So it’s an understandable pendulum swing, and even a defensible position.

The argument goes that Jesus was the fullest revelation of God, so he should be more normative than God the Father or God the Holy Spirit, who we arguably know less about. I might point out that we are filled with the Holly Ghost, but let's not get into that.

The last is leadership without control. I’m critiquing this mainly from a practical perspective. As the leaders of Emergent pointed out, someone has to figure out who is going to bring the plates and cups, figuratively speaking. This challenge applies to both the local body, and the conversation/movement as a whole. Some, or even most in the group want this to be purely a conversation. But the formation of Emergent, clearly marks it as, if not a movement, something a little more formed than simply a conversation, a fact which really gets under the skin of some in the conversation.

Some groups as detailed in Gibb’s and Bolger’s book have taken this to an extreme, having very little leadership. But others, having gone there, realize it dosn’t work too well, and are now exercising more control. Again, it’s an understandable pendulum swing. Following so many abuses of leadership by the fundamentalist and evangelical church, it’s not surprizing that many want a form of Christian spirituality, devoid of leadership. However, I think that no leadership can result in just as much if not more spiritual abuse as having a strong leader. (Often what emerges is defacto leadership, an un-named power source that everyone is aware of, but does nothing about. This is very dishonest.)

In conclusion, I want space. Space for the EC to do its thing, and space for the evangelical church to continue to do its thing. And space for the two to learn from each other, and stop throwing stones. There need not be so much of this, particularly since both groups share the same body of Christ, and live in glass houses.

Where am I personally going? How will I function? I want authentic, missional communities. That requires dialog. Dialog with the local community of believers, and dialog with the larger local culture, which is daily becoming global. Spiritual Practices, (which arguably everything is) must be, among other things, authentic. I’m more concerned with that process, authentic dialog taking place, than with what that eventually looks like. I’m certainly not going to buy an EC kit and strap it onto whatever congregation I end up in, but to be fair, I am oriented in that direction, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

Rom 14:4 “Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”

Spiritual Disciplines Notes

All of this first part is cyclical, not linear. It is a map, not reality, it is guidance.

The Spiritual Journey

• Childhood Religion
• Petition
• Power
• Pleasure
• Pain

• Adolescent Religion
• Emotion
• ntellectual control of God
• Peer Pressure

• Awakening
• The Reality of the Intangible
• Sense of Call

Via Triplex (4th-6th Centuries)

• Purgation
• Learning the virtues, shunning the vices

• Illumination
• Maturing, little concession to sin.
• Moral Integration
• Great energy for God.
• Love of Christ

• Union (with God)
• In a constant state of sanctification.
• John of the Cross – Dark Night of the Soul

Protestant Language – Being conformed to the image of God.

Luther tipped the Via Triplex on it’s head. First comes Union, then Illumination, then Purgation.

The Geography (or vocabularly) of Pilgrimage

• Traditional Protestantism
• Baptism/Confirmation/Worship & Service
• Evangelicals
• Conversion/Discipling/(Possibly a Second Blessing)/Servanthood
• Pentecostalism
• Saved/Sanctified/Filled with the Spirit
• Reformed
• Justification/A Life of Process Sanctification/Glorification
• Orthodox
• Justification/Sanctification/Deification
• Roman Catholic/Classical Spirituality (4th-6th Centuries)
• Purgation/Illumination/Union (what was up above)

Imago Dei

A few unedited notes from my first ethics of life and death class.

Imago Dei – In what ways are we made in the image of God.

• We have been given “dominion”.
• Anthropocentrism
• Stewardship
• Taking care of stuff
• But it’s not ours
• This relates to life, because we are to be stewards of all of life, even if something is not human.
• Rationality – Humans are rational, this is one of the ways we are like God.

• “Nephesh” – Living Being
• What does this mean?
• We have the Spirit of God? (do we all have the Spirit or only believers?)

• Creation – We are co-creators. Gen 4 – “I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.”

• As bearers of the image of God, we are reminding the world of God.

• We are mud, and as such, we are subject to the rules that govern the rest of the mud.

Exorcisem?

Check out CNN’s, blog post looking at modern exorcism, entitled Casting the Devil out of Tulsa.

The comments are particularly interesting, though I doubt representative of the entire population, just because it’s the people that know what they think and feel passionately about their perspective that bother to comment.

The following are pretty representative of what most of the comments were like.

I know by personal experience that demons possess humans. My ex-husband, a Baptist minister was Satan himself. No, I am not kidding. He was evil, wicked,violent,and very abusive. His face would distort and his voice change into something very demonic. It was terrifying!!!!!! I believe that Bob Larsen's ministry is real and not a fabricated show. God bless him.

One person's legitimate religious practice IS another's spiritual vaudeville. As a dedicated agnostic (no, that's not an oxymoron), I think what it all comes down to is that our beliefs have the power to influence the way we perceive the world, so if you believe, then that practice is legit -- for you. I think one of the biggest problems in our world right now is religious zealotry, both here in America and abroad. So I think tolerance is the key. I personally think this stuff is weird as hell, but I'd still be fascinated to witness it and to talk to someone about it!

Thorought all four of the Gospels, Jesus cast out demons, (ex: see: Luke 4: 33-37, Luke 8:26-39, Luke 9:37-39: and because of sin, the devil infiltrates the thoughts that lead to actions-of believers and non-believers alike..By faith we inherit the ability to become His disciples and walk as He did,thus the ability to facilitate and cast out demons in His name is real..

I Say it's bull !!!!!!!!!!!! I am as anti religion as you can get, so where are the demons that are looking to inhabit a person. I and many like me would be the perfect host. But then again we wouldn't be any news for the fakes who claim to expell the demons, My belief; we as Americans are trying so hard to be noticed that we are willing to make complete fools of ourselves, if you have any doubts just watch TV with all these reality shows, I hate to say it but the average person just doesn't act that way but for a little cash or popularity they will humiliate themselves, I guess it won't be long until theres a exorcism reality show, who'll be the first contestant for the grand prize. I guess that will qualify for some sort of disability from the Gov't.

Sex in the Seminary

A couple weeks ago there was a cool seminar on sex here at Fuller. It was called Sex in the Seminary, a take off on Sex in the City. I meant to blog about it but never got around to it. Here are a few links to other Fuller students that went and did blog about it. JR and Jucybits

Advice On Loving the Homeless?

I need some advice from people that have spent time working with the poor and homeless, and the rich and cranky for that matter.

I took this job at Re-Planet recycling to get to know homeless people. It’s worked, and I can honestly say I have some good relationships with our regulars. However, I can’t help but notice the facts of the matter, that almost all the truly homeless people that I deal with, (which is not necessarily indicative of the problem as a whole) are addicts of one type or another.

Additionally, I get a lot of really rude people, these tend to come in all shapes, sizes and income levels.

Any advice when it comes to loving the homeless?

(I previously posted on this job here)

It's Just a Story

The following story which I wrote, was published today in The Semi, Fuller's student newspaper.

Ben, an elder at his church, was running late for the Sunday mourning leadership prayer meeting. “As always” he thought. And today he would be later still because it was his turn to pick up doughnuts. Why, he didn’t know, it wasn’t like he could eat one. Ever since his father’s death last year, due to complications from diabetes, he had been trying to diet, though it didn’t seem to be working. Just yesterday the scale had read 219, and for someone only 5’ 8”, that was too much. Ben groaned as he pulled up to the doughnuts shop, “they smelled so good!”

Sitting in the prayer meeting, with his friends happily sipping coffee and eating doughnuts, neither of which he could have since no one had bothered to make decaffe, was not a good start to the day. Later, as the worship team sang “Just as I Am”, Ben couldn’t help but smirk, “too bad that’s not what the doctor said." The sermon was titled “The Temple”, during which Pastor Dave waxed eloquent about the evils of drugs, alcohol, pre-marital sex and tobacco, concluding with a strong exhortation to help others steer clear of evil. “So even it it’s ok for you to drink, don’t, because you may be causing your brother to stumble”, Pastor Dave said forcefully. But Ben hardly listened, the craving’s for a chocolate covered, cream filled, nut sprinkled, “long john” dominating his thoughts. After church, Ben joined his wife and friends at the local eatery.

“Great sermon Dave had this mourning, no?” asked Micah, taking a bite out of his double cheese burger.

“Definitely” responded Sherry. “I’m proud to say I’ve never done any of the ‘big ones’. No one has stumbled because of me…not that I’m perfect or anything,” she added, sipping on her third refill of Coke.

Ben sat quietly, eating his small salad. He hated salad, this one in particular since apparently it had been sitting in a fridge for about a week. He longed for the day when he could have eaten like his friends, but the images of his stricken father haunted him. The juxtaposition of the burger across the table and his father’s feeding tube made him sick…and angry. “Why is our family wired this way? Why did he have to go?” his subconscious mind ranted. But in the present he just continued to stare glumly at his salad, the one with the brown edges and no salad dressing.

After lunch, the family went shopping, but feeling depressed, from what he wasn’t sure, Ben headed home to “take a nap”. The sound of the car coming up the drive awoke him to his present position, in front of the television, watching basketball, eating out of the ice-cream container. “How the heck did this happen” he thought. “O’ well, its Sunday, a day of rest…from my diet, I’ll just run an extra 20 minutes at the gym tomorrow.”

But arising early for an extra 20 minutes at the gym was not to be. Sleep didn’t come, as images of his father mixed with cravings for ‘real food’. With these in the background he pondered the sermon, and their conversation over lunch. “Was something missing” he thought, “but what?” “Why doesn’t Pastor Dave ever teach on something relevant to me?” It wasn’t until after a ‘quick snack’, that Ben finally drifted off to sleep, the clock reading 1AM. On the other side of town, Sherry slept peacefully, knowing that she was not to blame for anyone “stumbling”. Though she wondered about Ben. “Didn’t he say he was going on a diet? Sure doesn’t look like it.”

At work the next day, there were two e-mails in Ben’s inbox. “Health Insurance Will Drop Obesity Coverage” read the first subject line. The second was from his supervisor. “Free Pizza Friday” it said.