First Issue (tough one!)

So, I am now giving you all a heads up on what I'll be writing about shortly. Someone asked about the creation account in Genesis. So, Creation then. More specifically I'll be writing about the differences between males and females. Your thoughts? This may upset some but I do not think Genesis is a scientific text. At the same time, I do think it speaks about God and God's creation.

I'll be posting in TWO days. So, between now and then feel free to contribute to the subject and I will be glad to work them into my post. If anyone has a better way to moderate this as a discussion I'm all ears.

Responses so far

So, I've received all favorable responses to this idea! I even received one question already. I'd like you all to know that I will not publish who asked the question, unless you want me to or your response is not anonymous. In any case, thank you to the few who have replied and yes I am encouraged easily hahaha. So, send in your questions, I'll write and publish my thoughts here and you can then go ahead and tell me your thoughts on it.

Does anyone read this?

Several days ago a friend of mine suggested an idea to me concerning blogging. I, of course, was eager to hear what he had to say since I am having trouble mustering the motivation to update this blog. My main reason is that I really don't just want to blog about my day. The problem I have with posting other things is that I just can't pick a specific theme to blog about. Anyhow, his idea was for me to have a blog that tries to answer questions my friends, innitially, send to me concerning theology, church life, etc. I love the idea because it'd give me something to frame my thoughts as well as a fantastic learning experience! I don't think I have most of the answers, if any, and I am hoping the responses to my answers create new questions as well as interesting discussions. So, I'd like YOU to let me know that you have read this and what you think about the idea.

Should I blog about questions my friends, and people, ask here in response to what I write or as a question?

Let me know!
Respond to this and if you already have questions send them!

Thoughts on Jeremiah through Lent

The primary work of the book of Jeremiah is to speak Israel into exile.

Up to this point we have been seeing a great deal of the first half of V. 1:10 “to pluck up and tear down”. It is difficult to move away from the fact that there is a negative theme that is much more prevalent in the book of Jeremiah. He really is, as the quote above says, trying to speak Israel into exile. As we’ve been talking in our previous meetings Jeremiah is trying very hard to move Israel to look at itself in a completely different way. The book indeed seeks to move Israel to see itself in a radically different way. The main thrust of this effort is directed towards an honest self assessment, personal and communal, with regards to how their relationship with God has deteriorated. It seems very important for Jeremiah to show the consequences of a broken relationship. At the same time the book also deals with the issue of who God is in the relationship with his people, through the events that have come to pass and resulted in the exile.

Now, leaving the previous paragraph as a review of the book and our interaction with it to this point, let us move to a smaller undercurrent that, though somewhat hidden, does still hold a powerful place in the conversation Jeremiah is. This small stream leaks on to the surface of Jeremiah in the second half of 1:10 “to build and to plant”. This is a seemingly weak counter theme to all the negativity and death that permeates most of the book. It does not function in the same sense as the strong negative theme that overwhelms us in the reading. This positive stream simply lingers there, not as a point to be made or a lesson to be learned, rather as a truth that cannot be eliminated from life. It speaks to the fullness of God’s relationship with his people. The covenant has been violated by Israel and there must be consequences! But at the same time, the reason for the covenant and the relationship as a whole is not a transaction of goods to be paid back by the right sacrifice, it is a relationship grounded in love. So, as we delve deeper into Jeremiah let us move to consider the promissory content of the book through the “book of comfort” and 3 main themes that inform it; Historical considerations, Pastoral voice, and the character of God.

Historical consideration- The exile was not the end of the Jewish community or even Jewishness. Jerusalem was not emptied by Babylon, many Jews remained in Jerusalem. At the same time the exiled community in Babylon developed “an intense self-consciousness as a faithful community in exile.” This exiled community understood itself to be the remnant of Israel and lived an intense Jewishness in the midst of all that was foreign. Turns out not all was plucked up and torn down! There was still a community relating with God, active, living, a community in waiting if you will, eagerly awaiting the time to return.

Pastoral Voice-There is also a sense of this small vein of hope running through the book serving as a pastoral voice in terrible times. It is very understandable that the community in exile as well as those left behind in Jerusalem would feel abandoned by God, their whole world was turned upside down. The hope expressed by these verses serves as that pastoral voice of comfort and consolation even assurance so desperately needed during those terribly hard times.

Character of God- The two previous groupings do not contain within their scope the reality of Jeremiah. In the end the main thrust concerns itself with the issue of promises made and how or if in fact they have been or can be kept by God. The main concern then is theological, that is, deeply related to and concerned with the character of God. How could the catastrophic events that have taken place be explained in the context of the covenantal relationship between God and Israel? The theological claim made by the book and highlighted in this section is that “the ground for assurance is not found in needy circumstances but in the character and resolve of God and in nothing other and in nothing less.” Once again we are driven towards a relationship based in love and true care for the other rather than nothing more than a business transaction, the right sacrifice to appease the wrath of the gods.

Much credit due to Brueggemann's "A Commentary on Jeremiah" all quotes in this posting are from there as well as the framework for the weekly studies.

Log in my eye

There are many great teachings from Jesus in the New Testament. The series that includes Matt 7 is an outline of Jesus' teachings in a pastoral way. There are many great things in this series, though most of them are overshadowed by the sermon on the mount, which comes a bit before chapter 7. The whole series is a very though pill to swallow. The bar set up by Jesus for Christian living is so high that it feels impossible to follow it all. Of course that is the point as we cannot do it all on our own. This past week I learned a very important lesson that can be summed up by the following verse found in these pastoral teachings; "Why do you see the speck in your neighbor's eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?" Mat. 7:3 I often want to believe myself to be someone called to ministry who is very self aware, always willing and open to give a fair hearing to different points of view. A couple of days ago I had a very good conversation that forced me to face how wrong I have been in my self assesment.
Here is the best way I can explain this revelation that came to me through someone I hope to become good friends with;
One of my favorite forms of entertainment is to watch as people try to show the person they think they are through external means without actually changing at all inside. The type of person I'm refering to is the guy who drives a jeep with oversized tires, the metal gas canister in the back, a big outdoor type of dog, a husky perhaps, he is an outdorsman! He is someone who may just as likely be rafting class V rapids as spelunking somewhere in the yucatan, in his mind. In reality he works in an office and rarely ventures beyond the wilderness of the suburbs. So, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary this person is indeed an outdorsman ready and able to spend a week hiking with no problem. Those who know enough of this guy sometimes wonder how he could not see that to be able to manouver through Fairmount park in Philly, or Central Park in NY without getting lost does not make him a true nature man.
Now I'd like to point out two interesting things about this little snippet of how I entertain myself sometimes. The first is how quick I often am at judging others I see when I am out and about. For all I know the guy driving that jeep is indeed a white water rafting instructor or an ice climbing expert, etc. I have offered here an exagerated example of the type of constant prejudgement I make of people, but I trust you will be able to translate it to more mundane everyday sort of judgement we all make. The second is how creative my assessment of this person is. I point this out because another thing I realized from the conversation I mentioned at the beginning is how great I am at creating justifications for my assumptions.
All of this to say that, this past weekend I realized how proud I was at being able to see the specks in the eyes of some of my fellow Christians while at the same time completely unable to see the big log in my eye that was narrowing how much of the world I could actually see.
I was humbled this weekend and it made me very angry at first, yet the more I explore that experience the more liberating it becomes.

Unexpected cold

today I went bike riding with my friend Kim. We both knew it was a cold day but had no idea how bad it was going to be. Today was a sunny day and though it was in the 20's F. the sun was out and when layered up it isn't a terrible thing. So, we met at my parking lot and as we were getting our bikes ready for the ride we started doubting the wisdom of the choice we'd just made. 5 minutes into the ride we were well beyond doubt in our assessment of how bad of an idea this was. The major problem was the wind. It was bitterly cold and a wall against which we were trying to ride. Each cycle of the pedals was worst that the previous one and we had just gotten started! However, there were two of us and neither was willing to be the one to quit, so we pressed on. We then arrived on the trail and started riding with the wind on our backs. It was still bitterly cold but we no longer had to fight for ever inch, so we pressed on.
When the cold got to be too much we decided to turn around. The choice alone lifted my spirits and I began looking foward to the return trip, the end was near. So, we turned around to begin our way back and two things happened immediately. The first was the wind was now hitting our faces and pushing back hard. The second was that I could see how our way back was going to be up hill for most of the ride! So, there we were, two miles left, suddenly facing two stubborn, strong, challenges that were making everything about the journey difficult. The worst part about it was that the only way to get through it was to fight on! I tried thinking about a hot cup of coffee or my warm house, a hot shower, etc...but none of that worked! In the end, what worked the best was simply pedaling one more full cycle at a time.

My life at church often times feels very much like this ride today. I've always known ministry is a difficult thing to do, but I never really knew just what that was going to feel like. Today, a lesson that I have been learning was illustrated very well for me. I've encountered very difficult problems in ministry so far, (my one year!) my initial method of dealing with them was to try to focus on the outcome to help me through. Today I realized, more fully than ever before, how I've been right and so very wrong at the same time. I was right in doing the work of seeing the end result, the vision, that I was working on. I was wrong in trying to make that the focus of my every step. The vision is where I am going, but what makes it come to be is my giving each pedaling cycle my full attention. I need to keep them both present but the only real one is the pedaling I'm doing at the moment. If I keep on pedaling, each of these small tough fights will eventually add up to bringing my vision to reality. So I will simply press on.

What does your accent say about you?

I attended one of the nights of the Justice preaching series. The preacher for that night was Hector Cortez. I cannot do justice to the sermon here but I'll just paraphrase the beginnning of the sermon, which I then quoted during one of mine.

When I meet people the conversation often moves to, so where are you from?
when I answer, Chicago there's a puzzled face and they then say, where are you REALLY from?
my accent, in spite of my best efforts, betrays my Latino origin.

This particular sermon has tremendous relevance to what our country is going through with regards to the immigration issue. This past Sat. I was at an immigration information session. It was supposed to be an informational session but in the back there were two women who always go to any immigration forum around this area and heckle panelists with gross generalizations about the "illegal immigrants" who are ruining our country. I mention this here because it is related to the issue of one's accent. To these women the majority of the evils in our society are because of these illegal immigrants. Now, these people do not have the means to check on the indentification of those they are accusing. So, how do they know who these "illegal immigrants" are then? "my accent, in spite of my best efforts, betrays my Latino origin".
An accent is something that speaks to the person's origin. It may not be race specific but it does say something about where that person learned to communicate. It denotes a certain cultural, environmental grounding. An accent is also something that is readily evident when encountering someone. It does not take long for anyone to hear the difference and begin to formulate an opinion about that person. A distinct accent allows a person to be identified even before said person makes any effort to mention his/her origin.
We all have an accent. If you are from philly and find yourself chatting with someone in Alabama that person will know you, "have an accent". So, an accent, in a way, speaks for you. I wonder if it is possible to have a "Christian" accent. Do you live your life in a way that speaks to your Christianity even before you get to say, I am a Christian, I attend this or that church etc...