If you're looking for coherency; look away.
"You ought to live your life with such freedome and joy that most uptight Christians will doubt your salvation." - Steve Brown
I came in third place in the last poker tournament.
"Above all, love each other deeply, for love covers over a multitude of sins" 1 Peter 4:8 - I sometimes wonder if this verse can be the cornerstone of my personal theology.
I've realized that the most missional thing I do in Korea is helping my little kids put their shoes on. My little 3 and 4 year olds aren't old enough or coordinated enough to put their own shoes on. So, every day I spend a few minutes helping their teacher with the shoe festivities. Koreans have stopped me and told me not to do that. In a culture that respects age, position, and societal place it is quite improprietous for an adult, male, American, respected teacher and missionary to bend low to the ground and touch someone's feet. I think that's the point. It's a small act of service that makes all the difference in my day and my attitude.
I think more and more that most of my theological training was useless because it lacked practicality. I think back to so many lectures that soared over ivy towers and so few that grew legs and learned to walk. It makes me all the more thankful for Profs like Dr. Smith who made certain every class made the rubber hit the road.
Sorry I didn't have anything on Thursday. I am, however, glad that it's Friday now!
Happy Halloween!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
I enjoy going back and looking over my older posts. For my own memory it's important to see what themes were most important in my life.
Love.
Freedom.
Grace.
Joy.
Community.
Sometimes I get red in the face when I see the things I wrote. Sometimes I have that exact thought. I'm writing and I think, "I'm going to be embarrassed by this later."
Sometimes I'm too honest and sometimes I'm too subtle.
I pray that I don't come across as being arrogant. I guess it's the nature of the beast. You have to really enjoy hearing yourself speak to decide to write it down for the world to read! But, I hope that people understand that this is just an outlet. I can write about things that are important to me, but that perhaps just wouldn't come up in normal conversation.
I'm in a different spot in my life than I was a few months ago. I'm wrestling with different ideas and ideals than I was just last Christmas. There are new elements of faith I wish I understood better.
So, I'm here. I'm going to keep writing, to keep struggling, to keep trying to understand. This has become part of my faith formation, and I hope you enjoy being along for the ride.
Love.
Freedom.
Grace.
Joy.
Community.
Sometimes I get red in the face when I see the things I wrote. Sometimes I have that exact thought. I'm writing and I think, "I'm going to be embarrassed by this later."
Sometimes I'm too honest and sometimes I'm too subtle.
I pray that I don't come across as being arrogant. I guess it's the nature of the beast. You have to really enjoy hearing yourself speak to decide to write it down for the world to read! But, I hope that people understand that this is just an outlet. I can write about things that are important to me, but that perhaps just wouldn't come up in normal conversation.
I'm in a different spot in my life than I was a few months ago. I'm wrestling with different ideas and ideals than I was just last Christmas. There are new elements of faith I wish I understood better.
So, I'm here. I'm going to keep writing, to keep struggling, to keep trying to understand. This has become part of my faith formation, and I hope you enjoy being along for the ride.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Theological Thoughts for Thursday
I'm on the fence about my grad school options. I'm working toward a certificate (and then a masters) in Community and Economic Development at Penn State (available while in Korea through on-line classes.) So far the material just hasn't grabbed me. I'm more than a little reticent about spending $20,000 and a few hundred hours of my life on something I'm not passionate about.
I'm taking a class this semester, and we'll see if I decide to keep going or to look for a different program.
We discuss the concepts of community often. Why community is important. What community looks like. As a Christian and a missionary this is an important topic for me.
"Community ... is something taken for granted, something self-evident in one's social behavior. Recognition of community can arouse feeling, but community itself simply refers to the fact that one naturally is connected to other people." - Wilkinson, pg 14.
In Sociology there is a different term for community we take for granted and community that we celebrate. When we move beyond recognizing that there are other people in our midst - when we embrace and celebrate our community it is called - communion.
Communion is a celebration of community.
In our churches we fail to celebrate community. We hold up an abstract, impossible ideal of community and chide ourselves when we fall short ... and we always fall short. We pretend that things were different in the past. That in the 50s no one fought at church. That Jesus' disciples never argued. But, deep down we know that's a lie from Satan. People in our churches fight sometimes. Sometimes people in the church can get downright nasty and we feel that all community is lost. But we fail to embrace the fact that fighting is part of community.
"Moreover, community entails squabbles and fights as well as cooperation and affectionate touches." - Wilkinson, pg. 15
We celebrate the ups and downs - we celebrate human interaction under the blessing of an all loving and all forgiving God.
We share in communion and we celebrate the community God has given us. Even when that community includes people we don't much like. Even when that community is unlovable.
I'm taking a class this semester, and we'll see if I decide to keep going or to look for a different program.
We discuss the concepts of community often. Why community is important. What community looks like. As a Christian and a missionary this is an important topic for me.
"Community ... is something taken for granted, something self-evident in one's social behavior. Recognition of community can arouse feeling, but community itself simply refers to the fact that one naturally is connected to other people." - Wilkinson, pg 14.
In Sociology there is a different term for community we take for granted and community that we celebrate. When we move beyond recognizing that there are other people in our midst - when we embrace and celebrate our community it is called - communion.
Communion is a celebration of community.
In our churches we fail to celebrate community. We hold up an abstract, impossible ideal of community and chide ourselves when we fall short ... and we always fall short. We pretend that things were different in the past. That in the 50s no one fought at church. That Jesus' disciples never argued. But, deep down we know that's a lie from Satan. People in our churches fight sometimes. Sometimes people in the church can get downright nasty and we feel that all community is lost. But we fail to embrace the fact that fighting is part of community.
"Moreover, community entails squabbles and fights as well as cooperation and affectionate touches." - Wilkinson, pg. 15
We celebrate the ups and downs - we celebrate human interaction under the blessing of an all loving and all forgiving God.
We share in communion and we celebrate the community God has given us. Even when that community includes people we don't much like. Even when that community is unlovable.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Theological Thoughts for Thursday
You should watch this video from Newsweek. There will probably be an advertisement somewhere in it.
This clip might be the best thing I've seen in the last month.
I wanted to share this with everyone. How cute are they?
I think it's an interesting how we typecast people.
No one had to audition ... if you're a little person you belong in this movie! You must be this short!
We typecast people instantly. He doesn't belong in the church. She shouldn't be teaching Sunday School. He deserves to spend Sunday morning at the bar.
We typecast when we think about sharing our faith. Oh, I don't think he would be interested. She would probably get angry if I tried to tell her about my faith.
We typecast who should be leaders in our chuch. He's too young, maybe he can be a leader in the youth group ... but not in big church. Just look at her whorish past; she's not going to teach MY children in Sunday School.
Maybe we should typecast like they did for this movie ... if you're a person you belong here! You must be this human!
This clip might be the best thing I've seen in the last month.
I wanted to share this with everyone. How cute are they?
I think it's an interesting how we typecast people.
No one had to audition ... if you're a little person you belong in this movie! You must be this short!
We typecast people instantly. He doesn't belong in the church. She shouldn't be teaching Sunday School. He deserves to spend Sunday morning at the bar.
We typecast when we think about sharing our faith. Oh, I don't think he would be interested. She would probably get angry if I tried to tell her about my faith.
We typecast who should be leaders in our chuch. He's too young, maybe he can be a leader in the youth group ... but not in big church. Just look at her whorish past; she's not going to teach MY children in Sunday School.
Maybe we should typecast like they did for this movie ... if you're a person you belong here! You must be this human!
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Theological Thoughts for Thursday
"When people gather together to hate, they will find hate. When people gather together to love, they will find God."
I work in a kindergarten in the mornings. 4 classes, 30 kids, 4 teachers, 1 book per month. I read one book per month. We just read the same book every day for a whole month. I can't believe it, really - so I'll say it again. My job is to read the same book, day after day, to the same group of kids - for a whole month.
And the kids love it. They can't get enough of book.
They asked me to parse down some Bible verses for the kids to memorize. I first looked for short Bible verses. There really aren't that many, at least there are few verses that are memorable, short, and meaty. So I whittled down the 10 commandments into bite size, English language, nuggets of "don'ts" at their request. Don't lie, Don't steal, No idols - that sort of thing.
And now we say those things over and over. We condensed them down to something they might possible understand and we say it over and over again. Maybe the church in America just needs it broken down for them. Maybe we just need to say it over and over until it's part of our hearts, until it becomes who we are.
"When people gather together to hate, they will find hate. When people gather together to love, they will find God."
I work in a kindergarten in the mornings. 4 classes, 30 kids, 4 teachers, 1 book per month. I read one book per month. We just read the same book every day for a whole month. I can't believe it, really - so I'll say it again. My job is to read the same book, day after day, to the same group of kids - for a whole month.
And the kids love it. They can't get enough of book.
They asked me to parse down some Bible verses for the kids to memorize. I first looked for short Bible verses. There really aren't that many, at least there are few verses that are memorable, short, and meaty. So I whittled down the 10 commandments into bite size, English language, nuggets of "don'ts" at their request. Don't lie, Don't steal, No idols - that sort of thing.
And now we say those things over and over. We condensed them down to something they might possible understand and we say it over and over again. Maybe the church in America just needs it broken down for them. Maybe we just need to say it over and over until it's part of our hearts, until it becomes who we are.
"When people gather together to hate, they will find hate. When people gather together to love, they will find God."
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